Vuelta a España Stage 15: Avilés - Anglirú 144km

[zapata]

Froome should be over the moon with his performance this vuelta, and keep working for wiggins. If he keeps this up, he'll get to be leader in many races to come. I know some are saying he could have won this race if he had the team behind him, and maybe he could, but that would be..just too much.

 

[LukeSchmid]

Really impressed by the guts of Wiggins & Anton (I thought Wiggins had come down with the camera bike at one point). Plus Monfort showing that you don't have to be a pure climber to do okay on a stage like this (which I wasn't anticipating). Also Froome did well to avoid the crowd and Mollema to avoid the imbecile on the service bike that stopped in the middle of the road at the busiest point!

I think the crowd forced the motorcycle to stop or run them over. Hardly the riders fault if he has a wall of people in front of him. If I start saying what I think about some of the crowd I will get myself banned.

 

[jsem94]

I feel horrible for Kessiakoff after his stomach flu issue. Absolutely horrible.


Cobo, well - I'll save my stuff for the clinic.

Anton: I was happy to see him go, I was hoping for him... he didn't finish that far down.

Sky: I always saw Froome as being stronger than Wiggo, from the first real mountain stage. It's good that he got to ride for himself in the end at least.

Menchov is riding like a boss, it's sad he wasn't as good earlier on as well as that 53s time loss.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

You guys were actually right about the hyping of Mollema. At least it was better than our hyping of Kristoff(I meant it somewhat as a joke). He still has time to develop. At TGBM least he has more meat thank Gesink

Well it was a bit of a joke, but not baseless like Kristoff.

Mollema DID actually win the Tour l'Avenir and Circuito Montañes. In his 1st year as pro he was already 6th in Castilla y Leon and 7th in the Tour of Germany. He was always touted as a GT talent in the Netherlands, And like I said, not baseless, not if you win Avenir and Montañes...

 

[hrotha]

First 2 flat stages at the beginning of the race.
But he'll learn

He suprised me as well. The steep short finishes didn't suprise me. He did that in the Tirreno already.
But him actually climbing well in the high mountains, at this level, is new. I thought he would finish between 10/15 in the mountain stages. But he is actually one of the best 5 climbers in the race. I hope with Pena Cabarga he can go top 6/7

It's a shame today was the only really tough stage, where Poels could make up some of the lost time. It's just not fair that he's only 10th while people like Fuglsang still sit comfortably above him in the GC.

 

[gregod]

Originally Posted by luckyboy View Post
Sky are literally unbelievable

You might want to look up literally, if you didn't mean it.

or post in the clinic.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

It's a shame today was the only really tough stage, where Poels could make up some of the lost time. It's just not fair that he's only 10th while people like Fuglsang still sit comfortably above him in the GC.

If Lagutin would sacrifise himself instead of riding for his own 17th place in the GC Poels has a chance to make a gap on Pena Cabarga...but ok

 

[gregod]

what happened to sastre? he was leading up the angliru, then i looked down at the computer for a second, and he was gone?

 

[Ragerod]

And what they would get out of that? Wiggins (and Froome) can only ride tempo and they won't blow away anybody on a 6km climb with tempo.

They don't need to 'blow' anybody away and 6km is more than enough to drop the majority if the tempo is high enough. 20 seconds isn't very much and they at least have to try at what is the best opportunity left in the race.

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

It is 9%. in reality I think it will be a chancee for cobo further to pull further ahead tho.

It's a shame today was the only really tough stage, where Poels could make up some of the lost time. It's just not fair that he's only 10th while people like Fuglsang still sit comfortably above him in the GC.

i find his GC placing a bit of an injustice in terms of performance.
But still, a top 10 if he can hang onto it, is a good result.

But the guy is only 23, and i look forward to him winning white in france next year

 

[Scirea]

what happened to sastre? he was leading up the angliru, then i looked down at the computer for a second, and he was gone?

He is weak as hell. He was only there to help Cobo a little bit if things go that way. They weren't so he just "stopped" and started to save himself for week 3.

 

[Descender]

This stage created more gaps than any other mountain stage this Vuelta. And that's even though it was the shortest one.

 

[hrotha]

If Lagutin would sacrifise himself instead of riding for his own 17th place in the GC Poels has a chance to make a gap on Pena Cabarga...but ok

Could Lagutin be riding for some much-needed points? I don't know how far down in the GC they give out points.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

But the stage didn't create the gaps Heras and co did in the past.

12 guys within 2 minutes. Pretty much what I expected. Not the monster gaps of the past. Bigger than normal, but not huge. If there was no super Cobo the gaps would even be ridicolously small

 

[Scirea]

They don't need to 'blow' anybody away and 6km is more than enough to drop the majority if the tempo is high enough. 20 seconds isn't very much and they at least have to try at what is the best opportunity left in the race.

I agree they should try. I just think it doesn't suit them at all. Not only Cobo looked at least as strong as them but that 6km climb doesn't suit the Sky duo.

 

[GroupDK]

congrats to cobo..

impressing ride.

and bad ride from fuglsang and chris anker sørensen, you are a f-ucking captain for Saxo .

thats is not good enough guys..

either you win or you loose.

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

Could Lagutin be riding for some much-needed points? I don't know how far down in the GC they give out points.

came to my mind also, but if ingsve evaluation of the uci poibts is true i think vasc are ok with the europe cont. results

 

[Maxiton]

what happened to sastre? he was leading up the angliru, then i looked down at the computer for a second, and he was gone?

He got dropped by Anton first, I think, and was trying to hang on but then the road pitched up even higher and several lesser lights passed him and he lost the mojo / ran out of gas.

 

[hatcher]

Lagutin hasn't looked like he has much more to give, other than hanging around the tail of the elite group.

 

[gregod]

But the stage didn't create the gaps Heras and co did in the past.

12 guys within 2 minutes. Pretty much what I expected. Not the monster gaps of the past. Bigger than normal, but not huge. If there was no super Cobo the gaps would even be ridicolously small

yeah, that has surprised me, too. it is the end of the second week and everybody is close together. i think it was like this in the tour, as well. cleaner peloton? then there was the giro...

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Froome should be over the moon with his performance this vuelta, and keep working for wiggins. If he keeps this up, he'll get to be leader in many races to come. I know some are saying he could have won this race if he had the team behind him, and maybe he could, but that would be..just too much.

That's assuming they don't stick him in Cav's leadout train!

 

[hatcher]

That's assuming they don't stick him in Cav's leadout train!

He's done his fair share of leadout work this year.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

He's done his fair share of leadout work this year.

Yes, but you'd think coming on the podium of a GT might spare him that, unless Bob Stapleton's coming to Sky with Cav too.

 

[Tank Engine]

Cobo was untouchable today. Good to see Poels up there, he definitely has answered the "is he a climber" question this Vuelta and looks to be a real talent. Froome was great again today. It's a shame that he couldn't get the jersey, but it's the Angliru. No real help from the slipstream and everyone has to give it their all. Still, if you had said that Sky would have riders in 2nd and 3rd of GC at the top of the Angliru, I would have laughed

 

[hatcher]

You'd like to think so. I'd guess his bargaining power has gone up tenfold, amd now can maybe get guarantees he'll be protected in the Giro or other races.