Ruta del Sol 2017

[kingjr]

It never ceases to amaze me how quickly Contador recovers between these extreme efforts. My lungs are burning just from watching him

 

[DFA123]

Pinot! What a finish. So much happening there.

Contador (with a big hand from Felline) looked the strongest but misjudged his effort. Also, what a surprise to see Sky backing the wrong horse, again!

 

[portugal11]

Tomorrow it will be contador vs pinot vs izaguirre

 

[rhubroma]

The second place is not good...

 

[inacion]

I put stars on four riders on pro cycling stats fantasy, they fill the top 4

 

[Matteo.]

Glad to see Landa on a good level, maybe he could reach 2015 shape

 

[Arredondo]

Would be great if Ion can sneak this win. He is only following wheels the past two stages (like 95% of the peloton when Contador and Valverde attacks), but he's doing it really well.

 

[TourOfSardinia]

STAGE

GC

 

[Tonton]

YES!!!

Fantastic win! Now I'm going in the Legend thread and make it official: Tibopino is the new Merckx

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

Pinot grinding the entire climb vs contador huge attack is the difference. Attacking is not the best option these days, Contador needs to learn to channel basso

Rubbish, the final flat km cost Berto as he does not have the same raw power as slightly larger riders like Tibs.

 

[zlev11]

I'm pretty sure that was Cink (no.71) for Bahrain, not Izagirre.

 

[DFA123]

Re:

Glad to see Landa on a good level, maybe he could reach 2015 shape

I think the biggest obstacle for him will be tactics. He could possibly have won the stage today if he wasn't told attack from so far out. And working for Poels as well, Froome you could understand... but Poels

 

[Jungle Cycle]

even thou Felline effort was awesome could 've been more paced and lasted a little more in order to send Contador a little later....

 

[Netserk]

Pinot for the overall.

 

[LaFlorecita]

I hadn't realized Izagirre was in that 2nd group, I thought it was 2 Sky riders towing Piti. He must have latched on near the finish. He is surely the favorite to win the overall now.

 

[portugal11]

Re:

I hadn't realized Izagirre was in that 2nd group, I thought it was 2 Sky riders towing Piti. He must have latched on near the finish. He is surely the favorite to win the overall now.

I think contador is the favourite

 

[DBotero]

Re: Re:

Glad to see Landa on a good level, maybe he could reach 2015 shape

I think the biggest obstacle for him will be tactics. He could possibly have won the stage today if he wasn't told attack from so far out. And working for Poels as well, Froome you could understand... but Poels

Landa is going to Giro as leader while Poels is getting to work for Froome in TDF.They need to give him something in exchange.Anyway i think Rosa was more impressive than Landa in this race.

 

[DFA123]

Re: Re:

Pinot grinding the entire climb vs contador huge attack is the difference. Attacking is not the best option these days, Contador needs to learn to channel basso

Rubbish, the final flat km cost Berto as he does not have the same raw power as slightly larger riders like Tibs.

This is true, he had no chance in the sprint, but don't you think Contador could have paced himself a bit better before the flatter finish? Once Valverde cracked and Contador opened up the small gap he seemed to carry on with a very hard effort when it wasn't really necessary. He'd already got the gap and just needed to consolidate and pace himself to the finish, there was no need to dig so deep with 7 or 8 minutes riding still to go. He's the best climber in the race; if he paces himself properly he shouldn't be getting caught.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re: Re:

Pinot grinding the entire climb vs contador huge attack is the difference. Attacking is not the best option these days, Contador needs to learn to channel basso

Rubbish, the final flat km cost Berto as he does not have the same raw power as slightly larger riders like Tibs.

This is true, he had no chance in the sprint, but don't you think Contador could have paced himself a bit better before the flatter finish? Once Valverde cracked and Contador opened up the small gap he seemed to carry on with a very hard effort when it wasn't really necessary. He'd already got the gap and just needed to consolidate and pace himself to the finish, there was no need to dig so deep with 7 or 8 minutes riding still to go. He's the best climber in the race; if he paces himself properly he shouldn't be getting caught.

No the way I see it he needed to dig that deep to establish and maintain the gap.

 

[Rollthedice]

Ion the favorite for overall followed by Pinot.

 

[Scarponi]

Re: Re:

Pinot grinding the entire climb vs contador huge attack is the difference. Attacking is not the best option these days, Contador needs to learn to channel basso

Rubbish, the final flat km cost Berto as he does not have the same raw power as slightly larger riders like Tibs.

lol @ "rubbish" he sprinted an extra 50-75m he could sat down and pushed out imo and he was losing ground to Pinot well before the final km. Rubbish

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re: Re:

Pinot grinding the entire climb vs contador huge attack is the difference. Attacking is not the best option these days, Contador needs to learn to channel basso

Rubbish, the final flat km cost Berto as he does not have the same raw power as slightly larger riders like Tibs.

This is true, he had no chance in the sprint, but don't you think Contador could have paced himself a bit better before the flatter finish? Once Valverde cracked and Contador opened up the small gap he seemed to carry on with a very hard effort when it wasn't really necessary. He'd already got the gap and just needed to consolidate and pace himself to the finish, there was no need to dig so deep with 7 or 8 minutes riding still to go. He's the best climber in the race; if he paces himself properly he shouldn't be getting caught.

Pretty much this, basically what I said in the Contador-thread. He could easily have won this stage judging his efforts just a bit better IMO. Continued in the red for longer than he needed to when he had established the gap. Watch it on replay.

Anyways, should be very encouraging for Contador-fans. Will be a very good P-N.

 

[DFA123]

Re: Re:

Glad to see Landa on a good level, maybe he could reach 2015 shape

I think the biggest obstacle for him will be tactics. He could possibly have won the stage today if he wasn't told attack from so far out. And working for Poels as well, Froome you could understand... but Poels

Landa is going to Giro as leader while Poels is getting to work for Froome in TDF.They need to give him something in exchange.Anyway i think Rosa was more impressive than Landa in this race.

Why? If Landa will be leader at the Giro then all the more reason to give him experience as a leader in these kind of races. He needs all the leadership experience he can get. Poels can be leader with Kwiatkowksi in the classics - that's more his strength than stage racing anyway; he's not consistent enough over a week long race.

Agree that Rosa's form has been impressive, but, again he's not going to be leading at a GT, so why not let Landa get more experience in that respect here.

 

[sQiD]

So, who is gonna win the TT tomorrow ?

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re: Re:

Pinot grinding the entire climb vs contador huge attack is the difference. Attacking is not the best option these days, Contador needs to learn to channel basso

Rubbish, the final flat km cost Berto as he does not have the same raw power as slightly larger riders like Tibs.

lol @ "rubbish" he sprinted an extra 50-75m he could sat down and pushed out imo and he was losing ground to Pinot well before the final km. Rubbish

He was losing ground but he lost time rapidly when he got into the final km. Also to the Sky duo + Valverde.