2011 Vuelta a Espana Stage 10: Salamanca ITT, 47km (28/9)

[auscyclefan94]

2011 Vuelta a Espana Stage 10: Salamanca ITT, 47km (28/9) - THE RACE OF TRUTH IS UPON LA VUELTA

The big boys must come out and play. The TT around Salamanca is a long, flat time trial which will have a big influence on the final result in Madrid. BIG time gaps WILL open.

It is the 3rd time that a time trial has been around Salamanca in La Vuelta. It had a big influence on the overall general classification and it was only 4km's longer.

1999 Vuelta Stage 6, Salamanca - Salamanca, ITT, 51 kms:
1 Abraham Olano Manzano (Spa) ONCE-Deutsche Bank 53.32
2 Jan Ullrich (Ger) Team Deutsche Telekom .57
3 Angel Casero (Spa) Vitalicio Seguros 2.17
4 Igor Gonzalez Galdeano (Spa) Vitalicio Seguros 2.18
5 William Chann McRae (USA) Mapei-Quick Step 2.40
6 Melchor Mauri (Spa) Sport Lisboa Benfica 2.57
7 Iñigo Cuesta Lopez (Spa) ONCE-Deutsche Bank 2.58
8 Tyler Hamilton (USA) US Postal Service 3.11
9 Ivan Parra (Col) Vitalicio Seguros 3.17
10 Dylan Casey (USA) US Postal Service 3.27


The big Spaniard powerhouse Abraham Olano won here. Ullrich was 2nd. His 2nd place here and the gains he took from that stage set him up for la vuelta win. The ITT around Salamanca this year will do the same.


Lets have a look at the favourites and the gc contenders...

 

[auscyclefan94]

GC Favourites

Joaquin Rodriguez - This guy is a horrible time triallist though having the TT earlier in the race this year may help him. Will need to limit losses to under 3 minutes to guys like Nibali and Scarponi.

Vincenzo Nibali - The Sicilian has looked a little shaky in some stages of la vuelta, he's had a crash and is behind Rodriguez. He's a decent time triallist and will need to be good today to have a chance against the pure climbers. This is where Vincenzo's bid for red in Madrid needs to start.

Michele Scarponi - Michele is not a great time triallist but isn't too bad. Like Vincenzo, he needs a good day here to take some big time on Rodriguez and make his bid for Red in Madrid.

Jurgen van den Broeck - The Belgian so far has looked very strong coming off his disastrous tour. Not a great time triallist though should feature quite highly in comparison to the other gc favourites.

Bradley Wiggins - The Brit has said that he will evaluate his gc ambitions here at Salamanca. This guy is the best time triallist of the gc favourites though has lost a bit of time already. He needs to and could make some big time gains here which could set him up well for the 2nd half of the race.

Denis Menchov - The Silent Assasin has been rather quiet so far in this race with quite a few unnecessary time losses. He is starting to look like he is coming into shape and is a very good time triallist. Will need to smoke the tt.

Stage Favourites:

Fabian Cancellara - He is World Champion , say no more.
Tony Martin - the big German could knock off Fabian from his perch here. Look out for him.
Bert Grabsch - A pan flat course suit the German quite well.
Taylor Phinney - The young American has good iTT form, has said he's feeling better and has said he's targeting this stage
Janez Brajkovic - also an outside gc threat, this guy could go well.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Do not post.

OK.

/Homer Simpson

 

[dlwssonic]

Cancellara!!!
Martin
Phinney(Im dreaming)

 

[icefire]

Thread post. Do not post.

OK, but don't go for dinner before you post

 

[auscyclefan94]

Go for your lives! btw, what do you guys not understand about do not post?

 

[icefire]

Hold off on the post for a little while

Fix the map on the first post, please

I'll delete this when you finish your job

 

[icefire]

Weather forecast:

Wind speeds around 20km/h

EDIT: This will probably be the last sunny day for a while in the race. Forecasts for stages in the coming week announce cloudy skies and showers.

 

[Tuarts]

Phinney a favourite

 

[Jamsque]

Spartacus
Wiggins
Martin

If Wiggo is within 2 minutes of the lead going in to this he has a real shot at the jersey.

 

[jens_attacks]

1.bruseghin
2.wiggins
3.cancellara

purito to lose under 3 minutes

 

[auscyclefan94]

1.bruseghin
2.wiggins
3.cancellara

purito to lose under 3 minutes

Bruseghin???? No offence but are you ****ing serious?

 

[dlwssonic]

Phinney a favourite

Phinney will absolutely destroy everyone!!!

Seriously, He is suffering big time from the heat and its his first GT.

 

[auscyclefan94]

In his blog he is saying he is feeling better and better. Saying he is a favourite was a little bit stupid on my behalf.

 

[dlwssonic]

In his blog he is saying he is feeling better and better. Saying he is a favourite was a little bit stupid on my behalf.

I was kidding!

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

In his blog he is saying he is feeling better and better. Saying he is a favourite was a little bit stupid on my behalf.

but unsurprising

 

[auscyclefan94]

I was kidding!

I was making that comment in reply to your comment about the heat which was serious as it is true.

 

[Jolleh]

If Fuglsang aint gonna burn down on the mountain today, he will be in red after the TT i would rate him as the best TT in the current top10 on GC

 

[LaFlorecita]

Please no Cancellara or ,*shudder*, Wiggins.

 

[Waterloo Sunrise]

If Fuglsang aint gonna burn down on the mountain today, he will be in red after the TT i would rate him as the best TT in the current top10 on GC

I'd say Monfort is better, and if he keeps in-front of Wiggins without gaining time today, it would be quite some achievement for him.

 

[Thomsena]

If Fuglsang aint gonna burn down on the mountain today, he will be in red after the TT i would rate him as the best TT in the current top10 on GC

Yep. Looks sharp and fit. Should be a level or two above the two Spaniards and eventually get the shirt for the second time.

 

[cineteq]

If Fuglsang aint gonna burn down on the mountain today, he will be in red after the TT i would rate him as the best TT in the current top10 on GC

GC guys: Wiggins, Fuglsang and Nibali.
The Worlds are close and thus Cancellara will win the stage!

 

[Greenflame]

Yes Fuglsang has been looking surprisingly good so far this Vuelta. He now has a minute on Wiggins, so I can see him taking the red in the TT if he doesn't lose time today. He should be able to challenge for a top-5 position in the end even, though he'll probably end around 7-8th. I'd like to see Leopard give him a shot at the Giro next year, who knows what he can do in a GT without the Tour in his legs?

For the stage, I guess either Cancellara or Wiggins will take it. I think Nibali won't take as much time here as people think he will. Less than 2 minutes on JRod, half a minute on Scarponi and lose time on Wiggins. The gaps will not be enough to decide the winner and the Giro will be decided in the mountains, as it should be.

 

[jsem94]

Jani will need to do a great ITT here. I haven't seen him at all so far in the Vuelta, but he's been up there on every stage. Losing inch by inch to JRod.

 

[Parrulo]

i want to see what nelson oliveira can do on this time trial. would be nice if he could top 10.

oliveira vs phinney should be interesting, roughly the same age and its the first GT for both, oliveira is more used to the temperatures but he has been doing a lot more work for the team then phinney has.

machado should also pull a decent performance . . . lets wait and see tho