Volta Ciclista a Catalunya 2018

[DFA123]

Nice sprint - made it look easy.

 

[Scarponi]

Hahahahaha Valverde winning a 100 group sprint. No way

 

[Carols]

Bala!!!! Bala!!!

 

[hfer07]

Don Alejandro doing his thing

impressive

 

[TourOfSardinia]

Re:

Valverde. Legend.

Bala
hungry

 

[Gigs_98]

This is getting ridiculous. How good is he?

Edit: Also, how could the Bahrein rider f*ck this up so badly? Who was that? Bonifazio? If yes, why exactly did I pick him for the cq manager?

 

[Stan955]

In fairness he probably was the fastest man out there anyway

 

[Cance > TheRest]

Re:

Valverde. Legend. Haven't seen him win a bunch sprint in ages.

Last time he did was in Catalunya 2015. I don't know if it's a testament t the lack of a class sprinters in the race or if it's just Valverde's class. Probably a bit of both

 

[DNP-Old]

Bernal 4th, not too bad either.

 

[Laplaz]

OMG Bennett and Bonifazio the pure sprinters beaten by the climber Bala

Edit: The Bahrain rider was Gasparotto and the Bora one McCarthy. Still impressive today Don Alejandro.

 

[DNP-Old]

 

[Sestriere]

Re:

OMG Bennett and Bonifazio the pure sprinters beaten by the climber Bala

Edit: The Bahrain rider was Gasparotto and the Bora one McCarthy. Still impressive today Don Alejandro.

And the Bora rider was McCarthy.

 

[Scarponi]

top three is a who's who is reduced sprints for me

 

[yaco]

MS destroyed the pure sprinters on the final climb - Nearly paid off with Impey second - But Valverde is in a different class.

 

[Geraint Too Fast]

It's happening.

http://www.cqranking.com/men/asp/gen/tour.asp?tourid=145

 

[wheresmybrakes]

He didn't seem to put any effort into that sprint whatsoever. He just rode past them as if they wasn't there. But when there is little to no opposition, it will be easy.

 

[Laplaz]

Didn't knew that Bernal can sprint so good, impressive.

 

[TourOfSardinia]

Stage

GC

 

[Koronin]

Re: Re:

OMG Bennett and Bonifazio the pure sprinters beaten by the climber Bala

Edit: The Bahrain rider was Gasparotto and the Bora one McCarthy. Still impressive today Don Alejandro.

And the Bora rider was McCarthy.

Just remember Bala isn't a true climber. When he first turned pro part of the peloton thought he was a sprinter. Remember Bala's got the speed of probably a 2nd tier sprinter and definitely the speed to be a leadout man for a top tier sprinter, so he's good good speed. Plus he will still get involved in partial field sprints. Full field sprints are typically what he doesn't get involved with anymore. Hmmm....his getting involved in partial field sprints though proves he hasn't lost anything from the knee injury last summer.

 

[Alexandre B.]

Re: Re:

OMG Bennett and Bonifazio the pure sprinters beaten by the climber Bala

Edit: The Bahrain rider was Gasparotto and the Bora one McCarthy. Still impressive today Don Alejandro.

And the Bora rider was McCarthy.

Just remember Bala isn't a true climber. When he first turned pro part of the peloton thought he was a sprinter. Remember Bala's got the speed of probably a 2nd tier sprinter and definitely the speed to be a leadout man for a top tier sprinter, so he's good good speed. Plus he will still get involved in partial field sprints. Full field sprints are typically what he doesn't get involved with anymore. Hmmm....his getting involved in partial field sprints though proves he hasn't lost anything from the knee injury last summer.

He gained.

 

[Koronin]

Re: Re:

OMG Bennett and Bonifazio the pure sprinters beaten by the climber Bala

Edit: The Bahrain rider was Gasparotto and the Bora one McCarthy. Still impressive today Don Alejandro.

And the Bora rider was McCarthy.

Just remember Bala isn't a true climber. When he first turned pro part of the peloton thought he was a sprinter. Remember Bala's got the speed of probably a 2nd tier sprinter and definitely the speed to be a leadout man for a top tier sprinter, so he's good good speed. Plus he will still get involved in partial field sprints. Full field sprints are typically what he doesn't get involved with anymore. Hmmm....his getting involved in partial field sprints though proves he hasn't lost anything from the knee injury last summer.

He gained.

He's been joking that they added horsepower when they put the screws into his knee. LOL

 

[GuyIncognito]

Valverde doesn't have anything like the sprint speed he had 10 years ago

That said, he mentioned at Pais Vasco last year that what he usually does in these finishes is not actually try to win, just surf wheels of sprinters all the way to the line to make sure he's not behind if there's a gap in the pack. Like he did yesterday or in all the Pais Vasco stages last year.

And can we mention that yet again McCarthy did his usual thing of sprinting all over the road? How long until someone breaks a leg because of him?

When he won a race earlier this year and I posted something like "Finally he didn't intentionally ride into people's way" I wasn't being flippant, it was literally the first time I've ever seen him sprint remotely fairly.

But I guess it's the way it always goes in this sport. Wait till someone gets hurt, only then do something about it

 

[WKA311]

Really thought that Impey would be faster than Valverde. But you know, of course it's Valverde.

 

[El Pistolero]

Re: Re:

Valverde. Legend. Haven't seen him win a bunch sprint in ages.

Last time he did was in Catalunya 2015. I don't know if it's a testament t the lack of a class sprinters in the race or if it's just Valverde's class. Probably a bit of both

Most of his wins are bunch sprints.

Uphill sprints are still sprints.

 

[tobydawq]

Re:

Valverde doesn't have anything like the sprint speed he had 10 years ago

That said, he mentioned at Pais Vasco last year that what he usually does in these finishes is not actually try to win, just surf wheels of sprinters all the way to the line to make sure he's not behind if there's a gap in the pack. Like he did yesterday or in all the Pais Vasco stages last year.

And can we mention that yet again McCarthy did his usual thing of sprinting all over the road? How long until someone breaks a leg because of him?

When he won a race earlier this year and I posted something like "Finally he didn't intentionally ride into people's way" I wasn't being flippant, it was literally the first time I've ever seen him sprint remotely fairly.

But I guess it's the way it always goes in this sport. Wait till someone gets hurt, only then do something about it

Wasn't that a problem in País Vasco last year as well with him. I seem to recall that Valverde and Luis León (I think) had been really angry with him after a stage.