When I watch Quintana "the rouleur"on stages like this, I think about how he would fare much better in TTs if they had to do them on road bikes (obviously not going to happen). What I mean is he seems to get the least advantage from the TT bike of any top-tier guy. Now obviously that must have to do with him not dedicating enough time to that. But on the flats without the TT bike, he is small, looks very compact, but still produces lots of power (for his size). His success on days like today and Formigal (and Stage 2 of this Vuelta) are definitely due to his race-sense about being at the front at key junctures, but must also have something to do with be able to put out the watts on the flat so as to stay with these groups once he has made the split. Not that I know any of this for sure, just my observation from these past several years.
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Off topic, but how can you only have 180ish post and 50ish likes?! Great ratio!
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After the TT I posted how unprofessional it is of him to do so poorly in TTs. If you don't put time in on the TT bike, you will never be fast on the TT bike. I wonder how much different his times would be if he just used his road bike with TT wheels instead of the full aeor set up? Or maybe better yet, a much more conservative TT position. I wonder if he does any TT testing?
Whoa. I don't see how this was so bad for Valverde, and could have benefitted him greatly if only Astana had not pulled the entire chase group??? Particularly if Pog was forced to work and got gassed, Valverde could have taken more time out of him in the last K.
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Wait. So Nairo should have sat up from the group that was gaining 5 minutes on the leader, while the leader’s domestiques were being shelled from the chase groups after riding all day, possibly tiring them out for the big mountain stages ahead...
to avoid hurting Alejandro’s feelings?
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How on earth does it hurt ship Movistar or anyone who sails aboard her for Quintana to gain 6 minutes and 5 places on gc?
They had their best rouleurs Oliveira, Rojas and Erviti working in the front group because Quintana was being a selfish ***?
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You mean when the front group was losing time to the chasers, that's when their riders were on the front.
so you are saying that because of quintana pogacar and lopez will attack even more an valverde just isn´t good enough to be able to go along with them?
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Do you seriously believe that a hard ridden flat stage in the 3rd week of the GT hurt a versatile veteran like Valverde more than it did a 20-year-old neopro and a couple of lightweight Colombian climbers. Because that's the only way that one can interpret today's events as detrimental to Valverde's podium chances.
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Today Movistar played it perfectly. They could have even cause more damage if it wasn't for Astana.
So basically you were expecting a passive boring race so that Valverde can score another podium?
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To play it perfectly would have been having Valverde sitting in the front of the peloton, ready from the gun when Deceuninck started drilling it. I cannot comprehend why Quintana and not him was there.
Besides that, yes, they did the rest as they should.
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Quintana had more freedom than Valverde from the beginning. Valverde didn't. That is always a plus in the strategic game. There is a good probability that Movistar talked it over on rest day.
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Because Lopez and Pogacar are pure climbers and if they need to attack to gain even MORE time now they will need to attack from farther back. Quintana WILL lose the podium and because of Quintana it's very possible NOW that Valverde will also lose the podium. Valverde is NOT a pure climber like Lopez and Pogacar are. Just really wish he would NOT have been brought to the Vuelta in the first place and very glad he out of the team at the end of the season. Still find it funny that he had to sign with a Pro Conti team.
The other teams were NEVER going to allow Valverde into that break. That was not ever going to happen.
The other teams were NEVER going to allow Valverde into that break. That was not ever going to happen.
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Someone appears to be in serious need of a reality check. From a positional perspective can he be blamed for being in the right side of the group when it split, along with 3 other teammates? Maybe some ice cold water thrown in the face to be shocked out of a blind love for one rider. To what would be pretty clear to a mass majority of cycling fans, we have here name calling, character assassin and whatever else can be thrown at Quintana for just doing what he's paid to do: race his bike. Just a tip for you in case you didn't know this: Quintana isn't the anti-christ. His head isn't spinning around on his shoulders while he's spouting "REDRUM! REDRUM!" .
Quintana is still under contract and as such they may as well get the most out of him they can. His every success is positive marketing for the sponsor so what is to be gained by sitting him out the rest of the season instead of earning his millions?
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Now you are really just being silly!
Better to have a conversation when you cool down a bit.
Red Rick
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It's because Quintana has better racing awareness and tactics for these kind of things. When has Valverde ever made a move like that while in contention for a GT?
Valverde is obviously a great rider and tactically good in one day races. But getting in a long distance break to take minutes over rivals, is just something that he doesn't do when going well in a GT.
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