Vuelta a España 8th Ceratizit Challenge by La Vuelta, September 7th-11th, 2022

[Samu Cuenca]

Is it happening again?

It's not impossible. Especially not if the riders are as uninformed about the size of the gap as the public.

 

[stetre76]

Kiesenhofer has gone for a 160 km solo ride today, but I doubt she'll be able to keep everyone behind her in the end.

It's not completely impossible.
She's training alone or with her boyfriend most of the time, she's a good time trialist AND she (still) doesn't like to ride in the peloton/group

At the moment she's got 5:45 on Buijsman and 7:00 on the peloton...
Still 106km to go, but I wouldn't be surprised if she's pulling it off again

 

[Samu Cuenca]

It's not completely impossible.
She's training alone or with her boyfriend most of the time, she's a good time trialist AND she (still) doesn't like to ride in the peloton/group

At the moment she's got 5:45 on Buijsman and 7:00 on the peloton...
Still 106km to go, but I wouldn't be surprised if she's pulling it off again

It defintiely looks very likely now. And if the gap really is above 7 minutes, then the pressure should only be on Movistar to keep things under control (for now).

 

[stetre76]

if the ticker at pcs is correct, Kiesnhofer is 10:00 in front of the peloton - this would mean she's the current overall leader
the next 35-40 km are going to be very interesting, as they seem to be a false flat - then it's mainly uphill again

As I said, Anna is a pretty good time trialist and she's a very good climber...so I think at least the stage win is going to be very realistic

 

[Jumbo Visma Fan :)]

Reportedly she crashed, so the ticker went down.

 

[stetre76]

already back on the bike...
hopefully nothing really happened to her

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Still 8:50 with 70 km left. Movistar seems to be the only team working, which should also be the case, so unless she blows up or is too affected by the crash, I think she can hold on.

 

[yaco]

First BEX wrote on Twitter that Faulkner wouldn't start today due to fatigue, then they said she would, but now she has abandoned the race. She hasn't been extremely lucky in the GT-ish races so far.

Last year she also crashed out of the race while being in a good position after the MTT.

Faulkner has not been the same since catching COVID post the Giro, then suffered multiple crashes in the TDF - She must be in doubt for the World's.

 

[stetre76]

63 km to go and the gap is 9:40 (if the pcs ticker is correct)
So she lost a minute after the crash but now she's slightly gaining again.

The thing is - even if she gets the leader jersey today (which is pretty unlikely, but the stage win should be realistic), Anna and Soltec won't be able to defend it tomorrow.

There were a couple of interviews with Anna (in Austria!) before the Vuelta and she was asked why she signed a contract for only one race - she just said that she wants to go for one of the hillier stages, but the overall classement is of no interest to her

She really is, in a positive way, an extraordinary rider, who can't really be compared to any other rider in the peloton - completely different priorities and goals.

 

[Jumbo Visma Fan :)]

63 km to go and the gap is 9:40 (if the pcs ticker is correct)
So she lost a minute after the crash but now she's slightly gaining again.

The thing is - even if she gets the leader jersey today (which is pretty unlikely, but the stage win should be realistic), Anna and Soltec won't be able to defend it tomorrow.

There were a couple of interviews with Anna before the Vuelta and she was asked why she signed a contract for only one race - she just said that she wants to go for one of the hillier stages, but the overall classement is of no interest to her

She really is, in a positive way, an extraordinary rider, who can't really be compared to any other rider in the peloton - completely different priorities and goals.

There’s no reason why she can’t hold on tomorrow. It’s the question if now Anna takes GC or not.

 

[stetre76]

Let's wait and see
I think the stage win today would already be a big surprise and she would be more than happy with it.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

If the non-Movistar teams want to fight for the podium, they obviously need to bring the gap down to four minutes before the finish, whereas MS just needs it to be less than 7.

But we should still see attacks from the peloton in the last 15 km, regardless of whether they bring down the gap or not.

 

[BR2]

Oh, I see Kiesenhofer is some minutes in front

 

[Libertine Seguros]

You know how sometimes there are things in video games and movies where there's like a completely overpowered enemy, and you suddenly find that some item that had been considered trivial, or the use of which you hadn't figured out, is actually an effective way to take down that unstoppable enemy?

Anna Kiesenhofer is that item.

 

[stetre76]

You know how sometimes there are things in video games and movies where there's like a completely overpowered enemy, and you suddenly find that some item that had been considered trivial, or the use of which you hadn't figured out, is actually an effective way to take down that unstoppable enemy?

Anna Kiesenhofer is that item.

But in video games/movies this plays out only once (well most of the time anyway) - if Anna succeeds again today, it would be the second time already

 

[Samu Cuenca]

You know how sometimes there are things in video games and movies where there's like a completely overpowered enemy, and you suddenly find that some item that had been considered trivial, or the use of which you hadn't figured out, is actually an effective way to take down that unstoppable enemy?

Anna Kiesenhofer is that item.

She's like an OP Pokémon that you have to defeat to win the game, but in order to fight her you first have to search through the fields for a very long time and encounter a lot of Pitchys and Rattatas along the way.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

5:25 with 38 km remaining, so the GC warning has been called off.
And Movistar is not the only team working anymore (they might have been helped all along though, since we haven't been able to watch it).

 

[yaco]

It' strange that four teams are working hard and rotating riders, yet the gap is only gradually declining.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

I'm not sure about the accuracy of the GPS times, but it doesn't look decided anymore.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Anna K really suffering on this gravel.

 

[QueenStagiaire]

She‘s not gonna make it

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Classic old roads on the outskirts of Segovia. This is where in a 2008 Vuelta stage David Arroyo got a win after the break he was monitoring for Valverde behind survived thanks to the strength of Vasil Kiryienka, the Belarusian riding for Tinkoff Credit Systems, who chugged away all the way to the final 100m holding off the bunch after dropping all breakmates bar Arroyo. He was angry about it, but Unzué pacified him by being impressed enough with his performance to go over to see him and award him a contract for the following season.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

That's a shame. Without the crash, she probably would have won.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

¡¡¡FINALLY!!!

By FAR the best athlete still eligible for the "most top 10s without a win" on the women's side (she has a couple but only at .2 level), Persico truly deserved a proper win at this level after the season she has had.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Not a great finish for a group sprint, but Persico rode it well!