Vuelta 2012, Stage 12: Vilagarcía de Arousa > Mirador de Ézaro (190,5 kms)

[Cimber]

Purito to take more time on this bad boy:

My prediction: we'll get about 5 minutes of action, and then people will talk about how awesome and exciting the Vuelta is.

Would be 5 min more than we had in the Tour

 

[CasperVg]

Rodriguez will definitely take time on the Big 4 here. Marczynski to win it from a break with 5km to go.

 

[joeyrobbo]

Pretty sure this is the final climb... steepest section is at 2mins 20sec, starts off pretty steep as well..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-a6Br31Zlw

 

[Pantani_lives]

Rodriguez will definitely take time on the Big 4 here.

Impossible. How can he take time on himself? He might take time on the remaining 75% of the Big Four however.

 

[wirral]

Will Argos Shimano have any kind of spoiling plan to try to keep Degenkolb in green.

Perhaps they might do what Sky did at the Giro (?) and try to bring the break back early to grab 8 sprint points.

 

[spalco]

Pretty sure this is the final climb... steepest section is at 2mins 20sec, starts off pretty steep as well..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-a6Br31Zlw

****ing hell. Look at the wall on the right side in the very end at 4:16 to really appreciate the steepness.

 

[iZnoGouD]

Gilbert will be with the 4 guys but will drop them in the end like they are standing still

he is just at 9.00 on bet365, a clear favourite for the stage

 

[Jason_Mercier]

24 percentage is too much for Philippe.

 

[airstream]

Gilbert has little chance of surviving on the steepest ramp, however, there's no team that might arrange a rabid lead-out. Sky could do that, but Froomy looks to be losing ground. 2km is really much for 14%+ section. I wonder whether Purito is able to gain say 10 sec without considering bonus seconds, if he's really good.

 

[Red Rick]

I wonder what gear the riders will be using, maybe a compact will be good for the 30% part

 

[airstream]

they'll use 34 cassettes. i hope, grande bisonte is gonna give to them a couple of lessons of softpedaling today.

 

[Ferminal]

Gilbert has little chance of surviving on the steepest ramp, however, there's no team that might arrange a rabid lead-out. Sky could do that, but Froomy looks to be losing ground. 2km is really much for 14%+ section. I wonder whether Purito is able to gain say 10 sec without considering bonus seconds, if he's really good.

It is better for Froome if the pace is hard but constant, making it more difficult for Purito to attack and gain big time.

 

[SafeBet]

Gilbert will be with the 4 guys but will drop them in the end like they are standing still

No way he can drop Machado though.

 

[Panda Claws]

Gilbert will be with the 4 guys but will drop them in the end like they are standing still

he is just at 9.00 on bet365, a clear favourite for the stage

I really cannot imagine Gilbert surviving this beast.

 

[Stilletto]

Tiralongo FTW!!!!!!!!!!

 

[SetonHallPirate]

I seriously hope that they've resurfaced this road in advance of the stage, as I would NOT want to have a flat on that 28% section (which appears to be in the worst shape of the bunch). That road seriously looks like it could make Paris-Roubaix seem like a bike mechanic's rest day.

Here's a video of the approach to that hill...gets quite technical in a few spots.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6Jup9ZpPzY&feature=related

 

[search]

that might be a factor, but I think the biggest problem is (like, for example, Nicolas Roche mentioned on twitter) going into the entrance of the climb with a bunch of ~180 riders at full speed:

 

[Leonardus]

Freaky stage today. It will be chaos before the climb, no chance of echelons to split the field in advance of the climb?

 

[DominicDecoco]

It's a stupid stage with only one outcome if it stays together.. No, actually two outcomes. Purito wins and crashes before the hill...

 

[TourOfSardinia]

Tiralongo FTW!!!!!!!!!!

and not gifted by AC!

 

[Lexman]

My prediction: we'll get about 5 minutes of action, and then people will talk about how awesome and exciting the Vuelta is.

it's because we lacked those 5 minutes in the TDF ;-)

 

[Lexman]

1. Purito
2. Gilbert
3. Contador 5 sec
4. Froome 7 s
5. Moreno 9 s
6. Valverde 15 s

 

[spalco]

1. Purito
2. Gilbert
3. Contador 5 sec
4. Froome 7 s
5. Moreno 9 s
6. Valverde 15 s

I think the time differences could be bigger than that. I think it's possible Rodriguez could gain 30 seconds (including bonus) on Contador. What I've seen in the videos tells me this really is a crazy climb.

 

[Shardi]

Too long and too steep for mr Gilbert I think. Winning the muur was breaking new ground, thats like 1.2km at 9.5(?)%. This is a taller order.

 

[Vino attacks everyone]

Think Froome and Valverde will have some problems today. AC and purito to stay togheter util final 400 m where Purito will explode and win the stage by 15 sec