69th Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana (2.1) 31/1 - 4/2/2018

[RedheadDane]

Re: Re:

Who's the best finisher of Valverde and Sanchez?

Valverde

Then I'll take the change and make a bold prediction:

1. Valverde
2. Sanchez
3. Fuglsang

 

[ruamruam]

Re:

Who's the best finisher of Valverde and Sanchez?

Normally Valverde but Sanchez has a team mate so who knows what will happen

 

[Carols]

Re:

nice to see some racing

Indeed .

7km, 30 seconds. Long, straight, flat road with 3 teams chasing. Good stuff!

 

[Scarponi]

Re: 69th Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana (2.1) 31/1 - 4/2/20

He just us too fast old mate Valverde

 

[Carols]

Bala!!! Bala!!! What a great result after that horrible accident.....

 

[Alexandre B.]

Astana happily racing for 2nd place.

 

[armchairclimber]

Brilliant

 

[markene2]

Re:

Astana happily racing for 2nd place.

Probably thinking of the overal with Fuglsang

 

[silvergrenade]

Bad tactics I think at the end there by Astana..
Top job Bala!

 

[jaylew]

Great win for Bala. What a long sprint.

 

[TourOfSardinia]

indestructable

 

[tobydawq]

Amazing stuff.

 

[Cance > TheRest]

Great race. Astana could not have done anything differently considering that they are racing to win the overall with Fuglsang. Lulu taking the win today would just have been a bonus

 

[jaylew]

How did Sky not put a guy in that move? Valverde certainly appreciated their work.

 

[HBA01]

Re:

Bad tactics I think at the end there by Astana..
Top job Bala!

Bad Tactics maybe but I think that Astana wasn't gonna win in this situation anyway with the fastest rider following and letting them do all the work to make sure they didn't get caught

 

[DFA123]

Great racing by the big guns so early in the season. LLS getting across was huge - it definitely made the difference between them getting caught or not - it's amazing how Sky allowed it.

Incredible to see Valverde back at such a high level already; looks like his fear of descending is diminishing as well!

 

[HBA01]

Re:

How did Sky not put a guy in that move? Valverde certainly appreciated their work.

Banking On TTT?( Especially with the squad they brought)

 

[Blanco]

Re:

Great racing by the big guns so early in the season. LLS getting across was huge - it definitely made the difference between them getting caught or not - it's amazing how Sky allowed it.

Incredible to see Valverde back at such a high level already; looks like his fear of descending is diminishing as well!

There was no fear i think, it was wet and slippery, he was just cautious.
Grande win by him, and cudos to Astana boys.

 

[Kazistuta]

Astana served dinner for Valverde nicely. And why not at least try and win the stage? The overall is a pretty big IF considering the TTT and Valverdes bonus seconds on the Mt finish.... Valverde is just a class act, but it would be nice to see him get challenged just a tiiiiny bit.

 

[Velolover2]

Holy ***, what a beast.

2018 to be his best season?

 

[RedheadDane]

Re: Re:

Who's the best finisher of Valverde and Sanchez?

Valverde

Then I'll take the change and make a bold prediction:

1. Valverde
2. Sanchez
3. Fuglsang

Called it!

It was a pretty easy prediction to make...

 

[Velolover2]

Antunes 10th overall. :surprised:

 

[DFA123]

Re:

Great race. Astana could not have done anything differently considering that they are racing to win the overall with Fuglsang. Lulu taking the win today would just have been a bonus

Not sure about that. Fuglsang lost at least 2 seconds thanks to Lulu going for the win, in time bonuses alone. Probably a even more than that, if Lulu would have sacrificed himself and ridden hard all the way in.

So whatever they were doing they messed up, and ultimately neither won the stage nor optimized Fuglsang's GC chances. Still, they contributed to some exciting racing, so kudos for that.

 

[Velolover2]

Astana's TTT team is really good tough. 2 secs isn't that much unless Valverde is going to destroy Fuglsang on the MTF which I don't think will be the case.


LLS, Birdsong, Grivko, Moser, Chernetckii.. lots of solid time trialists.

 

[DFA123]

Re:

Astana's TTT team is really good tough. 2 secs isn't that much unless Valverde is going to destroy Fuglsang on the MTF which I don't think will be the case.


LLS, Birdsong, Grivko, Moser, Chernetckii.. lots of solid time trialists.

True, but still, if you're going for GC then you take those 2+ seconds. Or, if you're going to sacrifice a bit of time by trying to get the stage win, then try and do it properly - making the most of the 2 v 1 advantage. Seemed like their tactics fell a bit between two stools.

Also, even if the 6 seconds to Valverde might prove irrelevant thanks to the TTT - the 23 seconds to Poels might not be.