Volta a Catalunya 2012: Stage 3, La Vall d'en Bas - Port-Ainé (211 km)

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Jul 24, 2010
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search said:
so apparently everybody is allowed to start tomorrow?! That's what Jonathan Vaughters mentions on twitter at least.

It certainly reads that way.

For viewing reasons I'm glad. For fairness reasons it seems wrong.
 
Dekker_Tifosi said:
You got to be KIDDING me... :rolleyes:

Ok this race has just lost all remaining interest
Yeah, when I read the weather forecasts this weekend I feared it could be a bit of a disappointment, but the organizers have managed to screw it up even more than the weather already did for them. What a shambles of a race.
 
Oct 6, 2009
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Dekker_Tifosi said:
You got to be KIDDING me... :rolleyes:

Ok this race has just lost all remaining interest

Agree.

King Of The Wolds said:
What choice did they have?

"Hello Mr. TV Broadcaster, you're OK with us sending home half of the race's biggest stars after 3 stages, aren't you?"

It's just not going to cut the mustard, is it?

It would have been much more interesting than letting them back in. Who can control the race now? How many domestiques do leaders have left? What leaders are still here? Who can control the race? Who can recover best after today's brutal efforts? Who can still sprint, etc? Who goes in the break? What decimated teams work together for a common purpose?

There would be so much more at play if they keep the abandons out. Nobody who didn't ride the whole thing should get to compete against those who finished the stage.

If the abandons are allowed in, I'd like to see them refuse to start out of respect for their compatriots' superior efforts today at finishing the stage. I know it won't happen, but would be nice to see.
 
King Of The Wolds said:
What choice did they have?

"Hello Mr. TV Broadcaster, you're OK with us sending home half of the race's biggest stars after 3 stages, aren't you?"

It's just not going to cut the mustard, is it?
There weren't that many abandons :rolleyes: there were still more than 100 finishers except the prima diva's such as wiggins and co:rolleyes:
 
Mar 31, 2010
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hrotha said:
I think you guys are giving too much credence to some passing comments by Vaughters.

exactly. besides it's not as if half the peloton gave up today. maybe 25% at most
 
hrotha said:
I think you guys are giving too much credence to some passing comments by Vaughters.

+1
The official results took forever to arrive. All are shown as DNF, which means they DNS tomorrow.

Tv and big names not being there is absolutely irrelevant.

Crossing the finishing line, wherever it ends up, is what counts.
 
Oct 6, 2009
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Valverde being out affects the race.

Interesting to note that nobody from OPQS abandoned today, so Levi still has his full arsenal to try something. Not sure he can though, with the stages ending in descents.
 
Jan 2, 2010
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Wiggins and Porte were the only ones from the +1'32 group who quit.

Aramendia and Txurruka were the only Spaniards who quit.

It's still a good field.
 
I think the organisers are under a lot of pressure to make the race a success, they put out a killer stage, far better than we've seen in the last three or four years here; they got the race back on TV (last year it was down to half hour highlights on ETB and other regional broadcasters) and were so determined to make it work that they blithely insisted on carrying on with Plan A long past the point at which the decision should have been made to go to Plan B, and a lot of things happened in between the point at which they should have gone to Plan B, and the point at which they went to Plan B, to totally ruin Plan B and mean they had to scramble to try and find a way out of the hole they'd dug for themselves.

Their determination to make the race successful as planned has been a greater failure than the race itself.
 
ansimi said:
Wiggins and Porte were the only ones from the +1'32 group who quit.

Aramendia and Txurruka were the only Spaniards who quit.

It's still a good field.
On the other hand, four Spaniards DNSed - Valverde, Moreno, Horrach and Navarro.

Key figures in:
Brajkovic
Albasini
CA Sørensen
Leipheimer
van den Broeck
Arroyo
Danielson
Fuglsang
Cunego
Gesink
Hesjedal
Zaugg
Kelderman :cool:
Samuel Sánchez
Dan Martin
Menchov
Karpets
Bruseghin
Nieve
LL Sánchez
Moncoutié
Kashechkin (!)

Key names out:
de Gendt
Siutsou
Wiggins
Porte
Schleck
Machado
Basso
Txurruka
Tiralongo
van Garderen
Valverde

Still a pretty decent field, probably as good as 2009-10.
 
Mar 31, 2010
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Libertine Seguros said:
I think the organisers are under a lot of pressure to make the race a success, they put out a killer stage, far better than we've seen in the last three or four years here; they got the race back on TV (last year it was down to half hour highlights on ETB and other regional broadcasters) and were so determined to make it work that they blithely insisted on carrying on with Plan A long past the point at which the decision should have been made to go to Plan B, and a lot of things happened in between the point at which they should have gone to Plan B, and the point at which they went to Plan B, to totally ruin Plan B and mean they had to scramble to try and find a way out of the hole they'd dug for themselves.

Their determination to make the race successful as planned has been a greater failure than the race itself.

agreed 100% it's a bit ashame relaly that everything you try it fails for them. also the horrible tv images, for whatever reason. it makes a race look **** and amateur
 
Libertine Seguros said:
On the other hand, four Spaniards DNSed - Valverde, Moreno, Horrach and Navarro.

Key figures in:
Brajkovic
Albasini
CA Sørensen
Leipheimer
van den Broeck
Arroyo
Danielson
Fuglsang
Cunego
Gesink
Hesjedal
Zaugg
Kelderman :cool:
Samuel Sánchez
Dan Martin
Menchov
Karpets
Bruseghin
Nieve
LL Sánchez
Moncoutié
Kashechkin (!)

Key names out:
de Gendt
Siutsou
Wiggins
Porte
Schleck
Machado
Basso
Txurruka
Tiralongo
van Garderen
Valverde

Still a pretty decent field, probably as good as 2009-10.

Now that's what I call SELECTION!
 
Mar 4, 2012
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From the RSN website : Many riders abandoned today, including Tiago, Andy and Ben for RSNT. The three riders were suffering from the cold and it was impossible for them to continue on the dangerous and icy descent.

This is the team I support but that paragraph sounds really, really funny, like something a forum member would write ironically.
 
Dec 30, 2011
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Cancellator said:
From the RSN website : Many riders abandoned today, including Tiago, Andy and Ben for RSNT. The three riders were suffering from the cold and it was impossible for them to continue on the dangerous and icy descent.

This is the team I support but that paragraph sounds really, really funny, like something a forum member would write ironically.

I agree with this article some riders suffer more from the cold than other and it isnt fair to make them ride in conditions which are in fact actually deemed not suitable by the race officials themselves, if they dont want to.
 
Cancellator said:
From the RSN website : Many riders abandoned today, including Tiago, Andy and Ben for RSNT. The three riders were suffering from the cold and it was impossible for them to continue on the dangerous and icy descent.

This is the team I support but that paragraph sounds really, really funny, like something a forum member would write ironically.

As someone else wrote on this thread, nearly every rider is riding this race as prep for something bigger. Is it really worth risking their season to complete this stage.
 
Froome19 said:
I agree with this article some riders suffer more from the cold than other and it isnt fair to make them ride in conditions which are in fact actually deemed not suitable by the race officials themselves, if they dont want to.

Given my own views about riding in cold weather, I'll never fault professionals for not wanting to do it either. In my mind, cycling is a sport that you do in nice weather when the sun is shining and the birds are singing -- not with snow and hail and who knows what else falling on your head.

The only exception are the spring classics, but the riders go into those races with the expectation that the weather may not cooperate.