2015 Giro d'Italia Stage 15: Marostica–Madonna di Campiglio

[red_flanders]

Re:

Am I the only one who thought Contador wanted the stage today but was not as strong as Landa .....Landa definitely strongest climber so in this race

Konig could have ridden for anyone but chose SKY and I think he will get his chance when he has proved it to David Brailsford ...

I'm with you. Landa was the strongest today. Probably because Aru and Contador went full gas yesterday and he didn't. People get tired racing every day...

 

[Flamin]

I thought Astana messed up to win the stage when they didn't try anything on the false flat between 5-3k to go to force Contador on the defense, but in the end Landa was insanely strong so it wasn't really necessary and they got what they wanted. Well played.

edit: why the hell does it mention i edited my post while i just fixed a typo like 10 sec after i posted? that's silly.

 

[Jelantik]

Re: Re:

Am I the only one who thought Contador wanted the stage today but was not as strong as Landa .....Landa definitely strongest climber so in this race

Konig could have ridden for anyone but chose SKY and I think he will get his chance when he has proved it to David Brailsford ...

If he wanted the stage, he would have attacked. Either he wants the Mortirolo or Finestre stage, or he simply doesn't care if he wins the race without any stages.

Yup. Contador didn't give anyone win. Landa beat him. He just said in the interview w/ Fletcha... That's what great champion does, just admit it that move on. There's plenty of stage to win if he still wants to win the stag.

 

[The_Cheech]

Re:

König is another reminder why I hate Sky (and used to hate USPS)...

They use their massive budget to buy talented riders like König, Nieve (who looks absolutely demotivated), Poels etc., but will never commit to them. It have to be Anglo-Saxon rider as captain or nothing...

At least Astana, Katusha, Tinkoff are ready to give the limelight to whomever deserves it in their squad.

Not for nothing but... I don't think Porte can be considered "Anglo-Saxon".

Methinks it has to do with it being an British team wanting a British leader. It's not a British "thing" either. Every team does it.

 

[hrotha]

Re: Re:

Well he just said on Eurosport that he was beaten by Landa and he didn't give it away

But of course you are unbiased

I don't know if he could have beaten Landa, but I do know saying he gifted him the stage would have been absolutely classless.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re: Re:

Am I the only one who thought Contador wanted the stage today but was not as strong as Landa .....Landa definitely strongest climber so in this race

Konig could have ridden for anyone but chose SKY and I think he will get his chance when he has proved it to David Brailsford ...

If he wanted the stage, he would have attacked.

Well he just said on Eurosport that he was beaten by Landa and he didn't give it away

But of course you are unbiased

Yeah, Contador always speaks the truth in interviews I don't know if he could have dropped Landa, however I do know he never seriously tried. He accelerated a few times, saw Landa wasn't going to drop, and then decided to chill with Aru

 

[Geraint Too Fast]

When Movistar said Intxausti and Izaguirre would be there leaders for the Giro, they actually meant Amador and Visconti.

An easy mistake to make, I'm sure you'll agree.

 

[Mr.White]

Re:

What the hell is wrong with Landa? He kind of attacked three or four times and exposed Aru in the process.

To me it looked like Astana and Tinkers agreed to let an Astana rider win the stage.

What the hell is wrong with you?! He tried to get away solo, but Contador marked him every time, isn't his fault that his leader is weaker and can't hold wheels. He should try from far out

 

[TheGreenMonkey]

Re: Re:

Am I the only one who thought Contador wanted the stage today but was not as strong as Landa .....Landa definitely strongest climber so in this race

Konig could have ridden for anyone but chose SKY and I think he will get his chance when he has proved it to David Brailsford ...

I'm with you. Landa was the strongest today. Probably because Aru and Contador went full gas yesterday and he didn't. People get tired racing every day...

Landa went full gas yesterday, it was quite a good TT for Landa, he is just a bad TTer.

 

[Arredondo]

Re: Re:

Am I the only one who thought Contador wanted the stage today but was not as strong as Landa .....Landa definitely strongest climber so in this race

Konig could have ridden for anyone but chose SKY and I think he will get his chance when he has proved it to David Brailsford ...

If he wanted the stage, he would have attacked.

Well he just said on Eurosport that he was beaten by Landa and he didn't give it away

But of course you are unbiased

Yeah, Contador always speaks the truth in interviews I don't know if he could have dropped Landa, however I do know he never seriously tried. He accelerated a few times, saw Landa wasn't going to drop, and then decided to chill with Aru

But he could have dropped Landa with ease?

 

[MotorRouleur]

Ryder

What's the Giro's obsession with Hesjedal? Still because he won a number of years ago?

He is still a great rider with great aerobic capacity. He was just behind the front group riding on a good pace passing riders. I was impressed. And now don't understand why people keep criticizing him.

He has zero for a team, does it all alone, and does not give up, unlike 'superstars' Porte & Uran. A few stages ago Ryder was 22nd. He's now 13th, and more to come. He stays under the radar and just steadily moves up.
Bold denotes team leader

1 Alberto Contador (Spa) Tinkoff-Saxo no change
2 Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana Pro Team nc
3 Andrey Amador (CRc) Movistar Team nc
4 Mikel Landa (Spa) Astana Pro Team 7th to 4th
5 Leopold Konig (Cze) Team Sky 10 to 5
6 Yury Trofimov (Rus) Team Katusha 13 to 6
7 Damiano Caruso (Ita) BMC Racing Team nc
8 Maxime Monfort (Bel) Lotto Soudal 11 to 8
9 Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Movistar Team 12 to 9
10 Alexandre Geniez (Fra) FDJ.fr 16 to 10
11 Jurgen VD Broeck (Bel) Lotto Soudal 5 to 11 loss
12 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Tinkoff-Saxo 9 to 12 loss
13 Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Cannondale-Garmin 15 to 13
14 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo 14 to 21 major gain
15 Rigoberto Uran (Col) Etixx - Quick-Step 4 to 15 major loss

 

[Mr.White]

Re:

porte arrived

Inside the time limit?

 

[hfer07]

Gibo advising Aru on how to attack Contador & trying to break him---- and Aru responds He and the team have tried endlessly to do so but in vain, since -after all - IS CONTADOR - you can't just drop Contador

 

[Hugo Koblet]

Re:

What the hell is wrong with Landa? He kind of attacked three or four times and exposed Aru in the process.

To me it looked like Astana and Tinkers agreed to let an Astana rider win the stage.

What do you mean what's wrong? It doesn't matter if Landa exposed Aru because Aru put time into his rivals today and Astana got a stage win.

 

[TheGreenMonkey]

Re:

When Movistar said Intxausti and Izaguirre would be there leaders for the Giro, they actually meant Amador and Visconti.

An easy mistake to make, I'm sure you'll agree.

LOL. I still think there is a big possibility that Amador and Visconti will fade badly in the last week, but they have done really well, especially Amador

 

[Escarabajo]

Re: Re:

I disagree. The Giro is cooked. No need to argue about it. Anything that Astana did was not going to work anyway. And Aru was weaker so no need to do anything out of the ordinary but to win the stage. I saw nothing to tell me that they were going to dispatch Contador. Nothing.

Of course you saw nothing of the sort, because there was NO WAY what they were doing could possibly succeed in putting serious time on Contador.

They could have isolated Contador (which they did) and then launched Landa and a domestique on the false flat. But that would have implied taking at least some risks.

It's sad enough that teams can't even conceive of a tactic that's not "follow wheels until the last 5 km", but when fans and journalists do it too it breaks my heart.

The problem is that Contador does not need to follow Landa anyway. Why would he. So he could have just paced himself. After yesterday Contador created a gap big enough that he can only worry about Aru. Amador and Uran were out by then.
I am not sure when was the last time that I saw that tactic that you said. Please remind me because I don't remember. I am sure riders and coaches talk about it before the stage but on the road is a different game. Usually the supremacy of the rider with the biggest aerobic capacity is just too much. Besides Astana on the flat was more concern about not letting Contador teammates back in the group. Which in the end did not matter either.
I have said this many times and I say now again. The isolation tactic almost never if not never works. Contador is just too strong.

 

[IamIronMan]

Re:

König is another reminder why I hate Sky (and used to hate USPS)...

They use their massive budget to buy talented riders like König, Nieve (who looks absolutely demotivated), Poels etc., but will never commit to them. It have to be Anglo-Saxon rider as captain or nothing...

At least Astana, Katusha, Tinkoff are ready to give the limelight to whomever deserves it in their squad.

Totally agree, though I don't know about the race aspect. Konig is the more "naturally" talented rider than Porte, but they want to transform Dawg's lapdawg into the next GT winner, even though he's NEVER shown any ability to win one.

It's the riders' choice who they sign with obviously, but it's just not right to buy up all the talent in the peloton then just use them as slaves to their chosen ones. I have no idea about their salaries, but if one team offers twice as much as another team, you almost have no choice. Then once you sign, you are given water bottle duty to Froome. I could see how that can de-motivate you!

 

[coppino]

if he could do it with ease he would have done it. that's the man. There were bonus seconds in the sprint before the last climb. It was easy and costed him nothing so he sprinted.

 

[Escarabajo]

Re:

Gibo advising Aru on how to attack Contador & trying to break him---- and Aru responds He and the team have tried endlessly to do so but in vain, since -after all - IS CONTADOR - you can't just drop Contador

Reminds me of how Gibo was saying that he was going to drop Armstrong in the Tour. LOL. Some people never learn.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re: Re:

Yeah, Contador always speaks the truth in interviews I don't know if he could have dropped Landa, however I do know he never seriously tried. He accelerated a few times, saw Landa wasn't going to drop, and then decided to chill with Aru

But he could have dropped Landa with ease?

I never claimed that, I said he never put in a real attack

 

[Arredondo]

Re: Re:

Yeah, Contador always speaks the truth in interviews I don't know if he could have dropped Landa, however I do know he never seriously tried. He accelerated a few times, saw Landa wasn't going to drop, and then decided to chill with Aru

But he could have dropped Landa with ease?

I never claimed that, I said he never put in a real attack

But you claimed that it was *** that Contador felt that he wasn't going to drop Landa

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re: Re:

I never claimed that, I said he never put in a real attack

But you claimed that it was *** that Contador felt that he wasn't going to drop Landa

People said he could not have dropped Landa, which may or may not be true, I just believe Contador never really tried and wish he would have, is my point really so hard to understand?

 

[hrotha]

Re: Re:

The problem is that Contador does not need to follow Landa anyway. Why would he. So he could have just paced himself. After yesterday Contador created a gap big enough that he can only worry about Aru. Amador and Uran were out by then.
I am not sure when was the last time that I saw that tactic that you said. Please remind me because I don't remember. I am sure riders and coaches talk about it before the stage but on the road is a different game. Usually the supremacy of the rider with the biggest aerobic capacity is just too much. Besides Astana on the flat was more concern about not letting Contador teammates back in the group. Which in the end did not matter either.
I have said this many times and I say now again. The isolation tactic almost never if not never works. Contador is just too strong.

Contador wouldn't need to follow Landa today. That might change if Landa managed to put +2 minutes on him thanks to an attack on the false flat, though.

When was the last time a long-distance tactic worked? How about Dauphiné 2014? Vuelta 2013? Giro 2012? It's not my fault DS's are too chicken to try more often.

If Astana was more concerned about not letting those Tinkoff riders back in the group, that just shows how idiotic the whole thing is. They wanted to keep Contador isolated, but they have completely forgotten WHY you want a rival to be isolated in the first place. Hint: it's not so that you can then take over his domestiques' duties.

 

[Metabolol]

Landa and Contador were the strongest today. Hard to say what would have happened if Contador could have only focused on Landa at the end. Probably a sprint between them.

 

[Irondan]

Re:

König is another reminder why I hate Sky (and used to hate USPS)...

They use their massive budget to buy talented riders like König, Nieve (who looks absolutely demotivated), Poels etc., but will never commit to them. It have to be Anglo-Saxon rider as captain or nothing...

At least Astana, Katusha, Tinkoff are ready to give the limelight to whomever deserves it in their squad.

Last I checked Sergio Henao was not Anglo-Saxon.