2012 Vuelta a España: Stage 3: Faustino V → Eibar (Arrate) (155,3km)

[trevim]

15. Marczynsky +27

This year's Lagutin!? Contador OK perhaps missing some power or what, he had troubles making gaps.... And another comeback: Valverde! This is the old Valverde right there...

De Gendt and Machado out of top40.... Time to become a superdomestique for Tiago? And smaller stage races?

Off to the Volta.

 

[marioni]

Best stage of the year. Contador!!! What a difference he makes..

 

[SafeBet]

So Benat was the other Movistar in the group.
I like

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

GC

1 Valverde
2 Intxausti 18s
3 Rodriguez 19s
4 Froome 20s
5 Contador 24s
6 Mollema 28s
7 Gesink 28s
8 Uran 30s
9 Moreno 33s
10 Anton 46s

 

[Arnout]

Disappointed in all the Colombians

 

[thehog]

Harmon counts six attacks. Must been have more then in the entire tour.

Contador was 4th because he nearly crashed on final bend.

But yes best racing for a GT since 1989.

ASO watch and learn.

 

[Eshnar]

Have I missed something? I tuned in to see the final climb (7 kms to go, about 15 minutes)... good show, but I come here and read "awesome stage" "best stage of the year" "omg omg omg" etc...
what
the
hell
happened?
Or is it just for the climb (in that case I'll be more confused)

 

[the asian]

Glad Anton lost only 6 seconds.

 

[gthx_gthx_]

Fantastic stage. Great racing from the top 4. Really surprised Valverde stayed up there. Bertie, Froome and JRod all looked good. Not sure why Bertie let Froome take 4seconds bonus though.

Should be a brilliant 3 weeks!

He has the right to be tired after attacking every 50 seconds.

 

[Arnout]

This year's Lagutin!? Contador OK perhaps missing some power or what, he had troubles making gaps.... And another comeback: Valverde! This is the old Valverde right there...

Much too soon to draw conclusions on anything. Remember the first mountain stage of the Tour, with a certain Taaramae.

 

[Der Effe]

Yes, but AC showed Froome that this isn't going to be a team sky parade. If Froome fans are confident, remember, this was nothing for Contador. Wait until the steep climbs show up. Climbing in the saddle is not going to work for Froome.

Exacty. That's why the Tour desperately needed Contador, as he would've made sure the boring Sky parade would've been impossible.

 

[Mellow Velo]

I can't wait to see Froome crack like an over-clamped carbon seatpost. Ain't no way he'll climb with Contador over 3 weeks.

Whatever rocks your boat.
Personally, I hope he can hang with the Spanish trio.
Mollema, Gesink, Anton, Uran, too.

Otherwise, it could turn into a Saxo slaughter, rather than a very competitive climb fest.

Contador was 4th because he nearly crashed on final bend.

But yes best racing for a GT since 1989.

ASO watch and learn.

The irony being that the ASO have a big stake (or should that read steak?) in the Vuelta.
They don't seem to mind climbing, South of the border.

 

[Arnout]

Have I missed something? I tuned in to see the final climb (7 kms to go, about 15 minutes)... good show, but I come here and read "awesome stage" "best stage of the year" "omg omg omg" etc...
what
the
hell
happened?
Or is it just for the climb (in that case I'll be more confused)

Agreed with this. It was refreshing to see attacks, but past editions of the Pays Vasco equivalent of this were more entertaining in my opinion.

 

[BillytheKid]

Today decides nothing, but this climb is always a crowd pleaser.

 

[The Hitch]

Wow, there is so much to read into in those short 5 short km. Valverde looks to be coming back to his old form just in time for worlds. Winner Anacona takes his turn to show Colombian superform coming in 13th s.t with big group.
Contador looks great but not super just yet. Talansky, Intxausti and Capecchi all impressive to finish in that group too. Froome struggled at times but still clearly 1 of 4 best.,

Thomas De Gendt not going to be repeatig giro performance though it seems.

 

[The Sheep]

Where did Quintana finish? Didn't see him in the top 10

 

[rxgqgxnyfz]

Lampre has a rider named

Winner Anacona

don't know about him, but that's some epic name right there.

 

[Lanark]

Have I missed something? I tuned in to see the final climb (7 kms to go, about 15 minutes)... good show, but I come here and read "awesome stage" "best stage of the year" "omg omg omg" etc...
what
the
hell
happened?
Or is it just for the climb (in that case I'll be more confused)

It was a good stage. Nothing really spectacular of course, but there are a lot of Contador fans on this forum, and they were probably happy to see their hero back. He did ride pretty awesome today.

Valverde was probably the biggest suprise, this was by far his strongest performance this year. Froome looked good as well, but he should be worried that he could fade in the second half of the Vuelta with the Tour in his legs.

 

[therealtimshady]

It was Movistar's song .. How far back did Cobo end up?

50 seconds on the day - dropped
Early on the climb but rode strongly to limit losses

 

[Alpehue]

Ohh yeah!

Remember contador needs atleast 1 week to ride into form!

And he will be a lot better once they hit the bigger mountains!

 

[cineteq]

GC

1 Valverde
2 Intxausti 18s
3 Rodriguez 19s
4 Froome 20s
5 Contador 24s
6 Mollema 28s
7 Gesink 28s
8 Uran 30s
9 Moreno 33s
10 Anton 46s

De Gednt, Quintana out already.

 

[roundabout]

Bagot!!!!

For a non-Moncoutie, non-Taaramäe Cofidis rider.

Losers today

Gollum, Menchov (can't even bounce back from one mediocre GT now)

 

[Maaaaaaaarten]

Have I missed something? I tuned in to see the final climb (7 kms to go, about 15 minutes)... good show, but I come here and read "awesome stage" "best stage of the year" "omg omg omg" etc...
what
the
hell
happened?
Or is it just for the climb (in that case I'll be more confused)

Yeah just for the climb

People are overreacting for sure, but six attacks on a climb that isn't even 10km, from a rider everybody likes, after an extremely boring season = these type of reactions.

 

[Arnout]

Where did Quintana finish? Didn't see him in the top 10

I think he was in the Anton group uphill, but didn't spot him anymore in the final k's.

 

[therealtimshady]

Where did Quintana finish? Didn't see him in the top 10

Had a nightmare about 3 mins down on the day