Vuelta a España - Stage 20 San Martín de Valdeiglesias - Bola del Mundo 172.1km

[Climbing]

I can't really get why RAI (italian television) doesn't cover La Vuelta.
That's stupid to say the least.
Anyway great and smart racing by Nibali, he showed he really deserved the GC win.
I hope for him a good future, winning a GT and podium another in same year at 25 it's impressive.
Vai Vincenzo!
Great win for Mosquera anyway, in a prestigious stage (even if a bit overhyped in my opinion).

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

They're explosive climbs, but they're climbs nonetheless. And actually, they fit Nibali just as badly as Mosquera, but Nibali simply did better on them.

What the hell are you talking about?

Short explosive climbs, no matter how steep, if they are short enough they fit Nibali a helluva a lot more than Mosquera.
Matter-of-factly, Nibali has ALWAYS done good on those hills.

If I am wrong about Nibali, you're way more off if you claim that those hills don't suit him.

 

[Luis Ocaña]

What a pity Purito didn't make the podium. That would have been a well deserved reward for his first and excellent season out of Valverde's shadow.

 

[Arnout]

The area is called "La Sierra" by the people in Madrid. there is a plan to create a national park, and that was one of the main reasons why it was so difficult to make a finish there. Many people are worried about the environmental consequences of so many people, helicopters etc... up there.

Anyway, sadly there are as manay as 3 ski stations in the same area, which are pretty packed in the winter months. That is real environmental impact...

I thought we only had this ******* in the Netherlands. Hate these persons. Trying to take away fun of others under the guise of, always, some environmental issues. Shut up.

 

[Christomir]

So it's not same time, it's 1 sec between the two at the finish line, after all, isn't it?

Damn, that might just be the difference for me between winning a new race bicycle with Campagnolo parts (from a TV comeptition) and not winning it

My prediction was they would be together at the finish line (0 sec). It sucks

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

His reward will be getting to serve as part of Cav's leadout train tomorrow, the only thing that HTC really cares about.

I'm not sure that's entirely true. If HTC find themselves with a genuine GC contender, I think it's reasonably likely that they could find themselves as the main guy in a GC that Cavendish isn't riding. Or at worst co-leader with the no.2 team sprinter.

HTC don't only care about Cavendish. They care about getting the maximum possible number of wins, and that dictates putting Cavendish first. It doesn't necessarily dictate subordinating a GC hope to Goss or Renshaw.

 

[the_cutter]

Congratulation to Nibali, rode like a champ today. I thought Mosq was gonna do it, but Nibs dug deep and did it.

absolutely, great race by Peto and hopefully we get something to celebrate in WCH in Melbourne as well
btw. I see youre from Zilina as well

We have a nice little Slovak grouppie here.

Čau do Žiliny z Bratislavy.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Well, if you keep grandstanding by presenting your opinions not as your opinions, but as the gospel truth, and keep depicting the opinions of others as those of inferior beings, even those of pretty decent contributors here, you do kinda volunteer for a slow roasting session on these occasions.

Time to swallow.

Already did. Didn't taste very well though.

And a slow reminder I was still right about F.Schleck only being able to climb as the best once a Tour, and Anton damnit.

 

[cocteau_ireland]

if roche consolidates in the mountains but more importantly develops technique in time trialling he could be a gc top 5 in any tour. with his kilos n power there can be no excuse for his tt efforts

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Yep. He should have known better than to have his teamate ride over a part of the road that had a branch in it hence knocking both of them down

As I understand it, he hit the branch himself and then took his teammate with him rather than the other way around. Has the story changed?

Bad luck? As I said, certainly. But bike handling makes a big difference to the number of "bad luck" accidents a rider has over his career. Soler is the archetypal example. One of my favourite riders, but I can't honestly argue that his lack of bike handling skills doesn't contribute to the number of times he creases himself.

 

[khardung la]

I thought we only had this ******* in the Netherlands. Hate these persons. Trying to take away fun of others under the guise of, always, some environmental issues. Shut up.

Well, I have contradictory feelings about that, I think the area has enormous environmental values, with unique endangered animals such as http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Graellsiaisabelae.JPG, plus mountain goats, lots of different birds, rare amphibians etc...Not to talk about the area providing excellent water to 6 million people.

I like to see what we saw today though....Contradictory feelings

EDIT: not to create polemic with you at all, but probably some real enforcing of environmentally sound policies regarding protected areas would heve permitted Holland to have some well-preserved areas. From the wildlife point of view it is quite sad there...

 

[jens_attacks]

disappointing stage.nothing epic here.happy for eze,he finally has a stage win.
hats off to nibali and velits.
vuelta again the smallest grand tour by far.

 

[Francois the Postman]

Maybe Nibali will finally gets some credit over here.

Bravo to him, what a great race.

I bet most people here do rate Nibali highly already, they simply wanted Mosquera to win this more.

Over the year, in different races, the same people who were hoping for Nibali to falter here, will happily cheer him on elsewhere. Few people think the guy can't cycle well or doesn't stand out in a very promising way.

 

[Christian]

His reward will be getting to serve as part of Cav's leadout train tomorrow, the only thing that HTC really cares about.

Or pull Rogers up the mountains in next year's Tour. Cause NEXT year. Rogers is gonna explode. You just wait.

 

[Arnout]

Well, I have contradictory feelings about that, I think the area has enormous environmental values, with unique endangered animals such as http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Graellsiaisabelae.JPG, plus mountain goats, lots of birds etc...Not to talk about the area providing excellent water to 6 million people.

I like to se what we saw today though....Contradictory feelings

So? Then we should have no animals and no clean water whatsoever in the Netherlands because we are overcrowded everywhere. Come on, I understand they don't want a casino on top of the mountain, but a bike race once a year, without cars going to the top, please. We as human beings might as well die because that's better for the animals on the planet.

Environmental talk is mostly bull****.

 

[Spare Tyre]

I bet most people here do rate Nibali highly already, they simply wanted Mosquera to win this more.

Over the year, in different races, the same people who were hoping for Nibali to falter here, will happily cheer him on elsewhere. Few people think the guy can't cycle well or doesn't stand out in a very promising way.

Certainly that's how I feel.

 

[khardung la]

I bet most people here do rate Nibali highly already, they simply wanted Mosquera to win this more.

Over the year, in different races, the same people who were hoping for Nibali to falter here, will happily cheer him on elsewhere. Few people think the guy can't cycle well or doesn't stand out in a very promising way.

+1 Exactly my case. However I think he is far from Contador in terms of TTing, and not quite there climbing. He probably will try to win the giro next year, so we won't be able to see a proper Contador-Nibali battle.

 

[The Hitch]

if you keep grandstanding by presenting your opinions not as your opinions, but as the gospel truth, and keep depicting the opinions of others as those of inferior beings, even those of pretty decent contributors here, you do kinda volunteer for a slow roasting session on these occasions.

Time to swallow.

Too back this up I was thinking of going back a few pages where DT responds to an intelligent post with -your wrong "better luck next time"

Whats the need to go that far back though. On the same page, right under your post he says this

What the hell are you talking about?


Matter-of-factly, Nibali has ALWAYS done good on those hills.

If I am wrong about Nibali, you're way more off if you claim that those hills don't suit him.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

if roche consolidates in the mountains but more importantly develops technique in time trialling he could be a gc top 5 in any tour. with his kilos n power there can be no excuse for his tt efforts

He had a great Vuelta. Ag2r will be delighted to have a GC man they can build around. And even more delighted that he's now guaranteed them invites to all of the GTs - he needed to finish 8th or higher in the Vuelta IIRC. Less happily, the UCI will be delighted too.

I think that you are right that he has the capacity to improve more. This is the first year he's been having a go at the GC. His climbing can get better with the loss of a little more weight, but I suspect not enormously better. The big room for improvement is in his TT. He's not a terrible TT rider at the moment, but with improvements to his technique his size should mean that he could become one of the best TT riders of the GC men.

 

[TourOfSardinia]

Cycling is quite an environmentally friendly pass-time to promote (compared to F1 etc) ... if not on this particular mountain top.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Too back this up I was thinking of going back a few pages where DT responds to an intelligent post with -your wrong "better luck next time"

Whats the need to go that far back though. On the same page, right under your post he says this

With the difference this not being an opinion, but a fact, backed up by results => facts
Nibali has always done well on hills like that, it is no opinion, it is a fact, proven by results.

There is nothing to have an opinion on. It's not my opinion, just a fact. fact.
results >>> fact

Ok?

 

[The Hitch]

I bet most people here do rate Nibali highly already, they simply wanted Mosquera to win this more.

Over the year, in different races, the same people who were hoping for Nibali to falter here, will happily cheer him on elsewhere. Few people think the guy can't cycle well or doesn't stand out in a very promising way.

Yep. I have nothing personal against Nibali. But when I see a 25 year old young gun with many gt possibilities face a 34 year old for whom this was the last dance and whos biggest career win was a stage at the Vuelta of Burgos or whatever, i know which side i am on.

 

[Pharazon]

gotta say, great balls shown there by Nibali.. really hung in there

 

[El Pistolero]

Impressed by the come-back of Nibali. He's young and already did a good job at the Giro this year. First I didn't want him to win because he dropped on a lot of mountain stages, but this time he showed he has it.

Deserving winner. People crash out all the time, so you can't blame him for Anton's crash.

Next year's Vuelta will be one that suits Contador. You can count on that.

 

[Zoncolan]

disappointing stage.nothing epic here.happy for eze,he finally has a stage win.
hats off to nibali and velits.
vuelta again the smallest grand tour by far.

+ 1 on all counts.