Vuelta a España 2019 stage 2: Benidorm > Calpe 199,6 km

[Broccolidwarf]

Roche will be in red by a couple of seconds I think.

 

[JosephK]

What a stage! Nairo wins in incredible fashion. . . . Roglic not dead, after all.

 

[burning]

This was very similar to Nibali's win 2 years ago, both wins were awesome indeed.

 

[perico]

Most impressive ride I’ve ever seen him do. First time I’ve ever seen him win anything outside of his comfort zone.

 

[ice&fire]

does he get red with bonus seconds ?

I guess GC leader is Nico Roche by 1 or 2 sec

 

[Broccolidwarf]

What? They had 2 men in the group which was decent enough. There wasn't any team with more riders. The fault is Lopez and Lopez only.

Lopez in the only Astana rider in the first 2 groups.

Having the strongest team and being in the jersey, that is most definitely not good enough..... he should have had at least 2 guys with him.

 

[CyclingEnthusiast]

ROCHE IN RED

 

[Salvarani]

Valverde has no sprint anymore

It wasnt for the win and he started at the back of the group, but yeah some some has probably worn off. Which is natural.

 

[DFA123]

Just pure racing instinct from Quintana; no DS telling him what to do, just looked around saw a small gap and went for it. Great to see.

 

[TourOfSardinia]

Just pure racing instinct from Quintana; no DS telling him what to do, just looked around saw a small gap and went for it. Great to see.

just like the descent that won him that giro

 

[dercuforever]

I guess GC leader is Nico Roche by 1 or 2 sec

Yep you'r probably right ! Roche was 11 sec before Quintana, and since he got 2nd, Quintana should only take 5 + 4 on him.
Edit : no gap ?

 

[broppo]

so quintana favourite to win now?

 

[Salvarani]

What? They had 2 men in the group which was decent enough. There wasn't any team with more riders. The fault is Lopez and Lopez only.

How.

Maybe they said over the radio to let Izagirre work.

Maybe they didnt.

He couldnt close that group on his own. He limited his losses pretty good in the end anyway. Could have been well over a minute.

 

[Leinster]

I guess GC leader is Nico Roche by 1 or 2 sec

Sunweb had 11s over Movistar in the TTT, and Roche’s 2nd place plus the 5s gap gives him a loss of 9s to Quintana. Roche in red by 2s over Q.

 

[tobydawq]

U

ok

Look, it was pretty obvious that Izagirre would not be able to pull back those six by himself.

But GC captains never lift a finger if they have a teammate, so nothing unique there.

 

[Breezy1985]

I guess GC leader is Nico Roche by 1 or 2 sec

Roche by 2 I think.

Never been so excited by a stage I could only follow on live ticker

 

[Carols]

Well that was a Grand final 30KM. Congrats to Nairito, definitely some redemption in that ride. And Primoz is Right Back in the picture, just like that . Wow even Aru has come back to life!

Chapeau Vuelta for giving attackers a chance!!!

 

[JosephK]

so quintana favourite to win now?

If he hadn't ridden the TDF, I would say yes. But he might have a tough time in week 3.

 

[Koronin]

It wasnt for the win and he started at the back of the group, but yeah some some has probably worn off. Which is natural.

I still believe that if it's not for the win he's not going all in for the sprint anymore.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Nairo gets so much negative press for his poor racing that people write the many occasions where he actually did light the race up and make attacks out of history. Am I surprised he pulled this off? Yes. I thought he, Roglič, Roche and Urán would ride all the way to the sprint to maximise time gain, and Quintana would inevitably lose out from that, but you can't fault his tactics here. He's got into an attack move by being among the strongest on a climb, then in a move that's gone at the end of a downhill, and then attacked that group on the flat to win the stage. When he's in form, he absolutely can ride like a champion, but because he is really negative when he isn't feeling good, people just act like he's never done anything aggressive in his racing career, which is just preposterous when you consider how he got those two GT wins, those Tour podiums and that polka dot jersey. Yes, he often rides conservatively and then picks one or two stages in advance to go for broke from far out on, meaning he rides quietly for the vast majority of the race - but there are other riders who use a similar strategy who get praised for what they bring to races. Quintana may have failed to take advantage of his climbing strength and cost himself significantly on a number of occasions, but he really doesn't deserve to be cast onto the same pyre as Levi Leipheimer, Simon Gerrans or Louis Meintjes.

 

[Salvarani]

U


Look, it was pretty obvious that Izagirre would not be able to pull back those six by himself.

But GC captains never lift a finger if they have a teammate, so nothing unique there.

So business as usual. You burn the helper first... which can be a tactic that can discussed if it wise to do or not.

 

[broppo]

If he hadn't ridden the TDF, I would say yes. But he might have a tough time in week 3.

but he was only good in the last week of the tdf, I think he might have enough juice left to at least fight for the red.

 

[Arked]

Nairo "The Rouleur" Quintana

 

[Libertine Seguros]

just like the descent that won him that giro

Do not pretend that he wouldn't have won that race anyway. He absolutely obliterated everybody on the Monte Grappa TT, and he sat idly by defending happily on Monte Zoncolan when he was clearly the strongest climber in that race. I'd have expected him, had he needed time still, to have lit up Monte Zoncolan that year.

 

[Rollthedice]

If he hadn't ridden the TDF, I would say yes. But he might have a tough time in week 3.

The way he rode the Tour he should be fresh enough. What's killing him is the inconsistency.