Volta Ciclista a Catalunya 2018

[Jspear]

Oh was this race happening? I was too busy enjoying real racing!

 

[The Barb]

Really happy to see Pantano win. He's such a well rounded rider that I'm surprised he doesn't win more often. Hope he can find his 2016 Tour De France form again.

 

[wirral]

Stage 6 may see another very irregular McCarthy sprint. He is so dangerous, no idea how aware he is of his own actions.

 

[Hugo Koblet]

Brent Bookwalter will win today's stage.

 

[DNP-Old]

Stage shortened due to snow. Only 120km of racing now.

 

[RedheadDane]

Good thing the - now scrapped - climbing was at the beginning of the stage, rather than the end.

Hmm... wasn't it Catalunya that last year had a stage that also had to move the start forward, so the new start was just a parking area, with a camping table as the write-in "desk"?

 

[Red Rick]

Catalunya needs to stop cramming all the mountain stages up north. Stages get canned too often. There's plenty of other places to go in Catalunya

 

[Velolover2]

Do you think they are able to get rid off Bonifazio and Bennett on the climb?

Mitchelton-Scott needs to go full gas if they want a victory for Impey. I'm pretty confident that the final stage to Barcelona will be won by Valverde.

 

[Velolover2]

I think Valverde will try to lead-out Rojas as a gesture today. A move which is doomed to fail because Valverde is slightly faster than Rojas who is likely to get 4th at best.

 

[wheresmybrakes]

Watching the highlights from yesterday, how the hell do riders not realise there are other riders in front of them? Mohoric celebrating as if he's won! Do they not pay attention to what is going on at times? Weird. :lol:

 

[Koronin]

Re:

I think Valverde will try to lead-out Rojas as a gesture today. A move which is doomed to fail because Valverde is slightly faster than Rojas who is likely to get 4th at best.

This wouldn't surprise me at all. However, this might also be one of those times you need to reevaluate things when your designated sprinter is slightly slower than your GC/leadout guy. (Yes Barbero is the team's actual sprinter, but Rojas was the team's sprinter for many years.)

 

[Koronin]

Watching the highlights from yesterday, how the hell do riders not realise there are other riders in front of them? Mohoric celebrating as if he's won! Do they not pay attention to what is going on at times? Weird. :lol:

Well at the 2016 Giro when Nibali got the last bonus second because Valverde didn't really sprint, Valverde flat out admitted he had no idea that there were still bonus seconds. He said he thought there were at least 4 or 5 more riders in front of them and had no idea they'd actually caught all but 2 riders. Team car never told him.

 

[Hugo Koblet]

Echelons! The best part of cycling.

 

[capuldemetal]

this is epic!

 

[Gigs_98]

Echelons, but doesn't look like someone important is missing from the first group.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Re:

Catalunya needs to stop cramming all the mountain stages up north. Stages get canned too often. There's plenty of other places to go in Catalunya

Problem is all the ski towns are up north - Vielha, Bergà, Alp, La Seu d'Urgell and the various resorts - Pla de Beret, the Andorra ones, Port del Comte, Rassos de Pegüera, La Molina, VallTer 2000 and Port-Ainé and so on, and a lot of the most difficult passes are at fairly sizable altitude levels that they can't rely on.

I'd love to see a proper mountain stage around the Massis de Montseny or over the Coll d'Ares and so on, but the ski stations are more likely to pay up for hosting than the sanctuaries and monasteries - going up to a finish at the Santuari de Bellmunt (around 7km @ 8,5%, last 4km @ 10%+) after the Coll de Bracons (8,2km @ 8,0%) would be a great little finish for the race.

To try to use the Pyrenean climbs without anything too endangered by the weather it might be worth something like a Solsona finish descending from the Coll de Jou, or Bagà after the Coll de Fumanyà, though that would entail descending the horrible side. Perhaps they could finish in Bergà or at the Santuari de Queralt after descending from Fumanyà by its hardest side (if they don't want to go to Rassos).

I mean, ideally they could do Fumanyà-Pradell and then finish at the Mirador de Gresolet that railxmig introduced us to recently. That would be amazing.

 

[Velolover2]

Echelons, but doesn't look like someone important is missing from the first group.

Not of the GC riders but what about the sprinters? Bennett is there?

 

[Baldinger]

Echelons, but doesn't look like someone important is missing from the first group.

Not of the GC riders but what about the sprinters? Bennett is there?

Quick Step is trying to bring Mørkøv back. He had a mechanical when the split happend.

 

[Jancouver]

Why is the TV motorbike always so close to the peloton?

... no chance for the breakaways to stay away when the peloton is pulled by the motorbikes

 

[Velolover2]

Break might take it.

Schachmann will take it. Diego Rubio has done too much pulling, I think. Especially on the wet roads.

 

[Hugo Koblet]

Yeah with this wind, I think the break might actually make it.

 

[Gigs_98]

How on earth is this possible. The peloton is going all out and the front duo isn't losing any time. How?

 

[Irondan]

Breaks gonna make it...

 

[Velolover2]

Diego Rubio has been the strongest, but it's never the strongest who wins in these breaks.

 

[RedheadDane]

Come one breakaway!