2016 Vuelta a España, stage 3: Marín > Mirador de Ézaro

[portugal11]

Contador needs to be at 1 minute and half after first week

 

[CheckMyPecs]

Re:

Alberto is finished, thanks for the memories but enough is enough, not right to see a great rider like him being humiliated like that.

His opponents' tiredness will play in his favour.

 

[hfer07]

well - that was fun

very revealing stage as to what should be expected from the GC riders:
-Froome wants the double and seems in good shape
-good to see Chavito up there
-Valverde & Fernandez covering for Quintana
Contador is fading badly

 

[MacBAir]

Re: Re:

Alberto is finished, thanks for the memories but enough is enough, not right to see a great rider like him being humiliated like that.

He's used, right? So to the bin he goes...

Not cool.

What isn't cool is that next year Mollema's chances might be canned because of Alberto.

 

[MatParker117]

Re: Re:

Contador lost 28s? I felt like it was way more than that.

Doesn't really matter, it's a **** load of time anyway

Around 1:12 he's already shipped to his rivals.

 

[SeriousSam]

Contador should be much fresher than Quintana, and especially Froome and most of all Valverde.

Too early to write him off but his lack of climbing ability today is telling and corroborates that his level isn't good enough anymore to compete for the Tour as anything but a longish shot.

 

[TMP402]

Re: Re:

Froome gone

When will people learn?

I'm starting to think people post that just so they can pretend to be outraged when he crawls back.

It's just for hope, it would be good for cycling a image if he showed weakness for once

Yeah, we need to see weakness from Froome. He was so dominant at the Olympics. And Romandie. And Catalunya. And Liège-Bastogne-Liège. I'm sick of the guy winning everything.

 

[DFA123]

Re: Re:

Froome gone

When will people learn?

I'm starting to think people post that just so they can pretend to be outraged when he crawls back.

It's just for hope, it would be good for cycling a image if he showed weakness for once

It is weakness that he is showing in a sense, he was dropped, then they all started looking at each other again, Quintana didn't want to pull and Reuben attacked for no reason. They do this every year and never learn, history repeating itself as farce.

That said, solid ride from Valverde and froome, Chavez looks good too

It's definitely a sign of weakness. He doesn't do it in the Tour de France when he's at peak form. You have to give him and Sky credit though for how well they limit their losses in this kind of situation.

 

[del1962]

Re:

Who the hell is Ruben Fernandez? lmao

Outshining Quintana and Valverde. Red jersey.

Former L'Avenir winner 2013 I think

 

[Flamin]

Got something like 6'55" for Fernandez, which is 10 seconds slower than Purito in 2012. Impressive, considering today's run-in was way harder.

 

[gunara]

Sick stuffs by Movi and Froome, but I'm also glad Fernandez showed something, I've waited for it long enough, and congrats Geniez, but above all Igor Anton!

Alberto looked irrelevant, but I'm still sure he will get better and try something later.

 

[BigMac]

Re: Re:

Alberto is finished, thanks for the memories but enough is enough, not right to see a great rider like him being humiliated like that.

He's used, right? So to the bin he goes...

Not cool.

What isn't cool is that next year Mollema's chances might be canned because of Alberto.

I doubt that. Don't even think Alberto will do the Tour next year.

 

[MatParker117]

Re:

Contador needs to be at 1 minute and half after first week

Already there and the mirador and Camperona are yet to come.

 

[Ramon Koran]

Re: Re:

Alberto is finished, thanks for the memories but enough is enough, not right to see a great rider like him being humiliated like that.

I think we've seen it enough times now for it not to be a surprise. On home soil though it's got to sting a bit more.

Yes but it's the fact that he is the freshest and should have had the best prep for this race, yet he is beaten by guys who rode the tour like Quintana and Froome and guys who did the giro like esteban. Not forgeting Valverde who has done all three at the age of 36.

 

[del1962]

Re:

Quintana lost 6 seconds to Valverde Froome and Chaves.... what was Valverde doing?!

Maybe moping up bonus instead of Froome

 

[Rollthedice]

Re:

Quintana lost 6 seconds to Valverde Froome and Chaves.... what was Valverde doing?!

Valverde will win this Vuelta.

 

[SeriousSam]

Re: Re:

That said, solid ride from Valverde and froome, Chavez looks good too

It's definitely a sign of weakness. He doesn't do it in the Tour de France when he's at peak form. You have to give him and Sky credit though for how well they limit their losses in this kind of situation.[/quote]

There's no question Froome is weaker than he was at the Tour, but the reason he doesn't do it is because the pace set by his team there is usually high enough to discourage attacks. If someone attempted a suicidal pace at the Tour I'm pretty sure Froome would be yoying (ie letting him go, catching him and annihilating him) too.

 

[Cannibal72]

Oh for God's sake this is the most Cycling News Forum thread ever. Froome yo-yoing, he's doomed. Contador drops, he's doomed. Now all we need is for someone to start an argument over the merits of Peter Sagan as a human being.
Contador's lost 1'25. No, he didn't look that good, but this is day 3 of a 3 week-race, and he's riding against people coming off from Tour/Rio peaks. He can definitely still win this race. It may be slightly less likely than it seemed, but it's not 'Froome v Movistar'. Not even close.

 

[KyoGrey]

I know it is very premature, but if Fernández has finally taken that expected step forwards, Movistar could count with 3 of the strongest 7-8 riders in the first part of the race.

Of course, they wont use this to their advantage because they are Movistar, but a skilled DS could work wonders with that.

 

[Red Rick]

Re: Re:

That said, solid ride from Valverde and froome, Chavez looks good too

It's definitely a sign of weakness. He doesn't do it in the Tour de France when he's at peak form. You have to give him and Sky credit though for how well they limit their losses in this kind of situation.

There's no question Froome is weaker than he was at the Tour, but the reason he doesn't do it is because the pace set by his team there is usually high enough to discourage attacks. If someone attempted a suicidal pace at the Tour I'm pretty sure Froome would be yoying (ie letting him go, catching him and annihilating him) too.[/quote]
This. The yoyo happens mostly on steep climbs where everybody starts them too quickly. When he does it at longer climbs, he actually does get dropped most of the time.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

It's Froome vs. Movistar now (and maybe Chaves). Movistar has the strongest team, which makes this a more interesting race than the Tour.

Contador fans were so overconfident declaring him top favorite...

Not just his fans considered him to be the top favorite. Clearly, he's not as good as many had thought. No need to kick his fans.

 

[TMP402]

Kwiatkowski 89th, 6 minutes down. Kennaugh and Koenig were 15th and 16th, a minute down. Sky's Plan B and rotation hierarchy established.

 

[Alexandre B.]

Rudy Molard 11th on the stage.

Didn't see that coming.

 

[MatParker117]

Re:

Kwiatkowski 89th, 6 minutes down. Kennaugh and Koenig were 15th and 16th, a minute down. Sky's Plan B and rotation hierarchy established.

Gives Kwaitkowski rope to go for breaks.

 

[gatete]

So, now Quintana responds, where were you in the freaking Tour. I hate this