Euskal Herriko Itzulia 2018 - April 2-7

[Akuryo]

Re:

With Alaphilippe, I guess we'll see tomorrow rather he's going to try to go for GC or if he's going to try to save something for the Ardennes.

It is a week between the races. I dont think it really maters one way or the other how he rides tomorrow.

 

[Brullnux]

Re:

Landa is 7th right now in GC.

With Alaphilippe, I guess we'll see tomorrow rather he's going to try to go for GC or if he's going to try to save something for the Ardennes.

I don't see the point of riding a tt at 100% if you're not then going to go for gc.

 

[Climbing]

Ofc Ala is going for GC, let's not be ridiculous here, otherwise you don't ride such a TT.
He might fail and say he wasn't trying, but not on purpose

 

[Koronin]

From what he just put on his facebook account it sounds like he's all in for the GC. Yes it's in French:
Après une deuxième victoire et un chrono bien négocié en route pour une fin de course qui s'annonce difficile sur ce tour du Pays Basque déjà réussi pour moi . Mais le #Wolfpack a toujours faim ✋
Merci à tous pour vos messages

This is the translation according to facebook's translation button:
After a second victory and a well-negotiated stopwatch on the way to an end of race that is going to be difficult on this tour of the basque country already made for me. But The #Wolfpack is always hungry ✋
Thank you all for your messages

Just hope he doesn't sacrifice his chances in the Ardennes as I've been looking forward to another battle between him and Valverde there.

Akuryo, well according to Valverde it does. He doesn't like racing this race this close to the Ardennes, because he's said it interferes with his training for the Ardennes.

 

[Bot. Sky_Bot]

Roglic rather than Ala. Others (i.e. Landa) - no chances for GC.

 

[Bot. Sky_Bot]

Re: Re:

Caruso is BMC leader in this race and he was 9 minites down!!!...Richie is expecting a baby any day ...(may already be here ) so the fierce training of last year may have gone out the window...Teuns is by far the best placed for BMC but still given the competetion too far down for a GC result
Strange BMC performance

SKY also riding forde la Cruz and he was no where credible...Kwaito tuning form for the classics
UAE continuing their shocking season so far

La Tour suffering from the curse of KIrby ?
Zakirin not looking great at all so far this season
Betencur on a slow slow burn ?
Landa didnt climb well on that steep climb
Nibali did well considered he just rode the hell of the north

For my money Quintana is looking good and of course Rojlic
Allapillipe si not going for GC just tuning for the Ardennes

Well my guess is that now he's going for the GC. It's too big race for him to just give up now, although it might affect his Ardennes campaign. Anyway, I would really like Rogla for the win.

Don't know if he will or not, or may just be stage hunting. It definitely could have an effect on his Ardennes campaign if he decides to try to go after GC here. Valverde doesn't like racing here before the Ardennes because he's said that it does effect his Ardennes training. Although last year you'd never have known since he won herbe then won another Ardennes double.

It was on 6th page of this thread.

 

[Koronin]

Re: Re:

Caruso is BMC leader in this race and he was 9 minites down!!!...Richie is expecting a baby any day ...(may already be here ) so the fierce training of last year may have gone out the window...Teuns is by far the best placed for BMC but still given the competetion too far down for a GC result
Strange BMC performance

SKY also riding forde la Cruz and he was no where credible...Kwaito tuning form for the classics
UAE continuing their shocking season so far

La Tour suffering from the curse of KIrby ?
Zakirin not looking great at all so far this season
Betencur on a slow slow burn ?
Landa didnt climb well on that steep climb
Nibali did well considered he just rode the hell of the north

For my money Quintana is looking good and of course Rojlic
Allapillipe si not going for GC just tuning for the Ardennes

Well my guess is that now he's going for the GC. It's too big race for him to just give up now, although it might affect his Ardennes campaign. Anyway, I would really like Rogla for the win.

Don't know if he will or not, or may just be stage hunting. It definitely could have an effect on his Ardennes campaign if he decides to try to go after GC here. Valverde doesn't like racing here before the Ardennes because he's said that it does effect his Ardennes training. Although last year you'd never have known since he won herbe then won another Ardennes double.

It was on 6th page of this thread.

I just posted what Alaphilippe put on his facebook page. That sounds like he's going to try to go after the GC.

 

[Bot. Sky_Bot]

There is another question.
This is the thread about PV, Valverde doesn't participate in it.
Are you able to write a post without involving Valverde?

 

[Koronin]

Re:

There is another question.
This is the thread about PV, Valverde doesn't participate in it.
Are you able to write a post without involving Valverde?

His comments are relevant to what Alaphilippe is trying to do.

 

[Alexandre B.]

Re:

There is another question.
This is the thread about PV, Valverde doesn't participate in it.
Are you able to write a post without involving Valverde?

The avatar already tells you the answer

 

[Blanco]

Re: Re:

Guys, what do you think ? Can Alaphilippe survive the last stage ? From my point of view, there is just too much of climbing for him.

He needs to survive tomorrow's stage first, Movistar will drop the hammer on Elosua, they want to launch Quintana or Landa as soon as possible.

Movistar will do nothing this race they are pretty weak,Landa will arrive at best second overall

They will try, that's sure. And 2nd overall won't be bad at all. Ala is 1.17 ahead, it's a quite of advantage, and we're not in the high mountains... My guess is Rogla will hold on somehow, Landa will end up 2nd cause Ala will crack in the process somewhere, but he might hold onto 3rd place.

 

[May0maniac]

Bora also has 2 riders inside the top 10, they and Bahrain also have the ability to create chaos if they send one of them on a long range attack.

 

[Laplaz]

Re:

Bora also has 2 riders inside the top 10, they and Bahrain also have the ability to create chaos if they send one of them on a long range attack.

Yeah really impressed by the Bora guys, didn't knew that they can TT so good.

 

[May0maniac]

Re: Re:

Bora also has 2 riders inside the top 10, they and Bahrain also have the ability to create chaos if they send one of them on a long range attack.

Yeah really impressed by the Bora guys, didn't knew that they can TT so good.

I know that Konrad was decent, but I didn't expect him to be that good.
Buchmann's performance in a flatish ITT is an even bigger surprise, the guy's a pure climber who's at his best in the high mountains, I've heard rumours about him riding the Giro with Formolo, that would be interesting.

 

[Sestriere]

Re: Re:

Bora also has 2 riders inside the top 10, they and Bahrain also have the ability to create chaos if they send one of them on a long range attack.

Yeah really impressed by the Bora guys, didn't knew that they can TT so good.

I know that Konrad was decent, but I didn't expect him to be that good.
Buchmann's performance in a flatish ITT is an even bigger surprise, the guy's a pure climber who's at his best in the high mountains, I've heard rumours about him riding the Giro with Formolo, that would be interesting.

Giro for Buchmann would be great imo, lots of long climbs with MTFs would suit him. Also, I fear he could lose a lot of time in the first week in Northern France to a point where he would just carry bottles for Majka. Unfortunately the Tour is everything in Germany and his team (and the media) will want to see the only good German climber in France in July.

 

[Poursuivant]

Re: Re:

Nibali finished 103rd.
Last time he was outside the top100 in an ITT? Tour of Poland... 2007.

Also, wtf happened to Cavagna?

Nibali already said that he would take it easy in the ITT, so no surprise.
Konrad already 4th on gc, just 3 seconds behind Mollema, a podium would be great and he seems to be in great shape for the Ardennes.

Targetting tomorrow’ Stage?

 

[johnymax]

There is still enough terrain left for Movistar especially to turn this race around. But they can't wait for the last climbs. I'm sure Landa will attack tomorrow. He has to. But they will have to get rid of Roglic's domestics as soon as possible and they have the firepower to do it. If you consider that the Izagirre brothers aren't happy with their situation too (although Gorka will be very happy with a top5 in the end), they could join the fun. That's why I'm not so sure Roglic holds on even though he looks formidable and the gaps are pretty big. I fear it could be Kruijswijk's Giro 2016 allover again. Although like DT said TLJ maybe is't that bad as it seems at first. There are some respectable climbers in Powless, De Tier, Bataglin.

For Alaphillipe...I don't know. I thought he did as expected today but I don't think he can gain those seconds on Rogla going mano a mano in the last 2 stages. He could benefit from other attacks tiring Roglic up though. I'm really looking forward to the next two stages. The action should be great.

Also Mollema surprised me with his ITT today.

 

[Koronin]

If Movistar wants anything out of this race at all they are going to have to attack and attack early starting tomorrow. Esp after proving that both Landa and Quintana still aren't very time trialists. Truthfully not sure what Gorka is planning on trying. Although wouldn't be surprised if he follows an attack at some point to try to improve his placing. I can see Bahrain trying to get Nibali into a break early. I have no idea what Alaphilippe will try.

 

[johnymax]

Re: Re:

Roglic is def in the discussion for future GT winner. Good enough on the climbs, world class on TT. A true Tommy D type of rider.

Honestly I want to see Roglic do something of significance vs other GT riders on climbs over 10 minutes first.

Recovery and consistency is still a big question mark when it comes to him, he could be the next Spilak and not really a threat in Gts.

I'm a Špilak fan but he has never done anything worth mentioning in a GT. Roglič on the other hand had a 2nd place in his 1st GT stage, won a stage in each of his first two GT appearances (an ITT in 2nd week, the queen stage of the Tour in 3rd week), has been in multiple breakaways with a couple of other good results. He hasn't shown consistency but he hasn't even tried yet. He is going step by step and with the progression he is showing it is to early to write him off. This year the goal was to win a WT stage race but the long term goal is to contend in a GT. This year he's going to the Tour and the plan was to go stage hunt. But I think it'd be wise to try to remain in GC contention as long as possible. I don't think it's too soon for him.

 

[Escarabajo]

Roglic seems to be the stronger, but I feel it would be a very difficult race to control for him. He cannot cover all the attacks and somebody will get close to him in GC.

 

[42x16ss]

Re:

Mathews 7o yesterday and 6o today..!?..

He’s slipping under the radar a little bit. Looking good for the Ardennes.

 

[Robert5091]

De Gendt to be in the breakaway! Roglic could hang on over the first climb, but the last two ... 20 km though from last climb to finish. Hope all get down in one piece.

 

[Akuryo]

Re:

Akuryo, well according to Valverde it does. He doesn't like racing this race this close to the Ardennes, because he's said it interferes with his training for the Ardennes.

Just because mighty Valverde said it, it must be true for every other rider :Question:
Different riders have different approaches/builld ups.

 

[Oliver]

Re: Re:

Nibali finished 103rd.
Last time he was outside the top100 in an ITT? Tour of Poland... 2007.

Also, wtf happened to Cavagna?

Nibali already said that he would take it easy in the ITT, so no surprise.
Konrad already 4th on gc, just 3 seconds behind Mollema, a podium would be great and he seems to be in great shape for the Ardennes.

Targetting tomorrow’ Stage?

He will not start today, has some problem: "suffers from a painful skin lesion located in the rider’s seat area"

 

[The Barb]

If Roglic doesn't get distanced on the final climb today then there could be a major regrouping. Even someone like McCarthy is not out of it at 66-1.