2014 Vuelta a Espana, Stage 6: Benalmádena → La Zubia

[No_Balls]

not going for GC.

Dont be fooled when he will be flying in 2nd,3rd week in real mountatin stages lol. I guess first a bit! suitable stage for him is 9 if they will go hard from penultimate climb.

As i have written in the past i rank Quintana very high and he is far from being out of contention, but the hype needs to be put into perspective.

To write he was "a winner today" is absolutely ridiciulous if you a) actually expected him to drop and b) noted who won. Valverde. His teammate. Who looked like a monster today.

If there was another route i would have taken this lightly. But it wont be easy to fly away from Piti in this kind of form. And there are perhaps more stages in total that favors him over Nairo.

 

[Coat-O]

How steep is the false flat tommorow?

 

[Arredondo]

How steep is the false flat tommorow?

Last 5 km are at 3%. Last 2 k are 4% however.

 

[spanky wanderlust]

piti will crack eventually, mark my words.

val has a storied history of being super strong in the first week of gts.

all we've learned today is that it is possible to go deep in the tdf, recover and be really strong in the first week of the vuelta.

he will crack, sooner rather than later.

 

[damian13ster]

I did say Froome would flop....lets see what happens

Froome same time as the winner.......

 

[hfer07]

last 6k

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKF6a7bH2_Q

 

[sultanofhyd]

Valverde was also faster than Contador in all of the uphill sprint finishes in the 2012 Vuelta but come the big mountains he was nowhere. Contador is in much much better form now. Valverde is not a GC winner, definitely not against this field.

 

[DirtyWorks]

One can't judge Quintana on the sole evidence of today's performance... have to wait until stage 9 or so to make a judgement. He's still second in the GC and has excellent recovery so it's still very possible that he can win.

+1 This was only the first climb that was guaranteed to sort out GC contenders. He's where he needs to be to be GC leader on the last day. In case it's not obvious, I'm not saying he'll win. Just that he's very well positioned to win.

The other GC contenders had to burn some reserves. If Quintana is in excellent condition, he burned less. We know Froome did because he didn't immediately cover the attack. That's going to matter in the third week.

 

[Rollthedice]

People didn't realize that Valverde, rather than Purito was on training ride in Tour de France for peaking at Vuelta.

 

[damian13ster]

+1 This was only the first climb that was guaranteed to sort out GC contenders. He's where he needs to be to be GC leader on the last day. In case it's not obvious, I'm not saying he'll win. Just that he's very well positioned to win.

The other GC contenders had to burn some reserves. If Quintana is in excellent condition, he burned less. That's going to matter in the third week.

He is in a much worse position than he was at after stage 1.
Also, GC contenders burning reserves? Do you suggest Quintana just decided to rest and lose 12 seconds....... Nobody was saving themselve here (well, maybe Valverde wasnt going top speed so that Quintana doesnt crack earlier)

 

[Coat-O]

Last 5 km are at 3%. Last 2 k are 4% however.

Another one for Matthews then.

 

[spanky wanderlust]

So you agree that those who had him as favorite for the stage overrated his chances?

this stage was tailor made for purito. he just went too soon.

whether he is overrated is not the issue here.

imo, people who are rating him to win this vuelta with this field, are out of their dang minds.

but predicting that purito might outsprint a group at the top of a short, sharp climb in the vuelta is not overrating him. that's what he does.

he just went too early. maybe he was overrating himself.

 

[damian13ster]

People didn't realize that Valverde, rather than Purito was on training ride in Tour de France for peaking at Vuelta.

Haha, I had exact same thought. He looked very weak in Tour, but it is very possible that with top guys going there (Contador, Froome, Nibali) and peaking for TdF he thought its better to peak at Vuelta (of course he couldnt predict the crashes in Tour)

 

[yespatterns]

He is in a much worse position than he was at after stage 1.
Also, GC contenders burning reserves? Do you suggest Quintana just decided to rest and lose 12 seconds....... Nobody was saving themselve here (well, maybe Valverde wasnt going top speed so that Quintana doesnt crack earlier)

I think they (Piti and Quintana) had the conversation, and the go was given for Valverde to take the win. Quintana probably isn't worried, and the climb had Valverde written all over it. Makes sense to me.

 

[DirtyWorks]

He is in a much worse position than he was at after stage 1.
Also, GC contenders burning reserves? Do you suggest Quintana just decided to rest and lose 12 seconds....... Nobody was saving themselve here (well, maybe Valverde wasnt going top speed so that Quintana doesnt crack earlier)

Maybe a better phrase is acceptable loss. Send Valverde out with the intention of creating pain for everyone, but keeping Quintana close by is a good GC strategy for any team with depth.

 

[damian13ster]

Losing time to main GC rivals is never a good strategy....
Again, no sugarcoating it. Valverde set things up perfectly, Quintana was too weak (just watching replays)

 

[jens_attacks]

one of the reasons there was such a boring climb is that they were dead at the foot of cumbres verdes in my opinion. they were riding like demons for the last hour to catch the breakaway. massive effort. ok maybe not the big guns were tired but their teammates they were all dead. not even movistar did a decent train at the foot, they were all gone.


still the last kms made up for it, i luved it. epic valverde and all the top 20 strong as hell. it will be a superb vuelta no doubt

 

[arvc40]

Maybe a better phrase is acceptable loss. Send Valverde out with the intention of creating pain for everyone, but keeping Quintana close by is a good GC strategy for any team with depth.

Giving away anytime to Froome or Contador is a **** strategy !

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

History learns it would be foolish to trust any dutch rider in the mountains.

What does any dutch rider have to do with conclusions about todays top 5?

If you can't win a discussion with any relevant argument, don't revert to obvious trolling.

 

[BigMac]

Do you have a thing for him?

I definitely have a thing for him.

I think they (Piti and Quintana) had the conversation, and the go was given for Valverde to take the win. Quintana probably isn't worried, and the climb had Valverde written all over it. Makes sense to me.

I don't think so. Valverde was pushing the pace for Quintana, however, once Purito attacked, Valverde (still acting somewhat as a domestique) tried to follow and pull him back. Meanwhile, Nairo faded and Bala took his chance. The way I see it, It was opportunistic, not decided between the two.

one of the reasons there was such a boring climb is that they were dead at the foot of cumbres verdes in my opinion. they were riding like demons for the last hour to catch the breakaway. massive effort. ok maybe not the big guns were tired but their teammates they were all dead. not even movistar did a decent train at the foot, they were all gone.


still the last kms made up for it, i luved it. epic valverde and all the top 20 strong as hell. it will be a superb vuelta no doubt

Says how things are much more interesting without trains, in whatever terrain.

 

[damian13ster]

I definitely have a thing for him.


I don't think so. Valverde was pushing the pace for Quintana, however, once Purito attacked, Valverde (still acting somewhat as a domestique) tried to follow and pull him back. Meanwhile, Nairo faded and Bala took his chance. The way I see it, It was opportunistic, not decided between the two.



Says how things are much more interesting without trains, in whatever terrain.

Yeah, Valverde is truly great this season and attacks quite a bit.
No way valverde and Quintana decided that Nairo will lose time. Things that people post here sometimes.........'turns head in disbelief'

Quintana cracked, and he cracked badly. lost 12 seconds in around 400m.
Contador's acceleration was impressive. I thought he wont be able to follow Valverde, he was couple of meters back. Froome doesnt look near 100%, still pretty damn good though.

Now, it doesnt look like movistar has any other guys capable to get to the final clumb on stage 9. Quintana's turn to set the pace

 

[Coat-O]

Still, look at that top 5, guys. Valverde, Froome, Contador, Purito, Quintana. They promised us a show, and we got it.

If Froome is in non-alien mode, it's going to be an epic race.

 

[Pricey_sky]

Great rides from Contador and Froome, I think we could well be in for a super battle as I believe both will raise their form the longer the Vuelta goes on.

 

[No_Balls]

I think they (Piti and Quintana) had the conversation, and the go was given for Valverde to take the win. Quintana probably isn't worried, and the climb had Valverde written all over it. Makes sense to me.

It does not make sense that he lost 12 seconds on purpose to Froome/Contador no.

 

[Jagartrott]

How ridiculous are the Garmin DS?
After the fiasco with 'setting up' Slagter in the Tour, they have their team as the only team chase down the break, then their best man ends 25th or so.