Vuelta a Andalucia (Ruta Del Sol) 2.HC // 18.2 - 22.2

[MBotero]

Froome will go gung ho as always and i believe Contador will respond like last year.No way he'll let Froome gain some morale boost ahead of the future races.Waiting for Dauphine 2014 reloaded.

 

[LaFlorecita]

And Froome said he couldn't follow Poels in S Africa

Me thinks some bluffing is going on

It was a journalist who was present at the Tinkoff-Saxo training camp who tweeted it.

 

[Netserk]

Froome will go gung ho as always and i believe Contador will respond like last year.No way he'll let Froome gain some morale boost ahead of the future races.Waiting for Dauphine 2014 reloaded.

Whoever is best in Andalucia will be forgotten after Tirreno.

 

[Ricco']

i am curious to see how it goes rodolfo torres
in sal luis he was one of the strongest uphill
let see if a couple of week in the cold europe have changed his level of performance ( also in europe the competition is harder...)

Rodolfo was also strong in Etruschi last sunday, where attacked in the final hill and built some gap with Wegmann and Cunego, before the bunch caught them.

Nevertheless, I expect Colombia to support Alex Cano next week, I'm really wanting to see what he can do.

In theory, Cano, Duarte and Torres is a really strong team but the opposition is maybe too tough for them to be a factor.

 

[ILovecycling]

Froome will go gung ho as always and i believe Contador will respond like last year.No way he'll let Froome gain some morale boost ahead of the future races.Waiting for Dauphine 2014 reloaded.

Agree with this,only with worse form on both sides.

 

[TANK91]

Can't wait for this surely just stage 3 and 4 there will be gaps yeah?.

 

[TANK91]

Froome will go gung ho as always and i believe Contador will respond like last year.No way he'll let Froome gain some morale boost ahead of the future races.Waiting for Dauphine 2014 reloaded.

This morale stuff makes me laugh like when some people said Contador would make Froome demoralised after a stage of the Dauphinee last year. If that is the case surely Contador should have retired after 2013.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Can't wait for this surely just stage 3 and 4 there will be gaps yeah?.

And in the ITT

 

[LaFlorecita]

This morale stuff makes me laugh like when some people said Contador would make Froome demoralised after a stage of the Dauphinee last year. If that is the case surely Contador should have retired after 2013.

Why? New season, new chances. However, during the 2013 season surely Contador got more and more demoralized and Froome got a huge morale boost every time he dropped Contador.

 

[TANK91]

Why? New season, new chances. However, during the 2013 season surely Contador got more and more demoralized and Froome got a huge morale boost every time he dropped Contador.

You make a good point i just fail to see this logic. People were even saying advanatge Contador when Froome won 2 stages in a row in the Dauphinee. How silly is that when we know now how good Alberto was last year so surely it was a good achievement to drive all the way and win the sprint yet some were saying adv Contador. If Froome wins i guarantee no one will say oh he is in his head like some of the crap i seen before.

 

[lemon cheese cake]

It was a journalist who was present at the Tinkoff-Saxo training camp who tweeted it.

I think the journalist misunderstood as Froome himself said on twitter that he and Poels were practising uphill sprints. He then showed a photo of him being beaten by a wheel length.

 

[LaFlorecita]

I think the journalist misunderstood as Froome himself said on twitter that he and Poels were practising uphill sprints. He then showed a photo of him being beaten by a wheel length.

I think you misunderstood my post as my post was about Majka and Contador and a reply to inthepink's post about bluffing.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

I think you misunderstood my post as my post was about Majka and Contador and a reply to inthepink's post about bluffing.

In fairness to Lemon, your message quoted InThePink saying "And Froome said he couldn't follow Poels in S Africa"

 

[nhowson]

You make a good point i just fail to see this logic. People were even saying advanatge Contador when Froome won 2 stages in a row in the Dauphinee. How silly is that when we know now how good Alberto was last year so surely it was a good achievement to drive all the way and win the sprint yet some were saying adv Contador. If Froome wins i guarantee no one will say oh he is in his head like some of the crap i seen before.

The reaction to that stage was one of the most confusing things I've seen in cycling. FROOME WON THE DAMN STAGE. But because he couldn't quite drop Contador, despite having to try from further out and disregarding that Contador couldn't actually get past him meant that Contador had the fabled psychological advantage.

 

[Jspear]

The reaction to that stage was one of the most confusing things I've seen in cycling. FROOME WON THE DAMN STAGE. But because he couldn't quite drop Contador, despite having to try from further out and disregarding that Contador couldn't actually get past him meant that Contador had the fsbled psychological advantage.

I agree that logic doesn't seem very spot on. I don't remember if I was one of the ones making that statement. I know what some people meant was, because Froome was so "desperate" to drop AC; in a 3 week race he would run himself out of energy and AC would win. This statement was based on the fact that Froome (even in 2013) has had a bad day in a gt or even gets plain ole tired in the 3rd week, were as AC usually gets better. The thinking was AC would just stay with him for the first week or two and then finish him when Froomie gutted himself. At least that was my thinking.

 

[LaFlorecita]

The reaction to that stage was one of the most confusing things I've seen in cycling. FROOME WON THE DAMN STAGE. But because he couldn't quite drop Contador, despite having to try from further out and disregarding that Contador couldn't actually get past him meant that Contador had the fabled psychological advantage.

Ha. It was a huge thing, because, in case you didn't notice, in 2013 Froome could drop Contador anytime he wanted. At the Dauphin? Froome obviously went all out and he was in pretty good shape, too. So it was a huge thing for Contador as it was the first time he got the confirmation that yes, he was on Froome's level, and that gave him massive opportunities for the Tour. It didn't give him a psychological advantage, but it certainly was big for Contador, and for Froome, paired with the ***-kicking he got a few days later, it might have been a bit of a blow.

I can't help but notice you always get so worked up when the subject is Alberto people can post whatever they want about him, let them be.

 

[MatParker117]

Ha. It was a huge thing, because, in case you didn't notice, in 2013 Froome could drop Contador anytime he wanted. At the Dauphin? Froome obviously went all out and he was in pretty good shape, too. So it was a huge thing for Contador as it was the first time he got the confirmation that yes, he was on Froome's level, and that gave him massive opportunities for the Tour. It didn't give him a psychological advantage, but it certainly was big for Contador, and for Froome, paired with the ***-kicking he got a few days later, it might have been a bit of a blow.

I can't help but notice you always get so worked up when the subject is Alberto people can post whatever they want about him, let them be.

Let's just hope there both on top form and stay upright because it will be fun!

 

[Dr. Juice]

2014 Dauphine was odd because Froome went completely berserk trying to drop Contador. Instead of doing a strong 300 m attack and then continuing with a very high pace (which is more effective and what a climber should do) he goes at his absolute limit with an insane 500 m attack but then has to recover himself.
He desperately wanted to see those 10 m between him and Contador. If you can't drop your opponent with the attack itself you have to keep sth in your legs to ride a consistently high pace. Basically he was doing a Purito but far from the finish.
The stage wasn't difficult before. At least 15 were able to follow the pace of Nieve. There are a handful of very explosive riders/climbers in cycling. Difficult to make the difference only with isolated attacks.
An in form Valverde would have kept up and then taken the victory away from Froome in the sprint that day.

 

[S_cycling]

Putting aside Contador / Froome battle for 1st, I expect aggressive riding from Bardet - he was great in Almeria and is a good shot for top3. Would be also interesting to see N. Roche first big race for SKY

p.s. there is no way that Valverde could follow those accelerations on Col du B?al)

 

[Arredondo]

2014 Dauphine was odd because Froome went completely berserk trying to drop Contador. Instead of doing a strong 300 m attack and then continuing with a very high pace (which is more effective and what a climber should do) he goes at his absolute limit with an insane 500 m attack but then has to recover himself.
He desperately wanted to see those 10 m between him and Contador. If you can't drop your opponent with the attack itself you have to keep sth in your legs to ride a consistently high pace. Basically he was doing a Purito but far from the finish.
The stage wasn't difficult before. At least 15 were able to follow the pace of Nieve. There are a handful of very explosive riders/climbers in cycling. Difficult to make the difference only with isolated attacks.
An in form Valverde would have kept up and then taken the victory away from Froome in the sprint that day.

A good Valverde would have dropped, and finished in the same as Kelderman or JVDB. Only a really good Nibali and Purito could have followed, but only followed.

Perhaps.

 

[Dr. Juice]

A good Valverde would have dropped, and finished in the same as Kelderman or JVDB. Only a really good Nibali and Purito could have followed, but only followed.

Perhaps.

Really? I can't agree with that. Valverde in top form is very strong on single MTF and has been since early days. If there is no previous obstacle and the pace not very hard from the foot of the climb...then you don't drop him easily inside the last k. Armstrong couldn't in 2005 and he wanted that stage.

Sure, that insane attack 5 km from the finish would have dropped Valverde (which mentally sane rider wants to follow such an attack except Contador who has a psychological battle with Froome? )
But he surely would have come back together with Kelderman Nibali etc. But then inside the last 700 m Valverde would've beaten Contador and most likely Froome. He is as strong as Purito in a fight to the finish on less steep gradients (while Purito is insane on the steep stuff).

Back to the topic: Who will the ITT? And how hard is really?

And how far do they climb Haza Llana up? Until El Dornajo (1679 m) ? I don't remember how far up they climbed in the Vuelta 2013. The profile doesn't show much...one can only estimate roughly from the graphic.

 

[Arredondo]

Really? I can't agree with that. Valverde in top form is very strong on single MTF and has been since early days. If there is no previous obstacle and the pace not very hard from the foot of the climb...then you don't drop him easily inside the last k. Armstrong couldn't in 2005 and he wanted that stage.

Sure, that insane attack 5 km from the finish would have dropped Valverde (which mentally sane rider wants to follow such an attack except Contador who has a psychological battle with Froome? )
But he surely would have come back together with Kelderman Nibali etc. But then inside the last 700 m Valverde would've beaten Contador and most likely Froome. He is as strong as Purito in a fight to the finish on less steep gradients (while Purito is insane on the steep stuff).

Back to the topic: Who will the ITT? And how hard is really?

And how far do they climb Haza Llana up? Until El Dornajo (1679 m) ? I don't remember how far up they climbed in the Vuelta 2013. The profile doesn't show much...one can only estimate roughly from the graphic.

I think he would already by strangled out due to that insane attacks by Froome. There is a difference between following a harsh tempo of the Sky train and responding to one attack by Froome in the last 1-3 km, and trying to respond several times on attacks Froome did on that stage in the Dauphine

 

[Cance > TheRest]

A good Valverde would have dropped, and finished in the same as Kelderman or JVDB. Only a really good Nibali and Purito could have followed, but only followed.

Perhaps.

Even the 2012 Rodriguez would have dropped. Power climbs at 7% is not his thing, especially not when Froome attacks some km's from the finish. Rodriguez is best at short climbs >10%. Valverde would have dropped, yes, but his outstanding finish would have minimized the gap. He's a way better climber than both (the overrated) Kelderman and (the always anonymous) JDVB and would outsprint them anyway.

 

[May0maniac]

Even the 2012 Rodriguez would have dropped. Power climbs at 7% is not his thing, especially not when Froome attacks some km's from the finish. Rodriguez is best at short climbs >10%. Valverde would have dropped, yes, but his outstanding finish would have minimized the gap. He's a way better climber than both (the overrated) Kelderman and (the always anonymous) JDVB and would outsprint them anyway.

I think you're underrating Kelderman a little bit, he's a beast on power climbs, Valverde outside of Spain is always an enigma.

 

[pablohidalgo7]

kelderman is top 10 or even better in climbs with gradients under 7%, like col du beal, he is very good putting a strong tempo, he suffers more in steep climbs.