Vuelta 2017 stage 11 Lorca - Calar Alto 187,5 km

[Tank Engine]

Re: Re:

4. What about "Preying Mantis"? (I use that from time to time, but it's longer ).

FWIW, it's praying mantis, because with its little front legs it looks like it's praying.
They are fascinating to look at but I have a bad relationship with those critters, nearly made me pee my pants TWICE, those buggers get big, I wonder if I don't like Froome because he reminds me of them

Fair enough for the animal, but I like "preying mantis" for Froome.

 

[Ruby United]

Re: Re:

According to Contador, Chris wasn't good and he asked Nieve to stop but he could recuperate himself.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/froome-takes-a-huge-step-in-vuelta-a-espana-bid/

"I told Nieve to go for it on GC and thought maybe they were not going to chase him, but the race opened up again."
"At no moment was I afraid of being dropped," Froome emphasised.

Froome's saying he was content to wheel suck ... who'd ya believe?

Berto was on his wheel so I guess he heard it... I believe him, why would he say it otherwise, nothing to gain from lying about it.

A) He may have misheard Froome or heard Froome say something along the lines of "slow down a bit," and assumed the rest, perhaps from Froome's facial expressions or something.
B) He does have something to gain. It's all a mind game - with Froome and his other rivals. Perhaps if they believe Froome was struggling a bit they will help AC attempt a Formigal on another stage or something along those lines.

Having said all that, in this case I believe Contador over Froome. It is a bit strange for AC to be making all that up and Froome has more to gain by lying. He wants to dishearten his opponents and keep them thinking he is impenetrable. Furthermore, there's little logic in telling Nieve to go for it since he was already far back on GC and was certainly not the strongest rider in the GC group.

This is all theoretical though. Only the riders themselves actually know what occurred.

 

[TMP402]

Re: Re:

According to Contador, Chris wasn't good and he asked Nieve to stop but he could recuperate himself.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/froome-takes-a-huge-step-in-vuelta-a-espana-bid/

"I told Nieve to go for it on GC and thought maybe they were not going to chase him, but the race opened up again."
"At no moment was I afraid of being dropped," Froome emphasised.

Froome's saying he was content to wheel suck ... who'd ya believe?

Berto was on his wheel so I guess he heard it... I believe him, why would he say it otherwise, nothing to gain from lying about it.

A) He may have misheard Froome or heard Froome say something along the lines of "slow down a bit," and assumed the rest, perhaps from Froome's facial expressions or something.
B) He does have something to gain. It's all a mind game - with Froome and his other rivals. Perhaps if they believe Froome was struggling a bit they will help AC attempt a Formigal on another stage or something along those lines.

Having said all that, in this case I believe Contador over Froome. It is a bit strange for AC to be making all that up and Froome has more to gain by lying. He wants to dishearten his opponents and keep them thinking he is impenetrable. Furthermore, there's little logic in telling Nieve to go for it since he was already far back on GC and was certainly not the strongest rider in the GC group.

This is all theoretical though. Only the riders themselves actually know what occurred.

On the other hand, Nieve's move was really quite aggressive, not just trying to set a tempo.

 

[jaylew]

The last climb could be deadly, but recent history shows that nothing happens early. Guys will drop from the back, some will not come back, we'll peel off the artichoke, no more. Big picture, nothing...maybe the day that TJ is the casualty though.

...better than usual on the prediction side ...

Nibali is at the same level as he was in the Giro; week 2 and 3 he will get stronger. But he's still a notch below Froome, at least for now. I don't see Il Squalo gaining the 3 minutes he needs before the ITT. Dawg gets marginal time gains over his opponents every day. His lead is now quite substantial. It's his Vuelta to lose: I don't see it happening. Berto is well within range for a podium spot.

3 minutes? If he were to put that 4:20 into Froome before the TT, no way he'd lose anywhere near that much in a 40k. A minute, tops.

 

[dacooley]

Nieve is a high mountain domestic deluxe, whose level easily allows him to finish in top-15 in any grand tour with any parcours. yes, he doesn't like muritos and monoclimb stages, but multimountain days at high altitude is where he shows himself at his best. on a very good day he has the capacity to perform on the level of the best from the best. i was quite surprised about him leaving sky.hopefully Mikel will manage to realize his ambitions in orica.

 

[movingtarget]

Re: Re:

According to Contador, Chris wasn't good and he asked Nieve to stop but he could recuperate himself.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/froome-takes-a-huge-step-in-vuelta-a-espana-bid/

"I told Nieve to go for it on GC and thought maybe they were not going to chase him, but the race opened up again."
"At no moment was I afraid of being dropped," Froome emphasised.

Froome's saying he was content to wheel suck ... who'd ya believe?

There is a TT to come..........

 

[movingtarget]

Re: Re:

G? Voeckler? Marczynski? Dekker? De Gendt? Benjamin?

There are quite a lot of possibilities.

The difference is just that your "nickname" for Froome is quite tasteless and I found it a little unnecessary to repeat it four times in the same paragraph...

1. G

2. Fair enough. It's been used before and I haven't seen anyone complain. I guess I did get into the flow and kept using it.

3. I guess Froome as a person seems rather other worldly to me, but I've nothing against him.

4. What about "Preying Mantis"? (I use that from time to time, but it's longer ).

Has anyone ever noticed that cycling fans have to give a nickname to every cyclist. Some make sense (El Pistolero, Smiling Assassin), others not so much (Terminator), and some are just lazy but necessary in making sure every cyclist has a nickname (G, Nico). Cycling fans - so strange

It happens in other sports as well but cycling fans probably are a bit more descriptive with their nicknames !

 

[Robert5091]

Re: Re:

G? Voeckler? Marczynski? Dekker? De Gendt? Benjamin?

There are quite a lot of possibilities.

The difference is just that your "nickname" for Froome is quite tasteless and I found it a little unnecessary to repeat it four times in the same paragraph...

1. G

2. Fair enough. It's been used before and I haven't seen anyone complain. I guess I did get into the flow and kept using it.

3. I guess Froome as a person seems rather other worldly to me, but I've nothing against him.

4. What about "Preying Mantis"? (I use that from time to time, but it's longer ).

Has anyone ever noticed that cycling fans have to give a nickname to every cyclist. Some make sense (El Pistolero, Smiling Assassin), others not so much (Terminator), and some are just lazy but necessary in making sure every cyclist has a nickname (G, Nico). Cycling fans - so strange

It happens in other sports as well but cycling fans probably are a bit more descriptive with their nicknames !

Some of the nicknames come from the riders/teams themselves - G, Bling etc

 

[Brullnux]

Re: Re:

Nibali is Froomes equal on longer climbes...this race isn`t over.

The two and a half minutes Froome will put into him in the TT says otherwise.

 

[Brullnux]

Team sky a r r o g a n c e

 

[telencefalus]

just know i remember how Nibali plans his attack in the last 2,5 km , he let pellizzoti go than nieve catch him , and he stay with froome , when nieve attacked Nibali remains in froome wheel , looking at him , than he goes with very highcadence and with a seated attack a la froome that was very good

 

[telencefalus]

i was not in the forum when the stage took place but that was a hell of a good stage , not so hot weather and very high altitude