Vuelta a España 2019 stage 9: Andorra La Vella - Cortals d'Encamp > 94.4km

[SafeBet]

You realize that Quintana, Landa and Carapaz are leaving and Soler is the next man up, right?

I thought Mas was the next man up.
Soler might be a valuable helper for him though. If he's not too busy shaking his head that is.

 

[Scoondle]

You realize that Quintana, Landa and Carapaz are leaving and Soler is the next man up, right?

No, I was not considering that fact.
But Movistar pay Soler's salary. Do Movistar want Soler to be Valverde or Quintana in 2020 ? Soler must have notions of being a "great" among the peloton.
If I went public about my disagreements in my job, my company would no longer want my services.
Marc Soler displayed arrogance today and he should be subject to the consequences. He is not at the level of Quintana nor Valverde.
Despite his public anger, his team had a great day in their goal of the G.C. on La Vuelta.

 

[del1962]

This race and it's racers are fantastic. No negative racing for the most part. People making risky dynamic moves..Lopez really going for it. Valverde wearing the rainbow very proudly, Jumbo back and forth with Astana.
Movistars racing in the last @35-40 k was awesome win or lose.
The race looks like it is free of race radios and heavy team car statistician tactics ..it has radios sure but it would appear that the instructions are to "go for it!!!" .
Glad to see Kuss racing OK today..I am going to start drinking imported Slovenian everything! Beer water juice whatever!!tiny country big cycling presence.
What is wrong with Mitchelton -Scott a little listless

I think race radios where used quite a lot, especially telling riders to drop back from break

 

[klintE]

On a great day for Movistar, Marc Soler showed arrogance and that he is not a "team player". If he has problems with his manager he should discuss them privately and not make negative gestures towards his team on live television.
His contract shoud be terminated.

Nah
People are just people, sometimes doing wrong things, especially in strong emotions
Utilizing his contract for waving hands in anger? Simply no

 

[starlord]

On a great day for Movistar, Marc Soler showed arrogance and that he is not a "team player". If he has problems with his manager he should discuss them privately and not make negative gestures towards his team on live television.
His contract shoud be terminated.

He has shown on countless occasions that he is a team player, in fact, he could have thrown away the earpiece and continue to ride. I actually feel for him a bit, he did that in the heat of the moment and now he's persona non grata...

 

[Scoondle]

I think race radios where used quite a lot, especially telling riders to drop back from break

Yes, great team tactics. Get the domestiques up the road early on and then they can help the main men towards the finish. I love when I see this tactic on the mountain stages. Except when a domestique thinks that he is better than the "main men", like Marc Soler Today. Yuk.

 

[Unchained]

Always liked Valverde..like Philippe Gilbert they win or lose w style.
Valverde races like a boy not an old man!!!

Del1962,yes I know race radio is in use..the racers riding as if it doesn't exist makes me happy. Old school attacking

 

[del1962]

Always liked Valverde..like Philippe Gilbert they win or lose w style.
Valverde races like a boy not an old man!!!

Del1962,yes I know race radio is in use..the racers riding as if it doesn't exist makes me happy. Old school attacking

I don’t understand how you can say they’re riding as if race radios don’t exist after watching today’s stage, how would various riders have dropped back for their leaders without race radios existing

 

[Red Rick]

Soler probably didn't realise Pogacar was there anyway

My guess is the signal to wait came so late it's no surprise he thought he was free to chase the stage win.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Roglic was really *** over by that fall, he'd been at least with Q if not better..
then again, same can be said by Lopez who is probably the best climber in the race and I think would've won easily today without that fall...

 

[Scoondle]

He has shown on countless occasions that he is a team player, in fact, he could have thrown away the earpiece and continue to ride. I actually feel for him a bit, he did that in the heat of the moment and now he's persona non grata...

He could not have thrown away his earpiece. His manager gave him instructions through his earpiece. In my job, I can't just say that I know better than my manager and disregard his instructions to me.
He disrespected Quintana by flicking his elbow. Numerous times he was seen on live t.v. vigorously shaking his head. He wasn't going to win the stage. When this was realised by the directeur sportif, an instruction was given to Soler. The team car has a lot of information coming in that the rider simply does not know about. Like, actual time gaps and attacks behind. The team car has the facts ... the rider only knows the facts that he hears in his earpiece.

 

[Koronin]

Always liked Valverde..like Philippe Gilbert they win or lose w style.
Valverde races like a boy not an old man!!!

Del1962,yes I know race radio is in use..the racers riding as if it doesn't exist makes me happy. Old school attacking

He does race like he's still a young rider. Much of that is because he still loves it.

Conversation a friend shared with some of us during a training ride before Valverde left for la Vuelta.
Friend to Valverde: Why are you still racing at this level at your age?
Valverde: How old are you?
friend: 50
Valverde: Why are you still riding your bike?
Friend: Because I enjoy it.
Valverde: (Huge smile on his face) You just answered your own question. I still love racing.

He's had many members of his team say that when he's handed his bike and pointed towards the start line that he's still a kid with his bike. However, he also now does race more with a maturity that he didn't have in his younger days.

 

[Lequack]

 

[starlord]

He could not have thrown away his earpiece. His manager gave him instructions through his earpiece. In my job, I can't just say that I know better than my manager and disregard his instructions to me.
He disrespected Quintana by flicking his elbow. Numerous times he was seen on live t.v. vigorously shaking his head. He wasn't going to win the stage. When this was realised by the directeur sportif, an instruction was given to Soler. The team car has a lot of information coming in that the rider simply does not know about. Like, actual time gaps and attacks behind. The team car has the facts ... the rider only knows the facts that he hears in his earpiece.

I'm sure you never did anything your way or expressed anger over something your boss had told you. And I'm sure there are cameras watching you and waiting for your error.

I agree with the majority you said anyway. Except that the single most important fact knows only a rider - and that's how he's actually feeling.

 

[RedheadDane]

Well… I guess that's one way to get down from a mountain after a bike race...

https://twitter.com/x/status/1168204335261597696

 

[ice&fire]

Won’t he be working for Mas

Shaking his head

 

[Lequack]

A "little" helping push.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1168276885035454464

View: https://twitter.com/AguileraBosch/status/1168276885035454464

 

[HelloDolly]

Great stage today ...and a fantastic Vuelta so far.hard to believe we are only one week in.And there are 2 to go !!!

Podgcar is a great talent and can TT. Lets see how he is by the 3rd week .Not sure he should be riding a full 3 week race ..very very young

Roglic though is the man to beat for me.He is not really being dropped and he is fresh and his IT is miles better than most

Say what you will about Movistar but their entertainment value is 11 out of 10
People on here very hard on Soler...he just showed frustration as most would do in his shoes ( or bike)

Really sorry for Chaves ...tried so hard to comeback and a mechanical scuppered his Vuelta
Aru also had a terrible day

Cycling is not an easy sport..in so many ways

 

[Lequack]

Races without a strong Ineeos/Sky always proves to be fun.

 

[perico]

There's no way that team orders cost Soler a stage win. Movistar race director only called him back late when he realized that Soler was going to be smoked anyway.

If Soler was strong enough he would've been laughing and relaxing on Pogacar's wheel while running a slow cadence on a big gear then sped away in the final kilometer to win by 10 seconds. Or at the very least, he would've pulled Quintana to the line while sulking and looking back several times in frustration. Neither happened so we know that Soler didn't have what it took to win the stage.

Problem, from Soler’s point of view now, is that Nairo attacked and pulled Pogacar up to him. Had Nairo not attacked, Pogacar was just going to follow wheels. He was content to let Nairo bridge the gap.

Whether it’s right or not isn’t really the point. From Soler’s point of view, his team chased him down and then lost the stage.

 

[Lequack]

Problem, from Soler’s point of view now, is that Nairo attacked and pulled Pogacar up to him. Had Nairo not attacked, Pogacar was just going to follow wheels. He was content to let Nairo bridge the gap.

Whether it’s right or not isn’t really the point. From Soler’s point of view, his team chased him down and then lost the stage.

Yeah if you looked closely Soler was angry and shaking his head much earlier then when being told to wait. I saw him shaking his head when he saw Quintana and Pogacar from a corner when they were still more than 30 second back.

 

[Noddy97]

Always liked Valverde..like Philippe Gilbert they win or lose w style.
Valverde races like a boy not an old man!!!

Del1962,yes I know race radio is in use..the racers riding as if it doesn't exist makes me happy. Old school attacking

wait, what??

 

[Eddy Evenepoel]

Yeah if you looked closely Soler was angry and shaking his head much earlier then when being told to wait. I saw him shaking his head when he saw Quintana and Pogacar from a corner when they were still more than 30 second back.

What do you mean “earlier then he was told to wait”?
I mean it’s quite obvious that the DS told him to wait when Quintana (and Pogacar) had built up a clear gap to the other contenders. And of course his lead was quite big at that moment. He was angry because of that, nothing else that possibly happened “earlier than he was told to wait”

What would be really interesting to know is what the DS told him earlier in the stage. The way he was riding it seems like they told him “go win the stage”, then to a few km later tell him to wait.

And I totally disagree with those slating Soler for this and some *** about terminating his contract. Yes he was being unprofessional after he got told to wait, but as soon as Quintana was up he was back to the professional helped and he did a quite long pull for his teammate.

 

[hayneplane]

Those climbing times make an interesting read. Shows that Pogacar was massively impressive and that Roglic had excellent legs.

I feel really bad for Soler who did a great ride to outlast a quality breakaway group and despite winning L’Avenir and Paris-Nice has never been given protected status in a Grand Tour.

He was still riding really strongly and not getting reeled in at the time he got the order so I feel he is fully entitled to show such public dissent. Different situation imo if Quintana was flying solo at the time but with Pogacar still there and a faster finisher than Nairo they sacrificed a likely stage win for a handful of seconds on GC.

 

[DanielSong39]

It's pretty clear Soler would have been caught and passed, obviously DS had better information than Soler did.