57th Vuelta al Pais Vasco 3-8 April 2017

[Laplaz]

Re:

Will Contador get cleared of that 3 seconds time loss? Now he was really hampered by the Samu crash

Just same as the others.

 

[GraftPunk]

Re: Re:

Will Contador get cleared of that 3 seconds time loss? Now he was really hampered by the Samu crash

Probably no 3km rule today because of the climb

Grrr, forgot about that.

 

[Akuryo]

And some said this was too hard for De la Cruz to top 10 this climb ...

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Henao and Yates surprisingly bad. De La Cruz surprisingly good given that it's too steep for him.

Where the hell did Samu come from before he did his swan dive? Wasn't he dropped hard halfway up the climb?

 

[Brullnux]

Re:

Valverde was the strongest on the climb and the strongest in the finale. I wonder how long this form lasts....

Next couple of years, probably

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re: Re:

Will Contador get cleared of that 3 seconds time loss? Now he was really hampered by the Samu crash

fingers crossed!

Why? He did absolutely nothing on the climb and was in a bad position. He deserves a time punishment.

lol what

 

[markene2]

Poor Samu!

 

[Velolover2]

Re:

Will Contador get cleared of that 3 seconds time loss? Now he was really hampered by the Samu crash

Then Samu should get s/t as the leaders as well.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Re:

Valverde was the strongest on the climb and the strongest in the finale. I wonder how long this form lasts....

Current predictions say somewhere around 2147

 

[LaFlorecita]

There's no 3km rule for hilly finishes, guys

 

[Jspear]

Re: Re:

Congrats to Valverde.
I guess it was expected.

Bardet very good.

Where's Contador?

Came in 3 seconds off.

Didn't bother to chase in the curves.

He's always terrible in high speed finishes - add to that Samu's crash probably slowed him down a tad.

 

[Hugo Koblet]

It seems like Samu got off the road when he turned to look behind.

 

[luckyboy]

2016: Contador finished on the podium of 3 stage races, then won Pais Vasco in the final TT

2017: Contador finished on the podium of 3 stages races....

 

[Mr.White]

Re: Re:

Will Contador get cleared of that 3 seconds time loss? Now he was really hampered by the Samu crash

Of course not, it's a mountain stage.
We should just be happy he didn't crash as well

I know, but it's a stupid rule. He was hampered. Period.

He wasn't. At least he wasn't the only one, Samu was leading the group so everybody was hampered, and only him lost time

 

[Laplaz]

Patrick Konrad also strong today, same time as De la Cruz in 11th position

 

[HelloDolly]

Really feel for Samu ...39 years old and really wanted this...worked hard for it. Paced himself up the climbs and descended like a madman ..(great descender) but rode his luck

Pity pity

 

[Arredondo]

Re: Re:

Will Contador get cleared of that 3 seconds time loss? Now he was really hampered by the Samu crash

Of course not, it's a mountain stage.
We should just be happy he didn't crash as well

I know, but it's a stupid rule. He was hampered. Period.

He wasn't. At least he wasn't the only one, Samu was leading the group so everybody was hampered, and only him lost time

He had to chose the wrong side of the road, instead of Bardet and Woods. So i don't agree with that.

But it doesn't matter. A Contador in good shape should overtake Bala in a TT like that with more then 3 seconds. But is he good enough? Big question mark.

 

[Asero831]

Roglic only 69 seconds down..
He can still win the GC

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

Re:

There's no 3km rule for hilly finishes, guys

The rules says:

Articles 2.6.027 (the 3km rule) and 2.6.028 shall not apply where the finish is at the top of a hill-climb, except if the incident occurs before the climb. Every discussion regarding the qualifications «at the top of a hill-climb» and «before the climb» will be decided by the commissaires panel.

The top of the hill climb, the KoM point, was at 2km to go, and the official profile shows it as downhill from there to the finish. But I have never seen the 3km rule applied on a stage like this.

Wouldn't do Samu much good: he was behind the leaders with 3km left.

 

[Fernandez]

Re:

Roglic only 69 seconds down..
He can still win the GC

No way

 

[rick james]

Re: Re:

Will Contador get cleared of that 3 seconds time loss? Now he was really hampered by the Samu crash

fingers crossed!

whys that?

 

[Asero831]

Re: Re:

Roglic only 69 seconds down..
He can still win the GC

No way

He did beat Valverde by more than two minutes in last years Giro. That was 40k though

 

[carton]

Mad finish. And mad props to Valverde. Old Man River can still wind his way down those valleys.

It should be between Bala and Berto, unless Uran has really rediscovered some of that 2014 form. Izaguirre might be an interesting dark horse, though.

 

[Brullnux]

Re: Re:

I keep seeing Bilbo being written on websites - can someone confirm that this is a mistake and it's still Bilbao, and that there isn't a Lord of the Rings-loving mayor who decide to change the name?

It's the (surprisingly straightforward) Basque name of the city.

Oh right, quite embarrassed I didn't know that actually. I've been to Bilbao as well.

 

[RedheadDane]

If there's one thing I've learned from this race, it is that the 3K rules is a lot more complicated than I thought.