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Volta Ciclista a Catalunya 2023, March 20-26

Page 60 - Get up to date with the latest news, scores & standings from the Cycling News Community.
Ah, before the stage I actually predicted a VAM fest here so maybe I shouldn't oppose right now :p The magnitude of the fest really shocked me though. I can't tell you name out of my head but Vuelta 2019 had some very good unipuerto numbers (i.e. by Roglic and Valverde) but not this. Last year's TdF had PDBF and Pog and Vinge didn't even get close to 1900 m/h (for only 20 minutes).
PDBD has an issue with pacing and descents in it. They do like 6.1 for 18 minutes then they finish at 8 W/kg. That is not good for high numbers. Basically Pog hasn't had an ideal climb in ideal circumstances in ages.
 
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PDBD has an issue with pacing and descents in it. They do like 6.1 for 18 minutes then they finish at 8 W/kg. That is not good for high numbers. Basically Pog hasn't had an ideal climb in ideal circumstances in ages.

Col d'Eze this year - Pog did 1850 m/h for about 15 minutes. It was really fast and low elevation, not even close to yesterday despite shorter effort. It was less steeper but shorter effort should compensate for that.
 
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Why would you suggest wheelsucking, a derogatory term; played into Roglic's strategy? Sitting behind the 2nd place rival whose team is driving the finish with a minimal, points-based likely winning factor may be the only way to race. Thanks, DQS for the lead out.
Roglic put in a turn near the finish to stretch and inspire the compulsive element in the pack to be frisky since they may have though that's all he had to give.
They all bit on the bait and he showed he was a)Stronger b) Faster. There was little to no aerodynamic benefit to sitting behind anyone; in fact tactically it has proven to be a hindrance to picking a sprint line in some of these tight finishes.

I agree that there's no need to provide excuses for Remco. He's supremely talented and no doubt will realize he left his sprint 3km down the road....He's strong and will be tactically amazing as well at some point.
I didn't mean derogatory term. It's just his strategy.
 
Harder stage. Finish wasn't at the top.

Also with a harder stage the day before.

Catalunya had very diffucult stages 2 and 3 days before (way more difficult than PN). And we are talking about 5% difference between red-hot Pog (performing a shorter effort on lower elevation) and guys from Catalunya who are yet to reach their best form. Do you really think it makes such a big difference? I don't.

Going back to Vuelta 2019 - it had some great climbing speeds on uni-puertos (i.e. by red-hot Roglic), and they didn't even get close to this (it was about 6.5-6.6 w/kg for sub 30-minute climbs). This one is 5% above very strong 6.5 w/kg (1835 m/h) performances of similar duration (they themselves are already quite rare) and 5% is a huge difference.
 
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I think it is just a lot about the conditions.

Gaps on Lo Port this year:
10th at 1min 15 sec

And 2017:
10th at 1min 11sec

Yesterday a lot of riders were going really fast. Roglic and Evenepoel didn't gap all the others by 1 minutes. Even Soler could follow who is a really good rider on this day, but not superhuman.
I wouldn't read too much into this numbers.
 
I guess I'm just less generous towards those who rub me the wrong way with how they ride. But I realize there is no rational explanation for it, although fandom, and I'm talking about sport in general, implies a suspension of reason to some extent. There is no "reason," for example, why I should wish rider x to win and rider y to lose miserably, when personally I know neither. Perhaps rider y is a lovely chap, while rider x an unsupportable douchbag? Maybe they are both fine chaps, so why would I prefer one over the other?

On the other hand, I can think of one occasion that sealed my distaste for Roglic's modus operandi, which is a better version of Valverde's (who I never felt enthusiasm for, for basically the same reason) in the mountains; it's when he stomped that guy at the P-N, denying him what would have been more than a hard-earned victory, when Primoz didn't need the win, being as he was already in the race lead and having gained more time on his direct rivals. After that I simply had no sympathy for his cause, despite recognizing he admirably deals with the misfortunes that have befallen him, starting with crashing in that very P-N, irrevocably losing the lead. It's just one of those things.
So you like riders attacking, but you also like riders gifting away stages. Does not make much sense.
 
Sure - everyone’s free to prefer the style of their choosing. I would surely like if Rogla attacked more, like Remco and Pog for instance. It’s not so much in his nature, he really does lean more towards being efficient. But accusing him of being a wheelsucker (I don’t even remember now if it was you who claimed that) is I think recency bias. He took the initiative when he had to in the past - when the situation called for it. Last years Vuelta when he dropped Remco is one of these examples, 2021 Itzulia is another. But yeah, he does that way less often than the two gentlemen I mentioned and from shorter distance which is less attractive for spectators. Though I would argue he has another type of panache (stomp) which can be very entertaining for his fans.

That being said - today was an example when doing that would be a clear tactical error. He was brought the race to him by Remco on a silver platter and it’s hard accusing someone of not taking the initiative when his approach was clearly tactically correct.

He also went on that raid with Bernal in the 2020(?) Vuelta from 60 something K's out, where he had absolutely no reason to. I think it was also in that Vuelta where he attacked over a murrito and ended up crashing on the descent and obviously cant forget his riding in arguably the best TdF stage since many, many years. So basically I strongly agree just adding some examples that came to mind
 
No "gifting," in that sense, not only demonstrates true nobility, but is also strategically intelligent...as look what then ensued when he crashed.
I do not agree. He is payed to win races and not to gift away wins. Also, his team worked at the front quite hard and they all do get a bonus for a stage win, so going for the win is the only reasonable thing in my opinion. Also, I think this narative was started by the poor excuse of an analyst that is Brian Smith and it was only for that particular stage. Other times riders have been caught at the line and it is business as usual. Even Mäder himself said he needed to be better to win the stage, that is how it is in professional racing.
Horner was saying something about alliances and whatnot, maybe he had a point there seeing how it was Bahrain who eliminated Rogla at both TdF21 and Vuelta. But in all seriousness Rogla needed those seconds and I do not think anybody in the peloton was angry about his win.
Another thing is that is if you like a ultra attacking rider like Pog, he wins a lot as well. So he denies other of victories just as much as Rogla, if not even more.
Edit: Regarding your second point, I do not think the teams would have ridden differently in the last stage if Rogla gifted the win to Mäder. Bora sensed an opportunity to win the GC and other to move up on the podium and that was it. It was heartbreaking watching Rogla fight a losing battle, but that is why many of us like the guy so much.
 
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Vuelta last year? I think it's been well-established that Wright wasn't at fault.
Rogla said he was and I tend to belive him over some rider with no pro victories. I also looked at the video and it seems to me Wright was braced for impact just before they collided, which means he anticipated the crash and did nothing (or very little) to avoid it. I presume he was thinking this is my chance to get a top 4 for once in my life even if I have to crash...
 
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Rogla said he was and I tend to belive him over some rider with no pro victories. I also looked at the video and it seems to me Wright was braced for impact just before they collided, which means he anticipated the crash and did nothing (or very little) to avoid it. I presume he was thinking this is my chance to get a top 4 for once in my life even if I have to crash...

Several other riders said he wasn't.
And also... why would having wins automatically mean you're right? Does that mean Wright will be right once he gets a win?

BTW; what do you mean by "Top 4 for once in [his] life"? He's already finished on the podium in several GT stages.