Stage 12:Almería - Velefique, 174km

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Hoogerland 22th, ahead of Astana leader Zubeldia.

Up until this Vuelta, Hoogerland barely saw a mountain and road dutch/belgian flat/cobble/hilly races past few years... I wonder when he is empty. He should be dead around tomorrow or sunday

 

[taiwan]

Good couple of stages coming up over the next few days. Good opportunities for Gesink to gain time, but he'll be watched so closely. I think Valverde will have trouble reponding.

 

[Anonymous]

i don't know if TD will crack but he's definitely refound his old form

basso definitely has to attack tomorrow, i don't think he can wait for only sunday to regain time

and unfortunately samu looks like he could crack big time tomorrow, he was almost dropped today before regaining contact

Yea, once they figured out that he was 15% Eskimo, that cleared the path for his return to glory...

 

[Old Derailleur-in-the-mist]

At all.........

Really sucks not being able to see this live.

I'd be happy to be able to see it at ALL !!

Not even available on Satellite here.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Btw the stage was boring because of the headwind, like I already said during the stage.

 

[Mellow Velo]

GC
1 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 51:12:38
2 Cadel Evans (Aus) Silence-Lotto 0:00:07
3 Robert Gesink (Ned) Rabobank 0:00:18
4 Tom Danielson (USA) Garmin-Slipstream 0:00:51
5 Ivan Basso (Ita) Liquigas 0:00:53
6 Samuel Sánchez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0:01:03
7 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre-NGC 0:02:13
8 Ezequiel Mosquera (Spa) Xacobeo Galicia 0:02:14
9 Daniel Navarro (Spa) Astana 0:03:53
10 Joaquím Rodríguez (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 0:04:01
11 Paolo Tiralongo (Ita) Lampre-NGC 0:04:10
12 Juan José Cobo (Spa) Fuji-Servetto 0:04:28
13 Daniel Moreno (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 0:04:57
14 Haimar Zubeldia (Spa) Astana 0:05:12
15 Johnny Hoogerland (Ned) Vacansoleil 0:06:39

Can anyone spot who's missing?
Yes, the Slovenian phantom had a bad one, today. A rare event.

 

[Moondance]

Happy for Ryder today, just read on velonews all the second places he has had in his career, good to see him get a GT stage.
Also pleased with Gesink today (there is a lot of man-love on this board for this guy), I am thinking that with two more mountain stages no one else wanted to really throw down, only try to soften each other up while knowing what lies ahead. We'll know in two days!

There's a lot of man-love for all talented up-and-coming riders. I mean there's a thread up now which is basically nothing but man-love for Edvald Boasson Hagen (of which he is fully deserving).

And of course, there are a fair amount of highly active Dutch posters here, and if you've been as starved for major sucess in road cycling as the Netherlands has by-and-large been since the early 90s, a young superstar in the making like Gesink gets the Dutch fans rabid. Thankfully Gesink has shown himself fully capable of handling the major pressure and attention he gets from the fans and media over here.

I personally love the fact that there are so many great, young riders coming up that people are excited about. Out, hopefully, go the old bums who pumping themselves full of all kinds of sh!t for most of their careers. In come some great new riders who come from a cycling culture in which doping is not tolerated and when someone breaks out and wins big we don't immeadiatly have to suspect them of juicing. I can't wait for that day to be here.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

GC
1 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 51:12:38
2 Cadel Evans (Aus) Silence-Lotto 0:00:07
3 Robert Gesink (Ned) Rabobank 0:00:18
4 Tom Danielson (USA) Garmin-Slipstream 0:00:51
5 Ivan Basso (Ita) Liquigas 0:00:53
6 Samuel Sánchez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0:01:03
7 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre-NGC 0:02:13
8 Ezequiel Mosquera (Spa) Xacobeo Galicia 0:02:14
9 Daniel Navarro (Spa) Astana 0:03:53
10 Joaquím Rodríguez (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 0:04:01
11 Paolo Tiralongo (Ita) Lampre-NGC 0:04:10
12 Juan José Cobo (Spa) Fuji-Servetto 0:04:28
13 Daniel Moreno (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 0:04:57
14 Haimar Zubeldia (Spa) Astana 0:05:12
15 Johnny Hoogerland (Ned) Vacansoleil 0:06:39

Can anyone spot who's missing?
Yes, the Slovakian phantom had a bad one, today. A rare event.

Valjavec is Slovenian. But yes, he had a rare bad day

 

[Bala Verde]

I was tempted to start the equivalent of "Edvald Boasson Hagen - How Good Is He" thread.

I am having problems picking the right name that captures the theme we'll be discussing... Perhaps: "Robert Gesink - How Good Is He"

EBH is 22 and Gesink is only 23...

 

[gttim!]

Perhaps: "Robert Gesink - How Good Is He"

Wouldn't it be great if he could take the race lead, and then right before the finish, Rabobank pull him from the race?!

 

[issoisso]

I was tempted to start the equivalent of "Edvald Boasson Hagen - How Good Is He" thread.

I am having problems picking the right name that captures the theme we'll be discussing... Perhaps: "Robert Gesink - How Good Is He"

EBH is 22 and Gesink is only 23...

How about "Robert Gesink - anglophones please stop calling him Gayssink" ?

 

[Zoncolan]

Yea, once they figured out that he was 15% Eskimo, that cleared the path for his return to glory...

No, no, no. You got it all wrong.
It's the rice diet, silly.

 

[Aguirre]

today's stage in vuelta was disapointing,

hope they were waiting for tomorrow Monachil+sierra nevada. but having riders as evans, bassso and valverde what we can expect!

hope tomorrow someone attacks! and not only in the last 2 km...

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

Agree with you Aguirre. This looked like a mountain stage from this year's Tour, with everyone watching each other.

Not sure if riders are just intimidated by the topography, no one feels it in their legs, race radio is neutering attacks not near the finish, or they are just willing to wait until the last 5k of the last mountain stage, and the final ITT to test each other.

 

[ethnik]

overall boring stage sans fireworks amongts the main protagonists perhaps, but a very well deserved victory for Ryder, he is a classy, talented cyclist who was overdue for a breakout win.

very, very happy for him and canadian cycling as a whole. he showed some true grit to grind this one out.

 

[cyclingmad]

boring

today's stage in vuelta was disapointing,

hope they were waiting for tomorrow Monachil+sierra nevada. but having riders as evans, bassso and valverde what we can expect!

hope tomorrow someone attacks! and not only in the last 2 km...

Saving the legs for Sierra Nevada. Heres hoping Mosquira, Gesink, Cunego and Sanchez try their luck.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

I'm hoping for Gesink to save him some energy and try to just follow, unless like today there's an opportunity for stage win.

If you spend too much energy tomorrow, you'll be dead on La Pandera

 

[pedaling squares]

not his first but perhaps his biggest so far. Home town kids kicks some ****. I first saw him race at burnt bridge in a MTB race. He was a junior and started 3 or 5 minutes behind the Elite men and I think he came second or third in that race and obviously winning the Junior race. Between him and Roland Green, it is funny that they both started out in the other discipline. Roland was a roadie and Ryder was a mountain biker.

Love those burnt bridge trails! I used to live in Shaw Lk but haven't ridden there since about '01. Is the trail network still in place?

I'd better make this post relevant to the racing thread..... so I'll say great ride by Ryder today and strong move by Gesink (someone please provide the proper pronunciation for this poor anglo). I wonder if Basso is saving it all for one stage?

 

[Steampunk]

overall boring stage sans fireworks amongts the main protagonists perhaps, but a very well deserved victory for Ryder, he is a classy, talented cyclist who was overdue for a breakout win.

very, very happy for him and canadian cycling as a whole. he showed some true grit to grind this one out.

Yeah. He's having a very strong Vuelta. 2nd on stage 10 and nice to get the win today.

 

[ptensioned]

HAY-sink

strong move by Gesink (someone please provide the proper pronunciation for this poor anglo)

As a fellow anglo, I listened to his name being said on some Dutch YouTube videos. Sounds to me like HAY-sink, with the h pronounced in that rough back of the throat Dutch way.

 

[Bala Verde]

Gesink (someone please provide the proper pronunciation for this poor anglo).

[ɣe:sIŋk] / [xe:sIŋk]

or

[ʝe:sIŋk]

depending on whether you are from the North or the South...

To decipher dutch phonology

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

I'm from the south (Limburg) of the Netherlands, and there we have, to make it more confusing, another G than in the rest of the Netherlands
The soft G...

 

[issoisso]

As a fellow anglo, I listened to his name being said on some Dutch YouTube videos. Sounds to me like HAY-sink, with the h pronounced in that rough back of the throat Dutch way.

Same sound that is used very often in arab and hebrew. The sound you make when "preparing to spit" is the best way I can put it

 

[Bala Verde]

I'm from the south (Limburg) of the Netherlands, and there we have, to make it more confusing, another G than in the rest of the Netherlands
The soft G...

Funny. I know that region and pronunciation you talk about quite well...

 

[ptensioned]

Same sound that is used very often in arab and hebrew. The sound you make when "preparing to spit" is the best way I can put it

Far better put. I was trying to be more delicate, but in the context of an internet forum that seems a bit silly in hindsight.