Vuelta 2012, Stage 17: Santander > Fuente Dé (187 km)

[The Hitch]

Love the head to head Valverde vs Purito and before Contador vs Froome by ES.

So Valverdes idol was Indurain, for Rodriguez it was the classics riders.

Oh, Rodriguez said his best day on the bike was next sunday when he finishes in red

 

[TheEnoculator]

Didn't catch the stage at all because of work. Great to see Contador is back and doing well!

Lucky for Purito that Froome is 7 minutes behind him, or he'd lose the podium too.

I wonder if Ten Dam will be a protected GC rider in the future. He's had a great Vuelta.

 

[rhubroma]

Now that is just unbelievable! He exploded the Vuelta, when nobody thought he could and right back after a suspension, with so few days of racing in his legs.

what a ****ing champion! The guy knows what greatness is.

Too bad the sport is where it is right now.

 

[Miburo]

Fmi I missed this.

I'm very happy for ac, but I feel so bad for purito

He still has the green jersey and he'll podium the vuelta. That's pretty good

 

[No_Balls]

wander over to the clinic and you'll find out why that won't happen

Today i dont dare setting my foot in there.

 

[Anonymous]

When do people on RTVE usually put video of the day's stage online?

 

[jilbiker]

exactly, purito simply had an awful day otherwise i don't think this would have worked

I think it is not right not to give credit where credit is due. Just like in most sports where they say "he/she made too many unforced errors". Your opponents pressure, tactics can cause you to begin to make unforced errors. All credit to AC, he forced JRod to have a bad day. You know a great champion not just from how he does when all cylinders are firing but also how he/she manges their bad day, because everyone has their bad day. JRod was shocked to hear AC was attacking him and he did not feel so good.....you should have taken a lesson there JRod.

 

[Publicus]

Love the head to head Valverde vs Purito and before Contador vs Froome by ES.

So Valverdes idol was Indurain, for Rodriguez it was the classics riders.

Oh, Rodriguez said his best day on the bike was next sunday when he finishes in red

Oh man. He was counting chickens before they hatched.... He must be gutted.

 

[Parrulo]

purito after the stage: "hoy ha ganado el ciclismo"

mad props to him

 

[Winterfold]

bummer for Rodrigues.

masterful by Riis and perfectly executed - Clinic issues or not, Contador really is awesome force of nature, let's hope Riis has his UCI subs up to date

 

[airstream]

Never liked dominators and part of their fans who sometimes act disrespectfully rolleyes on the forums, but you deserved and suffered out this win together with Alberto!

 

[Bavarianrider]

The stage with the easiest mountain finish produces by far the ebst stage. What a slap in the face for all the cyclingnews forum moaners.

 

[No_Balls]

Now that is just unbelievable! He exploded the Vuelta, when nobody thought he could and right back after a suspension, with so few days of racing in his legs.

Doped or not, what a ****ing champion! The guy knows what greatness is.

Too bad the sport is where it is right now.

Thing is he is such a inspiration today and for the future. He show that you can attack from far out and still win. He show that the race is not over until it is over and that you should always try til the very last moment to be a winner.

He might have done things in the past that is not so good but he carries a torch of what cycling is all about and should be.

 

[hrotha]

I'm not sure Purito had such a bad day. He followed Valverde after all, while all other contenders lost a minute to Contador near the top of the climb. I think he collapsed mentally. He thought he had this in the bag.

 

[icefire]

purito after the stage: "hoy ha ganado el ciclismo"

mad props to him

He even said he was happy to be part of that impressive stage despite being the loser.

 

[pablo0642]

Exactly. I can count them on one hand maybe even 1 finger.

If Purito had the balls to try and attack from 6 km on the stelvio he might have won the giro but he was too scared that he would lose the podium then.

To be fair to JRod it's gotta be easier having that attitude when your parmales includes several GTs. Even conservative Cadel had a much more aggressive approach in this years Tour. Commiserations to Purito he's lost to perhaps the best GT cyclist of the last two decades.

 

[cineteq]

The stage with the easiest mountain finish produces by far the ebst stage. What a slap in the face for all the cyclingnews forum moaners.

Thought the same thing, I wonder what is left to discuss in The Unipublic way thread?

 

[The Hitch]

purito after the stage: "hoy ha ganado el ciclismo"

mad props to him

Yep, what an absolute hero.

 

[No_Balls]

purito after the stage: "hoy ha ganado el ciclismo"

mad props to him

To say something like that in this moment. I am speechless. Hats off for Purito. Big in his final breath. Chapeau Purito. Fighter.

 

[Kwibus]

Fmi I missed this.

I'm very happy for ac, but I feel so bad for purito

How much I'm delighted by this incredible day of racing and fantastic win by Contador I also feel bad for Rodriguez, but him beating Contador was almost too good to be true as well.

I hope Rodriguez gets to win L-B-L next year.

 

[Netserk]

Thought the same thing, I wonder what is left to discuss in The Unipublic way thread?

And if you understood the critic, you will see that today wasn't a 'Unipublic-classic', and that it was a much better stage than those.

 

[luckyboy]

purito after the stage: "hoy ha ganado el ciclismo"

mad props to him

Wow.

Feel a little sorry for him.

 

[Kwibus]

purito after the stage: "hoy ha ganado el ciclismo"

mad props to him

I'm not good at spanish, but did he say "Today cycling won" ?
If so... mad mad mad props to him.

 

[trevim]

The only thing annoying me is really Rodriguez losing it. He deserves a big win, maybe it'll come one day. World Champion would look very good on him

 

[Ferminal]

And if you understood the critic, you will see that today wasn't a 'Unipublic-classic', and that it was a much better stage than those.

Here I was thinking that Contador attacked on the penultimate climb, maybe there wasn't any climbs until the finish?