Vuelta a España 2011

[Fetisoff]

So based on Brajkovic's 17th place in Tour of Utah prologue does it mean that he recovered well and is in a good position to do well at the Vuelta? Or is this the remnants of his Tour form and he is on a downward trajectory with his form?

Not sure 17th in that field is a sign of good form... We will have to at least wait until the actual mountain stages to see what his for is. I'm sure that after an injury like that he'd have to be on the upward trajectory at this point

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

he should be on the rise. If he hits form quick enough or not we'll see.

 

[Descender]

every route map, profile and final km's profile on one page.
http://teamskyfans.com/Vuelta.html

I'm afraid you have the wrong (old profiles). There are several changes which affect not only the TTs.

 

[Descender]

Rabobank put up a hell of a line-up.

 

[icefire]

every route map, profile and final km's profile on one page.
http://teamskyfans.com/Vuelta.html

Stage 17 has also changed. There's one less climb before Peña Cabarga. Stage 13 has a few kms added at the end. There are also some minor changes in other stages. The Vuelta web site updated the course descriptions a few weeks ago but didn't set up the updated profiles until recently (last weekend, I believe).

 

[theyoungest]

So he took his 3rd week Giro form with him 2,5 weeks later

Read above. I don't really believe in that crap. It's recuperation that makes him so good in the 3rd week. Because others weaken faster. Not twee weeks of getting into shape.

If there's lots of hard stages in the beginning he'll still have the advantage from that better recuperation. Because the others still don't recuperate as fast as he does from hard stages... So what's the difference? Only that the '3rd week effect' comes sooner

Of course he took his Giro form to the Tour de Suisse, he even says so himself. Why do you think Rodriguez was head and shoulders above anyone else in the Dauphiné? You don't have to believe it, you just have to open your eyes.

About the first week: Kruijswijk was quite strong in the Strade Bianche-stage, and that was after 4 days. So it could be that he just had a bad day on the Etna, we'll see in two weeks I guess.

 

[Anonymous]

I'm afraid you have the wrong (old profiles). There are several changes which affect not only the TTs.

Stage 17 has also changed. There's one less climb before Peña Cabarga. Stage 13 has a few kms added at the end. There are also some minor changes in other stages. The Vuelta web site updated the course descriptions a few weeks ago but didn't set up the updated profiles until recently (last weekend, I believe).

thanks guys, changing now. Why the hell did they go changing the route. grrr..

 

[Connor Pass]

I see Ezequiel Mosquera is listed as a potential started for Vacansoleil.

Is he not serving a ban?

 

[icefire]

I see Ezequiel Mosquera is listed as a potential started for Vacansoleil.

Is he not serving a ban?

He was suspended by his team, not banned by any sport authority.

 

[luckyboy]

He won't ride unless the case is sorted in time.

 

[just some guy]

EE

Led by Igor Antón, the Euskaltel-Euskadi line-up also features Giro d’Italia stage winner Mikel Nieve, Egoi Martinez, Gorka Verdugo, Amets Txurruka, Juanjo Oroz, Iñaki Isasi, Pierre Cazaux and Jorge Azanza.

 

[taiwan]

Skil

Kittel, Fröhlinger, Geschke, Veelers, Timmer, De Kort, Curvers, Doi, Geniez

Kittel vs. a motivated Cav - nice. I suppose he'll just pull out before the mountains though - his first GT.

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

Kittel vs. a motivated Cav - nice. I suppose he'll just pull out before the mountains though - his first GT.

that gives him 3 stages then

the GT is heavy first 2-weeks, so I doubt he will quit.

 

[taiwan]

that gives him 3 stages then

the GT is heavy first 2-weeks, so I doubt he will quit.

Dude's huge as well though. Can he make all the time cuts in his first GT?

 

[LaFleur]

Dude's huge as well though. Can he make all the time cuts in his first GT?

Cavendish missed 2 time cuts in his 8th GT, didn't seem to bother him much.

 

[taiwan]

Cavendish missed 2 time cuts in his 8th GT, didn't seem to bother him much.

Very true.

 

[icefire]

Stage 4 to Sierra Nevada has a cat 1 climb at the start and nothing else till the MTF. The autobus can chase before the final climb.

Stage 9 to La Covatilla has a cat 3 at the start and nothing else before the MTF. The autobus should form at the beginning of the last climb.

Stage 11 rolls through a cat 2 and two cat 3 climbs before the MTF. The autobus may also probably form just at the beginning of the last climb.

Tour stages with large groups missing the time cut had several hard climbs. The Sierra Nevada stage in 2009 also had a large group missing the time cut, but they had an HC climb from the start, they climbed Sierra Nevada through El Purche (hardest side), the finish was 400 m above the finish this year and they rode like mad dogs because Caisse d'Epargne had the brilliant idea to send Purito in the break to make Valverde's rivals chase. Once in the last climb, Evans' puncture made the leaders ride like mad dogs again.

I can't see riders having problems with the time cut before getting to Asturias at the end of the second week.

 

[jens_attacks]

il killer not in katusha's squad for la vuelta.now i've seen them all

http://www.biciciclismo.com/cas/site/noticias-ficha.asp?id=42025

 

[Fetisoff]

Cyclingstartlists.com (which may I add, have been wrong on numerous occasions before) have a preliminary start list for Katusha, which seems to confirm my earlier thought that DiLuca is not going to ride it, for whatever reason.

The list is

RODRIGUEZ Joaquin
+ 8 of:
HORRACH Joan
KARPETS Vladimir
KUCHYNSKI Aliaksandr
LOSADA Alberto
MORENO Dani
PAOLINI Luca
PLIUSCHIN Alexandr
TROFIMOV Yuriy
VORGANOV Eduard

I personally think it is Trofimov or Losada who are out.

 

[jens_attacks]

it's on their site.di luca won't ride it....

 

[Fetisoff]

il killer not in katusha's squad for la vuelta.now i've seen them all

http://www.biciciclismo.com/cas/site/noticias-ficha.asp?id=42025

Yeah, I remember about a week ago having a conversation with someone, when I mention DiLuca is scheduled to ride "Tour du Poitou Charentes", (so is Karpets right now btw).

Now when this is semi-confirmed, I can start speculating on whether Tchmil and DiLuca had a falling-out.

 

[jens_attacks]

yeah i wonder what di luca will say,he was certain that he will go to vuelta.

 

[Fetisoff]

yeah i wonder what di luca will say,he was certain that he will go to vuelta.

Oh wait, I think it was you that I had that conversation with...

 

[jens_attacks]

well at least i won't have to suffer the images of il killer working for purito.in another universe,this would never have happened.giro 2012, that's all i got now...

 

[Fetisoff]

well at least i won't have to suffer the images of il killer working for purito.in another universe,this would never have happened.giro 2012, that's all i got now...

Well, this is all of course pure speculation by now, but I think Il Killer would have had more or a free role on the team, only working for Purito on a few stages. I mean Moreno's pretty capable of supporting him in the higher mountains.

However I do imagine Katusha being slaughtered by everyone including carottops and Andalucia in the TTT if they had J-Rod, Il Killer and Caruso present

Either way, I'm pretty anxious to hear what DiLuca says, because it will be indication of whether he's done with Katusha, or this was some sort of trade-off for the sole leadership role in the next year's Giro