Vuelta a España - Stage 5 : Guadix - Lorca 198.8km

[insideout leadout]

Not really, I can't stand the guy but you need to acknowledge that he can win even without a real leadout train. He really is one of, if not the best, sprinter out there at the moment

Of course he can, but today he wasn't good enough on his own. Normally when he is 80-90% fit he can still win thanks to the leadout.

 

[Eyeballs Out]

Neither Cavendish nor Farrar had any kind of lead out today. Dean is presumably still suffering from his pre-TTT crash. Goss finished last !

Very smart sprint from Farrar

Was that really Tosatto in 4th or did the official site mess up again ?

 

[indurain666]

Was that really Tosatto in 4th or did the official site mess up again ?

Tosatto 4th? Wow...grandpa can still sprint,,,

 

[Eyeballs Out]

Tosatto 4th? Wow...grandpa can still sprint,,,

Corrected now. Weylandt not Tosatto

 

[Bromers]

Looks like the cav fanboys had their excuses prepared this time

Cav didn't win because that beard's weighing him down.

 

[Boardslide]

It's true however that he might have got a bit too used to having a perfect leadout train. In the Tour he could make up for it when he lost Renshaw because he was clearly in a better condition than in the Vuelta.

Maybe he should try doing more races without a train to, err, train for this kind of situation.

Seeing as he was on his own for the last 5km perhaps that's just what he is doing, seeing as he's not going to have much support at the worlds.

Good win by Farrar, it seems like it's not only sky with the sickness bug.

 

[Winterfold]

Nice win for Farrar. He rode much smarter than in France - or is properly fit again - or both. Even as Brit it is dull if Cav wins all the time but still good to see the usual absence of forum objectivity about Cav. Bordeaux? Paris?

 

[on3m@n@rmy]

Nice job Tyler. You make Wenatchee proud.

 

[Christomir]

Oldest winner ...?

Guys, (I think) I found out something interesting, and I know it has nothing to do with this particular stage, but I couldn't find a more suitable thread to post it, so I decided to put it here, since it's a Vuelta thread at least...

It's a historical thing:

I realized that Tony Rominger in 1994 was the oldest Vuelta winner at age 33. Or maybe someone here can find an older winner further back in history and prove me wrong??

Quite a tender age for an "oldest winner" record for a GT, eh?

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Glad I missed this.

 

[The Hitch]

Glad I missed this.

A euskatel rider came 2nd.

 

[hrotha]

Glad I missed this.

It was actually a pretty good finish, if you don't have an irrational hatred for everything that doesn't involve climbing. It was a narrow road leading to Lorca, there was wind and everybody was nervous, and there was virtually no control in the sprint itself.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

It was actually a pretty good finish, if you don't have an irrational hatred for everything that doesn't involve climbing. It was a narrow road leading to Lorca, there was wind and everybody was nervous, and there was virtually no control in the sprint itself.

I'll have you know I enjoy descending too

 

[hrotha]

I'll have you know I enjoy descending too

Doesn't count, that's reverse climbing!

 

[Barrus]

Doesn't count, that's reverse climbing!

And cobbles?

 

[Libertine Seguros]

tbh, if a climbing stage was as totally controlled, dull and predictable as any flat stage where Columbia keep the break at a safe, measured distance for the entire stage, then I'd hate them too.

(I know Columbia weren't the ones to blame today, but they are 90% of the time, and I felt like throwing some hatred in their direction for no apparent reason, just because they're them)

 

[Libertine Seguros]

And cobbles?

Only cobbled climbs like the Muur van Gerardsbergen. To hell with that tedious flat "Paris-Roubaix" stuff

 

[auscyclefan94]

I'll go with farrar to win. he seems to be going very well.

ACF94 the dumbass got another one right. Someone needs to pump up my tyres as other posters like to slash them.

 

[Moondance]

ACF94 the dumbass got another one right. Someone needs to pump up my tyres as other posters like to slash them.

Noone thinks you're stupid.... Maybe just a touch histrionic; or, more specifically, slightly more histrionic than the average forum user.

 

[Oldman]

Nice job Tyler. You make Wenatchee proud.

And Seattle. Also: quit drinking unfiltered water. No wonder all those guys get sick at the same time.

 

[Descender]

Guys, (I think) I found out something interesting, and I know it has nothing to do with this particular stage, but I couldn't find a more suitable thread to post it, so I decided to put it here, since it's a Vuelta thread at least...

It's a historical thing:

I realized that Tony Rominger in 1994 was the oldest Vuelta winner at age 33. Or maybe someone here can find an older winner further back in history and prove me wrong??

Quite a tender age for an "oldest winner" record for a GT, eh?

Rudi Altig was 35 when he won it in 1962, and his fellow countryman Rolf Wolfshohl was 37 when he won it three years later. Gabica was almost 39 when he took the Vuelta one year after Wolfshohl (that's the record if I'm right). The same Freddy Maertens was 35 when he won it in 1977.

Need to improve those investigative skills.

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

It was actually a pretty good finish, if you don't have an irrational hatred for everything that doesn't involve climbing. It was a narrow road leading to Lorca, there was wind and everybody was nervous, and there was virtually no control in the sprint itself.

yeahh... i fell asleep watching. I never fall asleep. Pretty much sums up the rest of the stage. Flat stages like this suck (to watch), simple. Better off watching a reply for the last couple km.

 

[kukiniloa]

Why we have sprint stages...

I am going to continue to sign in on sprint tactics cause they are too oft ignored.

Seem we can't watch hours of racing everyday, can we? That's why we have sprint stages - so we only have to watch the last 5 or 10 kilometers or so...

SO, stop whining about boring sprint stages, get a life and get on your bike! (or your chosen vehicle to enlightenment.)

But the sprint was really interesting. I don't know what lead up to the circumstances that took out the HTC and Garmin leadout trains (and others, probably). Quick Step seemed to use themselves up too early, and I think Sky did too, leaving energy centered around the Milram train (of two or three only). Cav went waaaay early, at least 300m out by my eye, way to early, and Tyler Farrar started a battle for his wheel. So Cav lead Farrar out, and Fernandez came from somewhere...and Petacchi just looked kind of slow, his tempo was obviously very slow relative to the riders around him.

This is a very different set of circumstances, with Cav and Farrar with no teammates in the end....and who came out on top but Tyler Farrar!!!

Now we could discount this as poor tactics by Cav, who didn't have the fortune to be leadout by such a talented, loyal, and self-sacrificing team.

Or...just maybe he went early as a deliberate tactic to show that he can't win without them!?!

Or...maybe he was just out of options and found himself in the wind with 350m to go. This may be the favored explanation.

But a couple of Vuelta stages ago I noted that Farrar went first as a tactic to disrupt the HTC-Columbia dominance by making them react, since too often Cav is able to start his sprint at exactly the spot most favorable to him.

What say ye?

 

[auscyclefan94]

yeahh... i fell asleep watching. I never fall asleep. Pretty much sums up the rest of the stage. Flat stages like this suck (to watch), simple. Better off watching a reply for the last couple km.

Strangely enough I fell asleep during the final tt of the tdf. The last thing I remember was cadel taking off from the ramp. Then i woke up to hearing that schleck was only 2 seconds off yellow. 3 weeks of little sleep takes a toll.

I do agree that you can't have 21 exciting stages. As the boring stages make you more "hungry" for the more interesting stages. That is some of the reason of why an exciting stage is exciting.

 

[auscyclefan94]

Cav makes another excuse. he HAD to go early because he did not have a leadout man.

Here's a newsflash for you Mark, NEITHER DID FARRAR! Julian Dean is injured.