Vuelta a Andalucia (Ruta del Sol) 20th -24th of February

[Tuarts]

Ventoso is awesome.

 

[TeoSheva]

-3km to the arrival

 

[boomcie]

Freire. wins

 

[theyoungest]

I thought Freire was old and slow?

 

[sublimit]

I thought Freire was old and slow?

Freire is showing he can do well in races less than 290 K lol..

 

[jens_attacks]

nice victory for the old man.oscarito still can win races

 

[Jamsque]

Awesome. Freire may be old and slow but he remains one of the best tacticians in sprinting.

 

[ingsve]

There must have been a split in the peloton or something.

GC from CN

1 Markel Irizar Aranburu (Spa) Team RadioShack 12:41:09
2 Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto 0:00:01
3 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Team RadioShack 0:00:02
4 Jerome Coppel (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 0:00:03
5 Luis Pasamontes Rodriguez (Spa) Movistar Team 0:00:08
6 Thomas Lövkvist (Swe) Sky Procycling
7 Ivan Rovny (Rus) Team RadioShack 0:00:10
8 Beñat Intxausti Elorriaga (Spa) Movistar Team
9 Haimar Zubeldia Agirre (Spa) Team RadioShack 0:00:12
10 Xabier Zandio Echaide (Spa) Sky Procycling 0:00:13
11 Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0:00:16
12 Leopold Konig (Cze) Team Netapp 0:00:18
13 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Katusha Team 0:00:20
14 Jonathan Hivert (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 0:00:23
15 Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Team RadioShack

Uran, Ventoso, Froome, Ten Dam and Schleck all lost places.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Ten Dam was already 16th before the stage, did he drop then?

 

[ingsve]

Ten Dam was already 16th before the stage, did he drop then?

Well, he was 16th but he was ahead of Karpets, Hivert and Brajkovic and now he's not so he must have lost time at least.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

probabky splin in the peloton as the stage result was also very weird. almosta ll sprinters missing. and it wasn't hard stage

 

[jens_attacks]

i've heard it was a crash.ventoso involved

 

[ingsve]

i've heard it was a crash.ventoso involved

Ya, that would explain it. Any idea how far out it happened?

 

[jens_attacks]

Ya, that would explain it. Any idea how far out it happened?

is seems that it happened at huge speed,100 metres from the line.

http://www.biciciclismo.com/cas/site/noticias-ficha.asp?id=35955

 

[will10]

Alex Dowsett's twitter would suggest it happened in the last few km

 

[ingsve]

is seems that it happened at huge speed,100 metres from the line.

http://www.biciciclismo.com/cas/site/noticias-ficha.asp?id=35955

Ok, so that means the GC will probably be adjusted to give those that crashed the same time as the peloton.

 

[Ryaguas]

Freire!!!!! YES!!!!!

What a day!!!! Freire and Il Principe winning... AWESOME!

 

[theyoungest]

Freire left behind a path of destruction.

 

[jaylew]

According to Ventoso he's ok despite going down at over 50kph, but Koldo Fernandez and Lobato are apparently worse off.

 

[Kvinto]

So, as I've understood, Koldo Fernandez is seriously injured... maybe a broken collarbone

 

[ingsve]

Ok, so that means the GC will probably be adjusted to give those that crashed the same time as the peloton.

As expected the official GC has been fixed so that those that lost time in the crash has gotten the same time as the winner. Only Chris Froome has lost his place by finishing in a group almost 9 minutes down.

 

[Anquetil]

So, as I've understood, Koldo Fernandez is seriously injured... maybe a broken collarbone

Koldo Fernandez broke his collarbone : http://www.cyclismactu.fr/news-2011_fracture_de_la_clavicule_pour_koldo_fernandez-12872.html

 

[Echoes]

Even good old Lance, who I also disliked for picking his races (especially the Tour), tried in most races to at least not make a clown out of himself. He would finish races well straight from the start of the season until the end (usually the Tour or the Zürich Metzgete, but hey...)

What did you say when Schleck finished 8th at the Montepaschi?

The Texan tried not to make a clown of himself when he raced? You bet! He raced for only 40 days a year (criteriums included), just like girlfriend Ullrich. Jokes! It would have been very telling if he never tried to win 'em. Clenbutador only races for 50 days a year (until July !) while Andy should be up 70 or something (not great but hey...). With ups and downs, for sure but at least he races Montepaschi and from March to September.

Nah I definitely think those who race little are worse than those who race a lot but with ups and downs !

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

So that's 4 races Schleck did well in then, 8th in Montepaschi. Wow.. I'm amazed. No really I am.
No wait I'm not

 

[will10]

Am I the only one who doesn't give a damn whether Schleck "tries" in the Ruta Del Sol or not?

He is paid handsomely by his team to target the Tour de France. His buildup to that race will have been carefully determined and thought through, so what if he finishes 20 minutes down in the Ruta del Sol - it's completely irrelevant.