Volta a Catalunya 2012 - Stage 4; Tremp - Ascó "La vostra energia" (199km)

[Geraint Too Fast]

Volta a Catalunya 2012 - Stage 4; Tremp - Ascó "La vostra energia" (199km)

No thread for this yet, have people lost interest after the events of Stage 3?

Coll de Paumeres/La Fatarella

I think this stage has the potential to be much more interesting now some of the better climbers need to make up a fair amount of time, and I wouldn't be surprised if we had a new leader by the end of the day. Or is it going to be another damp squib?

 

[Swede1]

Im sure levi will attack. I hope its awesome. But at this point im just ready for the cobbled classics. Most people are probably just done with the volta b/c of the stage cancellation and stuff.

 

[Escarabajo]

It looks like nobody cares about this race anymore.

Anyway, life goes on and for whatever is worth I hope Urán do something good in the remaining stages.

 

[Tigerion]

I'm actually in 2 minds about it. As a green edge fan it would be great to see if Albassini can hold on for the overall win, but even if he does it will be very much tainted based on the previous stages.

I can hope that the attacks come think and fast and that he holds on and really earns his win over the next couple of stages (if he does end up overall)

Also pretty hard to discuss when there is still speculation as to how is racing and who isn't

 

[wirral]

I'm still very much interested in this. I think the fact that it is the wee hours in Western Europe contributed to a lack of responses.

I cannot believe that all 27 riders and their DS's will be happy to sit back and let Albasini hang on to a 1'32" lead for 4 days without a fight. (There's a bunch more at 2'21 or something) Loads of posters on this forum seem to have written the GC off as a foregone conclusion. I don't think it is so clear cut.

I am sure there will be big attacks today and tomorrow. The last 2 stages, on Saturday and Sunday, don't really provide such opportunities. Garmin have to go for it, OPQS and Astana have a lot of cards to play and the smaller teams have to go for stages at races like this as they are unlikely to grab stage wins at bigger stage races, grand tours, etc.

 

[ansimi]

I think there's still lots of potential for drama in the race that doesn't have to do with the weather. The Spanish riders/teams have to show themselves after missing completely on the Albasini break and it doesn't look like they did much in the stage 3 "winning" break either. There aren't any Spaniards in the top 10!

Some teams are really depleted but others are still strong.

They let Albasini in that first break and Cherel into the snowy break so there dosn't seem to be much order there and that means anything can happen!

 

[iZnoGouD]

I have money on Sylwester Szmyd for GC but it's going to be very hard, he had good chances yesterday, now these stages are not too hard and they finish with descents...

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

But how will riders get to the start?
Cause quite frankly, it looks like the buses aren't going anywhere

http://t.co/biEE2XXi

 

[AussieGoddess]

will be interesting thats for sure

 

[austy37]

I'm actually in 2 minds about it. As a green edge fan it would be great to see if Albassini can hold on for the overall win, but even if he does it will be very much tainted based on the previous stages.

I can hope that the attacks come think and fast and that he holds on and really earns his win over the next couple of stages (if he does end up overall)

Also pretty hard to discuss when there is still speculation as to how is racing and who isn't

its a shame green edge fans still arent allowed to be happy for the team.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

More reports over twitter coming in that the riders indeed cannot get to the start, because they are in hotels at 2000m altitude, and they can't get down because of the snow

Hilarious
Just cancel the rest of the race already and give Albasini his trophy

 

[Alpechraxler]

Does anybody know if albasini and Levi had the "same time" yesterday ? I saw they finished 16th and 17 th yesterday. I mean you can think of yesterdays stage as you want but if Albasini rides clever and just hangs onto levis wheel then the gc should be his.

 

[wirral]

Does anybody know if albasini and Levi had the "same time" yesterday ? I saw they finished 16th and 17 th yesterday. I mean you can think of yesterdays stage as you want but if Albasini rides clever and just hangs onto levis wheel then the gc should be his.

Sorry don't quite follow your logic. Albasini has a lead of 1'32" over 27 riders, one of whom is Leipheimer. He can follow Leechy all he wants but if Dan Martin and Damiano Cunego are 2 minutes up the road, he's lost the GC. Also, Albasini cannot climb as well as The Leech so sticking on his wheel may be beyond his capabiity.

In addition, all riders were given the same time on stage 3.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Yeah, which is still ridicolous, given that the fact that the break was ahead by 8 minutes with 50km to go.

Even if they didn't shorten the stage the GC would have been won by 1 of the guys in the front group. Who now are getting screwed over.

 

[wirral]

Learnt a new Dutch word on twitter "ingesneeuwd". The meaning is obvious.

 

[wirral]

Five teams stuck at the ski station of Port Aine at 2000m, don't know which five.

 

[Frosty]

Five teams stuck at the ski station of Port Aine at 2000m, don't know which five.

Guessing from the photos that Katusha, OPQ and Saxobank are among the five. Here's another photo

http://twitter.com/#!/Laura_Meseguer/status/182743883829084160/photo/1

+ FDJ, Ag2r

http://twitter.com/#!/Laura_Meseguer/status/182740300102500352/photo/1

 

[jens_attacks]

so will the stage take place?

in terms of tactics,it can't be more simple than this:they have to drop albasini when they go up to la fatarella first time.otherwise it's impossible to put so much time into him.it's still open,no doubt

 

[Mellow Velo]

Five teams stuck at the ski station of Port Aine at 2000m, don't know which five.

Easy decision for the "organizers".
Scratch OPQ, Katush, Sexy, FDJ, Ag2r from the race and re-instate all those who climbed off, yesterday!

They'll get the riders down, somehow, but the buses will have to follow on.

I hope it goes ahead and that someone has the bottle to attack from that difficult 4km section atop the penultimate climb.
If they wait for the final ascent, Albasini should hold on.

 

[wirral]

Today's start officially delayed.

 

[wirral]

The stuck 5 teams have abandoned the race or their vehicles. (from biclicismo)

Help from Spanish speakers required.

 

[Kvinto]

Last year we'd seen how a crappy route kills the race, now we get to see how crappy organization does the same BTW, was it really necessary to find a hotel on 2000m altitude?

 

[search]

The stuck 5 teams have abandoned the race or their vehicles. (from biclicismo)

Help from Spanish speakers required.

they are on their way down the mountain

but according to Leipheimer they hat to stop, the road is plowed

 

[Richeypen]

Will the 'winner' of this race get the same amount of WT points as the winner of any of Paris-Nice, Dauphine or Tour de Suisse?

 

[wirral]

they are on their way down the mountain

but according to Leipheimer they hat to stop, the road is plowed

Thanks.

If me and google translate are on the ball, they have left their buses up there for now.