Vuelta a España - Stage 13: September 12 - Berja - Sierra Nevada, 175km
BTW what does Puerto (as the Puerto de la Ragua) mean in Spanish?
BTW what does Puerto (as the Puerto de la Ragua) mean in Spanish?
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auscyclefan94 said:1. Alejandro Valverde - will need to attack during next 2 days to get a buffer before the tt. Has got a strong team to ride on the front but will his team get tired on the last 3-4 days if he keeps the lead over La Pandera. Stage 15, 18 and 19 are possible stages where he could be attacked on. He has got a quality team on his side but will Alejandro avoid the day he always has where he bonks? Will have to wait and see.
2. Cadel Evans - the best possible scenario for Cadel is take the lead in the final tt so his team doesn't have to defend over a whole week. Must keep himself within 30 seconds over Valverde so if it comes down to the tt he will be in striking distance. He is the strongest time trialist of the gc boys so that could work to his adavantage but the final tt is only 27km long. Cadel must just stay with the favourites on Sierra Nevada and don't lose time because if he attacks and gets the jersey his team may struggle to defend it. If he is going to attack, he should wait for La Pandera so his team has to defend over a smaller period of time. He has stayed out of trouble without making a big effort yet.
3. Robert Gesink -probably the best climber in the race at the moment. He must get some time on his rivals before the time trial so he has to attack. Though Robert should wait for la Pandera because he will need to conserve as much energy as he can because he's only 23 and could bonk if he goes too hard. He will be marked a lot more now as the other gc guys see him as a much bigger threat after the Alto de Velifique.
4.Tom Danielson - the big surprise of the vuelta so far but how he will go in the last week and the next 2 mountain stages is a mystery. So far he has looked sprightly on the climbs by responding to some of the attacks. He can tt but will his form peak or fade away. He will need to attack over the next 2 stages to make up some time.
5.Ivan Basso - basso has been relatively quite with his usual grinding away pedalling style. Basso needs to attack over the next 2 stages as his time trialling isn't great. basso being quiet may be a plan on liquigas' part to make one big attack to take back the time. He has stayed out of trouble but has the job ahead of him to make back the 53 seconds he has lost.
6. Samuel Sanchez - the daredevil descender and pre race favourite hasn't had the perfect vuelta though he is a strong tt and a great descender. he should try on la pandera though he still has some other stages to get back the time. St19 looks like a stage were he could get some time back. Cat 1 finishes 17km before the finish with a descent down to the finsish line.This stage is made for him.
Everyone else is too far behind to have a crack at la vuelta. Mosquera attacking 8km out shows he's desparate. If i was him i would try from a break becausse he's not going to get the big gap on a climb as last night he got 10secs from attacking 8km out. That's nothing...
The few medium mountain stages near the end of la vuelta could be more decisive than we think. It still maybe close after La Pandera.
My Prediction
1.Valverde
2.Evans
3.Sanchez
4.Gesink
5.Basso
6.Danielson
craig1985 said:
BTW what does Puerto (as the Puerto de la Ragua) mean in Spanish?
blaxland said:very true summery of the race and agree they all need to attack evans before the final tt
Dekker_Tifosi said:If I was Evans, I would not just count on the TT.
In the first TT, he won.. 3 seconds on Valverde
The second TT is hillier, shorter and suits Valverde even more!
craig1985 said:If Cadel gets Gold, I wouldn't be surprised if his team gives it up straight away.
EPOch of End Times said:www.universalsports.com
I Watch Cycling In July said:I've tried this and channelsurfing.net but they don't seem to cover the whole stage. Can anyone confirm that coverage is from 10:am ET and roughly the last 1&1/2 hrs of the stage..... That would be a 2am NZST start for me so quite keen to be sure when to get up before I bother.
auscyclefan94 said:4.Tom Danielson - the big surprise of the vuelta so far but how he will go in the last week and the next 2 mountain stages is a mystery. So far he has looked sprightly on the climbs by responding to some of the attacks. He can tt but will his form peak or fade away. He will need to attack over the next 2 stages to make up some time.
BS. You're confusing puerto (usually means "port", but can also mean "mountain pass") with puerta (which actually means "door").Hammerhed said:Craig, just in case no one has answered you yet, puerto means door, or in this case, an entranceway. So Puerto Rico meaning "rich doorway" signified that the island was an entrance into the Carribean, a rich, wealthy area.
I don't think they need/will to chase, why not Rabo chase if the others should? Do you think Caisse will let Rodriguez go into gold over Valverde?Dekker_Tifosi said:Now a smaller group is left
Rodriguez is the best in GC at 10th place (4.01)
Silence Lotto looking shaking, also Garmin no riders in the group. Those teams have to chase, together with Liquigas I think