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2017 Abu Dhabi Tour, 23 to 26 Feb

Page 7 - Get up to date with the latest news, scores & standings from the Cycling News Community.
I just watched the stage & quite frankly I don't know what to make of it :confused: .... Quintanita made things exiting when he first attacked from 9k followed by Contador & Nibs... but then I don't quite get what Movistar was trying to achieve with no apparent plan to get the stage.... Contador OTOH said he was willing to work for Mollema, which he did superbly by marking Quintanita like a shadow..... BTW Nibs looked good, Aru OK, Dumoulin looked superb- that man has a superb style-great for Costa's win as he gets more confidence, & great for Zakarin's effort .

wish there was another mountainous stage or a ITT to make it more entertaining...
 
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El Pistolero said:
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.

Damn. I wanted to avoid spoilers but I made the mistake of reading your post so now I know Nibali didn't win.
 
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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.

He could use it as a prep race for a fourth victory at the Tour de Suisse. ;)

https://www.cyclingranking.com/riders/overall/POR

He still has a bit to do to catch Agostinho. ;)
 
bettiniphoto_0273351_1_originali_670.jpg

When 3 greats face off in february, and the kilo's still have to come off. Nibali in particular looks chubbier than usual.
 
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In a low key way that was a good day's work for Contador. He got inside Quintana's head and screwed with him. He completely threw a key rival off his game. Secondarily, he got to be Mr Nice Guy team player in the eyes of Mollema and other riders he wants to bury themselves for him at the Tour. He's on a new team without his old retinue. Every bit of good will helps.

A great win for Costa. His 2016, where he somehow turned into the kind of mark he usually makes a living by conning, should be treated like a bad dream. The real Rui Costa has one of the best racing brains in the peloton. That usually means winning in the Gerrans style, but he is more versatile in his talents. Today, he saw an opportunity to profit from rivalry among the on-paper favourites and he took it by attacking with the same ruthlessness that usually had him leaning on someone else. Then he played a probably stronger opponent, Zakarin, like a piano.
 
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BigMac said:
Red Rick said:
SafeBet said:
Rui Costa will win this bike race.
:eek:
And his name is safe bet.
Good bet ;) . Nice win for Rui Costa.

Zakarin, Dumoulin and Mollema, wow! Good form.

For the favorites, I'm like several of you here: a little bit puzzled. It reminded me of the end of the comic book, Asterix and the Goths: Contador "I was shadowing Quintana"; Nibali "I was shadowing Contador"; Aru "I was shadowing Nibali"; Bardet "I was shadowing Aru"...no maces, no bloodbath tho'...like no one wanted to race for the win.

Good for Rui Costa.
 
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portugal11 said:
And that's why i hate mother nature... is raining in the desert in a useless sprint stage. In roubaix will not rain at all
No! Love mother nature always:) Joking aside, it's a pro bike race in bad conditions, with most of the best sprinters on earth there. It could actually be quite an exciting finish if they are all in the mix at the end:)
 
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ferryman said:
portugal11 said:
And that's why i hate mother nature... is raining in the desert in a useless sprint stage. In roubaix will not rain at all
No! Love mother nature always:) Joking aside, it's a pro bike race in bad conditions, with most of the best sprinters on earth there. It could actually be quite an exciting finish if they are all in the mix at the end:)

Yeah come on, this should be accepted as a gift. Makes things a little less boring
 
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So Patrick Konrad went for bonus seconds to get a top 10 on gc and the points sprints to get the intermediate sprint jersey, nothing to really brag about but still a good result for him.
 

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