2014 Vuelta - predictions for best prepared rider

[Escarabajo]

Either change the polll or start a new thread. This poll is horrible!

 

[sittingbison]

Poll changed

Thread moved to clinic

Keep calm and carry on

Cheers
Bison

 

[the sceptic]

Horner will dig up his stash that he has hidden somewhere in Spain and win the GC by about 5 minutes.

Froome will get "sick" and finish 2 hours down. After Brailsford annonce which french rider he will sign, Froome will get exiled to garmin and never heard from again.

 

[red_flanders]

Froome to remind all what a top-drawer doper looks like.

 

[Dear Wiggo]

I think Cadel may have podiumed the Tour just finished.

The only reason I can imagine he's going to the Vuelta is contractual necessity, surely?

I can't see him making top 5.

And it's his last big race - no way in hell would he prepare for a good result!?

But yes, I want a dry, perfect conditions, noone falls over, noone gets sick race. I want full ***. And I want them all pinged on Christmas day.

 

[Escarabajo]

Poll changed

Thread moved to clinic

Keep calm and carry on

Cheers
Bison

What do you mean by best "prepated"?

 

[Dear Wiggo]

What do you mean by best "prepated"?

prepared. context is king.

 

[djpbaltimore]

prepared. context is king.

Horner has no hair left on his pate. So would he be the least prepated?

 

[sittingbison]

What do you mean by best "prepated"?

Mybad

Ill leave as is...a bit of humour never goes astray

 

[Eyeballs Out]

Presumably Quintana has been hiding in Columbia for 6 weeks ? If so I vote for him. Seems to work well

 

[Dear Wiggo]

Horner has no hair left on his pate. So would he be the least prepated?

An interesting angle, no doubt.

I wonder if Danny Pate will be in the running for best prePated rider?

Hmmmm....

 

[Escarabajo]

Mybad

Ill leave as is...a bit of humour never goes astray

LOL. No problem.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Pozzo wearing brown bibs will take this.

 

[Mishrak]

I'm actually tipping Quintana to win this over Froome. I haven't seen a guy climb like Quintana in a long time. And that's not necessarily saying I think it's legit.

 

[TourOfSardinia]

This could be the benchmark:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lENmCtsWnE

tdf 2013 Stage 20

 

[doperhopper]

So now when it's about "most peppered" rider we can safely say HornyGrandpa, though it still may not be enough to win given the strong cast.

 

[Dear Wiggo]

It's seemed to me in the last 3 years (2011-2013) that the Vuelta has brought out the most ridiculous performances.

Froome in 2011.
Horner in 2013.

Now we have both riders, plus a bunch of others, including Clean Cadel, all aiming to rescue some semblance of 2014 glory.

It's like the perfect storm of alien performance possibilities.

 

[42x16ss]

It's seemed to me in the last 3 years (2011-2013) that the Vuelta has brought out the most ridiculous performances.

Froome in 2011.
Horner in 2013.

Now we have both riders, plus a bunch of others, including Clean Cadel, all aiming to rescue some semblance of 2014 glory.

It's like the perfect storm of alien performance possibilities.

Oh yeah, this is going to be mental. If Contador was able to recover this would be the best showdown for quite a while.

I'm tipping the Vuelta to run true to form and someone to come from relative obscurity with a ballistic performance. They may not win it, but they'll give it a good shot.

 

[Hautacam]

Someone else - Bjarne Riis to make the mother of all unprecedented comebacks and assume a new role as rider/manager of Saxo-Tinkoff. Gets a backdated prescription from the UCI for a generous amount of EPO thus enabling him to raise his haematocrit level to a rather unhealthy 56 %. Receives a TUE for anabolic steroids from the UCI. Loses 25kgs in body weight. Rides up all the climbs on a 55 x 11 at supersonic breakneck speeds, breaking all climbing records by unheard of margins in the process, and creating a new breed of cyclist that Anton Vayer will dub Super Mutant, while the entire field are resigned to mere spectators......

On a serious note Nairo Quintana.

 

[FoxxyBrown1111]

Interesting differences between the clinic and the RR poll:

Horner is a underdog there (7%), but a real option here (21%). I guess the RR people don´t believe in miracles. ... (and BBs of course)

Quintana is the big favo there (51%), but gets only 35% here (inclusive the 26% "else" voters; since the OP forgot to include him in the beginning. Major blunder if you ask me).

Froome is even (26% vs 25%).

Let´s see who made the better forecast. My bet is the clinic. More expierience here, with all the shit we know, that goes on behind curtains.

 

[TheSpud]

Where's the Vino option?

 

[gustienordic]

As much as I would love Quintana to win, I can't look past Froome on this one. I bet he will be full jet fuel to salvage the s*** year that SKY has had so far. They NEED some GT success.

 

[Escarabajo]

Where's the Vino option?

He is cleans now!

 

[SeriousSam]

I don't think I could bear another GT without Super Mutant performances, it's been two now.

Thank god Sky will roll out a fully charged dawg in Spain.

 

[Dear Wiggo]

I don't think I could bear another GT without Super Mutant performances, it's been two now.

Thank god Sky will roll out a fully charged dawg in Spain.

And hopefully an afterburner enabled Porte to complete the picture. Dominant domestiques always adds a bit of sparkle to mutant GC performances.