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Teams & Riders Team Movistar-thread

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Velolover2

Velolover2

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Both Valverde and Quintana can sometimes surprise in the Vuelta ITTs and limit their losses. Especially after a rest day.

Something like 5th for Valverde and 10th for Quintana is not impossible. There are a couple of nice hills on the course.

I don't think they will lose 3 minutes. 1:20 for Valv and 1:50 for Q.
 
Velolover2

Velolover2

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The hills are quite regular. The first hill is 2000 m at about 7%. The second is another 2 km at about 5.5%. There are no double digits gradients.

Valverde could do very well in the rolling territory but suffer on the last flat 10 km. And the Colombians are going to lose a huge chunk of time to Roglic there.
 
Blanco

Blanco

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SHAD0W93 said:
You can't question Quintana attacking Valverde either. He is a worse TT and the more time he has on Roglic the better for the team going into the ITT.
Click to expand...
Quintana of course didn't attacked Valverde, or vice-versa. They goal was to try to take some time from Roglic in the first place, and then from Lopez too if possible. Quintana gain on both, Valverde only on Lopez, so it was not that bad, no? But their DS screwed things up a little with this Soler situation...
 
Blanco

Blanco

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Red Rick said:
Soler waiting made sense. Valverde attacking after Quintana was already gone is kinda questionable imo. Really depended on what you prioritise in that situation, and if you want to maximise gains on Roglic either of them going solo is kinda weird unless Quintana was clearly better, in which case why is Valverde still attacking Lopez anyway if he's really on the limit.

Anyway, today it was a very minor thing. Valverde starting the hostilities on Javalambre when Quintana was bad is a different story though.
Click to expand...

What's questionable?! They forced Lopez to work, he's suffering, Valverde sees that, Roglic is behind, so why the hell not attack?!
By gaining time on key rivals and staying close to the top of GC he's helping his team, by giving them two options, which could be very efficient most of the time, especially when GC is so close and top riders are on the similar level. Don't you think that?
 
S

skippo12

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Blanco said:
I would say chances are bigger to finish with two riders on the podium...
Click to expand...
Of course. Looking at the race so far Quintana and Valverde are among the top 4 contenders. Problem is the management and team chemistry. I actually think that Valverde has a better chance to finish on the podium. I have doubts about Quintanas consistency. Valverde just needs to follow Roglics wheel for the rest of the race if he wants to finish on the podium.
Imo both are a safer bet for the podium than MAL. Astanas tactics are just as bad and he always finds a way to lose time on a flat stage or due to a crash (just like today).
 
Koronin

Koronin

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As long as Valverde can stay healthy with the cold and rain. He was freezing after today and yesterday's stages doing to the weather. This is a picture of him at the press area wrapped in cold weather gear and leaving after just a few minutes telling the reporters that he was freezing.
www.sports-addict.net

Vuelta a España 2019: Valverde abandona la zona mixta tiritando: "Tengo mucho frío"

Alejandro Valverde sorprendió al aparecer ante los medios completamente tapado, con abrigo, braga y gorra. Tras responder a varias preguntas con respuestas breves, abandonó la zona mixta: "No puedo seguir que tengo mucho frío".
www.sports-addict.net www.sports-addict.net
 
Red Rick

Red Rick

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Koronin said:
As long as Valverde can stay healthy with the cold and rain. He was freezing after today and yesterday's stages doing to the weather. This is a picture of him at the press area wrapped in cold weather gear and leaving after just a few minutes telling the reporters that he was freezing.
www.sports-addict.net

Vuelta a España 2019: Valverde abandona la zona mixta tiritando: "Tengo mucho frío"

Alejandro Valverde sorprendió al aparecer ante los medios completamente tapado, con abrigo, braga y gorra. Tras responder a varias preguntas con respuestas breves, abandonó la zona mixta: "No puedo seguir que tengo mucho frío".
www.sports-addict.net www.sports-addict.net
Click to expand...
When you're world champion, but really just want to be a gangsta rapper
 
Lequack

Lequack

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The media got it all wrong

i6UUv6p.png
 
B

Bolder

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^^Ha!

Actually Movistar rode pretty well yesterday, despite the histrionics. Quintana and Valverde did what they needed to do, which was A) Put time into Lopez and B) either drop Roglic or prevent him from gaining time.

As for a podium, I agree that Valverde might have a better chance than Quintana -- as noted above, he pretty much has to just follow Roglic's wheel and attack when/where he can (barring a jour sans or an eruption by Pogacar). I'm not yet convinced that Quintana is near or at his form from a few years ago but it looks like he has a little more fire in his belly. That could be due to the fact that the field is pretty weak, or wanting to stick it to Movistar management...
 
Valv.Piti

Valv.Piti

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I choose to look at this positively. Soler has really upped his high mountain climbing this year, he has looked great in the Tour and the Vuelta so far. Him and Mas, along with Valverde, will be a trio of GC-riders I will find it very easy to root for. They wont be the favourites, but Mas and Soler still can and will get better. Really happy he has found his legs again after him disappointing in the mountains for 1 1/2 year.
 
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Valv.Piti

Valv.Piti

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Nice TT by Soler today, great performance again. Really looking forward to seeing him next year. Valverde with a decent enough TT, pretty so-so to be honest actually and Quintana pretty bad. Looking forward the Asturian mountains and also the mountains in Madrid, they could be pretty fun.
 
Koronin

Koronin

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I'm wondering if Valverde's TT today is about as good as we can expect since his 2017 crash as that was in an ITT. Unfortunately his ITT's which he's always had some issues with are where he was going to struggle the most mentally after that crash. He still has a very good chance for a podium.
Nice ITT from Soler. When he won Paris-Nice his ITT was a big part of the help to win it.
A very bad ITT from Quintana. His ITT's seem to get worse.
 
Lequack

Lequack

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Noddy97 said:
Quintana has a awful position on the bike, his elbows are so far from each other. It is strange for a guy who is fighting for gt's since 2014
Click to expand...

When Dumoulin won the Giro Quintana actually had a really good TT, losing only 1:25 on Dumoulin over 30k. And that TT was as flat as a pancake.

Giro d'Italia 2017 Stage 21 (ITT) results

Tom Dumoulin is the winner of Giro d'Italia 2017, before Nairo Quintana and Vincenzo Nibali. Jos van Emden is the winner of the final stage.
www.procyclingstats.com www.procyclingstats.com

So he can produce good TTs, just not today.
 
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