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53rd Vuelta Ciclista al Pais Vasco - 1-6 April 2013

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S

skidmark

Mar 13, 2009
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Wooo! Almost always my favourite week of the cycling season, Flanders, Pais Vasco, and Roubaix.

This route looks great, and I bet there are enough uncategorized climbs to throw some spice in there too. I don't think Sky (or any team) will dominate here, the terrain is just perfect for unpredictable racing. The cream certainly does rise to the top, so yes Rodriguez, Valverde, Contador will probably all show, but there's always some unexpected results - I'm sure no one would have said that Kloden or Horner were the best week-long stage racers the last few years when they won, for example.

Oh man, love the Basque country.
 
Pentacycle

Pentacycle

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Dekker_Tifosi said:
sanchez is over the hill. You heard it here first
Click to expand...

Many have said this before though. But he seems to have lost his former glory. Evans, Basso, Sanchez, Hushovd and Menchov are slowly realizing retirement is closer than they thought.
 
Libertine Seguros

Libertine Seguros

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Miburo said:
Porte didn't came close to Contador's record on montagne but there was headwind and obviously Contador isn't at that level. I'm really not sure if Contador is above Porte right now.

Of course Contador is the better climber overall (well for now:eek:) but Porte is in real great shape.

Besides the only reason why Contador took time on Froome on that first hilly stage was because he was sucking his wheel in the last 2 km. And he only gained boni sec, gap wasn't big enough for actual seconds.
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Montagne de la Lure is the very kind of long and gradual climb that Hitch was pointing out that País Vasco does not have. País Vasco doesn't have 1600m summit finishes at ski stations because there aren't ski stations at 1600m to climb to. What it does have, however, are lots of mid-length, steep climbs, or climbs that aren't steep but are super inconsistent, which makes it hard to get into a rhythm, and harder therefore to control. And as has been noted, there's always an interesting uncategorised climb here or there to make things interesting too.
 
J

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This should be interesting. Recently Porte has been starting to look a bit like a combination of the climbing abilities of Froome and the TT abilities of Wiggins. :)
 
Libertine Seguros

Libertine Seguros

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MTF, stage 3:

Arboleda.gif


Ixua, stage 4:

Ixua2.gif


MTF, stage 4:

Arrate.gif


Penultimate climb, stage 5:

Barbari%20(Segura).GIF


Can't find a profile for Olaberria, I'm afraid.
 
Forunculo

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Arguably the most difficult race to control like the last stage of Tirreno. I guess Purito, Valverde, Samuel Sanchez and Horner are the favourites. Contador depends on his form (not great this year).

And is Froome riding? I guess no and It's Porte. If he manages this Itzulia will be another miracle from SKY.
 
Miburo

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Libertine Seguros said:
Montagne de la Lure is the very kind of long and gradual climb that Hitch was pointing out that País Vasco does not have. País Vasco doesn't have 1600m summit finishes at ski stations because there aren't ski stations at 1600m to climb to. What it does have, however, are lots of mid-length, steep climbs, or climbs that aren't steep but are super inconsistent, which makes it hard to get into a rhythm, and harder therefore to control. And as has been noted, there's always an interesting uncategorised climb here or there to make things interesting too.
Click to expand...

But wasn't Porte good in stages like that? Take that stage in the giro that Evans won.

Besides what did you think porte was gonna do in paris-nice? I'm assuming you didn't think he was gonna be this dominant. Sky can really surprise you, even now
 
pdluz7

pdluz7

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Dekker_Tifosi said:
sanchez is over the hill. You heard it here first
Click to expand...

:confused::confused:I must have learned something. Do not believe wins based solely on willpower. I thought I'd seen some in Vuelta Igor 2011, Menchov...2012, excuse my lack of experience, edit.
 
Afrank

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Porte is in great form right now, I see him as one of the biggest favorites. Assuming nothing goes wrong (crashes, mechanical's, etc.) he should at least be able to finish on the podium.

However I hope Contador, Valverde, and hopefully Samu (would really like to see him get a good result heading into the Giro, and he didn't look too bad in TA) can put Sky into difficulty.
Could see Ulissi, Talansky, and Tejay doing well also.
 
JimPanzen

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Looks like the race will be hard to control. But Sky riders will be strong anyway. I hope Bertie will bounce back and win this thing. Let's see. On the other hand, I think he will be even more hungrier for the Tour if he gets beaten in all the small races prior to July :p
 
Miburo

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JimPanzen said:
Looks like the race will be hard to control. But Sky riders will be strong anyway. I hope Bertie will bounce back and win this thing. Let's see. On the other hand, I think he will be even more hungrier for the Tour if he gets beaten in all the small races prior to July :p
Click to expand...

That's kinda true although Froome is his real competition and he's not riding.

Contador already got beat twice, he should have enough motivation anyways;)
 
Cimber

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Miburo said:
That's kinda true although Froome is his real competition and he's not riding.

Contador already got beat twice, he should have enough motivation anyways;)
Click to expand...

In TA both Froome and AC got beat by Nibali. On that decisive stage Contador took a little time on Froome though which is mentally important I think. But I agree that the motivation is there. AC wants to win - always.

The Hitch said:
I dont think so. These are more hills than long mountains, which are a slightly different ball game. Not just riding a tempo the whole time.

We saw in Oman Froome flew away from Contador on the mountain, but barely won a sprint on the hill stage.

Then in Tirreno, Froome flew away from everyone on the mountain, but Contador beat him by a couple of seconds on both hilly stages.

Thats aside from the fact that Porte, as insanely good as he has become, isnt quite as good as Froome. I think Contador should still just about be better than Porte.
Click to expand...

Agree though Contador's prep for this race isnt optimal. He has been sick for like a week, so I reckon he will be a bit drained for a race like that. I reckon he might win a stage though and get top 5 overall. I think Valverde will take it(unless his crash in Catalunya hasnt set him back to much)
 
Miburo

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Cimber

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Miburo said:
Wow. Contador's team is ridiculous :eek:

91. CONTADOR Alberto
92. ANKER SORENSEN Chris
93. HERNáNDEZ Jesús
94. ROGERS Michael
95. ROCHE Nicolas
96. ZAUGG Oliver
97. KREUZIGER Roman
98. MOREIRA PAULINHO Sergio Miguel

Those are pretty much all his potential teammates for the climbs in the tour. I guess basque will be a good test.
Click to expand...

Indeed, though several of them are not in super form atm. Zaugg is stil recovering after an injuri, Rogers is maybe at 90%, Roche doesnt seem super at the moment either, CAS is still building his form and might also be at 85-90%. Kreuziger was good in TA tho and might be the last dude at AC's side.
 
Maaaaaaaarten

Maaaaaaaarten

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Looking forward to this race

Probably for Valverde, but Contador or somebody from Sky could take it as well.

TGBM should also do well here. :)

Last years ITT was crazy; it would be fun if they do a similar TT, though it would probably be reckless too. :D
 
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