2011 Vuelta a Espana Stage 7: Almadén --> Talavera de la Reina, 182.9km (26/8)

[Tank Engine]

I have my doubts about Kittel, a stage in tour of Pologne is not the same as the 7th stage in a GT, after two, three mountainous stages, we'll see how he recuperated. About the others (Farrar, Boonen etc.) we know more or less already that they're able...

True, I have my doubts as well and he may not recuperate. I was however impressed with him beating Farrar on Stage 2, which seemed like a good finish for Tyler (and for Boonen). I think Tommke would do better on a Stage 2 type finish rather than a completely flat finish and that he'll get better as the race goes on.

 

[jens_attacks]

petacchi will beat kittel tomorrow

 

[hrotha]

petacchi will beat kittel tomorrow

Could be - apparently he made it pretty far in today's climb, so he must be feeling good. It's kind of weird having to judge which sprinters are in form solely by how well they're climbing.

 

[Fergoose]

Really?? That climb did look pretty steep (12-14% seems reasonable), although it was uber-grimpeur Degenkolb I saw struggling at that point.

Well, the feed and the coverage I watched both said the side they went up to 11-12% max. Coverage said the other side went up to 14% and I think the mountain breakdown handily supplied in the Stage 6 thread said 16% max gradient. Who knows. I'd be lying if I said I expected the stage to end quite like that.

 

[royalpig180]

Kittel for the win on this one. His team is actually fairly strong and they'll definitely be working for him here. He may not have a proper lead out train but he'll have help and he's also shown in the past that he's good at picking the right wheels to follow and working his way through a hectic sprint (see the final stage in Poland). Oh and he's a beast. Yes, the TdP isn't the Vuelta, but he won 4 stages there comfortably. Watch how early he's celebrating in those videos.

1. Kittel
2. Farrar
3. Bennati
4. Sutton
5. Sagan

 

[The Hitch]

Unfortunately Rendell tipped my beloved Haedo for the win. I hated it when that bald Samu hater tried to take credit for Sanchez winning Luiz Ardiden and while Rendell isnt as big a tool, i dont like when others claim credit for my riders winning

That said ill still love it if the One Jose makes it. But I think hell be 3rd behind Farrar and Kittel.

 

[Swede1]

I'll go with Kittel ftw. I think he looks to be the fastest right now. As long as he doesn't end up positioning himself like Greipel at the Tour, he should be able to win.

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

Marcel Kittel to win.

quoted for truth.

 

[Tuarts]

Farrar
Kittel
Bennati
Pettachi
Gasparotto

Out of interest are those last 3 in contention for a Worlds place?

(With Italy I should mention, I know Pettachi wants to ride with Mongolia or something...)

 

[Ragerod]

I can see Farrar doing a Cavendish and messing up his first genuine opportunity for a stage before winning a handful. So I'm going for Kittel. Skil-Shimano should put together a decent lead-out as well.

 

[auscyclefan94]

Degenkolb imo

On a flat finish Howard is faster imo.

There were EIGHT bunch sprints at the Tour. How is that "killing it off"?

Sprinters already have more chances to win than all other groups of cyclists combined.

Some of the bunch sprints in the tour were either super dangerous, very technical or had an undualtion(s) before the finish. Sprinters are apart of the sport. We know your dislike for them. I would say there was about 6-7 sprint stages. The giro and vuelta are looking to kill the sprinter off. Look at the lack of sprint stages in both grand tours.

 

[ramjambunath]

Finally a proper sprint stage. The course has been much more interesting and the time gaps among the favourites (barring Anton) is still not a lot. TdF could learn from this year's Vuelta and spray in a few sprints among the mountains and hills (admittedly having a couple more sprint stages).
I'm rooting for Kittel to do a GT debutant stage win double after Sagan yesterday.
Is it a straight run to the finish? And what was Nibali whinging about yesterday when he could have coasted to 3rd for 8s bonus.

 

[search]

Is it a straight run to the finish?

it more ore less is:

the roundabout does not seem to be much of a problem (that's at least my impression from watching the pictures)

 

[Mellow Velo]

Degenkolb to lead out Kittel?
The calm before the weekend storms........

 

[Sylvester]

If Sagan tries his luck, he'll be close to the win again. It will be a very chaotic sprint anyway, I hope nobody crashes.

 

[icefire]

I can see Farrar doing a Cavendish and messing up his first genuine opportunity for a stage before winning a handful. So I'm going for Kittel. Skil-Shimano should put together a decent lead-out as well.

If Farrar misses today's stage he only has 2 or 3 more chances. Hardly a handful.

Some of the bunch sprints in the tour were either super dangerous, very technical or had an undualtion(s) before the finish. Sprinters are apart of the sport. We know your dislike for them. I would say there was about 6-7 sprint stages. The giro and vuelta are looking to kill the sprinter off. Look at the lack of sprint stages in both grand tours.

Sprinters can always exercise and display their abilities on the track. Climbers, puncheurs and descenders can't. Money is drawing riders from the track to the road. Races that suit track riders unable to climb over a bridge are boring and driving the general fan away from the sport. Race organisers have clear evidence of this from TV audience data.

 

[kasapas]

question

Can you tell me. Who is the youngest stage winner in Vuelta in last ten years. Give me some statistics I can not find.

 

[Tuarts]

On a flat finish Howard is faster imo.


Some of the bunch sprints in the tour were either super dangerous, very technical or had an undualtion(s) before the finish. Sprinters are apart of the sport. We know your dislike for them. I would say there was about 6-7 sprint stages. The giro and vuelta are looking to kill the sprinter off. Look at the lack of sprint stages in both grand tours.

Where has Howard proven he is faster than Degenkolb?

 

[hrotha]

Some of the bunch sprints in the tour were either super dangerous, very technical or had an undualtion(s) before the finish. Sprinters are apart of the sport. We know your dislike for them. I would say there was about 6-7 sprint stages. The giro and vuelta are looking to kill the sprinter off. Look at the lack of sprint stages in both grand tours.

Overall, sprinters still get more opportunities than, say, breakaway specialists. For all of Cavendish's mild complaints during the Tour, we got 8 sprinter stages (not all of them completely flat, but still). Even at the Giro there were around 5 stages for the sprinters. Yesterday's stage at the Vuelta was one the sprinters could have won, and that's what Leopard was working for. There's simply a tendency to make flat stages more demanding in the GTs, which is perfectly fine. Cavendish won a really tough stage at the Tour, but he wasn't in top shape at the Vuelta so he withdrew. Big deal.

 

[Poursuivant]

Where does everyone get the results from at the end of the stage? Was trying to follow in work but the vuelta site is poor. People on here were my source!

 

[Tuarts]

http://www.lavuelta.com/11/en/resultados/index.html?e=7

 

[Poursuivant]

http://www.lavuelta.com/11/en/resultados/index.html?e=7

Thank you..

 

[Ferminal]

Another devastating BotD:

Fouchard & Mate (COF), Cabello (ACG) and Houanard (ALM). 1'17".

 

[DJ Sprtsch]

10k into the stage they have 4 minutes....

 

[roundabout]

Don't understand the irony as those riders drew a short straw on the day where the break is more unlikely to make it than most unlikely breaks