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

[Anonymous]

You consider Martin a main contender but not Fuglsang, Kessiakoff, Monfort etc?

+ 10 x 500

 

[Escarabajo]

Were there no time bonuses today?

Never on a TT.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

No? Hmm, well, considering he's still recovering, he would have been in front of Rodriguez if it weren't for time bonusses, he took time on Scarponi, and without the downhill upset by Liquigas, he would have been in front of Nibali as well. So all in all, i don't agree. The "real" mountains still have to come, so i was more speaking in general to be honest.




Supposed to, yeah. That's what he said last year after the tour, that he would focus more on TT for this year. Except he said in an interview before the Dauphiné, he had hardly touched his TT bike.




What are you refering to good man? The fact that i said Mollema won't win the Dauphiné? He still won't, and that has little to do with JVDB. As for my prediction for JVDB this Vuelta, i believe you can find a quote of mine in the infamous Gesink - VDB topic, that i expected him in the top 10, all else would need to be seen. I still wouldn't count him out just yet though.

I'm reffering to you laughing at the idea Mollema winning the Vuelta after yesterday, but still believing JvdB however was a serious contender. Ofcourse the chances are little, but JvdB is not exactly within a shot either

Btw, Mollema didn't even ride the Dauphine so I don't know what you are on about.

 

[roundabout]

On Angliru those guys (except for Kessiakoff maybe) will get slaughtered by Martin. He won't win the race, but could still make the top-5.

I don't know. He is getting better but I don't think he is most consistent of riders. But I am basing it only on the feeling from the Valdepenas and Escorial stages and he has been much better in the real climbs.

 

[theyoungest]

I don't know. He is getting better but I don't think he is most consistent of riders. But I am basing it only on the feeling from the Valdepenas and Escorial stages and he has been much better in the real climbs.

I agree that he's inconsistent, but I think the bad weather could be good for him (no allergy problems, I think... though I'm not an expert). Even when he was plagued by allergies in the Giro last year he still did quite well on the Zoncolan. Those gradients really suit him.

 

[Lexman]

Main contenders (in my opinion, sorry Froome, Fuglsang, Kessiakoff, etcetera)

Wiggins
Nibali +11
Mollema +47
Cobo +1'27
Jvdb +2'01
Menchov +2'15
Rodriguez +3'03
Martin +4'38

Although maybe I should take at least Kessiakoff and Froome seriously. I fully expect Fuglsang/Monfort to drop in the mountains and have no serious shot anyway.

Agreed upon this !

 

[dlwssonic]

Im sure lots of us are happy that cobo is back and riding well

 

[maltiv]

Nibali is still the big favorite for the overall in my opinion. He should easily take a minute or so on Froome/Wiggins on Angliru.

 

[luckyboy]

It was the worst Mortirolo stage ever but that's not J-Rod's fault. The guy can do a good long climb on steep stuff. He's not a grinder.

Zoncolan and Grossglockner were pretty steep this year though.

He seems to be inconsistent on long steep mountains and inconsistent on long and not so steep ones. The only thing he is consistently good on is short steep hills.

 

[roundabout]

It was the worst Mortirolo stage ever but that's not J-Rod's fault. The guy can do a good long climb on steep stuff. He's not a grinder. He put time into everybody except Contador and the guy he was domestiquing for on Anglirú last time around. He still has a chance.

I just don't think he's going to be able to take it.

I am not saying that it's his fault. Just that those are misleading examples. Nibali is pretty much a grinder on the steep climbs and he can go pretty well up them so Rodriguez will either hope that people ahead of him falter or do more than his usual on the climbs.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

I'm reffering to you laughing at the idea Mollema winning the Vuelta after yesterday, but still believing JvdB however was a serious contender. Ofcourse the chances are little, but JvdB is not exactly within a shot either

Btw, Mollema didn't even ride the Dauphine so I don't know what you are on about.

I was laughing with Mollema winning the Vuelta for the simple reason that there is no chance in hell he will. I never said JVDB would win the vuelta so i have no idea what you are babling about.

Mollema didn't ride the Dauphiné? What does that have to do with JVDB not touching his TT bike? I was answering a question about JVDB having practiced more at TT'ing.

 

[maltiv]

I remember checking Froome's odds for the GC in the Vuelta yesterday. Think they were like 200-300 or so. Today? 16

 

[FignonLeGrand]

Nibali is still the big favorite for the overall in my opinion. He should easily take a minute or so on Froome/Wiggins on Angliru.

Hi, could you help me understand why he will take time so easily? I dont quite see how he will sprint away or drop them through acellerations. It seems to be a race between a deisal and a deisal, nither Wiggins or Nibali are classic climbers. You think he will just out slog them? Btw I would still also rate nibali as being the favourite just not quite sure why he will take the time so easily on the climbs

 

[sublimit]

Another word on Froome...

He really impressed me yesterday, because the wind in those last k's was ferocious according to some riders.
Him pulling back Nibali and friends, then pacing Wiggins for a while ánd still holding on was a really strong performance. Today he TT'd quite a bit faster than Wiggins (23"), ending 2nd behind King Martin. Those are some pretty impressive credentials.

This guy seems to be going places and yes I'm a little confused by his performance. Sorry guys.

He was terrible last year to be fair but has been solid so far in 2011. Its kind of surprising I agree but I think he has the talent and it seems he's starting to get the job done.,

J-Rod and Froome were the 2 best riders in the first week of the Vuelta for me and can have a deserved day off.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

I am not saying that it's his fault. Just that those are misleading examples. Nibali is pretty much a grinder on the steep climbs and he can go pretty well up them so Rodriguez will either hope that people ahead of him falter or do more than his usual on the climbs.

Oh yea, like I said, I think he's still in with a chance, I just don't think he'll be able to take it. He needs to go pretty much straight away (what happens on Farrapona could be interesting too, though, with San Lorenzo already in the legs). Finding 3 minutes from Nibali will be hard. Finding them from Wiggins or Froome? Just don't know. No real history to compare them on. We do have it with Nibbles and Purito, and it's enough to say that Purito may have a chance, but Nibali will probably be close to equal to anything J-Rod can throw at him, and is also less likely to crack like an egg if he mistimes something.

 

[Captain_Cavman]

1. Froome - As a fan of British cycling and by association Team Sky, I'm somewhat uncomfortable with the degree to which he has improved over anything he has done before, especially given that he has been using up energy shepherding Wiggins.

2. Wiggins - My guess is that he tried to match Martin and payed a huge price for it. I reckon he could have come in 1 minute less time if he'd paced himself properly, as indeed Froome and Nibali did. He'll struggle to podium from here.

3. Nibali must be the big favourite now, especially with bonification.

4. Mollema looks good for a podium at least.

5. Rodriguez was following in Mollema's tracks. Whether he was getting much advantage from it, I don't know but it looked like somebody wanted him to stop doing it as he later moved to the other side of the road with much the same gap.

 

[hfer07]

overall I think Nibali is the winner today among the GC contenders- the shark is wise & is "controlling" his efforts like clockworks - he did enough to stay close to the top & have the reserves ready for the battles ahead-I'm afraid Wiggo has that weakness, where he performs good & then begins to fade.... I still like him to podium though....

 

[Parrulo]

on a side note machado managed to go from 27th to 16th with his time trial performance. the form clearly is there so he better start performing in the mountains aswell because so far he has been really average there. . .

if he manages to do that(i hope he does but honestly i doubt he will) he can maybe just maybe top 15 which would be a small improvement over his giro performance . . .

 

[Descender]

Main contenders (in my opinion, sorry Froome, Fuglsang, Kessiakoff, etcetera)

Wiggins
Nibali +11
Mollema +47
Cobo +1'27
Jvdb +2'01
Menchov +2'15
Rodriguez +3'03
Martin +4'38

Although maybe I should take at least Kessiakoff and Froome seriously. I fully expect Fuglsang/Monfort to drop in the mountains and have no serious shot anyway.

Mollema is a contender but Fuglsang isn't?

 

[Tank Engine]

As I so vehemently argued, it was right for Sky to let Wiggo go all out, so that Sky would have two guys high up on GC.

But seriously, Nibali is still in pole position. It will be interesting to see how Sky's tactics evolve. Others doing well: Birdsong, Monfort and Brajkovic. TGBM, Menchov and Wiggo did OK (not great but not a disaster). Most of the climbers will have to do some serious attacking to get back into contention, so it's going to be interesting.

Chapeau to Froome.

 

[theyoungest]

Mollema is a contender but Fuglsang isn't?

Have you seen yesterday's stage? Or any mountain stage Fuglsang has ever done? He just doesn't have it on the real climbs (except in the Dauphiné 2009, I don't know where that Fuglsang went).

 

[Jamsque]

It's going to be interesting to see how the British media covers this, if at all. Froome is not on the radar of casual British fans.

I see that the Guardian has something small about it on its sports page already, they usually cover cycling quite well. The BBC Sport website has one item about cycling on its front page, and that is a story about Contador's CAS hearing. Sigh.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Have you seen yesterday's stage? Or any mountain stage Fuglsang has ever done? He just doesn't have it on the real climbs (except in the Dauphiné 2009, I don't know where that Fuglsang went).

"that" Fuglsang crashed into an oil tanker en route to Liège in stage 4 of the 2009 Vuelta and carved a hole in his leg down to the bone. He's never been the same since really.

 

[theyoungest]

"that" Fuglsang crashed into an oil tanker en route to Liège in stage 4 of the 2009 Vuelta and carved a hole in his leg down to the bone. He's never been the same since really.

I don't really believe that. Gesink had more or less the same injury in that Vuelta and he can still climb... well, until this year, that is

Rather I think Fuglsang has focused on his TT to the detriment of his climbing.

 

[kanari]

Hmmm.... So why aren't anyone talking about the guy that was first on the Kitzbüheler Horn this year? I'm willing to take a bet that he will beat that Dutchie with oversized ears on GC.