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

[3wheeler]

Anyone Blowing Badly on that Baby is going to lose HUGE time.. Its one of those that Could Cause you to Cramp up Badly till you are almost at a Standstill... Maybe it was on Froomes mind yesterday with his Conservative TT..

 

[ILovecycling]

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.

Ye,it is.There is no drafting and with bad shifting in 29%,oh dear...I expect massive crowds here.This is good hill for fans on the road

 

[Mellow Velo]

Moderate wind forecast for the final 60 kms, which may mean that the peloton might be in pieces before Nick Roche's bottleneck.
Imo, Sky have to try and get rid of "Rocket" Rodriguez at some point along this coastal route.

 

[cocteau_ireland]

How unified are Rabobank behind Gesink and 5th place? Just wondering whether mollema and ten dam are totally up for sidelining their g.c; such as if gesink blows a gasket today.

 

[theyoungest]

Moderate wind forecast for the final 60 kms, which may mean that the peloton might be in pieces before Nick Roche's bottleneck.
Imo, Sky have to try and get rid of "Rocket" Rodriguez at some point along this coastal route.

Not gonna happen, Katusha are riding very well to protect their leader.

 

[Arnout]

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:

I think this corner is so slow that it won't be a big problem anymore. Not to validate the stage of today, but that isn't worrying me.

 

[Mellow Velo]

First hour completed at just under 46kph and still no break.
Saxo just roped in a 14 man bunch.

Not gonna happen, Katusha are riding very well to protect their leader.

Maybe Sky could just ride straight through the middle of 'em.

 

[theyoungest]

I think this corner is so slow that it won't be a big problem anymore. Not to validate the stage of today, but that isn't worrying me.

Huh? This corner is exactly the problem. The riders will be going full speed to be in front, and then be confronted with his corner.

Maybe Sky could just ride straight through the middle of 'em.

Yeah, I forgot about their crash tactics.

 

[cineteq]

Moderate wind forecast for the final 60 kms, which may mean that the peloton might be in pieces before Nick Roche's bottleneck.
Imo, Sky have to try and get rid of "Rocket" Rodriguez at some point along this coastal route.

If they did it once with Valverde with no consequences, why not do it again with Purito? It's a no brainer.

 

[Miburo]

I really wonder if Contador is going to attack on this climb. On the Muur he went too early 2 years ago. I bet that's in the back of his mind.

Difficult situation. For Purito it's simple, follow and explode in the last 300 meters.

 

[Miburo]

it's a shame we can't see the vuelta live now, apperently no one can get away.

And we already had a stage like this a few days ago, way more exciting than boring tour.

This speed might cause that the damage will be bigger.

 

[SetonHallPirate]

it's a shame we can't see the vuelta live now, apperently no one can get away.

And we already had a stage like this a few days ago, way more exciting than boring tour.

This speed might cause that the damage will be bigger.

Or everybody gets burnt out chasing, and the breakaway succeeds.

 

[Geraint Too Fast]

it's a shame we can't see the vuelta live now, apperently no one can get away.

And we already had a stage like this a few days ago, way more exciting than boring tour.

This speed might cause that the damage will be bigger.

I guess you didn't watch the Tour, because there was at least one stage like this.

 

[Miburo]

I guess you didn't watch the Tour, because there was at least one stage like this.

Lol very true in the tour we had 1 stage like this.

In the vuelta already 2 and we are only halfway. And the mountain stages are way more exciting. Leaders are attacking, a guy attacks 6,7 times and so on.

Boring Tour is Boring, that easy.

 

[theyoungest]

Lol very true in the tour we had 1 stage like this.

In the vuelta already 2 and we are only halfway. And the mountain stages are way more exciting. Leaders are attacking, a guy attacks 6,7 times and so on.

Boring Tour is Boring, that easy.

The difference is the riders, not the course. Alberto Contador is an attacking climber, Purito and Valverde are great punchy climbers. None of the sort was present in the Tour. The only guy who wanted to attack was told not to, by his leader Wiggins.

May I remind you that the first road stage of the Tour had an uphill finish? And there were two more uphill finishes in the first week?

If you complain about boring flat stages, I've already seen some reeeaaally boring flat stages in this Vuelta as well.

 

[Leonardus]

Still no definitive break and very high speeds, shame there is no coverage now.

 

[Geraint Too Fast]

Lol very true in the tour we had 1 stage like this.

In the vuelta already 2 and we are only halfway. And the mountain stages are way more exciting. Leaders are attacking, a guy attacks 6,7 times and so on.

Boring Tour is Boring, that easy.

At least we got live images from the Tour. These stages aren't so exiting when a ticker is the only way to follow them.

 

[Leadbelly]

I expect massive crowds here.This is good hill for fans on the road

I just hope they have it barriered all the way up. Last thing you want is fans getting in your way at 29%.

I also wonder how the camera bikes are going to cope, or will it just be fixed cameras? The bikes give great shots for us watching at home, but we don't want Henao getting run over again.

 

[Miburo]

The difference is the riders, not the course. Alberto Contador is an attacking climber, Purito and Valverde are great punchy climbers. None of the sort was present in the Tour. The only guy who wanted to attack was told not to, by his leader Wiggins.

May I remind you that the first road stage of the Tour had an uphill finish? And there were two more uphill finishes in the first week?

If you complain about boring flat stages, I've already seen some reeeaaally boring flat stages in this Vuelta as well.

When did I say it was the fault of the course of the tdf itself? That doesn't change the fact though that the tour was boring. Obviously with Contador it's way more exciting.

Still the tour needed more uphill finishes and a muur of 2km would be pretty exciting, not some climb of seraing where no big difference will ever be made.

And flat stages are in general usually boring, in the tour almost all of them were boring. Aswell as the mountain stages in the tour which were pretty boring while in the vuelta we've had action all the time.

 

[barmaher]

Say what you like about the Big 4 of this Vuelta, and many have had their say in the clinic and on this forum.

But the fact remains that Purito, Valverde, Froome and Alberto are four of the most exciting GC riders around right now.

They kick the *** out of Hesjedal, Basso, Scarponi, Wiggins, Evans and a tightly leashed Froome in terms of watchability.

I have a soft spot for Cadel, Ryder and Basso, but give me these four any day if I am in front of the couch wanting entertainment.

 

[The Hitch]

I reckon that Moreno will try and get amongst the rest to take some of those bonus seconds away.
He is the mini Spanish version of Denis Menchov; their stealth climber.
Besides Purito, this climb suits him as much as anybody.
Could even be a Katusha 1-2.

At Valdepenas and Escortial last year he hurt himself leading out Rodriguez, and ultimately guaranteeing Purito gets the 12 will be more important than trying to get in amidst for the 8 or the 4.

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

This finishing climb would be called a "speed bump" at a Zomengan Giro.

 

[The Hitch]

Seeing as how everyone seems certain Purito will win this, I think Contador might win. Getting into 2nd week form now, and not long enough for him to mess about. They hit the steep sections, he attacks, and gets enough on Rodriguez to hold on.

 

[The Hitch]

and not gifted by AC!

Won that stage of the Giro this year flying past a Scarponi in the final m, who had managed to drop everyone.

Tiralongo getting a Vuelta stage to add to his 2 Giro ones would be absolutely awessome and its now pressure off for Astana after Kiserlowskis heroics yesterday.

 

[theyoungest]

When did I say it was the fault of the course of the tdf itself? That doesn't change the fact though that the tour was boring. Obviously with Contador it's way more exciting.

Still the tour needed more uphill finishes and a muur of 2km would be pretty exciting, not some climb of seraing where no big difference will ever be made.

And flat stages are in general usually boring, in the tour almost all of them were boring. Aswell as the mountain stages in the tour which were pretty boring while in the vuelta we've had action all the time.

We haven't had action all the time. We had action in the last few kilometers of some stages. We've had that in the Tour as well, just between lesser riders who were less attack-minded, and thus it was less interesting to watch.