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2014 Vuelta a Espana, stage 18: A Estrada-Monte Castrove en Meis (157 km)

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Aug 16, 2013
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jens_attacks said:
i still find it ridiculous that some believe alberto couldn't have closed the gap lol

watch the final kms once again, at one point there are only 4-5 seconds gap, alberto could have closed it easily but choose to teach purito and bala a lesson. of course he does that only because he's confident in his power and knows that froome can't drop him for real. otherwise you don't mess with froomey trust me.

All three could close the gap easily ofcourse. Froome and Aru were not better, they are lucky they're not Spaniards;)

But Alberto did a clever job, if you don't want to let Valverde or Purito win the stage. And that was his goal. If he closed the gap, the other two would have followed him, and would have outsprinted him in the end.

Froome is indeed no threat anymore. Alberto is going to drop Froome on Ancares if he wants.
 
Nov 23, 2013
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Oldman said:
Froome was given some latitude while the other guys played games. Contador is clearly toying with everyone if you watch the last 3km. He could've bridged anytime and they chopped Froome's lead instantly when they jumped. No big losers or winners here, just mind games.

This is what I'm thinking. Saturday will be a repeat of stage 16. This could be why AC didn't bother chasing down Froomie. Stae 20 Froomie will ride away from all the others with AC on his wheel and AC attacks at 1k to take time from all.
 
Ferminal said:
Typical Vuelta depth.

I mean, I'm not sure why you're singling out the Vuelta, this is a pretty good field. Navarro is in 9th; he got the same position in the Tour last year, in 'typical Tour depth'. If you want to cherry pick results to make a field look poor, J-C Frickin' Peraud got 2nd in le Tour for chrissake. Dunno if a drive-by shot at the Vuelta is really appropriate here.
 
Nov 23, 2013
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skidmark said:
I mean, I'm not sure why you're singling out the Vuelta, this is a pretty good field. Navarro is in 9th; he got the same position in the Tour last year, in 'typical Tour depth'. If you want to cherry pick results to make a field look poor, J-C Frickin' Peraud got 2nd in le Tour for chrissake. Dunno if a drive-by shot at the Vuelta is really appropriate here.

Agreed. This is a deep race. Can you imagine if Horner and Quintana were around?
 
Arredondo said:
All three could close the gap easily ofcourse. Froome and Aru were not better, they are lucky they're not Spaniards;)

But Alberto did a clever job, if you don't want to let Valverde or Purito win the stage. And that was his goal. If he closed the gap, the other two would have followed him, and would have outsprinted him in the end.

Froome is indeed no threat anymore. Alberto is going to drop Froome on Ancares if he wants.

Purito disagrees with you :)
 
skidmark said:
I mean, I'm not sure why you're singling out the Vuelta, this is a pretty good field. Navarro is in 9th; he got the same position in the Tour last year, in 'typical Tour depth'. If you want to cherry pick results to make a field look poor, J-C Frickin' Peraud got 2nd in le Tour for chrissake. Dunno if a drive-by shot at the Vuelta is really appropriate here.

Navarro was in the 20's-30's on mountain stages where he was not in the break in the Tour. Here he is top-10ish on the climbs
 
Mar 9, 2013
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I was watching the stage this morning. And I have to say i was kinda happy AC did not just chase Froome. Let Valverde chase! AC can throw down on stage 20 if he wants to. Screw AV & Purito let them earn there podium spots. They need to attack and if they cannot follow Froome so be it.
 
felt contador wasn't as good as he said surely he would have tried a late attack to close few seconds and gap the two others than follow them to the line. Aru is so good at timing an attack and Froome worked well with him when he caught him to get the job done race on.
 
thehook said:
I was watching the stage this morning. And I have to say i was kinda happy AC did not just chase Froome. Let Valverde chase! AC can throw down on stage 20 if he wants to. Screw AV & Purito let them earn there podium spots. They need to attack and if they cannot follow Froome so be it.

Valverde's only goal in life seems to be to finish ahead of Purito. He doesn't seem to care about the second place.
 
roundabout said:
Navarro was in the 20's-30's on mountain stages where he was not in the break in the Tour. Here he is top-10ish on the climbs

navarro is going like a rocket right now though, big ring and all that stuff

in my humble opinion, the highest level of climbers of the whole year is right now in beautiful spain. and by far.
 
Mar 31, 2010
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LaFlorecita said:
The big guys are pushing 6.4-6.5 W/kg on the climbs. That is pretty damn good.

they are all shiort climbs and short efforts. the level in this vuelta definitely isn't very high. an off form froome and valverd who did a tour are among the best. even aru who is only 24 in his 2nd gc is near their level
 
Aug 16, 2013
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Ryo Hazuki said:
they are all shiort climbs and short efforts. the level in this vuelta definitely isn't very high. an off form froome and valverd who did a tour are among the best. even aru who is only 24 in his 2nd gc is near their level

The whole top-4 are quite off form.

Bar Valverde perhaps, who always rides well in the Vuelta after a hard Tour.
 
Aug 4, 2010
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Ryo Hazuki said:
they are all shiort climbs and short efforts. the level in this vuelta definitely isn't very high. an off form froome and valverd who did a tour are among the best. even aru who is only 24 in his 2nd gc is near their level
your prediction on quintana with this field?
 
Ryo Hazuki said:
they are all shiort climbs and short efforts. the level in this vuelta definitely isn't very high. an off form froome and valverd who did a tour are among the best. even aru who is only 24 in his 2nd gc is near their level

yes this is very slow level. worst grand tour of the year. no colombian in the top 50...


lol
 
Sep 16, 2009
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jens_attacks said:
yes this is very slow level. worst grand tour of the year. no colombian in the top 50...


lol


I kinda agree with him. I mean, Valverde has no business being on the podium. The climbing stages haven't been that hard.
 
Valverde is always at his best in the Vuelta irrespective of racing in July, more often than not it's actually his peak. That most of the climbs have been shorter than a standard 35-40mins doesn't mean anything really if you're comparing Froome/Contador/Quintana/Nibali, obviously it favours the duo with higher anaerobic capacity (relatively speaking - that they are still getting smoked should be telling enough) but that is not what is in question.
 

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