2017 Volta Ciclista a Catalunya, March 20-26, WT

[May0maniac]

Kudos do Valverde, but La Molina is always such an anticlimatic uphill sprint.

 

[Arredondo]

I'm surprised about Froome actually. Expected him to lose more time today.

The big favorite now to win the GC? He should be able to get 30 seconds on Port on his rivals, even on Bala and Berto.

 

[Netserk]

Re: Re:

Why the hell weren't Pantano saved for the final km... Contador again too close to the front too early. He really didn't ride very smartly here.

Lol you can't wait till the final km if you're up against Valverde and Dan Martin... it was the right tactic but unfortunately Pantano's move didn't slim down the group enough.

No, but if he had a teammate and didn't jump on all accelerations, he should get 3rd here. He needed a harder and more linear pace from further out in the very end.

 

[DFA123]

Bit of a Sky fail here as well. Lead the whole way up the climb, then Kennaugh leaving Thomas alone at the front with the hardest bit to go when it mattered most.

 

[King Boonen]

Re:

Bit of a Sky fail here as well. Lead the whole way up the climb, then Kennaugh leaving Thomas alone at the front with the hardest bit to go when it mattered most.

Thomas looked lost when Kennaugh went.

 

[TourOfSardinia]

Stage

GC

 

[b.broadhurst]

Re:

Bit of a Sky fail here as well. Lead the whole way up the climb, then Kennaugh leaving Thomas alone at the front with the hardest bit to go when it mattered most.

Looked like Kennaugh was preparing G for an attack but I guess G didn't feel strong enough to go that far out with the difficult finish.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

Kudos do Valverde, but La Molina is always such an anticlimatic uphill sprint.

Agree. I don't see why this climb has to be included so often.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Any predictions for the final podium? Tejay looked good today but I still think he'll suffer on Lo Port, if he'll suffer enough to lose 40 seconds is another matter. Thomas, Valverde and Froome are in a good position, and considering the bonus seconds available I'll go with Valverde for the win. Froome 2nd, Thomas 3rd.

 

[Arredondo]

Re: Re:

Kudos do Valverde, but La Molina is always such an anticlimatic uphill sprint.

Agree. I don't see why this climb has to be included so often.

Money

 

[Max Rockatansky]

Re: Re:

Kudos do Valverde, but La Molina is always such an anticlimatic uphill sprint.

Agree. I don't see why this climb has to be included so often.

It's a ski resort. I guess, that the money they pay, keeps the race alive.

 

[Max Rockatansky]

Re:

Any predictions for the final podium? Tejay looked good today but I still think he'll suffer on Lo Port, if he'll suffer enough to lose 40 seconds is another matter. Thomas, Valverde and Froome are in a good position, and considering the bonus seconds available I'll go with Valverde for the win. Froome 2nd, Thomas 3rd.

Sky will destroy the competition with watt record breaking numbers on Lo Port. It's the Sky blueprint of a stage and mountain.

 

[Scarponi]

How early did Dennis and Sanchez drop?

 

[SafeBet]

Is Dennis injured or sick? He looked great in TA, and now he's being dropped by 30-40 riders.

 

[Arredondo]

Re:

Any predictions for the final podium? Tejay looked good today but I still think he'll suffer on Lo Port, if he'll suffer enough to lose 40 seconds is another matter. Thomas, Valverde and Froome are in a good position, and considering the bonus seconds available I'll go with Valverde for the win. Froome 2nd, Thomas 3rd.

But in how many stages Valverde will grab boni's? I can only see him doing it in Lo Port stage. In all the other stages, i think some breakaway riders will grab them.

And i'm not so sure Bala will lay his foundation for the overall on Lo Port really. I mean, we all know he's by far the best on these kind of slopes. But Lo Port is a really demanding climb, and suits the pure climbers like Froome and Contador better then someone like Valverde. Of course he's one of the best climbers in the world too, but Froome is better in top shape. I think Contador too (based on his performance on the mountain stage in Ruta which Pinot won). And Thomas could surprise too.

If Sky and Trek make the race really hard on Lo Port, i think Valverde will suffer under the immense pressure of Froome and Contador. And will drop and lose between 25-50 seconds.

 

[DFA123]

Re: Re:

Any predictions for the final podium? Tejay looked good today but I still think he'll suffer on Lo Port, if he'll suffer enough to lose 40 seconds is another matter. Thomas, Valverde and Froome are in a good position, and considering the bonus seconds available I'll go with Valverde for the win. Froome 2nd, Thomas 3rd.

Sky will destroy the competition with watt record breaking numbers on Lo Port. It's the Sky blueprint of a stage and mountain.

That only works though if Froome can finish it off with an attack to snap the elastic. Otherwise they just drag all the other contenders along with them. If Froome doesn't have the form, and Thomas doesn't have the ability, then not sure that just having the team riding a fast tempo up the climb is going to significantly trouble Contador or Valverde.

 

[May0maniac]

Re: Re:

Any predictions for the final podium? Tejay looked good today but I still think he'll suffer on Lo Port, if he'll suffer enough to lose 40 seconds is another matter. Thomas, Valverde and Froome are in a good position, and considering the bonus seconds available I'll go with Valverde for the win. Froome 2nd, Thomas 3rd.

Sky will destroy the competition with watt record breaking numbers on Lo Port. It's the Sky blueprint of a stage and mountain.

If he looses more than 20 seconds to Valverde on that climb it could be trouble for him, Valverde will go for every bonus second that he can get.

 

[DFA123]

Re: Re:

Any predictions for the final podium? Tejay looked good today but I still think he'll suffer on Lo Port, if he'll suffer enough to lose 40 seconds is another matter. Thomas, Valverde and Froome are in a good position, and considering the bonus seconds available I'll go with Valverde for the win. Froome 2nd, Thomas 3rd.

Sky will destroy the competition with watt record breaking numbers on Lo Port. It's the Sky blueprint of a stage and mountain.

If he looses more than 20 seconds to Valverde on that climb it could be trouble for him, Valverde will go for every bonus second that he can get.

It would be kind of cool to see Valverde about 5 seconds behind TJ going into that final stage in Barcelona. Watching Movistar tearing the race apart and putting BMC under huge pressure on Montjuic would be fun to see.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re: Re:

Any predictions for the final podium? Tejay looked good today but I still think he'll suffer on Lo Port, if he'll suffer enough to lose 40 seconds is another matter. Thomas, Valverde and Froome are in a good position, and considering the bonus seconds available I'll go with Valverde for the win. Froome 2nd, Thomas 3rd.

But in how many stages Valverde will grab boni's? I can only see him doing it in Lo Port stage. In all the other stages, i think some breakaway riders will grab them.

And i'm not so sure Bala will lay his foundation for the overall on Lo Port really. I mean, we all know he's by far the best on these kind of slopes. But Lo Port is a really demanding climb, and suits the pure climbers like Froome and Contador better then someone like Valverde. Of course he's one of the best climbers in the world too, but Froome is better in top shape. I think Contador too (based on his performance on the mountain stage in Ruta which Pinot won). And Thomas could surprise too.

If Sky and Trek make the race really hard on Lo Port, i think Valverde will suffer under the immense pressure of Froome and Contador. And will drop and lose between 25-50 seconds.

You're right about the break grabbing bonus seconds, Movistar will have to keep the break under control and they should if they want to win, honestly. As you say, Lo Port isn't the best for Valverde, but I'm counting on him limiting his losses and gaining bonus seconds on other stages. Of course, a lot depends on Froome/Thomas form as well, if either of them is in good shape they could get a gap on Lo Port that Valverde can't close with bonifications.

 

[DFA123]

Re: Re:

Any predictions for the final podium? Tejay looked good today but I still think he'll suffer on Lo Port, if he'll suffer enough to lose 40 seconds is another matter. Thomas, Valverde and Froome are in a good position, and considering the bonus seconds available I'll go with Valverde for the win. Froome 2nd, Thomas 3rd.

But in how many stages Valverde will grab boni's? I can only see him doing it in Lo Port stage. In all the other stages, i think some breakaway riders will grab them.

And i'm not so sure Bala will lay his foundation for the overall on Lo Port really. I mean, we all know he's by far the best on these kind of slopes. But Lo Port is a really demanding climb, and suits the pure climbers like Froome and Contador better then someone like Valverde. Of course he's one of the best climbers in the world too, but Froome is better in top shape. I think Contador too (based on his performance on the mountain stage in Ruta which Pinot won). And Thomas could surprise too.

If Sky and Trek make the race really hard on Lo Port, i think Valverde will suffer under the immense pressure of Froome and Contador. And will drop and lose between 25-50 seconds.

You're right about the break grabbing bonus seconds, Movistar will have to keep the break under control and they should if they want to win, honestly. As you say, Lo Port isn't the best for Valverde, but I'm counting on him limiting his losses and gaining bonus seconds on other stages. Of course, a lot depends on Froome/Thomas form as well, if either of them is in good shape they could get a gap on Lo Port that Valverde can't close with bonifications.

Would you say that Thomas is a better climber than Valverde now? I think I would still back even a slightly below-par Valverde to stay with a top-form Thomas the vast majority of the time. Haven't seen anything from Thomas to suggest he's at that kind of level in high mountains.

Froome obviously is a different matter. He's the big unknown. He could win Lo Port by the best part of a minute, or could lose over a minute there.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re: Re:

Would you say that Thomas is a better climber than Valverde now? I think I would still back even a slightly below-par Valverde to stay with a top-form Thomas the vast majority of the time. Haven't seen anything from Thomas to suggest he's at that kind of level in high mountains.

Froome obviously is a different matter. He's the big unknown. He could win Lo Port by the best part of a minute, or could lose over a minute there.

What's on my mind is how "easily" Valverde got dropped on Peña del Aguila in Andalucia. Of course, I wouldn't rate Thomas the better climber, but he looked strong in Tirreno so I think he could surprise.

 

[DFA123]

Re: Re:

Would you say that Thomas is a better climber than Valverde now? I think I would still back even a slightly below-par Valverde to stay with a top-form Thomas the vast majority of the time. Haven't seen anything from Thomas to suggest he's at that kind of level in high mountains.

Froome obviously is a different matter. He's the big unknown. He could win Lo Port by the best part of a minute, or could lose over a minute there.

What's on my mind is how "easily" Valverde got dropped on Peña del Aguila in Andalucia. Of course, I wouldn't rate Thomas the better climber, but he looked strong in Tirreno so I think he could surprise.

That's true about Valverde dropping easily in Andalucia - although I think that could have been an ego thing, in that he got caught up in trying to follow Contador's acceleration rather than riding his own race. And, even then, he did claw back most of the gap in the final kms, so he didn't crack completely.

I'm still utterly unconvinced by Thomas as an elite climber. I think perhaps he can hang with a lead group for the most part, or limit his losses to an extent if someone attacks. But I'm very sceptical that he has the ability to attack a bunch of top GC riders on a especial climb and keep pulling out a gap until the finish. It would represent a massive leap in his level compared with what we've seen before.

 

[Cance > TheRest]

Re: Re:

Would you say that Thomas is a better climber than Valverde now? I think I would still back even a slightly below-par Valverde to stay with a top-form Thomas the vast majority of the time. Haven't seen anything from Thomas to suggest he's at that kind of level in high mountains.

Froome obviously is a different matter. He's the big unknown. He could win Lo Port by the best part of a minute, or could lose over a minute there.

What's on my mind is how "easily" Valverde got dropped on Peña del Aguila in Andalucia. Of course, I wouldn't rate Thomas the better climber, but he looked strong in Tirreno so I think he could surprise.

That's true about Valverde dropping easily in Andalucia - although I think that could have been an ego thing, in that he got caught up in trying to follow Contador's acceleration rather than riding his own race. And, even then, he did claw back most of the gap in the final kms, so he didn't crack completely.

I'm still utterly unconvinced by Thomas as an elite climber. I think perhaps he can hang with a lead group for the most part, or limit his losses to an extent if someone attacks. But I'm very sceptical that he has the ability to attack a bunch of top GC riders on a especial climb and keep pulling out a gap until the finish. It would represent a massive leap in his level compared with what we've seen before.

He didn't crack, but he would not have clawed much time back if the stage had not ended with a flat last kilometer, where the group of chasers could use the headwind to their advantage. On steeper/longer climbs he will drop.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Valverde is a faster sprinter than Martin, both are much better puncheurs than anyone else here. For the rest, unless they struggled earlier on, it's hard to say much about an uphill sprint.

 

[del1962]

After all the build up Rohan Dennis DNF