57th Vuelta al Pais Vasco 3-8 April 2017

[Valv.Piti]

Yeah he was actually close to crashing into Valv there, but the barriers were very awkward so no harm done. Kwito also had a word or two with him immediately after crossing the line.

I think it will be as selective as today, the final climber is harder, but the remaining stage is much easier than today. Valverde or Kwito to take it home.

 

[Netserk]

Break will take it, I think.

 

[StryderHells]

Re: Re:

Where is Yates team?!

He had team-mates including Kreuziger trying to pace him back but he was a victim essentially of his own tactical lack of smarts. Whilst he was on ST as everyone else after first two stages, instead of trying to finish in reasonable proximity to the front like most GC men, he was tootling along at the pack. Hence the ORS team car was well back in the convoy which had the consequences of a significant delay getting to him today

Nailed it - Yates had three support riders Haig who gave him a tyre and Kreuziger and Verona who tried to pace him back to the peleton - In an ideal world Plaza and Power would still have been in the peleton to help him chase back though probably still unsuccessful - Of course all his team mates are much taller - In saying that he was no more than 15 seconds behind the peleton around 2/3 up the climb - My guess is he saved his energy for another day - He'll get his chance in stage 5 - Dirk use your influence to get McCarthy to Orica - he's a perfect fit for the team.

McCarthy signed a 2 years deal with Bora so he won't be going anywhere next season, as far as fit goes he looks to be happy ridng on international teams and if he keeps improving I'd expect other teams would be able to offer him better contracts with more options to ride for himself than Orica could.

 

[HelloDolly]

Always remember this about McCarthy

After lunch today, I had a coffee and a chat with our Grand Tour first-timers Chris Juul-Jensen and Jay McCarthy.
The two lads have come through their first Giro without any issues apart from, perhaps, Jay's recently acquired penchant for winding people up in the peloton.

For the past four days Jay has had an argument with somebody in the bunch, mainly over something trivial like switching across in front of him in the bunch, braking suddenly or cutting him up during the stage.
The ironic thing is that Jay rides his bike like he's on a broomstick sometimes. When he gets out of the saddle he unintentionally throws his back wheel around a bit and it can be dodgy riding directly behind him.

Last night our road captain Michael Rogers took him aside and told him to chill out a bit more.
"If somebody does something to you, just ignore it. Forget about it and move on. It's not worth the energy wasted fighting about it every day."

But otherwise, Jay and Chris have done really well so far.

 

[HelloDolly]

As for Yates being too far back in the bunch sprints and thus impeded by his team car being far back the convoy ...He got a wheel from a team mate so the placing of the team car was not an issue

 

[Netserk]

The team car was only so far back because Gerrans didn't place well in stage 2 (or Albasini in the first). It wasn't Yates' role to sprint in the first two stages.

 

[WheelofGear]

This stage is a lot worse for a break than stage 3 since there is only two climbs.

But if you attack on the final climb.. you are more likely to stay away since it's harder. You also have to have a great TT ability in the final 10k.

De La Cruz again? Maybe Cummings? It's tailor-made for Cummings.

 

[WheelofGear]

Simon Yates should attack as well. He is over 1:30 down.

 

[The Barb]

Anyone know about Brambilla's form? I see he's dropped some time and this stage would be ideal for him if he were close to his best.

 

[search]

Re:

This stage is a lot worse for a break than stage 3 since there is only two climbs.

But if you attack on the final climb.. you are more likely to stay away since it's harder. You also have to have a great TT ability in the final 10k.

De La Cruz again? Maybe Cummings? It's tailor-made for Cummings.

there's actually more climbing than yesterday. In fact there's even one climb (2,7k at 8,6% average) with ~40k to go which is not displayed at all on the official profile.

And yes, it looks good for Cummings - but it's no help that he sits at s.t. as the favorites. Seems like he is going for a good GC this year.

 

[seldon71]

These Cyclingnews -race reports seem quite often to be written with sentiment or assumptions instead of easily checkable facts... Example from yesterday concerning "Bling" :

"The Australian gave a valiant chase trying to rejoin the group on the descent but couldn't make the catch".

Well, Matthews-group trailed a solo De La Cruz 38 seconds at the summit and lost 1:02 in finish line. I don't call that a "valiant", but rather a "weak-ass" chase!

 

[fauniera]

Sure, but you have to consider that Matthews had to cope with the shock of being in the wind for so long.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Dreadful road here.....

 

[May0maniac]

Astana working for Lulu (and maybe Chernetckii)?

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

Astana working for Lulu (and maybe Chernetckii)?

According to Kirby, they are working for Pello Bilbao, because the stage finishes in Bilbao :lol: :lol:

 

[Valv.Piti]

Who is fancying Si today

 

[TourOfSardinia]

Re:

Who is fancying Si today

Sigh

 

[Jungle Cycle]

ouch Navarro....

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

It is not unusual for riders to be expected to stay on one side of the road, and cones being there to indicate this: has Kirby never seen it before?

 

[Irondan]

Cummings looks like he has a broken collar bone...

 

[May0maniac]

Yes, not looking good for Cummings.
The Dutch commentators are actually mentioning Patrick Konrad.

 

[DNP-Old]

Contador also fell.

 

[WheelofGear]

What a shame.

Navarro and Cummings would have been perfect for a stage like this.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Re:

Contador also fell.

He looks scratched up

 

[TourOfSardinia]

What a pain AC battle-scarred again