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Velolover2 said:Valverde to mix it with the sprinters on stage 18?
RedheadDane said:So... by the look of his the 2012 TdF was his "bad" year GT-wise (not counting years he DNFed); finishing all the way down on a 20th place.
GuyIncognito said:RedheadDane said:So... by the look of his the 2012 TdF was his "bad" year GT-wise (not counting years he DNFed); finishing all the way down on a 20th place.
Like almost every other GC contender for that Tour, he suffered some nasty injuries in a week 1 crash. I wouldn't read much into that gc placing
That was the most boring Tour I've ever watched and it takes some beating. Half the GC contenders didn't start because of injury or suspension, and of the other half every one crashed hard in week 1 except for the podium 3.
DFA123 said:What a great position for Valverde to be in. Yates is probably 50-50 to crack. Obviously not as much as in the Giro, but enough to lose 1+ minute. And Valverde has a significant buffer down to 3rd place.
Difficult decision though whether or not to ride conservatively in the next couple of days, leaving everything for stage 20, or to try to chip away a bit at Yates's advantage, but risk pushing it too hard.
Valv.Piti said:"La Rabassa? It’s not bad for me, I know it pretty well. As Alberto Contador told me – he was sitting behind the podium after the stage – I have to take care of my body eat as much as I need, because I really cracked hard at that climb in 2008"
I wonder what kind of advices Contador give his protegé Más after the stage then, but apparently he just reminded Valverde he kicked his *** back in 2008 when - yes - Ballan won. It was raining that day, hopefully it won't do that on Friday and Saturday, but Valverde surely would want to eat a lot beforehand.
18-Valve. (pithy) said:I thought stage 20 would be harder, but like Valv.Piti said it's doable for a rider of Valverde's characteristics. If his current form is sufficient...
That is funnyValv.Piti said:"La Rabassa? It’s not bad for me, I know it pretty well. As Alberto Contador told me – he was sitting behind the podium after the stage – I have to take care of my body eat as much as I need, because I really cracked hard at that climb in 2008"
I wonder what kind of advices Contador give his protegé Más after the stage then, but apparently he just reminded Valverde he kicked his *** back in 2008 when - yes - Ballan won. It was raining that day, hopefully it won't do that on Friday and Saturday, but Valverde surely would want to eat a lot beforehand.
Red Rick said:And ofcourse the Valverde definition of kicking someone's *** is finishing s.t. 1 place ahead of them.
I mixed it up with Plat de Berettobydawq said:Red Rick said:And ofcourse the Valverde definition of kicking someone's *** is finishing s.t. 1 place ahead of them.
He lost 55 seconds?
https://www.procyclingstats.com/race/vuelta-a-espana/2008/stage-6