Colombia 2.1 (Feb 12-17)

[hfer07]

Re: Re:

Seems to be both Lopez and Sosa screwed up.

Superman didn't screw anything up. Letting Nairo ride was very smart.

I changed my mind on that. You're right. However, Sosa majorly screwed up.

Yes Lopez letting Nairo win was a smart move on Lopez's part.

In Sosa's defense, he could have won the race had he given leadership & support earlier and on the last climb he was the one who fell - but overall -YES it was his fault for not reading the race properly-perhaps too young but he should have attacked Lopez earlier....

 

[Jungle Cycle]

What about that chit-chat between Nairo+Egan when they were on attack with Anacona??
It was quite long...

 

[Blanco]

Re:

What about that chit-chat between Nairo+Egan when they were on attack with Anacona??
It was quite long...

Probably Nairo tried to persuade Bernal to work on the front, and maybe he should've done that, he was some 40 sec behind Lopez in the GC...

 

[Son of Amsterhammer]

What an epic finish. Wow. Columbia has so much talent.

 

[Escarabajo]

Re:

What about that chit-chat between Nairo+Egan when they were on attack with Anacona??
It was quite long...

He was persuading Egan to work, but by that time it was evident that he was working for Sosa. So he was only marking and waiting.

 

[PunchingRouleur]

other than some problems with broadcast, and some dumb fans the race was awesome...NAIROMAN

 

[RedheadDane]

why or why there is always a f**k up moment on a great race? Today should have been the cherry on top of the cake had that absurd crash caused by those f**kers never happened.....

anyways...... Kudos to Nairito, Aquaman Lopez & Sosa

Aquaman?

 

[Valv.Piti]

On Froome:
You could argue he couldnt do what he did 2016-2017 back in 2013, but I'd argue that he couldnt do what he did in 2013 in 16-17. So whats the most impressive? Probably 2016-2017 from the standpoint of just winning GTs and such, but the feeling I had watching Froome practically being invincible and just beating guys up in every stage race, and of course the two MTFs and the time trial in TdF that year, was Armstongesque for the first and last time in his career. So thats why I choose that version of Froome over the more endurance-based, consistent GT-racking in that later stage of his career.

A basketballreference, Lebron has more longevity (and still an incredible peak), but Jordan in the late early 90's was just something else entirely.

 

[Valv.Piti]

What happened yesterday to Sosa btw? A tactical failure?

 

[tobydawq]

Re:

What happened yesterday to Sosa btw? A tactical failure?

You mean why he lost 6 seconds? I think he was just spent after bashing Martínez full-on for 20 kilometres (and being bashed by Martínez) and couldn't accelerate on the final small hill.

Impressive recovery for today, though.

 

[Valv.Piti]

There was just some tacts about Sky playing it badly, dno if it was regarding to Bernal then.

 

[tobydawq]

Re:

There was just some tacts about Sky playing it badly, dno if it was regarding to Bernal then.

Sosa was in the front with Martínez. But Sky still favoured Bernal for the win, so they were leading the peloton when Sosa was driving the attack.

So yeah, that was probably a bit of a failure, though, there's no radio communication (as far as I know). In the end it cost them the race because it made López stay in close enough proximity to close the gap to the front. Of course, Sky had probably believed Bernal to be at López' level and feared that Martínez was equal to Sosa - and Alaphilippe was also holding his ground.

So at the time it sort of made sense (probably not that Sosa was contributing) but hindsight is always wiser.

 

[Robert5091]

It was a crazy stage not just on the cycling front. The crowds lining the roads were incredible, but the idiots running along nearly ruined the race.

Chapeau to Nairo - he kept going despite the crash and chapeau Superman! Astana winning around the globe at the moment.

 

[70kmph]

Not the usual Sky approach to a race, which would be TTT up mountain and launch the leader in the final KM
They only needed 4 sec yet abandoned their own playbook...very peculiar

 

[Robert5091]

Re:

Not the usual Sky approach to a race, which would be TTT up mountain and launch the leader in the final KM
They only needed 4 sec yet abandoned their own playbook...very peculiar

They seemed not to have the usual team strength so the train ran out of puff fairly quickly. Froome got out of the saddle pretty quickly and that's a sign normaly that he's on the limit. No Kwia, G, Moscon or Kiry remember.

 

[YavorD]

That was like a battle between the generations in Colombian cycling. "The first star" Quintana, the next one - Lopez (he is still just 25 tho and with the way he progresses steady, I could actually see him being the most successful one) And the rising stars Sosa, Bernal. I know it's not exactly for this threat but whom of them do you think will have the best career and why?

 

[Valv.Piti]

Bernal. Simply the most talented of them all and has that versatility as well.

 

[Koronin]

The thing with Lopez is he has continued to progress. He may end up being the best of the group. Bernal and Sosa are still young with a lot of potential. I think Lopez still have more potential. Quntana, I think has hit his ceiling.

 

[hammerthaim]

Jhojan Garcia turns into a beast on PCM17... Coming true in real life.

 

[sir fly]

Re:

On Froome:
You could argue he couldnt do what he did 2016-2017 back in 2013, but I'd argue that he couldnt do what he did in 2013 in 16-17. So whats the most impressive? Probably 2016-2017 from the standpoint of just winning GTs and such, but the feeling I had watching Froome practically being invincible and just beating guys up in every stage race, and of course the two MTFs and the time trial in TdF that year, was Armstongesque for the first and last time in his career. So thats why I choose that version of Froome over the more endurance-based, consistent GT-racking in that later stage of his career.

A basketballreference, Lebron has more longevity (and still an incredible peak), but Jordan in the late early 90's was just something else entirely.

I've got an analogy, too... Froome '11-'15 = Bolt, while Froome '16 onwards = Johnson (Michael).

 

[Escarabajo]

Re:

What happened yesterday to Sosa btw? A tactical failure?

More a failure on Sky. They were pushing hard giving Lopez a free ride while Sosa was at the front pushing hard as well. But if we knew yesterday what we know now ... That's life.

 

[Salvarani]

Re: Re:

On Froome:
You could argue he couldnt do what he did 2016-2017 back in 2013, but I'd argue that he couldnt do what he did in 2013 in 16-17. So whats the most impressive? Probably 2016-2017 from the standpoint of just winning GTs and such, but the feeling I had watching Froome practically being invincible and just beating guys up in every stage race, and of course the two MTFs and the time trial in TdF that year, was Armstongesque for the first and last time in his career. So thats why I choose that version of Froome over the more endurance-based, consistent GT-racking in that later stage of his career.

A basketballreference, Lebron has more longevity (and still an incredible peak), but Jordan in the late early 90's was just something else entirely.

I've got an analogy, too... Froome '11-'15 = Bolt, while Froome '16 onwards = Johnson (Michael).

I was thinking more like Ben Johnson

 

[sir fly]

Re: Re:

On Froome:
You could argue he couldnt do what he did 2016-2017 back in 2013, but I'd argue that he couldnt do what he did in 2013 in 16-17. So whats the most impressive? Probably 2016-2017 from the standpoint of just winning GTs and such, but the feeling I had watching Froome practically being invincible and just beating guys up in every stage race, and of course the two MTFs and the time trial in TdF that year, was Armstongesque for the first and last time in his career. So thats why I choose that version of Froome over the more endurance-based, consistent GT-racking in that later stage of his career.

A basketballreference, Lebron has more longevity (and still an incredible peak), but Jordan in the late early 90's was just something else entirely.

I've got an analogy, too... Froome '11-'15 = Bolt, while Froome '16 onwards = Johnson (Michael).

I was thinking more like Ben Johnson

Be free to think like Ben...

 

[Red Rick]

Mid February, and the Colombians are going absolute ham.

Gotta wonder if that's optimal for bigger races later in the season.

That being said, this race is probably bigger for those guys than any of the non GT WT stage races.

 

[Escarabajo]

It is their home soil, in front of their fans, with good weather on February.