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

[Ryo Hazuki]

wtf devolder

hivert, another rider that skil just let go...

 

[Ryaguas]

And Devolder in fourth? This must have been a strange finish...

Nah is ok... this stage had some mountains... so the pure sprinters were dropped early...

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Well, Freire still managed to outsprint Devolder and Ivanov

I remember sprints by Devolder in the past, he is as fast as a snail going backwards.

Must have been a weird finish

 

[ingsve]

Group must have been rather big in the end.

 

[Ryaguas]

TOP 10

1. Jonathan Hivert (Saur Sojasun) 4:20:25
2. Francisco Ventoso (Movistar Team) m.t.
3. Oscar Freire (Rabobank) m.t.
4. Stijn Devolder (Vacansoleil) m.t.
5. Serguei Ivanov (Katusha) m.t.
6. Luis Pasamontes (Movistar Team) m.t.
7. Juanjo Cobo (Geox-TMC) m.t.
8. Jurgen Van den Broeck (Omega Pharma-Lotto) m.t.
9. Alberto Benítez (Andalucía-Caja Granada) m.t.
10. Christian Knees (Sky) m.t.

 

[taiwan]

And Devolder in fourth? This must have been a strange finish...

Maybe the climbing took just too much out of the sprinter's legs.

 

[boomcie]

Nah is ok... this stage had some mountains... so the pure sprinters were dropped early...

Devolder is nothing near a sprinter, not even an inbred one...

 

[Jamsque]

Might Devolder actually have some form? He did pretty much nothing for all of last year.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Might Devolder actually have some form? He did pretty much nothing for all of last year.

He did win both Belgian titles (TT and road) + the Tour of Belgium last year.
But that was the only month he was in form (from end may till end june)

Don't like the guy at all as rider though. Blegh.

 

[Ryaguas]

Devolder is nothing near a sprinter, not even an inbred one...

Is true but... see the top 10... no pure sprinters... almost no sprinters... when you see VDB in a top 10 in a flat finish... you know that mountains took their toll from sprinters...

GC after stage 2:

1. Markel Irizar (RadioShack) 4:29:53
2. Jurgen Van den Broeck (Omega Pharma-Lotto) a 1
3. Levi Leipheimer (RadioShack) a 2
4. Jerome Coppel (Saur Sojasun) a 3
5. Luis Pasamontes (Movistar Team) a 8
6. Thomas Lovkvist (Sky) m.t.
7. Rigoberto Urán (Sky) a 9
8. Ivan Rovny (RadioShack) a 10
9. Beñat Intxausti (Movista Team) m.t.
10. Haimar Zubeldia (RadioShack) a 12

 

[Kvinto]

Devolder is targeting Het Volk so he must be in form

 

[taiwan]

Next stage

Difficult to shake Irizar now, but not imposible.

 

[The Hitch]

Difficult to shake Irizar now, but not imposible.

It finishes in Jaen. Isnt that where Anton won in the Vuelta? If it is the same finish (and i think its being used again this year) then the climbers can get a good 20 seconds on the others in the final 500m

 

[Matthijs]

He did win both Belgian titles (TT and road) + the Tour of Belgium last year.
But that was the only month he was in form (from end may till end june)

Don't like the guy at all as rider though. Blegh.

Belgium TT is ridden later on, somewhere in August if I'm right. Not that it makes it a very big win. With Hoste not in his prime any more he had only Rosseler and Monfort to beat.

Didn't you see him defending his Tour of Belgium nr. 1 position? Attacking style, hard work. Ok when he is off form he is seems a whiner, but what do you think if you're boss is a crazy man constant criticising you in the media. I can't imagine anyone who think his victories in Flandres weren't great class rides!

 

[hrotha]

It finishes in Jaen. Isnt that where Anton won in the Vuelta? If it is the same finish (and i think its being used again this year) then the climbers can get a good 20 seconds on the others in the final 500m

Nope, that was Valdepeñas de Jaén.

 

[Ryaguas]

It finishes in Jaen. Isnt that where Anton won in the Vuelta? If it is the same finish (and i think its being used again this year) then the climbers can get a good 20 seconds on the others in the final 500m

ahhh... is not the same finish =( thought it was...

 

[The Hitch]

Nope, that was Valdepeñas de Jaén.

2 Jaéns in Andalucia?

Edit: i get it now. ones a city, ones a town in the province of Jaen. Shame. Would be nice if they had the Anton finish.

 

[boomcie]

I'd like to see some footage of this stage. The top 10 looks totally illogical (must have been a hard stage indeed) and how on earth did Hivert manage to outsprint (outsmart?) Ventoso?

 

[taiwan]

Don't know if it is the same, but here's the finish of that Vuelta stage. Last k about 7.5 ave. But there were steep ramps, and was it cobbled or something?

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Belgium TT is ridden later on, somewhere in August if I'm right. Not that it makes it a very big win. With Hoste not in his prime any more he had only Rosseler and Monfort to beat.

Didn't you see him defending his Tour of Belgium nr. 1 position? Attacking style, hard work. Ok when he is off form he is seems a whiner, but what do you think if you're boss is a crazy man constant criticising you in the media. I can't imagine anyone who think his victories in Flandres weren't great class rides!

Pff, class riders, without Boonen he would never have won the Tour of Flanders...
Sorry.
He did pull off some class solo's, but I hate his personality and his constant whining and complaining in the press.
And the most annoying part, his setting of impossible goals like podium Vuelta and top 10 Tour and then constantly coming up with excuses when he fails miserably.

No. I really genuinely dislike the person and rider Devolder.

 

[sublimit]

Odd way for Devolder to prepare for the Het Volk. Unless he pulls out.

 

[boomcie]

Odd way for Devolder to prepare for the Het Volk. Unless he pulls out.

He probably won't pull out. He is planning on finishing the Ruta. "One day of recuperation and then start in Ghent", is what he said.

 

[sublimit]

So what avatar is Ryo going to take for being so wrong today

Yeah, its only fair that he gets to use a Steven Cummings avatar for month.

 

[Christian]

Too bad the queen stage didn't really shake up the GC. It'll be interesting to see how big the first group was

 

[TeoSheva]

Too bad the queen stage didn't really shake up the GC. It'll be interesting to see how big the first group was

1 95 HIVERT, Jonathan FRA SAU 4h20'25" (PALMARES COMPLETO)
2 83 VENTOSO, Francisco ESP MOV m.t.
3 1 FREIRE, Óscar ESP RAB m.t.
4 32 DEVOLDER, Stijn BEL VCD m.t.
5 72 IVANOV, Serguei RUS KAT m.t.
6 84 PASAMONTES, Luis ESP MOV m.t.
7 135 COBO ACEBO, Juan José ESP GEO m.t.
8 11 VAN DEN BROECK, Jurgen BEL OLO m.t.
9 111 BENÍTEZ, Alberto ESP ACG m.t.
10 27 KNEES, Christian GER SKY m.t.
11 25 FROOME, Christopher GBR SKY m.t.
12 35 MARCATO, Marco ITA VCD m.t.
13 157 KONIG, Leopold CZE APP m.t.
14 132 DURAN, Arkaitz ESP GEO m.t.
15 154 HUZARSKI, Bartosz POL APP m.t.
16 164 GARCÍA, Marcos ESP TKT m.t.
17 16 DOCKX, Gert BEL OLO m.t.
18 141 BILBAO, Peio ESP ORB m.t.
19 62 SCHLECK, Franck LUX LEO m.t.
20 42 ZUBELDIA, Haimar ESP RSH m.t.
21 92 COPPEL, Jerome FRA SAU m.t.
22 45 ROVNY, Ivan RUS RSH m.t.
23 76 TROFIMOV, Yury RUS KAT m.t.
24 87 INTXAUSTI, Beñat ESP MOV m.t.
25 47 IRIZAR ARAMBURU, Markel ESP RSH m.t.
26 15 BAKELANTS, Jan BEL OLO m.t.
27 14 DE GREEF, Francis BEL OLO m.t.
28 24 ZANDIO ECHAIDE, Xabier ESP SKY m.t.
29 51 SÁNCHEZ, Samuel ESP EUS m.t.
30 43 BRAJKOVIC, Janez SLO RSH m.t.
31 117 BERNABEU, David ESP ACG m.t.
32 81 LASTRAS, Pablo ESP MOV m.t.
33 33 CARRARA, Matteo ITA VCD m.t.
34 115 PIEDRA, Antonio ESP ACG m.t.
35 4 MOLLEMA, Bauke NED RAB m.t.
36 22 LÖVKVIST, Thomas SWE SKY m.t.
37 21 URAN, Rigoberto COL SKY m.t.
38 137 DUARTE, Fabio COL GEO m.t.
39 71 KARPETS, Vladimir RUS KAT m.t.
40 55 LANDA, Mikel ESP EUS m.t.
41 73 HORRACH, Joan ESP KAT m.t.
42 6 TEN DAM, Laurens NED RAB m.t.
43 41 LEIPHEIMER, Levi USA RSH m.t.

quite big... too big...