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2017 Abu Dhabi Tour, 23 to 26 Feb

Page 6 - Get up to date with the latest news, scores & standings from the Cycling News Community.
Re: Re:

Red Rick said:
sir fly said:
Quintana should get used to the role of a marked man.
He'll have to do everything by himself from now on.
Nah, it's not that bad. This is about the worst mountain stage for him, his team didn't do a great job setting the pace, etc etc.

Everyone was super fresh. If that happens, it's harder to fly away from lesser riders, and that's why in a field like this everyone was over the road.

It was a fun climb to watch though.

Anyone know where Nibali finished?
You're right.
Just caught my attention how everybody he'll ride against for the top spots in the GTs were waiting for him to pull the moves. He's rarely been in such a position before this season.
 
Zakarin did look better than Costa for most of the climb, Rui always looked about to explode. Zaka commited the mistake of dragging him to the line but props to Costa for holding on to dear life. Rui did make a nice attack though, broke the field. Seems to have found his winning vein again.
 
Re:

DFA123 said:
Mollema looks pretty strong here. Perhaps could have won the stage if his team mates had done more to control the gap.

Perhaps Mollema should have done more himself, like following the right moves? Neither Costa, Zakarin nor Dumoulin had any teammates to work for them. Maybe Bauke needs more tactical awareness.
 
the only conclusion that i could draw from this is that the 3 of the big four are on target w.r.t preparation for their goals. The other thing is that Quintana attacked at will but Contador and Nibali only followed which sets the favorite for the races irrespective of tactics. But at least Nibali most likely will be in form for the Giro which sets up an exciting duel with Quintana
 
Re: Re:

BigMac said:
DFA123 said:
Mollema looks pretty strong here. Perhaps could have won the stage if his team mates had done more to control the gap.

Perhaps Mollema should have done more himself, like following the right moves? Neither Costa, Zakarin nor Dumoulin had any teammates to work for them. Maybe Bauke needs more tactical awareness.
Well, yeah of course he could have done better himself in hindsight. But when he's in a group with a team mate, who is probably one of the top 10 climbers in the world, you'd think the team-mate could have gone to the front and closed the gap a bit before he went solo. That's what team-mates are for - you don't have to win every stage solo.
 
Re: Re:

DFA123 said:
BigMac said:
DFA123 said:
Mollema looks pretty strong here. Perhaps could have won the stage if his team mates had done more to control the gap.

Perhaps Mollema should have done more himself, like following the right moves? Neither Costa, Zakarin nor Dumoulin had any teammates to work for them. Maybe Bauke needs more tactical awareness.
Well, yeah of course he could have done better himself in hindsight. But when he's in a group with a team mate, who is probably one of the top 10 climbers in the world, you'd think the team-mate could have gone to the front and closed the gap a bit before he went solo. That's what team-mates are for - you don't have to win every stage solo.
:lol: too obvious, dude
 
Re: Re:

DFA123 said:
BigMac said:
DFA123 said:
Mollema looks pretty strong here. Perhaps could have won the stage if his team mates had done more to control the gap.

Perhaps Mollema should have done more himself, like following the right moves? Neither Costa, Zakarin nor Dumoulin had any teammates to work for them. Maybe Bauke needs more tactical awareness.
Well, yeah of course he could have done better himself in hindsight. But when he's in a group with a team mate, who is probably one of the top 10 climbers in the world, you'd think the team-mate could have gone to the front and closed the gap a bit before he went solo. That's what team-mates are for - you don't have to win every stage solo.

I see what you mean, but lots of stuff were happening. Mollema was part of one of the waves of attacks, just too late. There was no time for Contador to pull even if wanted. After Zakarin launched his move to go after Costa I think it ceased being a race for the domestiques. It was a bit hectic.
 
Re: Re:

BigMac said:
DFA123 said:
BigMac said:
DFA123 said:
Mollema looks pretty strong here. Perhaps could have won the stage if his team mates had done more to control the gap.

Perhaps Mollema should have done more himself, like following the right moves? Neither Costa, Zakarin nor Dumoulin had any teammates to work for them. Maybe Bauke needs more tactical awareness.
Well, yeah of course he could have done better himself in hindsight. But when he's in a group with a team mate, who is probably one of the top 10 climbers in the world, you'd think the team-mate could have gone to the front and closed the gap a bit before he went solo. That's what team-mates are for - you don't have to win every stage solo.

I see what you mean, but lots of stuff were happening. Mollema was part of one of the waves of attacks, just too late. There was no time for Contador to pull even if wanted. After Zakarin launched his move to go after Costa I think it ceased being a race for the domestiques. It was a bit hectic.
Yeah, you're right it was probably too late by that stage, but it could have been worth a shot (and would have at least been more entertaining to watch :) ). Great win by Costa though; nice to see a rider go early and win - which GT is he targetting this year?
 
Re: Re:

DFA123 said:
BigMac said:
DFA123 said:
BigMac said:
DFA123 said:
Mollema looks pretty strong here. Perhaps could have won the stage if his team mates had done more to control the gap.

Perhaps Mollema should have done more himself, like following the right moves? Neither Costa, Zakarin nor Dumoulin had any teammates to work for them. Maybe Bauke needs more tactical awareness.
Well, yeah of course he could have done better himself in hindsight. But when he's in a group with a team mate, who is probably one of the top 10 climbers in the world, you'd think the team-mate could have gone to the front and closed the gap a bit before he went solo. That's what team-mates are for - you don't have to win every stage solo.

I see what you mean, but lots of stuff were happening. Mollema was part of one of the waves of attacks, just too late. There was no time for Contador to pull even if wanted. After Zakarin launched his move to go after Costa I think it ceased being a race for the domestiques. It was a bit hectic.
Yeah, you're right it was probably too late by that stage, but it could have been worth a shot (and would have at least been more entertaining to watch :) ). Great win by Costa though; nice to see a rider go early and win - which GT is he targetting this year?

He's surprised me this start of the season. I think he is doing the Giro, hopefully stage hunting.
 
Re: Re:

BigMac said:
He's surprised me this start of the season. I think he is doing the Giro, hopefully stage hunting.
Yeah, he's been on great form so far. Hopefully a case of fresh surroundings and new team so he'll carry it on, rather than just peaking to early. Giro looks tough this year; so yeah stage hunting would surely be better than just trying to hang on to a top 10 overall.
 
Re: Re:

Mayomaniac said:
carolina said:
nope. costa is going for the GC at the giro, unfortunately...
Saronni said that one week races and LBL are his main goals, at the Giro he'll have no pressure and take it day by day.

First I saw that he was going for stage wins but a couple of weeks later Spaziociclismo (or Tuttobiciweb, I can't recall) interviewed Costa and he said he was going to try a good GC.
 
Re: Re:

Ricco' said:
Mayomaniac said:
carolina said:
nope. costa is going for the GC at the giro, unfortunately...
Saronni said that one week races and LBL are his main goals, at the Giro he'll have no pressure and take it day by day.

First I saw that he was going for stage wins but a couple of weeks later Spaziociclismo (or Tuttobiciweb, I can't recall) interviewed Costa and he said he was going to try a good GC.
That would make no sense given the field. He's a former WC. A 9th place at the Giro doesn't seem like it would add too much to his palmares. He should go for stages and put all his focus into getting a monument win.
 
Jul 16, 2010
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This race is WT? Really? And then people still try to argue that the cobbled classics have a less good field because the riders have less WT points on average than climbers... This is a shitty race with no prestige and it gives more points than the Omloop het Nieuwsblad or Gent-Wevelgem.
 
Feb 17, 2017
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I don't know why they couldn't make this race more balanced. Add a time-trial and another medium mountain stage perhaps with a downhill finish. No, we have to watch all these super boring sprint stages.
 

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