Vuelta a España 2011

[Lupetto]

Tony Martin also enters the race.

 

[jsem94]

There's no way Martin will be able to top 10 this after the tour - and if he has any ambitions and lay good in GC, he'll crack BIG TIME on the Angliru and lose 10+ minutes.

He is in contention for the TT win together with the likes of Menchov.

 

[The Hitch]

There's no way Martin will be able to top 10 this after the tour - and if he has any ambitions and lay good in GC, he'll crack BIG TIME on the Angliru and lose 10+ minutes.

He is in contention for the TT win together with the likes of Menchov.

Does he say he wants to top 10?

This isnt the Tour de France, hence Martin likely sees this at best as as a warm up for the Worlds with an opportunity to win a tt.

Also I think the tt comes too early for Menchov.

 

[icefire]

Does he say he wants to top 10?

This isnt the Tour de France, hence Martin likely sees this at best as as a warm up for the Worlds with an opportunity to win a tt.

Also I think the tt comes too early for Menchov.

Menchov crushed the field in 2007 in the ITT on stage 10. This year the ITT is...





on stage 10

 

[The Hitch]

Menchov crushed the field in 2007 in the ITT on stage 10. This year the ITT is...





on stage 10

Yes but hes not going to beat Martin on stage 10. He has a better chance of doing that if its stage 18 and recovery is a much bigger factor.

Besides the only tt i choose to remember from Vuelta 07 is the last one

 

[icefire]

Yes but hes not going to beat Martin on stage 10. He has a better chance of doing that if its stage 18 and recovery is a much bigger factor.

Besides the only tt i choose to remember from Vuelta 07 is the last one

I see... the one where Evans was thrown off the podium

You're right that the later the ITT the higher the chance to beat Martin. But Bavarianrider's good mood needs to be fed somehow from time to time. Only a motivated Cancellara can beat him there as Wiggins won't be yet at his full potential.

 

[Swede1]

Menchov will lose time on stage 11 after the rest day. In Tour 2010 he lost most of his time to contador/schleck after rest days

 

[jens_attacks]

finally good news for cycling and eze mosquera,although i'm afraid it's too late.no way he can do something in this vuelta,they stole him an entire year.

http://www.biciciclismo.com/cas/site/noticias-ficha.asp?id=41517

 

[Bavarianrider]

I hope HTC won't have Eisel there Spoilng the TTT once is enough

 

[just some guy]

I hope HTC won't have Eisel there Spoilng the TTT once is enough

If Cav is riding then so is Bernie

 

[Bavarianrider]

I think it sucks the TT comes right after the mountain stages. They should have made the rest day on Monday and the TT on Tuesday!
At least its 47km now.

 

[Bavarianrider]

If Cav is riding then so is Bernie

 

[icefire]

I think it sucks the TT comes right after the mountain stages. They should have made the rest day on Monday and the TT on Tuesday!
At least its 47km now.

The TT doesn't come after but in between mountain stages. The rest day after instead of before the TT is dictated by the transfer distances.

None of this should be an excuse for the TT beasts. Martin won the TdF TT after 2 mountain stages with no rest day.

 

[maltiv]

The TT doesn't come after but in between mountain stages. The rest day after instead of before the TT is dictated by the transfer distances.

None of this should be an excuse for the TT beasts. Martin won the TdF TT after 2 mountain stages with no rest day.

After finishing outside the time limit on both of them, so for him they were probably like 2 rest days.

 

[greenedge]

Velits looking like a threat. However Cav might be stealing his thunder. What does everyone think about EM maybe starting???

 

[icefire]

After finishing outside the time limit on both of them, so for him they were probably like 2 rest days.

As far as I'm concerned he's free to do so IF he finishes within the time limits. His fans will have to keep thinking of him as a GC contender just in their imagination

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

Menchov crushed the field in 2007 in the ITT on stage 10. This year the ITT is...





on stage 10

also the mid-itt in giro

@hitch he doesn't need to beat martin, he needs to beat the nibbles and anton and take good time from them.

Menchov has his stage wins, he needs no more.

 

[staubsauger]

if mentsjov is able to take a win he'll always try to do so. just remember final giro tt in 09. in that matter he really is a killer. a reason why actually he or danilo di luca is a gt winner and andy schleck isn't.

 

[l.Harm]

If Schleck rides Giro and Vuelta he probably wins both (yes except when Contador rides Vuelta).

 

[staubsauger]

If Schleck rides Giro and Vuelta he probably wins both (yes except when Contador rides Vuelta).

No he will always be beaten by someone who has something special like by Di Luca in 2007 as Schleck didn't have it! Unless he is going to work on this just like Evans did in past when he realized that he miss out this special touch to win a gt. And look he has totally changed as a rider over the last 2 years and got his tdf victory now.

 

[l.Harm]

I think ur talking nonsense.

Before Menchov won a GT nobody thought he could win it and Schleck is much better than him (except time trial). Especially in the Giro and Vuelta where are more climbs than in TdF Schleck has a lot more chance to win it. You're talking about 'something special', very vague imo. Evans had to change to become a champion, Schleck doesn't need to change, he only has to train his f.ckin time trial to beat Evans and especially Contador in the future.

 

[theyoungest]

I think ur talking nonsense.

Before Menchov won a GT nobody thought he could win it and Schleck is much better than him (except time trial). Especially in the Giro and Vuelta where are more climbs than in TdF Schleck has a lot more chance to win it. You're talking about 'something special', very vague imo. Evans had to change to become a champion, Schleck doesn't need to change, he only has to train his f.ckin time trial to beat Evans and especially Contador in the future.

Andy Schleck isn't much better than Menchov. Cadel Evans beat him this year, and GT-wise he's pretty much the same type of rider. On more or less the same level.

Last year Andy was definitely stronger than Menchov, but this year... I doubt it. That's why it's too bad Menchov wasn't invited in favour of the great Jerome Coppel.

 

[Dedelou]

I think ur talking nonsense.

Before Menchov won a GT nobody thought he could win it and Schleck is much better than him (except time trial). Especially in the Giro and Vuelta where are more climbs than in TdF Schleck has a lot more chance to win it. You're talking about 'something special', very vague imo. Evans had to change to become a champion, Schleck doesn't need to change, he only has to train his f.ckin time trial to beat Evans and especially Contador in the future.

Speaking of "nonsense" If, as you said, He does not need to change, why are you suggesting he needs to train?. Let him continue to be what he is now. He should be satisfied a second place at best once in while, and at the back of the leaders group the rest of the year, no?. That would be consistant with what He has done and no need to change that. It also seems often that Schleck fail to win int the mountains the time he need to make up for his deficits in the ITT. Had be been able to take over 2 minutes on Cadel in the mountains, his ITT performance would not matter. As a climber , Andy lost his 2011 tour by a failing to perform adequately in the mountains, especially in Alpes d'huez and Luz. He does need to change his climbing if he want to win someday

 

[El Pistolero]

Andy Schleck isn't much better than Menchov. Cadel Evans beat him this year, and GT-wise he's pretty much the same type of rider. On more or less the same level.

Last year Andy was definitely stronger than Menchov, but this year... I doubt it. That's why it's too bad Menchov wasn't invited in favour of the great Jerome Coppel.

Because this year Menchov was so strong

If you're going to take a nab at Andy's bad season so far, then you need to do the same with Menchov.

The Andy we've seen in 2009 and 2010 is the second best GT contender. This year he was lacking for some reason(I think he was too afraid to get caught after Contador's positive and was riding cleanish).

The sad thing for Andy is that Contador is a better descender, a better climber, a better time trial specialist and better at saving his energy during a stage(you won't see Contador grabbing water bottles). The only thing where Andy is better in is probably the sprint. May it do much good to him when he finishes 50 seconds behind Contador on a MTF.

 

[staubsauger]

a. schleck cannot tt like a mentsjov
he cannot ride downhill like sanchez
he isn't an as much mountain goat as the likes of ricco, rasmussen simoni, or contador
he haven't got that powerful killing attack style like di luca had, cunego had in 2004
he isn't able to overlive dead situations like il falco when he won il giro in 2005

that's why he normally spoken always be second in every gt he will ride, unless he will have a that strong team that will lead him to overall victory like sastre had in 2008