Volta a Catalunya 2013 - Stage 3: Vidreres → Vallter 2000 (180km)

[Big Gear]

Weather again?

Snowman FTW

Weather forecast looks ominous...

 

[Roude Leiw]

Looking at the weather as posted, this could end in a MSR kind of race (or like last years for that matter)....

 

[Jason_Mercier]

Other favourites:
Scarponi, Martin, Elissonde, Rujano, Pinot, Menchov, Moreno, Quintana, Pozzo, Uran, Hesjedal, Kiserlovski, Zubeldia, Anton, JvdB, De Gendt, Geesink and of course good ol' Wiggo.

I can see Betancur too.
Rujano will be affected by the weather conditions. Elissonde is more likely to shine in Ainé stage, Vallter is too explosive for him.

This is the perfect profile for Dan Martin, Van Den Broeck, Pinot, Urán and of course Purito and Valverde.

 

[Jason_Mercier]

Brambilla too can perform well in this type of climbs.

 

[Jason_Mercier]

Radioshack have a very good squad for the mountains. Tomorrow wouldnt be extrange see 3 or 4 units of the team in the favourites group. Together with Movistar, SKY and FDJ should be the most represented in the MT stages.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Brambilla too can perform well in this type of climbs.

I hope he will do well but he had bronchitis earlier this year so don't know how much that affected him

 

[LaFlorecita]

Dreams, Majka, knee still in recovery. I hope to see at least one saxo-tinkoff to win or it is also more a dream.

I know plus he will probably ride for Roche

 

[jens_attacks]

rujano will go ballistic already on pista forestal
good luck cataldo and david lopez catching him

 

[Jakob747]

I can see Betancur too.
Rujano will be affected by the weather conditions. Elissonde is more likely to shine in Ainé stage, Vallter is too explosive for him.

Why not?

K. Elissonde is an explosive climber, who loves changes in rhythm. I can absolutely see him feature tomorrow. Super, super talent.

 

[LaFlorecita]

rujano will go ballistic already on pista forestal
good luck cataldo and david lopez catching him

Jens I'm afraid it will not be difficult for the skyborg

 

[Jason_Mercier]

Why not?

K. Elissonde is an explosive climber, who loves changes in rhythm. I can absolutely see him feature tomorrow. Super, super talent.

Really? I always rated him like a diesel rider. He has said it in a couple of times too."Not too explosive." But if u say he's explosive, then the guy is explosive.

 

[Big Gear]

IMO if they are all together at the beginning of the final climb, Sky will do their thing and there will only be small time gaps (but maybe Rodriguez can slip away a few seconds in last km). I think the other teams will have to do something to break the rythm of Sky and make them really work for it, eg Movi could send someone like Quintana up the road and give Valverde a nice ride at the back of the Sky Train while they chase him. V is still ahead of all the other GC favourites so "only" needs to hang on.

In any case, will be very interesting to see what tactics they come up with. Looking fwd to great racing tomorrow. If weather doesn't ruin it.

 

[Jason_Mercier]

Not mentioned. Fuglsang, Aru (Astana) Nieve, Landa (Euskaltel) D. Navarro (Cofidis) CAS (TSB)

They could have margin for the stage.

 

[Jason_Mercier]

What do you expect from Urán?

 

[LaFlorecita]

Not mentioned. Fuglsang, Aru (Astana) Nieve, Landa (Euskaltel) D. Navarro (Cofidis) CAS (TSB)

They could have margin for the stage.

Aru. but maybe he'll have to work for Birdsong

 

[Jakob747]

Really? I always rated him like a diesel rider. He has said it in a couple of times too."Not too explosive." But if u say he's explosive, then the guy is explosive.

Jason I understand your point of view. After the stage to Lagunas de Neila in 2011 he looked like a in the saddle rider to me as well!

However I was intrigued and started study him a lot. On Youtube you can find footage of him accelerating like crazy on the climbs in Tour du Valromey.

I sadly never have been able to find footage of his stage-win on Superbagnères, but here is what he said before the stage.

Kenny Elissonde (CC Etupes) a confié à http://www.directvelo.com : « Hier (jeudi) je ne me sentais pas top, peut-être est-ce dû à la pression, peut-être au voyage. En plus nous étions plusieurs à nous marquer : Bennett, Warbasse et Romain Bardet. On a fait Liège-Bastogne-Liège et l’épreuve de la Coupe de Nations en Toscane, on se connait bien. La montée de Superbagnères doit bien me convenir. Elle est irrégulière et j’adore les changements de rythme. Je vais essayer de ne pas me poser de questions. Je vais attendre de voir si je me sens bien. Si c’est le cas je passerai à l’attaque. Les Trek-Livestrong seront très forts. Je ne pense pas que le col de Menté sera décisif car il y a trop de plaine avant le pied de Superbagnères. »

Here is another example from a French artical.

Le garçon ne souhaite ainsi pas être « catalogué grimpeur ». Mais c’est bien sur les longs cols qu’il se voit confier ses plus grandes responsabilités. « J’aime quand c’est long, et quand il y a de vraies grosses pentes. Des efforts de 45 minutes, une heure. Avec des à-coups, des changements de rythme. » Sur le Tour des Pays de Savoie, il trouve ce type de profil, mais la course est rendue dantesque par des conditions météorologiques exécrables. Il manque le coche. Sur le Tour de la Vallée d’Aoste, qu’il court avec l’équipe de France, il a en revanche bien plus de mordant. « Je n’avais jamais disputé de course aussi longue, c’était ma première sélection en Coupe des Nations. Une belle épreuve. » Il y accroche la septième place au classement général final, tandis que sous le même maillot, Nicolas Edet et Thomas Bonnin, plus âgés que lui et désormais professionnels chez Cofidis et Skil-Shimano, s’offraient chacun une victoire d’étape. Une expérience forcément fondatrice.

If you need more examples I be happy to provide you. He is a insane climbing talent. In Oman I know he was in the saddle on Green Mountain, but only because he was on his absolut limit. You have to remember he was up against Contador, Froome and Purito. He is still young being from 1991.

 

[Miburo]

Wiggins takes it easily.

 

[Netserk]

Why do they have this stage tomorrow They should have had it today. Now I'm not going to see it, as I'll be watching DDV

 

[greenedge]

I will go Scarponi FTW- he looked in good form at P-N.
One of JROD or Valverde to jump away from Wiggins at the end.

 

[Parrulo]

with machado now being the clear team leader and with the radioshack sponsor situation, i wonder how he will do.

will he actually do well or completely fail under the pressure the team must be to deliver some results?

since i like to stay positive with machado, i will go with him crashing on the way to the climb

 

[the sceptic]

Purito will win if he can keep up with the skyborgs. Valverde will probably get dropped by Uran or Cataldo

 

[bicifan]

Purito will win if he can keep up with the skyborgs. Valverde will probably get dropped by Uran or Cataldo

Purito for the win with or without cyborgs.

 

[Red Rick]

Any chance of skyfall happening somewhere in a descent?

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

To dominate

 

[King Of The Wolds]

Looking at the forecast, I'd be surprised if this wasn't a shortened stage. And considering last year's shambles, they aren't going to take any risks.