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Vuelta a España 2019, Stage 13: Bilbao - Los Machucos > 166.4 km

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In fairness Valverde never said he was going to be the leader...He said the team would wait and see how Quintana went...and lets face it it not happening for Quintana not because of tactics but becasue he doesn't have the legs

Valverde never said he was a GT contenders in this race and at 39 years old he is riding so impressively.He is also the World Champion ...he is a class bike rider and some are forgetting that ...Pogacar may be impressive cos of his age but so in fairness is Valverde

As for the field strength ....I think we will see next year when Roglic and Pogacar are riding the Tour that there are few better . Dumoulin may rue his move

Valverde often says things that are either tongue in cheek or meant to be taken with a pinch of salt. There always seems to be friction at Movistar if not in intent then with team aims. All the same Valverde has ridden an impressive race, even better than last year's Vuelta where he faded in the final week and which could still happen. Pogacar is also going into untested waters but with Quintana and Lopez not at their best he has a chance to make the podium. Roglic seems better after his break post Giro and it looks like he will finish this race off in good shape.
 
Valverde often says things that are either tongue in cheek or meant to be taken with a pinch of salt. There always seems to be friction at Movistar if not in intent then with team aims. All the same Valverde has ridden an impressive race, even better than last year's Vuelta where he faded in the final week and which could still happen. Pogacar is also going into untested waters but with Quintana and Lopez not at their best he has a chance to make the podium. Roglic seems better after his break post Giro and it looks like he will finish this race off in good shape.

This is Quintana's best level, well... since Giro 2017, and also I don't remember Lopez doing much better than this.
 
Who was it? :tearsofjoy:
Edward Theuns. Pierre Latour did the same, but after the camera had swung around away from the goal, with a Bora rider in goal. For an old traditionalist like me, nice to see a goalie in green.

The three riders from Biscay (Fraile, Bizkarra and Lastra) wore the Athletic Bilbao kit, complete with their names and race numbers, and preceded the director's car.
EDxrEnkXUAAuoBh

And they apparently broadcast the sound of a lion roaring throughout.

All very surreal.
 
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I think Adam Blythe is spot on @2:38, Astana went too hard too late in the flat part. Coming off a pretty flat stage, they should have set the pace hard on the climbs, not on the flat where Lopez (and Quintana) would be at a disadvantage against the bigger GC men like Pogacar, Valverde and Roglic. It was a little bit like LPSM. End of the day, physics and physiology are inescapable: if you're riding at closer to tempo for an hour while your rivals are riding at closer to an endurance pace, it's going to be far more difficult to get sustain a threshold effort for twenty minutes afterward. I also agree with him that Lopez likely didn't have the legs to gain time anyway, but that may have been the reason why he lost time.
 
Edward Theuns. Pierre Latour did the same, but after the camera had swung around away from the goal, with a Bora rider in goal. For an old traditionalist like me, nice to see a goalie in green.

The three riders from Biscay (Fraile, Bizkarra and Lastra) wore the Athletic Bilbao kit, complete with their names and race numbers, and preceded the director's car.
EDxrEnkXUAAuoBh

And they apparently broadcast the sound of a lion roaring throughout.

All very surreal.
Bacalao, bacalao, del Athletic de Bilbao!
 
If you disagree with what I am saying fine..lets hear your arguments

Jut name calling is ridiculous and a bit pathetic
BTW I believe what I wrote and the stats on the climbs back it up
My argument is: how can a 39 years old be in the second place? And do you really think these guys are better than a peak froome or dumoulin?
 
Dumoulin or Froome might have been in the lead at this point in the race, largely by virtue of the bad luck Roglic had. Let's not forget he lost like a minute in total in the ITTs and the Andorra crash.

I think Dumoulin and Froome in good form would be highly competitive with Roglic, but Roglic is really strong and he'd still have a good shot at winning imo.
 
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Dumoulin or Froome might have been in the lead at this point in the race, largely by virtue of the bad luck Roglic had. Let's not forget he lost like a minute in total in the ITTs and the Andorra crash.

I think Dumoulin and Froome in good form would be highly competitive with Roglic, but Roglic is really strong and he'd still have a good shot at winning imo.

This

I think Froome & Dumoulin in top current form would not be ahead of Roglic & Pogacar . I think Carapaz,Pinot & Bernal would be at the same level climbing but a little behind in IT
I cannot prove this but I think time will tell
 

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