Vuelta a España La Vuelta Femenina 2023 (1st-7th May)

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Libertine Seguros

Libertine Seguros

Feb 20, 2010
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BR2 said:
Anna van der Breggen is such a bad DS. I liked her a lot as a rider because she always came across as ambitious but not a cannibal. A nice, smart person.
But the tactical displays of SD Worx with her sitting in the team car are abysmal in my eyes. The team wins on strength of its riders alone. Maybe that's the only way she knows from her own time.
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But she'll get away with it as long as she has such an OP team to handle.
BR2 said:
She has a better sprint though and when she's not working for van Vleuten anymore she will lose a tactical option, but gain more freedom. Hopefully Movistar gets a support rider or second option then. I think she's worth it, although that may be national bias.
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She does have the problem of consistency at the moment though, she does seem to have odd days when it just isn't there - just like in the Ardennes where she was suffering early in Liège after being the strongest fully mortal rider in Flèche. She looked really strong and up for it yesterday but then didn't have it today. Movistar do in theory have somebody who can step up as a secondary GC contender behind Liane, in Sarah Gigante who is a diesel climber with a huge engine, but the issues she's had since coming to Europe do mean she's perhaps not the threat her pure physical talents alone would suggest she should be at this point.
 
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pmcg76

Mar 6, 2009
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Didinho said:
What happened to Fisher-Black? Vollering comforting her is nice to see.
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Looked like she lost control whilst taking a bottle off Vollering, went down and had to change bikes. Race jury then pulled the team cars out from behind the front group even though gap was still 1.30 to second group and NFB was left with a sizeable gap to close back to the leaders by herself, and unable to do so was forced back into 2nd group. NFB is one of the smaller riders in the bunch and I think lacks in pure power on the flat a bit as a result. If the team cars had been left behind the front group like normal, she probably would have made it back like Santesteban did just before her. Gutting for her as if she had been in the front group, she would probably be sitting in the Top 10 on GC now.
 
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carton

carton

Aug 4, 2014
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Didinho said:
Vollering comforting her is nice to see.
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It was nice to see that side of Vollering. She's the team leader and she won. It would have been perfectly understandable if she tried to turn the page with a joke or even a cursory gesture at a young teammate who not only wasn't celebrating the team win but was still distraught about her own race. But seeing her go out of her way to comfort Fisher-Black (and also, of course, the dog backpack videos) makes me think that the cannibal persona is a bit of an act. A useful and effective act, indubitably. But it's good to see that she seems to be a far nicer person than she lets on most of the time.
 
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awavey

Oct 3, 2021
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theyoungest said:
As expected, Van Vleuten getting closer to Vollering once the climbs get longer... but she's not quite there yet.
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but van Vleutens style on that last climb, she doesnt normally throw the bike around that much going up hill, whilst Vollering was riding almost like a track rider mostly seated and just powering it along, I think Vollering had much more to give if she needed to.

but I wasnt quite sure what Movistar were upto in the chasing group trying to catch the lead group again, though van Vleuten referred to, I cant remember the exact words she used it wasnt exactly lack of support today, but I think she wanted a team mate in her group with her.
 
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awavey

Oct 3, 2021
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BR2 said:
I don't know. First of all I don't get why SD Worx don't work. Marlen Reusser alone could continue to keep the gap to those 3... And if they think someone like Niewiadoma is no threat for them anyway, then as a viewer I don't know why I should even watch women's cycling. There were enough riders who could all share the work a bit. They didn't have to ride like hell, just do some regular, constant work. It's not like those 3 behind are the best time trialers in the world and it's only 3 of them...
Really I don't get it. And now Lippert's group is coming closer again, as well... even if they won't catch them... maybe this "I'm protecting my 7th place in GC" in men's cycling isn't so bad after all. This feels like nobody cares.
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is Niewiadoma a threat though ? when did she last win a stage or a race ? she always seems to end up in those betwixt groups of nearly bridging but not quite bunch of riders, probably have been keeping Cecilie company if she'd ridden this.

Dygert has been the most active CanyonSram rider in a race for years, and its Bauernfeind in 3rd for them, who youd think theyd absolutely be protecting for a podium position now, with Elise "Im not going for mountain points honest" Chabbey their only other rider in the top 10, Kazia is holding on within the top 20.

never underestimate any rider, but youd think the stronger teams and riders view her as someone theyve always got covered.
 
BR2

BR2

Feb 26, 2022
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awavey said:
is Niewiadoma a threat though ? when did she last win a stage or a race ? she always seems to end up in those betwixt groups of nearly bridging but not quite bunch of riders, probably have been keeping Cecilie company if she'd ridden this.

Dygert has been the most active CanyonSram rider in a race for years, and its Bauernfeind in 3rd for them, who youd think theyd absolutely be protecting for a podium position now, with Elise "Im not going for mountain points honest" Chabbey their only other rider in the top 10, Kazia is holding on within the top 20.

never underestimate any rider, but youd think the stronger teams and riders view her as someone theyve always got covered.
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Well, like Lippert she didn't have a good day today. But she was 3rd last year in the TdF Femmes, 3rd in the women's tour. This year she's had at least some top10s in big one day races even if she's not on the same level. She's not someone I'd just discard as "she's not going to be up there anyway". Just like Lippert - in the end neither was a threat, and even if they had been better Vollering would just have won the stage anyway. Then of course you might say if you have a rider like Vollering nothing tactical matters anyway. Just make her stay out of trouble. But then you have to be absolutely confident you really have the strongest rider in the race. If you take that assumption as the base of all decisions it even makes sense to not commit any riders to getting rid of "rivals". And yeah, we all knew Demi was going to be that rider, so, maybe it is totally fine to go with that "strategy".
 
Samu Cuenca

Samu Cuenca

Sep 26, 2020
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It was a shame that Fisher-Black lost time like that, but if she has fantastic legs on Sunday and a bit of luck, then 3rd place won't be completely out of reach for her. There are multiple riders ahead of her who won't be able to hold on LdC.

Tomorrow's stage is an easier version of the one that Van Vleuten killed everyone on last year. They have however decreased the chance of that happening again by including fewer climbs and having a longer stretch to the finish from the top of the last one. With their current levels in mind, I can't really see AVV dropping Vollering on this stage. Perhaps a breakaway could be allowed to win, if too many riders want to save themselves for Sunday.
 
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Samu Cuenca

Samu Cuenca

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awavey said:
is Niewiadoma a threat though ? when did she last win a stage or a race ? she always seems to end up in those betwixt groups of nearly bridging but not quite bunch of riders, probably have been keeping Cecilie company if she'd ridden this.

Dygert has been the most active CanyonSram rider in a race for years, and its Bauernfeind in 3rd for them, who youd think theyd absolutely be protecting for a podium position now, with Elise "Im not going for mountain points honest" Chabbey their only other rider in the top 10, Kazia is holding on within the top 20.

never underestimate any rider, but youd think the stronger teams and riders view her as someone theyve always got covered.
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Bauernfeind is still untested on longer climbs at the highest level, while Chabbey is already known for not being great on proper mountains, so if Kasia has a better day on Lagos de Covadonga, she may still finish the race as the best placed rider from the team.
 
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Libertine Seguros

Libertine Seguros

Feb 20, 2010
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carton said:
It was nice to see that side of Vollering. She's the team leader and she won. It would have been perfectly understandable if she tried to turn the page with a joke or even a cursory gesture at a young teammate who not only wasn't celebrating the team win but was still distraught about her own race. But seeing her go out of her way to comfort Fisher-Black (and also, of course, the dog backpack videos) makes me think that the cannibal persona is a bit of an act. A useful and effective act, indubitably. But it's good to see that she seems to be a far nicer person than she lets on most of the time.
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I think it's just the power wrangle with the ever-generous team player that Lotte Kopecky is that gives that impression of Demi tbh.
 
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Samu Cuenca

Samu Cuenca

Sep 26, 2020
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Red Rick said:
https://twitter.com/x/status/1654518794465816576
View: https://twitter.com/ammattipyoraily/status/1654518794465816576


I don't know much about womens climbing numbers but this looks pretty good to me?
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I think some of the other VAM numbers I've seen previously have been around 1500 (+-) at best on longer climbs than this one, so these numbers aren't too bad, but not spectacular.

Red Rick said:
So what's the consensus for today? Reduced sprint or GC action?

I guess I'm mostly hoping no Dutch rider wins this stage.
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I could see a breakaway make it, but more often than not it doesn't happen, so it probably won't today either. Some teams don't have a chance if it turns into a GC stage, so I think they should try to get a good group up the road.
 
Izzyeviel

Izzyeviel

Oct 1, 2014
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Samu Cuenca said:
Bauernfeind is still untested on longer climbs at the highest level, while Chabbey is already known for not being great on proper mountains, so if Kasia has a better day on Lagos de Covadonga, she may still finish the race as the best placed rider from the team.
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yup. Bauernfeind is one to watch out for in the future, but she didn't outclimb Manly at last years Lotto Thuringen, so its fair to say she ain't exactly going to top ten.
 
Lequack

Lequack

Jul 10, 2014
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FvcBV4fXoAEnXjD
 
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