Tuarts said:
It's an entirely rational strategy, but I don't really like seeing any rider who hides in the pack for an entire Tour standing on the podium.
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It's an entirely rational strategy, but I don't really like seeing any rider who hides in the pack for an entire Tour standing on the podium.
Mellow Velo said:
I'm not sure the team is that weak in the mountains. They just look exposed as they're forced to do it all. I'm presuming at some point Lofkvist is going to be of some use, and how many teams have a number 2 as strong as Froome?
I think it was just Lofkvist who didn't do his bit today. 2 kilometres from him would have made a big difference.
(I say that without having a clue how much non-mountain domestique work he did).
(I say that without having a clue how much non-mountain domestique work he did).
Zinoviev Letter said:
If a noted GT GC rider did what he is doing then it would be quite disappointing but it is his first time in contention like this so it less of a problem in my view. He still might attack somewhere and try and gain time.
Haven't seen Lofkvist the whole Vuelta, nor Zandio. I'm sure they've been up the front when they have a bit of a train up there, but they haven't been there in the mountains that I've seen.
ok we got the last 6 km of farrapona and the last 6 km of angliru to make some gaps.
this might be a worse vuelta than 2009 after all.can't believe how wrong they designed it.the last six days are useless crap
this might be a worse vuelta than 2009 after all.can't believe how wrong they designed it.the last six days are useless crap
Boo hoo though? If that's their strategy then I don't think anyone can fault them or complain about it.
Anyway I think the stage was good for Sky. People might complain about why they killed off Froome but how many attacks were there and how many people got time on the peloton? 1 person in the end got 8 seconds and he's over 3 minutes off the pace. So I think its mission success for Sky, especially now as they still have Red and its looking like they have only one major competitor for the Overall. I realise anything can happen at Angrilu but the way I see it, there's only 2 MTF left and 1 more minor stage with a climb finish so there's less and less chance for people to attack and stay away and get a decent enough gap to claw back whatever they need,
Anyway I think the stage was good for Sky. People might complain about why they killed off Froome but how many attacks were there and how many people got time on the peloton? 1 person in the end got 8 seconds and he's over 3 minutes off the pace. So I think its mission success for Sky, especially now as they still have Red and its looking like they have only one major competitor for the Overall. I realise anything can happen at Angrilu but the way I see it, there's only 2 MTF left and 1 more minor stage with a climb finish so there's less and less chance for people to attack and stay away and get a decent enough gap to claw back whatever they need,
luckyboy said:
Lofkvist was the one dragging Wiggins up to the front on climbs, and then leaving him with Froome for the finale. Very disappointing today, but he looked in an awful lot of pain on the lower slopes.
Haven't seen much of Zandio.
What race are you watching? Sky have only 1 challenger left?? There are 11 riders withint 2:10 of the race lead with a mountain like Angliru still to come...Tuarts said:
jens_attacks said:
Have to disagree. Some of those final stages are potentially explosive, offering attacking launch pads.
That's excluding Peña Cabarga, too.
Stage 19 has a 4km 9% average ramp, just 13kms from the finish. I'll bet it's on small, twisty roads, too.
Even stage 20 could end an individual's dreams. The final climb might top out at 48kms to go, but it's quite a beast.
Dekker_Tifosi said:
How many of those can you say are actually challengers though? Nibali, Wiggins, Mollema (I don't know how he will fare on Angliru though), and it remains to be seen if Rodriguez can take the massive amount of time back there (which hasn't happened there before).
Froome is working for Wiggins (and nobody has any idea how he will fare in this position over the rest of the GT), and the rest don't look like they will be upto challenging in comparison with the above four (they will all be fighting over top 10 places).
hatcher said:
Löfkvist has been on the front in the lower slopes both today and Covatilla (if I remember correctly), he said he feels bad some days and good other days. He probably is on water carrying duty and watching out for Wiggins. He also did a leadout for Sutton's win I think?
Zandio have I only seen shelled out today so I don't know much about him.
But Possoni is a big revelation (except Froome), has he done anything near this while in Team Sky?
Dekker_Tifosi said:
One main contender though in Nibali, keep misinterpreting what I say. Others may be close but the point remains, on all these stages that have had an influence on GC no one has put in any significant amount of time on others. Today Fuglsang and Froome lost 17 seconds and we're talking like its the end of the world for them. As I mentioned, I realise Angrilu could come up with anything but at the current rate, no one is gaining enough time on Wiggins or the others out of 5 important stages to the GC and unless Liquigas try and do a TTT again on another stage then we've only got 3 more stages (14,15,17) that will likely matter in terms of GC.
jens_attacks said:
no kidding. they murdered the pure climbers with the long ITT. this stage turns out to be a long slog suiting wiggins. and there is only the weekend mountains for chances.
hrotha said:
The fact that Wiggins caught him immediately the first time he "attacked" shows how serious that "attack" was.
Are we forgetting the steep hill finishes in the first week where Rodriguez could catch 10/20 seconds + 20 seconds bonification on Wiggins?Gingerale said:
Dekker_Tifosi said:
which can only happen again if katusha control the breakaways, which sky did not seem to bothered about today!
Yes. Actually I expected him to do better.meandmygitane said:
2010:
8th Overall Tour of Austria
2nd Overall Brixia Tour
5th Overall Vuelta a Burgos
2011:
5th Overall Tour Méditerranéen
7th Overall Tour of Austria
6th Overall Brixia Tour
Gingerale said:
Love the excuses for all the riders with big reputations who can't put out.
Anton & Jrod fail? Don't worry, we'll just redefine all the climbs as long hard slogs.
Wonderful logical contortions. Start from the assumption that Wiggins can't climb, and thus redefine all the climbs he does well on as something else.
Those 10% gradients you rode today...Time trial.
meandmygitane said:
Possoni has had a few really good performances in the high mountains. Last year his end of season was:
8th overall Tour of Austria (inc 4th on the Kitzbuheler Horn stage).
2nd overall Tour of Brixia (3rd on the queen stage).
Then he did a really good climb in the Vuelta a Burgos where he was left climbing in the front group with only Anton, Samuel Sanchez, Nibali, and Mosquera. Ultimately finishing 5h overall.
He hasn't followed it up with great success this year, but still shows promise I reckon.
hrotha said:
...and why would he attempt a sustained, multi km attack into a strong headwind? For a rider of his size that would be suicide.
Waterloo Sunrise said:
wrong. i don't underestimate wiggins defense on the steeper climbs coming up and sky appears strong. and i'm disappointed with the ITT results and what i thought might be a good vuelta for pure climbers. also accepting that wiggins will be tough to beat. the climb today was different than i'd hoped. "slog" was about the stage being disappointing with lack of excitement. brad controlled it and if he defends the jersey to madrid, great.
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