Volta a Catalunya 2013

[Dazed and Confused]

Thanks, Descender.
Back to earth.
Add small steep hills (1-2km @10-15%) here and there to help get rid of uber strong trains. Now we shall see.

 

[King Of The Wolds]

I think sky will ride for uran with wiggins as the last man. No tt so cant see wiggins winning gc

Take out the TT from last year's Tour and he'd still have won.

 

[King Of The Wolds]

That sounds very exciting. NOT.

The reigning maillot jaune versus maglia rosa and you're still not happy. Guess there's no pleasing some people, unless a rider's name ends in ez or something.

 

[Bernie's eyesore]

Take out the TT from last year's Tour and he'd still have won.

On paper, yes. Nibali would have approached the race completely differently though if there had been no time trials so we will never know what might have happened (on the flip side you could say that Wiggins might have approached the race differently too).

 

[Pentacycle]

On paper, yes. Nibali would have approached the race completely differently though if there had been no time trials so we will never know what might have happened (on the flip side you could say that Wiggins might have approached the race differently too).

Froome would've won without the TT's and the flat tire he had on stage 1, but there's no discussion that a race is different without TT's. It would've been a real struggle for seconds all the way to Peyraguedes.

 

[Parrulo]

the stages still look good descender, they hit over 2000 meters more times in 2 stages then the tour will in last years and this years edition combined

 

[Netserk]

the stages still look good descender, they hit over 2000 meters more times in 2 stages then the tour will in last years and this years edition combined

#Not true.

 

[Parrulo]

#Not true.

this year we only have pailleres and last year we only had the madelleine which in reality isn't above 2000 meters, is like 1997 or something, at least that's what i remember people saying.

 

[theyoungest]

#Not true.

Maybe he means the finish. Which is true.

 

[Netserk]

Last year both Tourmalet and Croix-de-Fer was above 2000m

 

[Parrulo]

if you want to be pedantic about it then this year route most likely has no mountain above 2000 m as i highly doubt pailleres just happens to be exactly 2001 meters, most likely they are just doing with it what they do with la madeleine. so it's the same number of climbs which is still bad enough considering we are comparing 1 edition of a 1 week race vs 2 editions of a GT

 

[rghysens]

nevermind...

 

[Netserk]

if you want to be pedantic about it then this year route most likely has no mountain above 2000 m as i highly doubt pailleres just happens to be exactly 2001 meters, most likely they are just doing with it what they do with la madeleine. so it's the same number of climbs which is still bad enough considering we are comparing 1 edition of a 1 week race vs 2 editions of a GT

But you said more times

Sorry but sometimes I like to be pedantic

 

[theyoungest]

if you want to be pedantic about it then this year route most likely has no mountain above 2000 m as i highly doubt pailleres just happens to be exactly 2001 meters, most likely they are just doing with it what they do with la madeleine. so it's the same number of climbs which is still bad enough considering we are comparing 1 edition of a 1 week race vs 2 editions of a GT

You made a pedantic comment about the Tour de France

 

[McLovin]

if you want to be pedantic about it then this year route most likely has no mountain above 2000 m as i highly doubt pailleres just happens to be exactly 2001 meters, most likely they are just doing with it what they do with la madeleine. so it's the same number of climbs which is still bad enough considering we are comparing 1 edition of a 1 week race vs 2 editions of a GT

According to Google Earth Pailheres is 2001 m. Madeleine 1998.

 

[Winterfold]

Does anyone know if Wiggo is turning up to contest for GC or to train/ride for someone else?

 

[RHRH19861986]

Does anyone know if Wiggo is turning up to contest for GC or to train/ride for someone else?

Can´t imagine he´ll play the role he did in Oman. It´s getting serious, he might ride Catalunya and Trentino to win.

 

[Gloin22]

Can´t imagine he´ll play the role he did in Oman. It´s getting serious, he might ride Catalunya and Trentino to win.

Riding Trentino to win is a massive mistake.... ( considering there's no ITT that can win the race easily for Wiggins )

Pozzovivo showed it to us few times already.

 

[LaFlorecita]

I love it dude great to see sky go fishing reeling them in , it's hilarious the look of hopelessness on the other's face lol

lol sky fanboy alert

 

[jens_attacks]

as you know, wiggo is not domenico
he can be uber strong in dauphine and stronger in le tour. the comparison is not legit

i'm very curious to see in what kind of shape wiggo will be here

 

[wwabbit]

lol sky fanboy alert

I've got the pitchforks ready, someone bring some torches!

 

[GP Blanco]

Great profile for a race that I always judged as a minor race. Now we have to hope that the weather conditions will be better than last year.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

The reigning maillot jaune versus maglia rosa and you're still not happy. Guess there's no pleasing some people, unless a rider's name ends in ez or something.

Some people prefer the spectacle, some people prefer the talent level.

I'd rather watch an exciting free-for-all in the Tour of a small province of Bolivia than a tightly controlled ride in the Tour de France, but I am aware that it would mean far less and I would therefore find the Tour de France stage more tense and nerve-wracking, but that's more to do with how much is on the line and our investment in the personalities that duke it out than the race.

Wiggins vs. Hesjedal features two major protagonists, but it will, more than likely, be exciting through the value of the riders' palmarès only; neither are known as free-flowing, attacking cyclists who create those great stages where control completely breaks down. Most of us tend to value those stages where there is no control as the most exciting, because the range of potential outcomes is greater, and the period over which they develop is longer. Sky thrive on control. There's nothing wrong with that, after all, it's highly effective. However, it doesn't excite many fans who prefer a more unpredictable race. Therefore, a tense battle between them is not the equivalent of a chaotic 4-3 match between two big teams, it's a tense 1-0 between two giants. This has its place, but it doesn't necessarily make somebody wrong not to find it appealing. Hesjedal did attack a few times in the Giro and deserved the win just for that, because it was probably the most conservatively-raced Grand Tour ever.

 

[Duartista]

To be fair to Hesjedal, his Top 10 in the Tour in 2010 was probably one of the more attacking GT top 10s in recent years.

On Catalunya, I shall be interested to see how Betancur goes. He is reportedly in pretty good shape, but last season he needed a few races before really hitting form.

 

[Netserk]

To be fair to Hesjedal, his Top 10 in the Tour in 2010 was probably one of the more attacking GT top 10s in recent years.

On Catalunya, I shall be interested to see how Betancur goes. He is reportedly in pretty good shape, but last season he needed a few races before really hitting form.

Haven't he already raced in Columbia?