Tour of the Basque Country 2012

[Zam_Olyas]

jose joaquin rojas ‏ @jjrojillas
Increíble la crono de Pais Vasco...acabo de ver el recorrido, una autentica locura, y como llueva ni te cuento claro...PELIGROSISIMA!!

 

[cineteq]

Damn. However, i don't think it is something serious. Cause on his homepgae he writes about his course inspection this morning. He doesn't mention anything there about a crash, though. so maybe it wasn't too bad.

I hope so, but the more reports I see the more I realize this course doesn't suit him at all.

 

[maltiv]

yes he's a pretty good itt rider but I don't know about how well he downhils and steers

He's a former mountain bike rider (he won every MTB race in Norway) and has also won cyclo cross events, so in theory he should be very good technically. However, steering a TT bike is quite different and he might not have enough practice on it.

 

[Trofinios]

Isn't Michalel Rogers a technical tter himself?

The short steep climbs could pose a problem. But Rogers will probably challange for a top position today. However, he is 2 minutes behind J-Rod, so he has nothing to do with the GC, and I was considering the podium contenders.

 

[Bavarianrider]

Official stage ticker shows this at the moment

El directo, minuto a minuto

17:22 h. Clasificaciones finales
Punto intermedio (Km 11) Meta
Puesto Dorsal Nombre Tiempo Puesto Dorsal Nombre Tiempo
1º 61 Rodríguez 13:02 1º 167 Horner 32:33
2º 167 Horner a 2 2º 11 Valverde a 8
3º 1 Valverde a 3 3º 45 Monfort a 13

 

[Trofinios]

Any news about the weather? With wet roads this could be a hellish course.

 

[Sophistic]

The course plays into Sanchez hands but he has to feel the attack from yesterday in his legs today.

 

[cineteq]

Any news about the weather? With wet roads this could be a hellish course.

It doesn't seem is going to rain, but it's cold ~7C

Edit: Maybe it's gonna rain after all: http://www.tiempo.com/onati.htm

 

[Trofinios]

It doesn't seem is going to rain, but it's cold ~7C

Martin will be glad for that.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

He's a former mountain bike rider (he won every MTB race in Norway) and has also won cyclo cross events, so in theory he should be very good technically. However, steering a TT bike is quite different and he might not have enough practice on it.

you can't really compare that often. guys like rasmussen and evans were/are no great downhillers either

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

Isn't Michalel Rogers a technical tter himself?

yes. but don't know about in the rain through

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

It doesn't seem is going to rain, but it's cold ~7C

Edit: Maybe it's gonna rain after all: http://www.tiempo.com/onati.htm

it's 13 degrees. not 7. it can be tricky though. might have very late rain. martin starts earlier a bit. but I think the roads are wet anyway

 

[cineteq]

it's 13 degrees. not 7. it can be tricky though. might have very late rain. martin starts earlier a bit. but I think the roads are wet anyway

Although it's hard to know what's the truth
According to this site it's indeed cold, and rain is in the forecast
http://www.eltiempo24.es/Onati/País+Vasco/Espana/ES0GU0067

 

[Angliru]

Rodriguez can only climb, so naturally he's going to be up there in GTs and the hillier one day races where a climber has the advantage as well.

He can't time trial: he's absolutely horrible in it. He'll never win a GT or a stage race with a time trial in it(and every stage race should have some time trial kms...).

He can't descent.

Every climber in the peloton can get over big hills otherwise they wouldn't really be climbers now would they?

If Rodriguez is not a one trick pony then I don't know who is...

Gilbert just about manages cobbles? He got third twice in the Ronde. He dropped everyone on the Kemmelberg in the Tour of Belgium. He dropped everyone on the Gitsberg at the Belgian nats. And you say he can just about manage hills with cobbles on?

And Gilbert can't handle flat cobbles?


http://www.sporza.be/permalink/1.516750


http://www.sporza.be/permalink/1.516747

Gilbert has a few top 10 placings in GT time trials by the way. It's already an impressive result for Jrod if he can finish inside the top 100 on a flat time trial.

I'd say that if rider can podium in the hilly classics and finish top 10 in grand tours they are more than a one-trick-pony. There is more to racing than just going up and down grades. He obviously has some tactical sense, a sense of how to position himself in the peloton and the ability survive a race like LBL (terrain and distance). He showed he has decent sprint in beating Samu today. He deserves a bit more credit than the one-trick-pony label.

 

[Angliru]

Can you guys shut up about Gilbert, he doesn't participate as far as I'm aware.

I could start about Iban Mayo, he would've won all stages here.

The middle part of the TT is quite straightforward. A part more for Martin than for Sanchez. Will be interesting...

Please do. Any positive discussion of Mayo is music to my ears.

 

[goggalor]

you can't really compare that often. guys like rasmussen and evans were/are no great downhillers either

Evans is a good descender and excellent on a TT bike. Rasmussen, not so much, though you can find videos of him descending very well (on a road bike) on youtube. But yeah, in general the MTBer=great descender meme is untrue.

 

[theyoungest]

I'd say that if rider can podium in the hilly classics and finish top 10 in grand tours they are more than a one-trick-pony. There is more to racing than just going up and down grades. He obviously has some tactical sense, a sense of how to position himself in the peloton and the ability survive a race like LBL (terrain and distance). He showed he has decent sprint in beating Samu today. He deserves a bit more credit than the one-trick-pony label.

Probably someone dared to say that if Rodriguez is a one trick pony, so is Gilbert. Obviously this doesn't go well with the latter's #1 fanboy.

Both of them have one thing they're very good at: accelerating uphill. Neither of them is beyond category in something else.

 

[BillytheKid]

Any predictions for the winning time?
I say maybe 26:25 Average ca 43km/h
Or might it even be slower?

I was thinking slower, 40km.

 

[BillytheKid]

A fantastic final to this race. This is totally unpredictable. I will say Sammy Sanchez, but I think it could be margins of a few seconds among the top 10.

 

[Havetts]

I think Samu will hold on.

 

[Angliru]

Yes he would

http://autobus.cyclingnews.com/road/?id=2003/apr03/paisvasco03/paisvasco035a
http://autobus.cyclingnews.com/road/?id=2003/apr03/paisvasco03/paisvasco035b

Note that Samu already was third here. Although perhaps seeing those names around him it might not be a compliment Still, he finished outside of the time limit in that years Tour de France, in a stage won by... yes you know it.

Really enjoyed rereading some of Mayo's exploits. Always loved watching him race, just wish he had hung around a bit longer.

 

[Bavarianrider]

Is the ticker working for you guys?

 

[Angliru]

the extreme following of women peloton enigma is solved now

i hope the time trial will be a showdown,martin will win if he's in monster form.i'd like though samu to finally win pais vasco.

Of course I'm with you on hoping Samu pulls it out. It would be a great win for him and Euskaltel. I'd imagine there'd be one helluva celebration amongst the fans of the Orange!

 

[cineteq]

My revised prediction, sorry Tony!
1. Sanchez
2. Peraud
3. Horner

 

[hatcher]

I haven't got a bloody clue. Looking forward to it.