Vuelta 2012, Stage 20: La Faisanera Golf-Bola del Mundo (170,7 km)

[maltiv]

Today shows exactly why one shouldn't give up when you're less than 2 minutes behind. Anyone can have a bad day, even Contador. Had Movistar and Katusha put a higher pace from the start, Contador could certainly have lost his GC lead.

 

[cineteq]

If you take away the bonus seconds, Contador would have been in red since last tuesday.

And your point is?

 

[Danilot]

If you take away the bonus seconds, Contador would have been in red since last tuesday.

True, I hadn't thought of that. Touché.

 

[Afrank]

Thanks! "Fixed" it slightly for clarity.

Good one

 

[Parrot23]

Valverde could have gotten real close to win the Vuelta had he not fallen in that echelon incident......

+1 Absolutely

 

[meat puppet]

right on! the endless drivel about who was the strongest begins. me, I prefer a measurable metric, like time spent on the course.

also would have preferred Jrod winning, I guess, but this "X was the strongest" is just weak.

 

[sultanofhyd]

And your point is?

His point is JRod barely took anytime on AC on the road till today's stage, most of his time was from the bonus seconds.

 

[webvan]

Yes and no. A big no if you look at TDF 2012.

Anyways, it is quite impressive. Purito outperformed Contador in this Vuelta's climbing overall (if I'm not mistaken, most time won by Contador at stage 17 was on the valley).

Correct, 16 seconds on Hoz and 15" tops on Fuente. One could argue that Bertie "stole" that Vuelta, well...won't happen in the 2013 TDF.

 

[slim charles]

To all who are saying that Purito was much better than Contador on MTF - that's not really true. He was better thanks to bonus seconds, without that, there wasn't much difference.

 

[cineteq]

His point is JRod barely took anytime on AC on the road till today's stage, most of his time was from the bonus seconds.

So? That doesn't mean anything. The race was with bonus seconds.

 

[LaFlorecita]

not at his best in the eyes of his fans.

Not that story again

 

[zapata]

The fact remains that Contador's time trialling was not enough to compensate for his losses on the MTF.

The race was won by the domestiques who pulled him on the flat just before Fuente Dé. Hey, it doesn't detract from Contador's win, but it's the truth.

Rodriguez was better today, the rest of the time they've been climbing pretty much equal. Rodriguez is a better sprinter (=bonus seconds), Contador a better timetrialist. Contador wins because he (or Bjarne Riis?) is smarter, and more daring.

 

[Afrank]

To all who are saying that Purito was much better than Contador on MTF - that's not really true. He was better thanks to bonus seconds, without that, there wasn't much difference.

this, Purito was better on this stage, but when he was in red it was him defending and Contador doing the attacking. Purito would just sprint ahead at the end and grab the bonus seconds.

 

[mb2612]

Well I thought this stage was better than Bola 2010.

Certainly much more significant GC wise.

How? Neither changed the GC at all, but last time it at least felt like it could.

 

[Parrulo]

Correct, 16 seconds on Hoz and 15" tops on Fuente. One could argue that Bertie "stole" that Vuelta, well...won't happen in the 2013 TDF.

yup, contador won't be coming of a 6 months ban and 1 year without competition then

 

[sultanofhyd]

So? That doesn't mean anything. The race was with bonus seconds.

And the race was with flat roads too. And Contador won it.

 

[LaFlorecita]

The fact remains that Contador's time trialling was not enough to compensate for his losses on the MTF.

The race was won by the domestiques who pulled him on the flat just before Fuente Dé. Hey, it doesn't detract from Contador's win, but it's the truth.

Stop it .

 

[Donkey]

So? That doesn't mean anything. The race was with bonus seconds.

Bonus seconds are rubbish, they shouldn't be applied in grand tours at all. Especailly when there is no 50 km flat time trial.

 

[LaFlorecita]

yup, contador won't be coming of a 6 months ban and 1 year without competition then

Yes I'm already looking forward to the moment Alberto drops all of them

 

[burning]

How the hell menchov find that power to completely blow Porte in the end, he sorf of saved his Vuelta.

And, congrats to Rodriguez but he could have tried earlier to steal 2nd place though

Edit: Stop that domestique crap, Rodriguez completely blew up on Fuente De and he had Losada on the flat too

 

[Ildabaoth]

Funny thing is, for some reason when there are bonus seconds people complain and when they remove them, people complain. People don't attack when there are bonus seconds because they count on them to win the stage race instead and people don't attack when there aren't bonus seconds because what for.

 

[luckyboy]

How the hell menchov find that power to completely blow Porte in the end, he sorf of saved his Vuelta.

Would've been of a shock if Porte had won.

Probably just sat there at Porte's pace saving some energy.

 

[theyoungest]

How the hell menchov find that power to completely blow Porte in the end, he sorf of saved his Vuelta.

And, congrats to Rodriguez but he could have tried earlier to steal 2nd place though

If Menchov wins a road stage, it's in a sprint. And people always forget he has that ability.

 

[icefire]

Well I thought this stage was better than Bola 2010.

Certainly much more significant GC wise.

Two years ago they entered the narrow road one by one because of Eze's attack in the last km of Navacerrada but today the group was smaller. They have raced faster and the gaps at the top are larger.

 

[cineteq]

And the race was with flat roads too. And Contador won it.

That's great, we agree. Contador deserved to win.