Vuelta a España - Stage 8 Villena - Xorret del Catí 190km

[jens_attacks]

igor anton for the win,he and rodriguez to put at least one more minute to menchov.frank schleck and van garderen to crack big time.gillbert won't give the jersey without a fight.

 

[hrotha]

igor anton for the win,he and rodriguez to put at least one more minute to menchov.frank schleck and van garderen to crack big time.gillbert won't give the jersey without a fight.

It's almost impossible for Menchov to lose one minute unless he totally cracks. It's a short climb, there won't be big gaps between the contenders.

 

[craig1985]

The de Cati looks like an extended version of the Muur de Huy.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

is the downhil any technical?? if so menchov and frank schleck could lose some more time or at least connection to a group

 

[Descender]

is the downhil any technical?? if so menchov and frank schleck could lose some more time or at least connection to a group

The downhill is short, straight and easy. Not going to play any significant role. This is basically an uphill finish.

 

[Arnout]

is the downhil any technical?? if so menchov and frank schleck could lose some more time or at least connection to a group

Gesink could come back downhill last year. So, no.

 

[icefire]

The de Cati looks like an extended version of the Muur de Huy.

Mur de Huy x 3 with slightly higher average gradient.

 

[icefire]

is the downhil any technical?? if so menchov and frank schleck could lose some more time or at least connection to a group

There's only one (blind) curve to the right during the downhill

 

[Barrus]

The race is on with no attacks for the first time in this Vuelta. All teams have agreed to donate money prizes to Txema González family.

http://www.lavuelta.com/10/en/online/pelidin.html

This is a great gesture

 

[sublimit]

igor anton for the win,he and rodriguez to put at least one more minute to menchov.frank schleck and van garderen to crack big time.gillbert won't give the jersey without a fight.

Anton for the Overall, not sure about today.

Probably somebody I've never heard of can get it but maybe Rodriguez today. Plaza was talking up his chances too.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Óscar Pujol, fresh from the 5 points that were actually scored by Xavier Tondó in stage 4, won the first summit of the day, the cat.3, ahead of Martínez and Moncoutié. The king of the mountains has got into the break, as has the defending champion, and at the first cat.2 climb, Martínez won the sprint ahead of Moncoutié, with Tschopp mopping up the remainder.

Current KOM standings:
1. Martínez 20
2. Moncoutié 10
3. Cataldo, Pujol 8

 

[issoisso]

There's been a bunch of crashes today. Petacchi and Arroyo are in pretty bad shape. Still riding, though.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

second cat.2, same as the last, so now 1. Martínez 25, 2. Moncoutié 13.

Branislau Samoilau has abandoned.

 

[Jamsque]

igor anton for the win,he and rodriguez to put at least one more minute to menchov.frank schleck and van garderen to crack big time.gillbert won't give the jersey without a fight.

It's certainly do or die time for Frank, if he can't match the likes of Anton and J-Rod today then he has little chance of winning this Vuelta.

 

[roundabout]

50k to go and the gap is still creeping up. Wonder when Katusha and Liquigas are going to step on the gas.

 

[Mellow Velo]

Moncoutie is a master break sniffer.
Seems he has another one that might well stick.

 

[icefire]

If the break survives Serafín Martínez will also be a tough nut to crack. Remember stage 3 to Málaga when he was caught in the last km.

 

[The Hitch]

Sean Kelly seems to think otherwise. He says even if the gap goes to 15 mins he doesnt expect thebreak to survive

 

[icefire]

Looks like OPL sees some chance to keep the red jersey today and don't want to repeat the mistake of last year leaving some time bonuses for the GC contenders to grab

 

[roundabout]

The last climb is less than 4 km and Moncoutie is no Roscioli

 

[icefire]

Sean Kelly has no fv<king idea: 15 minutes is the time lost last year by the last man in the stage. And those in the breakaway are no limp.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Arrieta seems to be doing a lot of work in the break. Every time the camera cuts to them, he seems to be setting the pace.

 

[The Hitch]

Another Valverde Spanish flag. I see pitis name all over the hills in the places where the fans use chalk to give support. Looks like Spains is solidly behind Alejandro.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Sean Kelly has no fv<king idea: 15 minutes is the time lost last year by the last man in the stage. And those in the breakaway are no limp.

I don't think Kelly was saying that the breakaway definitely won't succeed, but instead that the GC contenders teams won't panic and feel the need to chase like hell even if the breakaway gets fifteen minutes.

 

[roundabout]

Ok, Cervelo took a minute really quickly here