2012 Vuelta a España: Tarazona – Jaca, 175 km

[GTfever]

Roche looked good today, A top 5 is not out of the question

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Contador looking a bit stale.
Caught by Capecchi.

Rabo did well to limit their loses.

Yet I really doubt Gesink would've lost as much if he was better positioned at the start.. His last 500m were really strong. But again... poor positioning. Where is his team?

 

[hiero2]

Why does it feel boring when Sky is on the front?

I really have no idea...

Because instead of attacking - they keep the pace as close to Formula 1 as they can - and prevent attacks.

In a way, the rest, including Saxo, played into Sky's hands today. I didn't see Sky working at the front much until the final climb.

Good race. Although I was rooting for DeGendt!

 

[CobbleStoner]

game back on!
Sky rode smart, waited till all the top guys were isolated then bam, Henao and Uran show up at the front and crush any thoughts of an attack

 

[meat puppet]

Contador looked for me very uncomfortable before the final climb, I think the heat just "killed" him.

actually, I'd entertain the possibility that saxo & bert were sandbagging like astana was in 2010 morzine (or was it that) when andy finally found a pair and attacked at 1k to go.

anyhow, gonna be a tight race probably.

 

[Arnout]

Yes, this was boring. Selective, yet boring.

Well actually it was not extremely boring, at least something happened. But in my course guide I marked this as one of the best stages on paper, and I think it will be. More of this to come, but worse. It is unimaginative, most of all.

 

[SiAp1984]

It is always so nice to see AC get dropped on a climb. He did not even try to follow Froomes attack in the finale. Also a great ride by Rodriguez. Good thing that Valverde took third.

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

Rabo fail, when gesink gets dropped tho he always fights and stays within distance passing others who drop. He actually did ok, I knew this stage would be bad for him. Still he is a long way off being a contender , but if he can get thru this gt and maybe even get a top 5/10 it will be good for him.

 

[webvan]

Could be a bad day.. or is he really not there yet?

Froome... inbeleivable. I really hope Alberto will come back, but he seems strong.

That's where he was at the 2011 TDF, dude's past his prime...oops...

 

[slim charles]

Ha! Didn't expect this to happen, but should make this race much better than we thought. So sorry for Anton

Contador did lose today, but I don't at all think this means he's done. Still think he'll win the race, but hopefully it won't be by 3+ minutes.

And the stage itself wasn't interesting, though.

 

[Afrank]

It's over for Alberto

Still a lot of racing to go, and we haven't gotten in to the really big mountains. You never know what might happen, Froome might crack later in the race.

 

[pastronef]

What a lame stage once again.

two days ago people said this was the best grand tour of the year...

 

[cineteq]

GC

1 101 RODRIGUEZ, Joaquin KAT 21h 45' 06''
2 181 FROOME, Christopher SKY + 10''
3 201 CONTADOR, Alberto STB + 35''
4 188 URAN, Rigoberto SKY + 43''
5 161 GESINK, Robert RAB + 53''
6 9 VALVERDE, Alejandro MOV + 54''
7 19 ROCHE, Nicolas ALM + 1' 04''
8 166 MOLLEMA, Bauke RAB + 1' 12''
9 107 MORENO, Daniel KAT + 1' 17''
10 1 COBO, Juan José MOV + 1' 34''

 

[LaFlorecita]

Still a lot of racing to go, and we haven't gotten in to the really big mountains. You never know what might happen, Froome might crack later in the race.

No .

 

[El Pistolero]

Still a lot of racing to go, and we haven't gotten in to the really big mountains. You never know what might happen, Froome might crack later in the race.

Froome never gets tired, don't you know that by now.

 

[vcampbell]

I think that's not so bad from Contador. I mean he is not the "go fast on short climbs" type of rider (he was good on a few similar stages). There will be much different on longer climbs.

 

[Tyke1968]

Contador is now Uran.

Long climbs will be fascinating.

Froome might win the worlds at this rate.

 

[dgodave]

It is a sad day for cycling.

I thought it was an OK day for cycling. Maybe a hot day for cycling.
.

 

[Der Effe]

Yet I really doubt Gesink would've lost as much if he was better positioned at the start.. His last 500m were really strong. But again... poor positioning. Where is his team?

Horrible racing by Rabobank. Were all at the back at the start of the climb. Wtf, just wtf.

 

[masking_agent]

Looks like Froome's stock just went up again

 

[hfer07]

damn- that finish was amazing-Alberto not in top shape yet & blown up-this Vuelta is getting better & better

Not to precipitate things, but I start to believe Purito is the one that could handle Froome afterwards.....

 

[SafeBet]

It's over for Alberto

Don't be too negative Flo. Bertie is a fighter, he'll try again and again. It's not over at all.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

1 101 RODRIGUEZ, Joaquin KAT 4h 15' 56''
2 181 FROOME, Christopher SKY + 5''
3 9 VALVERDE, Alejandro MOV + 10''
4 201 CONTADOR, Alberto STB + 18''
5 121 CAPECCHI, Eros LIQ + 19''
6 188 URAN, Rigoberto SKY + 20''
7 17 NOCENTINI, Rinaldo ALM + 25''
8 49 SANTAMBROGIO, Mauro BMC + 27''
9 19 ROCHE, Nicolas ALM + 28''
10 161 GESINK, Robert RAB + 32''
11 183 HENAO, Sergio Luis SKY + 35''
12 1 COBO, Juan José MOV + 35''
13 91 TALANSKY, Andrew GRS + 39''
14 117 NIEMIEC, Przemyslaw LAM + 44''
15 171 MONFORT, Maxime RNT + 44''
16 216 MARCZYNSKI, Tomasz VCD + 47''
17 168 TEN DAM, Laurens RAB + 47''
18 12 BOUET, Maxime ALM + 47''
19 136 MEERSMAN, Gianni LTB + 49''
20 48 MORABITO, Steve BMC + 51''
21 166 MOLLEMA, Bauke RAB + 51''

27 71 ANTON, Igor EUS + 57''
28 112 ANACONA, Winner LAM + 57''

 

[gthx_gthx_]

Still a lot of racing to go, and we haven't gotten in to the really big mountains. You never know what might happen, Froome might crack later in the race.

Cracking is impossible for a Sky's leader.

 

[Eyeballs Out]

Katusha did seem very confident Rodriguez would put time into Contador today. These short "wall" finishes have never really been AC's thing. Valverde did pretty well I thought - seems to have recovered well from that crash