Vuelta a España - Stage 17 - Peñafiel individual time trial, 46 km

[El Pistolero]

Roche will do better than many are suggesting.

He lost less than a minute to Contador in a longer TT in the Tour, so I really can't see how he loses 90 seconds to Nibali here.

How is losing a minute to Contador in the 2010 Tour time trial not a bad thing?

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Indeed, compared to Menchov they all lost a whole bunchcrap of time in the Tour 2010

 

[indurain666]

I agree with that, I remember Eurodisneys TT in 97 was still like 60 km
QUOTE]

Oh Oh!!!
Hold up.

They did a eurodisney tt? I always thought that would be a decent idea.
Do tell.

Yeah, they even had Mickey Mouse on the start ramp, IIRC

here is limited footage, Olano beat Ulrich by 50 seconds:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kquStp9JZJE

Mister Sixty didn't particularly enjoy the Disney ride that much:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFzteK_y1b4

 

[the3verB]

Roche will do better than many are suggesting.

He lost less than a minute to Contador in a longer TT in the Tour, so I really can't see how he loses 90 seconds to Nibali here.

Contador 's performance in this year ITT was the worst performance of Contador in his career (even worse than the stage in paris nice 2009).

Roche has the same itt level than Andy Schleck : bad.

 

[search]

Roche has the same itt level than Andy Schleck : bad.

it still was good enough to beat Purito by 4 minutes...circumstances were the same for both

 

[Waterloo Sunrise]

Contador 's performance in this year ITT was the worst performance of Contador in his career (even worse than the stage in paris nice 2009).

Roche has the same itt level than Andy Schleck : bad.

Andy Schleck, the roundly acknowledged superior TTer in the family. And yet in this thread revisionist history has decided Frank is a good TTer who will do well tomorrow. Hmm.

 

[hrotha]

it still was good enough to beat Purito by 4 minutes...circumstances were the same for both

But circumstances were so exceptional they didn't affect everyone the same way. Or do you expect Roche to put 4 minutes on Purito tomorrow?

In the Pau stage of the Tour this year, the peloton rode at a brutal pace in the first climb, without time to warm up properly. In those circumstances, Gesink was dropped while Hushovd wasn't. Do you think it's then safe to say Hushovd climbs better than Gesink? The start was equally explosive and brutal for both, but it's not something that happens often and you cannot extrapolate.

 

[roundabout]

I think Hushovd was dropped before Gesink?

Schleck will probably suffer tomorrow because he is still feeling the pain from his TdF crash in time trials.

 

[kurtinsc]

Andy Schleck, the roundly acknowledged superior TTer in the family. And yet in this thread revisionist history has decided Frank is a good TTer who will do well tomorrow. Hmm.

Frank had a solid TDS TT this year. Only 27km, but 1:14 back of Tony Martin, 57 seconds back of Cancellera and 36 seconds back of Larson.

His Annecy TT in the Tour last year was solid too. Had some climbs in it, but was only 2.5 minutes behind Cancellera, 2 minutes back of Larson and 30 seconds back of Nibali in a 40km effort.

Everyone remembers his horrid 2008 TT... but he may have gotten a bit better since then.

 

[hrotha]

I think Hushovd was dropped before Gesink?

Schleck will probably suffer tomorrow because he is still feeling the pain from his TdF crash in time trials.

I'm not sure when Hushovd was dropped, but I remember he was in the front group before Gesink came back. Gesink joked about how demoralizing that was, as he had suffered like a dog to close the gap and then saw Hushovd was there.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

I'm not sure when Hushovd was dropped, but I remember he was in the front group before Gesink came back. Gesink joked about how demoralizing that was, as he had suffered like a dog to close the gap and then saw Hushovd was there.

No he saw Hushovd in his wheel, not in front. And when he saw he was in the same group as Hushovd, that was demoralizing for him.
Although as said, later in the stage he recovered a bit. Bye the way, even Sammy Sanchez was in that group.

 

[hrotha]

No he saw Hushovd in his wheel, not in front. And when he saw he was in the same group as Hushovd, that was demoralizing for him.
Although as said, later in the stage he recovered a bit. Bye the way, even Sammy Sanchez was in that group.

OK, I must be getting senile. It's all the same for the point I was making, though.

 

[search]

But circumstances were so exceptional they didn't affect everyone the same way. Or do you expect Roche to put 4 minutes on Purito tomorrow?

no, I don't. I just wanted to refer to the posts some pages ago - there is no sense in taking Puritos result not into account because of the circumstances on the one hand and on the other hand say that Roches timetrial was poor because he didn't even beat Andy Schleck. Either delete the whole timetrial from your mind or take the result seriously as it is..

 

[jens_attacks]

ok my predictions for the TT now:
-cancellara will win this
-kash in the top 10
-roche best of the contenders,then schleck at 15,nibali at 35,mosquera one minute,rodriguez 1:20.there won't be huge differences.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Something completely different now.

Theo Bos is still in the vuelta. And in an interview with the Algemeen Dagblad that he has actually never been in difficulty yet. He only had some trouble with the heat the first days. But the mountains have not been causing problems.
"I'm not at my limit. In fact, I am not getting worse at all this Vuelta. My recovery after each stage is going well."
He also said that the most difficult part about sprinting here is that everyone wants to compete. "I'm very happy with my 9th places (x2). It's much more difficult to get into a good position in the sprint with all the top sprinters and their helpers here. I have to do it on my own. For me to get a top 5 or top 3 everything should go perfect."
He also thinks there are 2 or 3 chances left for sprinters but isn't thinking about that yet, he just hopes to get to Madrid and see what happens.

 

[roundabout]

Woopie. An anonymous sprinter is surving his first grand tour. Stop the presses.

 

[icefire]

Cancellara knows pretty well that the ITT course goes through a vineyard area that produces some of the best wines in Spain. He just needs to be told that there will be wine for the winner

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

You know, something just hit me.

Nibali reminds me of Savoldelli. A limited GC rider, who is not really the best at anything, except downhilling (you can't disagree with Nibali's downhill skills).

Savoldelli won 2 giro's thanks to his skills and weaker fields and a tad of luck (remember how Lotto's Van Huffel and Ardila dragged him up the climb?).
Nibali seems to be winning this Vuelta in the same fashion

Now I know why I don't like Nibali. Reminds me of Savoldelli too much

 

[The Hitch]

ok my predictions for the TT now:
-cancellara will win this
-kash in the top 10
-roche best of the contenders,then schleck at 15,nibali at 35,mosquera one minute,rodriguez 1:20.there won't be huge differences.

You think Rodriguez will be in red tomorow? Many dont expect him to even be in contention after tomorow.
Few people will make that prediction but I hope your right.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

You know, something just hit me.

Nibali reminds me of Savoldelli. A limited GC rider, who is not really the best at anything, except downhilling (you can't disagree with Nibali's downhill skills).

Savoldelli won 2 giro's thanks to his skills and weaker fields and a tad of luck (remember how Lotto's Van Huffel and Ardila dragged him up the climb?).
Nibali seems to be winning this Vuelta in the same fashion

Now I know why I don't like Nibali. Reminds me of Savoldelli too much

I remember thinking of Savoldelli when he caught Armstrong on the descent of the Colombière in '09, and then mentioning it after Monte Grappa in the Giro. Glad to see I'm not the only one. I'd love to see him and Sammy Sánchez really rip it up on a downhill. Of the GC candidates around at the moment, I think only Valverde would maybe be able to answer to a concerted attack from them, and then only if it's a really technical descent.

Having to descend slowly to guide the team leader who was descending with the grace and fluidity of a drunken grandmother on the Mortirolo, while Arroyo caught them at a rate of knots, must have killed Nibali.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

It's also why I think a completely flat TT might not be really Nibali's advantage.

For example, the Worlds U23 where he finished 3rd was a hilly course with a technical descent in it.
A few real hills with some nice hairpin downhills would do him loads of good. Then he'd really put time into some contenders

 

[ferryman]

You know, something just hit me.

Nibali reminds me of Savoldelli. A limited GC rider, who is not really the best at anything, except downhilling (you can't disagree with Nibali's downhill skills).

Savoldelli won 2 giro's thanks to his skills and weaker fields and a tad of luck (remember how Lotto's Van Huffel and Ardila dragged him up the climb?).
Nibali seems to be winning this Vuelta in the same fashion

Now I know why I don't like Nibali. Reminds me of Savoldelli too much

Geez man, you beat who is in front of you! Give some love to the Italian demon decenders. And you know Nibali has this one in the bag

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

I know that. But I just hate it when a GT get's won by a lesser rider or when a lesser field is there.
Just like the Giro '04 with Cunego winning and McGee in top 7 and **** like that
Or the Tour when Pereiro won.. bleh

I mean, a guy like Cadel Evans is for sure better than Nibali or Pereiro, yet he'll probably never have a GT on his palmares.

 

[The Hitch]

I know that. But I just hate it when a GT get's won by a lesser rider or when a lesser field is there.
Just like the Giro '04 with Cunego winning and McGee in top 7 and **** like that
Or the Tour when Pereiro won.. bleh

I mean, a guy like Cadel Evans is for sure better than Nibali or Pereiro, yet he'll probably never have a GT on his palmares.

I dont like Nibali (in this Vuelta ) either, but surely this works for every rider. THe same applies to Purito and Mosquera. They are not as good as Cadel Evans either, yet if they win, they will have a gt under the belt while cuddles wont. So why do you choose Nibali?

 

[roundabout]

Cuddles lost to Nibali in the Giro so obviously there's not much difference in ability between the two at this point in their careers