Vuelta 2012, Stage 8: Lleida - Andorra, Coll de la Gallina (174.7 kms)

[DenisMenchov]

Nice stage.

Great ride by Valverde, good one from Rodriguez.

Good attack by Contador. Super stuff - Froome can crack.

Looking forward to the rest of the race.

 

[roundabout]

Probably. At the beginning of the climb it looked like he wasn't too comfortable with Henao's rhythm - but then again, he might have yelled at him to slow down because he was 1 watt above his allowed quota.

lol

But then again, you would normally expect a rider who isn't confident in his ability to ride more conservatively than Froome did. He also gave no major indications that he would have problems until an attack by Rodriguez, where he couldn't close the gap initially despite being out of the saddle.

Hindsight says that Arrate tactics would have been better, but I won't blame him for trying from the front against 3 more explosive riders and at least 2 better finishers.

 

[icefire]

According to Dutch commentators, Valverde was waving at Sky riders and staff after the finish. Nice touch

It could be Zandio and Rigo, who rode with him at Caisse

 

[The Hitch]

Hitch i totally agree. I do not recall any such win from AC. At least not in a GT in the last 4-5yrs. If he is wheelsucking till say 3km you know he is not interested in a Win. If he attacks at that stage its to break someone. besides when I saw the gradient in the last 1km I said this is a Purito mountain. I think he was looking back because he expected something from Purito at the end. The bonus was Froome was broken. it was smart riding. Which is what differentiates the very good from the greats.

Yep. Contador said from the beginning Asturias was going to decide the Vuelta.

Everything else is just foreplay.

 

[Don't be late Pedro]

there was a moment where Froome & Contador were ahead & he stopped to try track standing-WTF?

He seemed to be channeling the spirit of Andy Schleck there for a few seconds.

 

[The Hitch]

Nocentini still going strong

Anacona Gomez and Valverde the winners!

..
had to

Winner is 28 seconds behind his team leader on gc, though i would expect them both to fall down the rankings on wednsday.

 

[search]

Nah it has 10kms at 4% in the middle, but it's 39 kms long. Nothing like a MTT.

ok, yeah, not really a MTT, but more uphill/downhill sections than flat, that's what I wanted to point out.

 

[SafeBet]

Winner is 28 seconds behind his team leader on gc, though i would expect them both to fall down the rankings on wednsday.

I woulnd't bet on Anacona going down honestly.
Niemec on the other hand...

 

[roundabout]

you are talking about Valverde right? He attacked first of the gc guys didnt he.

He did 1 attack which initially looked impressive, but in reality wasn't and then didn't hit the front until probably the last 500 meters (at most).

 

[gerundium]

I think people are misjudging this ITT. with the hill in the middle it could prove to be very surprising.

 

[luckyboy]

Well I'm not sure who you both are referring to but I was one of very few picking AC. Ftw.

http://forum.cyclingnews.com/showthread.php?t=18172

View Poll Results: Who's going to win Vuelta 2012
Alberto Contador 92 69.70%
Chris Froome 24 18.18%
Joaquim Rodríguez 4 3.03%
Robert Gesink 1 0.76%
Alejandro Valverde 0 0%
Juanjo Cobo 2 1.52%
Thomas de Gendt 1 0.76%
Jurgen van den Broeck 0 0%
Igor Anton 5 3.79%
Other 3 2.27%

 

[icefire]

lol

But then again, you would normally expect a rider who isn't confident in his ability to ride more conservatively than Froome did. He also gave no major indications that he would have problems until an attack by Rodriguez, where he couldn't close the gap initially despite being out of the saddle.

Hindsight says that Arrate tactics would have been better, but I won't blame him for trying from the front against 3 more explosive riders and at least 2 better finishers.

The big diffrence between Arrate and today is that whenever someone (mainly Alberto) attacked in Arrate, all the others reacted immediately so it was relatively easy to get him back. Today Valverde attacked, none of the other Spaniards followed (on purpose) and Froome thought it was his duty to react. It was the same later on when Alberto attacked. Clever by the Spaniards, dumb by Froome. Arrate tactics were impossible today if two out of three riders don't want to follow attacks.

 

[Publicus]

I thought Froome rode pretty badly. All those pointless accelerations, making a track stand and then going again for like 3 seconds. Killing his own legs for nothing. Thinking he should automatically take responsibility despite being the strongest time-trialist on paper.

Overconfident?

Maybe he was thinking he would go for the kill today and bury Contador et al ahead of the TT. That certainly seemed like Sky's thinking today.

 

[Parrot23]

he stopped to try track standing-WTF? he should have kept going & distanced the others to make the GC battle against one man instead of 3. He will regret those 15 secs he lost today for sure..

I give him credit for at least trying something, a switch-up, whatever. (Less experienced than the others, that's for sure.)

Think it's more a teamcar/team issue. Sky has won all year with a monster train and doesn't know how to adapt on the fly, eg. Olympic road race. Like they have a hammer (the Sky train), and so every race now looks like a nail to them. Well, it ain't.

They need a plan B fast, as in follow the wheels more and rely on the TT.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

Winner is 28 seconds behind his team leader on gc, though i would expect them both to fall down the rankings on wednsday.

anacona has a pretty good itt. so does niemiec. they won't lose much there and niemiec isn't his leader. he has a free role, like all have at lampre

 

[thehog]

Hilarious! I love him If only he hadn't stolen Alberto's win...



Yeah he also said after stage 6 that he'd like Froome to keep on attacking because that's "good for the race". Lol, Alberto we all know the real reason why you want it.

The best bit the cameras missed was Froome chasing Contador and waving his arm for Valverde & JoJo to assist. Then Valverde attacks over him.

Froome will be regretting Sky's tactic to attack him when down. Froome will get no help here on end.

 

[Don't be late Pedro]

Froome will be regretting Sky's tactic to attack him when down. Froome will get no help here on end.

It was pretty unlikely he would have got any help regardless. Seems that even guys from the break and on a different team are allowed to pace guys now.

 

[roundabout]

The big diffrence between Arrate and today is that whenever someone (mainly Alberto) attacked in Arrate, all the others reacted immediately so it was relatively easy to get him back. Today Valverde attacked, none of the other Spaniards followed (on purpose) and Froome thought it was his duty to react. It was the same later on when Alberto attacked. Clever by the Spaniards, dumb by Froome. Arrate tactics were impossible today if two out of three riders don't want to follow attacks.

Maybe you are right, I don't know. First attack from Valverde, why not pull it back yourself and test your legs and the others.

And in the last km I think Valverde and Rodriguez waited til they were in range to sprint to the top. One of them reacting to Contador first would give advantage to the other.

 

[Netserk]

He will win 5 stages: 8 (Andorra), 11 (ITT), 14 (Puerto de Ancares), 16 (Cuitu Negru), 20 (Bola del Mundo).

So close to the win today

I don't understand Froome's first attack, when Moreno paced the group after Valverde's attack. After that there was no domistiques left to pace the group.

 

[LaFlorecita]

He seemed to be channeling the spirit of Andy Schleck there for a few seconds.

He probably did that because he knows Alberto likes to play with Andy.

 

[hrotha]

I'm looking at the top 20 and it's basically the 4 guys in front with everyone else being largely invisible.

Although to be fair this course doesn't really allow those good-but-not-great people to do anything but hang on.

 

[Parrot23]

Froome will get no help here on end.

Agree, though that's the nature/nationality of this race, and the Giro, it seems. Sky a little inept tactically here, regardless.

Also, Movistar ain't exactly angels when it comes to slowing down when someone is down, that's for sure. So I ain't concerned for their feelin's.

 

[LaFlorecita]

So close to the win today

I don't understand Froome's first attack, when Moreno paced the group after Valverde's attack. After that there was no domistiques left to pace the group.

4 wins is OK too

 

[ggusta]

http://forum.cyclingnews.com/showthread.php?t=18172

I misunderstood. Thought u meant this stage . (Yes I knw he didn't win the stage)

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

I'm looking at the top 20 and it's basically the 4 guys in front with everyone else being largely invisible.

Although to be fair this course doesn't really allow those good-but-not-great people to do anything but hang on.

the ITT could bring one or two of those people to the front though. But after the ITT they'll inevitably lose time again.

F.ex if Gesink does a ITT like in Suisse or California he could jump past Valverde and Rodriguez. But after the next mountain stage he'll be back at place 5...