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Stop ridiculing yourself more than you need to and accept you are way off here.King Boonen said:
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To be honest it was just a bit of a joke as Valverde isn't really renowned for his brilliance in TT. Some people seem to take things much too personally though.
Alexandre B. said:
To be honest it was just a bit of a joke as Valverde isn't really renowned for his brilliance in TT. Some people seem to take things much too personally though.
missed the stage 
and here we got Don Alejandro out performing Contador in a ITT :surprised: :surprised:
Don Alejandro can't be stopped- won't be stopped
and here we got Don Alejandro out performing Contador in a ITT :surprised: :surprised: Don Alejandro can't be stopped- won't be stopped
Re: Re:
Ah, the old it was a joke explanation, after trying to defend the statement for several posts.King Boonen said:
Re: Re:
It really didn't seem like you were joking. And honestly, Im pretty sure you wasn't, but its an easy way to get out and make me look the one at fault.
King Boonen said:
It really didn't seem like you were joking. And honestly, Im pretty sure you wasn't, but its an easy way to get out and make me look the one at fault.
Re: Re:
Yeah, after all that 164th in the Criterium prologue was awesome...
Valv.Piti said:King Boonen said:
It really didn't seem like you were joking. And honestly, Im pretty sure you wasn't, but its an easy way to get out and make me look the one at fault.
Yeah, after all that 164th in the Criterium prologue was awesome...
I never would have thought to say that Quintana is a better in flat TT than Uran. LOL.
I think Valverde will win this one. Great performance.
I think Valverde will win this one. Great performance.
Valverde is a good TTer, just not a specialist that performs super well in the Tour events. The specialization within the sport - and the refinements of preparation it entails - has made even a good TT less effective against the specialists when hitting their targets. Plus Valverde reaches a very high level in the early season and carries it through the Ardennes classics. So his performance wasn't surprising and rather should have been expected. It's more surprising that Contador was nearly as fast, which means he evidently is on the right path. And with a few more races in his legs, might come through with some really good showings in later TT events.
rick james
BANNED
Movistar riders are always geat in ITTs on Spanish soil, remember when Valverde destroyed everyone in the prologue of the 2014 Vuelta a Andalucia?
http://www.procyclingstats.com/race/Vuelta_a_Andalucia_Ruta_Ciclista_Del_Sol_2014_Prologue_Almeria
http://www.procyclingstats.com/race/Vuelta_a_Andalucia_Ruta_Ciclista_Del_Sol_2014_Prologue_Almeria
Re: Re:
zzzz
The TT obviously favoured climbing TT riders so in that regard he did great.
King Boonen said:Valv.Piti said:King Boonen said:
It really didn't seem like you were joking. And honestly, Im pretty sure you wasn't, but its an easy way to get out and make me look the one at fault.
Yeah, after all that 164th in the Criterium prologue was awesome...
zzzz
The TT obviously favoured climbing TT riders so in that regard he did great.
Re: Re:
Not so long ago, he also had a reputation for being a poor ITT rider. And some still believe that, despite his win over Dumoulin and Froome in Romandie last year and his bludgeoning of World silver medalist Coppel last June.
Holding his form for three weeks? Three top-10 in GTs, that should answer it. The problem last year for Pinot was that he was strong non-stop from the end of Algarve until the Dauphine, where he started feeling weak, yet beat Bardet for a MTF and a stage win. He had peaked pretty much for three months, and in between races, if you look at his training rides on Strava, it was insane. What were his Bro and Grappe thinking?
I was expecting a little more today, but like FDJ's DS Thierry Bricaud said (just posted on the FDJ website), Thibaut would have lost 30-40 secondes a few years ago. Bricaud also regretted that the choice of gear today was too conservative.
In any case, it was a good ITT for Pinot and if the GC doesn't change, that's a great week for him.
Hats off to Campenaerts. Great performance. And props to Bertie, as well of course as Don Alejandro, the male version of Jeannie Longo. How long can this dude keep going like this? He might be peaking for 330 days this year instead of his usual 300 . Amazing...
Look at Pinot's descending in Lombardia when he podiumed, in Romandie last year, in the rain, or...Stage 1 of this very Ruta del Sol: he made up time. He's no Sagan, but when he's in a good place mentally, Tibopino is as good a descender as just about anyone.yaco said:
Not so long ago, he also had a reputation for being a poor ITT rider. And some still believe that, despite his win over Dumoulin and Froome in Romandie last year and his bludgeoning of World silver medalist Coppel last June.
Holding his form for three weeks? Three top-10 in GTs, that should answer it. The problem last year for Pinot was that he was strong non-stop from the end of Algarve until the Dauphine, where he started feeling weak, yet beat Bardet for a MTF and a stage win. He had peaked pretty much for three months, and in between races, if you look at his training rides on Strava, it was insane. What were his Bro and Grappe thinking?
I was expecting a little more today, but like FDJ's DS Thierry Bricaud said (just posted on the FDJ website), Thibaut would have lost 30-40 secondes a few years ago. Bricaud also regretted that the choice of gear today was too conservative.
In any case, it was a good ITT for Pinot and if the GC doesn't change, that's a great week for him.
Hats off to Campenaerts. Great performance. And props to Bertie, as well of course as Don Alejandro, the male version of Jeannie Longo. How long can this dude keep going like this? He might be peaking for 330 days this year instead of his usual 300
. Amazing...
I have to say I'm a little surprised that Valverde was the fastest of the GC riders. I know he is usually strong in short TTs especially in Spain and in this time of year. But still I thought Pinot, Contador and Ion would do better than him. Sorry to hear Ion crashed. I think he would have taken the lead today if not for the crash. Hopefully he's ok.
It's kind of an anticlimax the last two stages have little to no terrain for Contador or Pinot to try to do something and take back that second (6 seconds).
It's kind of an anticlimax the last two stages have little to no terrain for Contador or Pinot to try to do something and take back that second (6 seconds).
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I don't think so. He looked bad on the climb in the start of the TT. Clearly not at 100%.
johnymax said:
I don't think so. He looked bad on the climb in the start of the TT. Clearly not at 100%.
Re:
?
The design is crap indeed. There should be a climb near or at the finish on the final stage, even if it's a murito, something. We're going to have two days of meh, I'm afraid.
Regardless, Berto at 80% looks good but needs more endurance/mileage, he hasn't lost the fire, and that's great. Of course, and I'm biased, but Pinot's performance after his good showing at La Marseillaise and a stomach flu is encouraging. Landa has some legs and he's feisty. Good edition IMO.
But yeah, the course sucks: two days of TdF week one coming up. Meh.
I hope that I'm wrong, but unless one of the Top-3 and his team falls asleep, that's it.
Valverde: I leave it at that. He peaks early, all the time, what else is there to sayjohnymax said:
?The design is crap indeed. There should be a climb near or at the finish on the final stage, even if it's a murito, something. We're going to have two days of meh, I'm afraid.
Regardless, Berto at 80% looks good but needs more endurance/mileage, he hasn't lost the fire, and that's great. Of course, and I'm biased, but Pinot's performance after his good showing at La Marseillaise and a stomach flu is encouraging. Landa has some legs and he's feisty. Good edition IMO.
But yeah, the course sucks: two days of TdF week one coming up. Meh.
I hope that I'm wrong, but unless one of the Top-3 and his team falls asleep, that's it.
Re: Re:
Yup. Scrolling through PCS to prove a point. Thinking he has found gold until he realises it was a 4k prologue at 10% in average. Lol. :lol:Kwibus said:King Boonen said:Valv.Piti said:King Boonen said:
It really didn't seem like you were joking. And honestly, Im pretty sure you wasn't, but its an easy way to get out and make me look the one at fault.
Yeah, after all that 164th in the Criterium prologue was awesome...
zzzz
The TT obviously favoured climbing TT riders so in that regard he did great.
Re:
Yep, and it was FIRST ITT in his life! Guy looks like real talent. Bahrain are probably over the moon with him, I don't think he costs them big money
Rollthedice said:
Yep, and it was FIRST ITT in his life! Guy looks like real talent. Bahrain are probably over the moon with him, I don't think he costs them big money
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Some people just don't perform that well in hot climate. Happens to everyone once.
King Boonen said:
Some people just don't perform that well in hot climate. Happens to everyone once.
Re:
That hardly justifies making Rosa and Landa wait for him and work for him on the previous two hilly stages, when they could have potentially gained time on the climbs.
Poels is 4th, Rosa 5th and Landa 6th overall. I'm not sure a rider finishing one place above two domestiques who had to sacrifice their own ambitions on consecutive stages, has justified his role as leader. Especially considering he hasn't come close to winning a stage either - which Rosa or Landa may well have been able to do.
Not sure he did. Do you mean by finishing behind all the other big GC riders in the TT?Alexandre B. said:
That hardly justifies making Rosa and Landa wait for him and work for him on the previous two hilly stages, when they could have potentially gained time on the climbs.
Poels is 4th, Rosa 5th and Landa 6th overall. I'm not sure a rider finishing one place above two domestiques who had to sacrifice their own ambitions on consecutive stages, has justified his role as leader. Especially considering he hasn't come close to winning a stage either - which Rosa or Landa may well have been able to do.
Pinot did third in tour 2014 only because the field was garbage. He did top 10 in other editions only because sky (and other teams) left him go because he was far behind. Bar 2014 he never was able to follow his gc rivals consistently. For me he won't be able to finish in top 5 in giro
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Where did they sacrifice for Poels? I saw Rosa in the first stage chasing Alberto and Izagirre, not waiting for Poels, and also saw Rosa and Landa in pursuit of Pinot in stage 2, while Poels dropped. Didn't saw anybody sacrifice anything for Poels
DFA123 said:
Where did they sacrifice for Poels? I saw Rosa in the first stage chasing Alberto and Izagirre, not waiting for Poels, and also saw Rosa and Landa in pursuit of Pinot in stage 2, while Poels dropped. Didn't saw anybody sacrifice anything for Poels
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