Vuelta 2018 Stage 2:Marbella – Caminito del Rey 163.5 km

[movingtarget]

Smart win by Valverde. Great third place by De Plus.

 

[Red Rick]

Re:

Imagine how much better the Tour de France would be if they had a stage like this in the first few days. Thinning out the GC pretenders immediately, while providing entertainment right from the start.

In the Tour this stage wouldn't have this kind of selection

 

[Bot. Sky_Bot]

Tuesday's finish will be the first real test for GC contenders.

 

[BlackWhiteEagle]

Zakarin lost a minute..

 

[DFA123]

Re: Re:

Imagine how much better the Tour de France would be if they had a stage like this in the first few days. Thinning out the GC pretenders immediately, while providing entertainment right from the start.

In the Tour this stage wouldn't have this kind of selection

Perhaps not quite the same, but of course it would thin the pack out a bit. Some riders are always going to get caught cold - and those without the form will already be over a minute down after two stages and will know their form isn't there - rather than optimistically hanging on to GC aspirations for the first 10 days - nullifying any other action.

There's no doubt the Tour would be a much better race if it had a few stages like this in the first week.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

https://www.procyclingstats.com/race/vuelta-a-espana/2018/stage-2

S. Yates also not in Giro form yet, losing 8s on such a finish. Lopez +19s even

 

[Flamin]

Re: Re:

Imagine how much better the Tour de France would be if they had a stage like this in the first few days. Thinning out the GC pretenders immediately, while providing entertainment right from the start.

In the Tour this stage wouldn't have this kind of selection

Yup, I was about the say the same. Uphill sprint with 100 riders or so.

 

[movingtarget]

Re:

Zakarin lost a minute..

Zakarin had a fall. No surprise to see he and Nibali and Porte struggling.

 

[Lequack]

Re:

Very very impressive from De Plus.

Sky's blistering pace actually benefited Valverde more than Kwiatkowski I guess.

And De Plus is going to Lotto Jumbo next year.

 

[Asero831]

Dan Martin not looking great

 

[DFA123]

Kwiatkowski has this Vuelta in the bag. Race is for 2nd. :lol:

I think it's between Quintana and de la Cruz. Kwiatkowski to crack on La Camperona.

 

[Lequack]

Re:

Dan Martin not looking great

I guess Fabio Aru will have to make something of it.

 

[tobydawq]

Campenaerts in the top 40. Pretty shocking result by him. I guess the poster who wrote last week that he was a rider whose only usefulness was at 5 TTs a year has to rethink that statement a little.

 

[BlackWhiteEagle]

Kwiatkowski has this Vuelta in the bag. Race is for 2nd. :lol:

I think it's between Quintana and de la Cruz. Kwiatkowski to crack on La Camperona.

De la Cruz Will not even top 10.

 

[DFA123]

Have Nibali and Porte finished yet?

 

[Gigs_98]

Considering that this wasn't a very hard finish it told us quite a bit about the gc picture. Porte and Nibali are definitely out, Yates isn't looking great either and Zakarin lost an additional minute. Quintana is now probably the clear favorite although the questions surrounding him haven't been answered

 

[BlackWhiteEagle]

Re:

Have Nibali and Porte finished yet?

Nibali finished 4:04 back with Bouhanni

 

[JosephK]

Kwiatkowski has this Vuelta in the bag. Race is for 2nd. :lol:

I think it's between Quintana and de la Cruz. Kwiatkowski to crack on La Camperona.

I would be OK with that.

 

[Midnightfright]

Perfectly done by Valverde there. I'm not sure Kwiat had any chance really. I guess he is in red so will be happy.

 

[Escarabajo]

It is too early to make any conclusions. Riders like Lopez usually start slow in the first week. Maybe he can limit his losses better.

There are still quite a few in the mix.

 

[Bot. Sky_Bot]

Great to watch it..

 

[DFA123]

Re:

It is too early to make any conclusions. Riders like Lopez usually start slow in the first week. Maybe he can limit his losses better.

There are still quite a few in the mix.

If this is the case, he really should be going to the Tour, not the Vuelta. It would suit him perfectly.

 

[Bolder]

Although to fair this year the Tour had 2 early stages that did in fact thin out the pack a bit, Mur de Bretagne and the mini-PR.

This was a really hard stage, if I heard correctly more than 2,500 m of climbing.

 

[dacooley]

Re: Re:

It is too early to make any conclusions. Riders like Lopez usually start slow in the first week. Maybe he can limit his losses better.

There are still quite a few in the mix.

If this is the case, he really should be going to the Tour, not the Vuelta. It would suit him perfectly.

he wouldn't have stood any chance to survive in the peloton in week one in the tour.

 

[yaco]

Love how a flattish stage at the Vuelta can spit out GC contenders - The TDF should have a stage like this in the first three or four stages of each edition.