Re: 2016 Vuelta a España, stage 9: Cistierna > Alto del Nara
Monte Naranco is legendary and mythical, but it's not actually that HARD. Its legend derives from history and the Subida al Naranco one-day race. Back in the 80s and 90s the surface was bumpy and horrible as well which made it more challenging. Nowadays, unless you approach it from El Violeo, the climb in and of itself isn't going to open gaps in a GT péloton. You'd need a real saw-toothed run-in to make the traditional Manzaneda-Oviedo-Naranco approach decisive now. The best approach from the direction they came would have been from San Isidro to continue towards Mieres then turn left to Pola de Lena, then go over El Cordal (5,5km @ 8,9%) or even better Cuchu Puercu (7,8km @ 9,6%, starts with the same 5km @ 11% of the toughest side of Cobertoria then meets Cordal on the way down) then Viapará (4,8km @ 7,9% - the right hand side of that profile) with about 5k between the base of the descent and the start of La Manzaneda.
I have to say though I'm getting 2009 vibes from this race, when Caisse had the lead so just let unthreatening breaks go, nobody wanted to let Valverde mark them then take bonus seconds so nobody wanted to fight for stages, and Deignan (9th) and Cobo (10th) were the highest placed GC riders to win stages.
The racing among the break was pretty decent, and the subplot about de la Cruz looking for the time gap was entertaining, but the GC contenders were always going to only give this a few hundred metres' action.Gigs_98 said:BOOORIIIING
And I'm actually not really surprised.
Monte Naranco is legendary and mythical, but it's not actually that HARD. Its legend derives from history and the Subida al Naranco one-day race. Back in the 80s and 90s the surface was bumpy and horrible as well which made it more challenging. Nowadays, unless you approach it from El Violeo, the climb in and of itself isn't going to open gaps in a GT péloton. You'd need a real saw-toothed run-in to make the traditional Manzaneda-Oviedo-Naranco approach decisive now. The best approach from the direction they came would have been from San Isidro to continue towards Mieres then turn left to Pola de Lena, then go over El Cordal (5,5km @ 8,9%) or even better Cuchu Puercu (7,8km @ 9,6%, starts with the same 5km @ 11% of the toughest side of Cobertoria then meets Cordal on the way down) then Viapará (4,8km @ 7,9% - the right hand side of that profile) with about 5k between the base of the descent and the start of La Manzaneda.
I have to say though I'm getting 2009 vibes from this race, when Caisse had the lead so just let unthreatening breaks go, nobody wanted to let Valverde mark them then take bonus seconds so nobody wanted to fight for stages, and Deignan (9th) and Cobo (10th) were the highest placed GC riders to win stages.