Itzulia Basque Country 2021, Spain, April 5 - April 10

[Gargamel35]

Roglič said, he doesn't feel any pressure to win overall tomorrow. He's here with a very young team and he wanted to lower the pressure on them so he decided not to follow any more in stage 4, because guys would explode and there would be too much pressure on them in stage 5 and 6 to defend all the time.

Now they don't defend anything. No pressure, just fight and attack.

Sounds fun.

 

[Red Rick]

Roglič said, he doesn't feel any pressure to win overall tomorrow. He's here with a very young team and he wanted to lower the pressure on them so he decided not to follow any more in stage 4, because guys would explode and there would be too much pressure on them in stage 5 and 6 to defend all the time.

Now they don't defend anything. No pressure, just fight and attack.

Sounds fun.

Shipping the jersey off to McNulty was alright. What wasn't right was giving him this much time. Keep him within 10s, and you're gonna take that time back on Arrate.

 

[Netserk]

Route 3a - a more recent route, never done in full to Usartza, climbing on hormigón from Eibar but to the northeast of the normal route through the industrial estate at Matxaria. Has the steepest ramps of all sides, but keeps all the false flat after joining the main road not long after the junction between the road to Ixua and the road to Usartza.

It was the last climb of the race in 2018.

 

[CyclistAbi]

A select group of mountain goats on a mission, on that last 2,5km of climb, surely possible?

P.S. Riders will for sure suffer tomorrow, immensely, we can at least give them a round of applause for keeping this race so open and entertaining. Instead of arguing if they are stupid or not. Maybe a bit crazy.

 

[IndurainsTdF1994]

burn baby burn

 

[sir fly]

This hardly could've been set up for a more suspense climax.
Fitting conclusion of the action-packed week.

 

[Red Rick]

What is the starting time tomorrow?

 

[johnymax]

This hardly could've been set up for a more suspense climax.
Fitting conclusion of the action-packed week.

The pinnacle would be with somebody doing a Talansky tomorrow in an epic stage.

 

[Gargamel35]

Shipping the jersey off to McNulty was alright. What wasn't right was giving him this much time. Keep him within 10s, and you're gonna take that time back on Arrate.

It's bike racing, not chess.

 

[Red Rick]

It's bike racing, not chess.

I thought it was cause Jumbo seem to play the bongcloud every game

 

[Sciatic]

I don't know about cycling, but as an amateur runner I always cooled down after races more than 30 years ago, so this claim to have invented cooling down 14 years ago seems rather dubious.

I think he/she means cooling down on bike trainers set up at the finish line. Of course cooling down in sports existed well before that.

 

[Sciatic]

Same as me. Not 30 years ago, but I started Athletics at my school in 2007 (with 12 years) and it was a pretty common thing to do. Unless cycling used to do archaic training methods.

See my comment—cooling down on he trainers at the finish is the more recent development

 

[Broccolidwarf]

It's Fuglsang weather tomorrow....... just saying.

 

[ice&fire]

What is the starting time tomorrow?

14:42 CET according to the timetable in the race website

 

[CyclistAbi]

Just finished reading some debates. The stuff i read, don't know if i will be able to get much sleep now.

Horner made another video claiming UAE will basically be soft pedaling tomorrow and only JV will be chasing down the attacks. And i guess attack.

People are really going in extremes!

If today's stage will bring 10% of the vigorous excitement involved in this debates, then we are golden.

 

[Lequack]

McNulty has this in the bag.

 

[Broccolidwarf]

McNulty has this in the bag.

He will get a lot of pressure tomorrow, over multiple climbs.

There are a bunch of guys sitting 10-20 that are sure to attack early, probably on the 3rd last cat. 1..... and if JV are smart, they try to send out Vingegaard early too, to deplete UAE.

UAE has the strongest team there, but McNulty will certainly be put to the test personally tomorrow.

 

[Lequack]

However, the benefits of a cool down are not proven. There was a New Zealand study from 2018 that found no evidence that they improved recovery or prevent injuries.

Source:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1380658233031987208

View: https://twitter.com/doctorinigo/status/1380658233031987208?s=20

Larger pic:

 

[More Strides than Rides]

Source:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1380658233031987208

View: https://twitter.com/doctorinigo/status/1380658233031987208?s=20

Larger pic:

There isn’t anything said in that reference about how much decrease in lactate decreases free radicals, inflammation, cell damage and hampered recovery. It is circumstantial conclusions that minimizing blood lactate to X degree improves recovery to Y degree. It is an incorrect conclusion to skip the relationship of X and Y, and jump to saying that cool downs improve Y.

Clearing blood lactate quickly post exercise really doesn’t matter- it goes away on its own quite effectively. Imagine continuing the chart- how much sooner would the cooldown effect group hit 0 (you never hit 0, but for simplicity) than the non cooldown? An hour max? That extra hour of mild exposure to blood lactate isn’t making any difference. It’s already at nearly nominal levels after 30minutes anyway.

Edit: I should clarify that I totally jumped into this sidebar conversation without at all looking at the context and previous posts.

 

[Rackham]

Just finished reading some debates. The stuff i read, don't know if i will be able to get much sleep now.

Horner made another video claiming UAE will basically be soft pedaling tomorrow and only JV will be chasing down the attacks. And i guess attack.

People are really going in extremes!

If today's stage will bring 10% of the vigorous excitement involved in this debates, then we are golden.

After watching his most recent video & projected scenarios, I'm thinking Chris Horner is massively overrating Brandon McNulty's abilities on a hard mountain stage (this guy exploded in the Giro) & he's also forgetting this isn't just about Jumbo versus UAE, but Movistar & Ineos are in with a chance as well, i.e. they absolutely have the power to bring the pain on the earlier climbs & start drilling it to hurt the yellow jersey. Yates is 1 minute behind McNulty & can still either win the overall or get a podium, likewise Valverde isn't known as the sort who just gives up.

So I seriously doubt a group of favorites with Brandon McNulty will arrive all together at the final climb, likewise I don't believe Primoz Roglic needs time bonuses to finish 24 second ahead of Brandon McNulty on a difficult mountain stage. But wait & see I guess.

 

[Red Rick]

After watching his most recent video & projected scenarios, I'm thinking Chris Horner is massively overrating Brandon McNulty's abilities on a hard mountain stage (this guy exploded in the Giro) & he's also forgetting this isn't just about Jumbo versus UAE, but Movistar & Ineos are in with a chance as well, i.e. they absolutely have the power to bring the pain on the earlier climbs & start drilling it to hurt the yellow jersey. Yates is 1 minute behind McNulty & can still either win the overall or get a podium, likewise Valverde isn't known as the sort who just gives up.

So I seriously doubt a group of favorites with Brandon McNulty will arrive all together at the final climb, likewise I don't believe Primoz Roglic needs time bonuses to finish 24 second ahead of Brandon McNulty on a difficult mountain stage. But wait & see I guess.

Probably I guess?

I do think other players have been completely disregarded and most probably have argued too much from a clear UAE vs Jumbo pov, myself included.

 

[Frankschleck]

I am thinking Fuglsang's day from the break. He has nothing to lose and they can't stop people in the top 25 getting in the break today,.

 

[Red Rick]

Yeah the break should be insane, it should be crazy from start to finish.

 

[Blanco]

The day has come. Nobody knows nothing.
Will UAE ride passively to protect McNulty and bring him to the foot of the last climb with the main guys?
Will Pogacar attack earlier? Will he attack on the last climb, or just pace McNulty?
Will Jumbo wait till the last climb, or try with Vignegaard earlier?
Will Landa attack on Krabelin?
Will Valverde use Verona and Mas on Krabelin to force selection?
What will Ineos do?
Will Astana send whole team in the break?

My prediction: break wins the stage, Roglic takes the overall.

 

[jonan92]

There could be rain in the last km today