2012 Vuelta a España: Stage 4:Barakaldo-Estación de Valdezcaray 160.6 Km

[No_Balls]

Bola is the last stage before Madrid... I seriously hope he doesn't leave it until then.

Very true. Thought it was much closer then that (havent checked the route for a while).

 

[alberto.legstrong]

Is there a thread for tomorrow's stage yet?

I think Thursday's could/should/might be interesting.

 

[Boardslide]

I was waiting for such a simple minded reaction to be posted here.


And for what team does Danny Pate ride?

A different one to Haydon

 

[Publicus]

Bradley McGee ‏@Bradley_McGee
#teamsaxobanktinkoffbank in crash with Sorenson losing some skin. Noval managed to land ON Nicki so he is fine! Other boys ok + AC moves up.

Sorensen didn't lose his skin because of the actual crash itself, did he.

Noval may have gotten hungry. I hear he's a stress eater.

 

[mscaviy2601]

In the video we see 2 sky riders look back at the crash then keep going, yeah sure they didn't know . Why would they keep the pace up after the crash unless they knew without a doubt that a GC rival had been in the crash?

Why should Sky wait? They had already upped the tempo prior to the crash plus it was Movistar, ie the team that had to be forced to wait up in the TDS when the railway barrier came down,

 

[LaFlorecita]

No idea what this says. Google translate mangled it.

Woops I'm sorry , well you got your answer

At the same time McGee says he held back cos the climb was to easy and he didnt want him to waste alot of energy for marginal gains

Yes Alberto knew gaps wouldn't be big, btw I find it telling that Alberto says this, normally he would never say such things in the media. I am optimistic

To add to the drama of today (from a non-Movistar rider):

Gee. Sky ****ed up.

 

[djlovesyou]

Ye after 4-5 riders and a journalist all agreeing that it was Sky who directly or indirectly caused the crash I have, so far, made up my mind.

No offence, but your mind was completely made up probably before you even saw the incident.

 

[El Pistolero]

It seems different people have different idea's

Danny Pate ‏@TheDPate

Went in crosswind first & crash was second, Not the other way around. Flecha had nothing to do with guys crashing themselves behind us


Hayden Roulston ‏@HaydenRoulston

@TheDPate amen

Danny who?

 

[Cimber]

No offence, but your mind was completely made up probably before you even saw the incident.

Since I saw the incident live I could hardly have made up my mind before that U shouldnt assume so much.

But for the record I didnt blame Sky for the crash untill all the rider reports poured in. During the race I only blamed them for psuhing on even after the leader went down

 

[Kwibus]

To add to the drama of today (from a non-Movistar rider):

Adam Hansan was the first to go down so I guess his opinion is a valuable one.

I don't mind Sky trying to force echelons. Actually I love it they tried, but don't tell us afterwards they didn't know Valverde crashed because that's such a load of bullcrap it's unbelievable.
Sky decided to pull hard and at the same time, because Sky went to front with a bang, there was a bang behind them. The leading Sky guy saw it happening and could've reacted. I mean this was maybe not the right way to create some gaps don't we all agree?

I'm not a fan of waiting for others, but this situation was a bit different.

Oh well. Who doesn't like a bit of drama?

 

[User Guide]

If it was someone other than sky everyone would be applauding them sticking it to the peleton.
Long straight road, strong crosswinds, movistar should of been pulling at the front.
Blame whoever you like,dont put yourself in a bad spot.

 

[Cimber]

Google translated:

Juanjo Cobo @ CoboJuanjo

Happy to have had a good feeling but ****ed by the behavior of Team Sky. You have to run with some fairplay.

 

[The Sheep]

Danny who?

Danny "with eyes in the back of his head" Pate

 

[Cimber]

If it was someone other than sky everyone would be applauding them sticking it to the peleton.
Long straight road strong crosswinds movistar should of been pulling at the front.
Blame whoever you like,dont put yourself in a bad spot.

I think their cross-wind attack was great. I always love that. But not cool to press on when the leader crashes

 

[DominicDecoco]

Pro athletes should really not be using twitter btw..

 

[User Guide]

I think their cross-wind attack was great. I always love that. But not cool to press on when the leader crashes

Ill go with Sean Kelly's assesment.
Attack>crash> dont wait
Crash>dont attack or sit up

 

[Cimber]

Valverde: "No tienen cojones, se cruzan, te tiran y no paran..."

 

[maxmartin]

Normally they dont check the general impression on a bike but studying their face and, more importantly, their eyes.

Froom wore big reflective sunglasses throughout the stage, I doubt any his opponents can really see his eyes, not in this stage anyway

 

[Cimber]

Ill go with Sean Kelly's assesment.
Attack>crash> dont wait
Crash>dont attack or sit up

In this case

Attack = crash

 

[Cimber]

Pro athletes should really not be using twitter btw..

Nor should their wifes Tbh I like that they do. U get alot more unfiltered info

 

[Mellow Velo]

I'm finding it very hard to take some of you guys seriously.

I'm surprised you even try.
Where would they be without Sky to chew on and not having see the race?

Two riders touch wheels and cause a bit of a pile up, when race tempo suddenly changes.
Shocking. Who'd have thought?
It's the same old same old that we have, every other sprint finish.

 

[Cimber]

Sergi López-Egea‏@sergi_lopezegea

Unzué: "Flecha dio un bandazo de der. a iz. nos arrastró a todos al carajo. El daño ya está hecho, pero que no hablen luego de deportividad"

 

[No_Balls]

Froom wore big reflective sunglasses throughout the stage, I doubt any his opponents can really see his eyes, not in this stage anyway

I saw that. But apperently AC saw something we couldnt (and i dont think it was Froomes strange behavior on a bike since he must have learned it by now).

 

[Cimber]

I'm surprised you even try.
Where would they be without Sky to chew on and not having see the race?

Two riders touch wheels and cause a bit of a pile up, when race tempo suddenly changes.
Shocking. Who'd have tough?
It's the same old same old that we have, every other sprint finish.

U just lack a few keywords though:

Leaders jersey + talking advantage

 

[Waterloo Sunrise]

Just seen the interview with Unzue - he specifically blames Flecha for causing the crash.

Seeing as Flecha was right at the front, a long way clear of where the crash occured, it feels like his argument is that Sky caused the crash by trying to form eschelons, which is clearly nonsense.

Combined with the actual video evidence, this feels like emotional people looking for a satisfying target to blame - I can't blame them for it to be honest, but the people round here trying to treat cycling like WWE probably need to find a new hobby.

The only argument which holds any water against Sky is if they actually caused the crash through a specific dangerous move. Keeping going is not a problem given the number of times Movistar have done exactly that to other riders this season. Trying to form eschelons is no more of a dangerous manoeuver than attacking on a descent, which was how Movistar induced Levi's crash in PN (by their causal logic...).