Vuelta a España Vuelta a España 2020: Stage 12 (Pola de Laviana > Alto de l'Angliru, 109.4 km)

[SafeBet]

All this Kuss hype but he's another landa at best

Landa had at least shown he could be the best climber in a GT before a campaign for his freedom was launched.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

I haven't seen him whine about wanting to lead in a GT then sign for a stacked team yet.

Guillén hasn't given him a GT parcours worthy of his wanting to lead yet.

He will though, I'm sure.

 

[solo80k]

I'm sure Kuss has all of them covered.

Is Roglic able to stay on his wheel then?

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Kuss (and Valverde) should take a look at this

 

[yaco]

Jumbo signed Kuss and Nielson Powless at the same time for the 2018 season, just as a “see what these Americans can do.” After 2 years they decided to hang onto Kuss and let Powless go to EF. Iirc, the 2 of them were into last-chance territory with the team come the 2019 Vuelta, and it all came right for Kuss at just the right time.

How could Kuss be in last chance territory with his performances in his neo-pro years - What a bizarre post !

 

[ice&fire]

Guillén hasn't given him a GT parcours worthy of his wanting to lead yet.

He will though, I'm sure.

He was born too late. 2012 was his year. He would have lost Purito style anyway.

 

[Anybody_but..]

One more thing.
My feelings to valverde are exactly the same as the others to Froome are.

 

[Carols]

So no doubts about roglic' TT after seeimg him just sitting, not even pedalling on the rollers? Damn he looked done...

He was Totally drained. But only lost 10 seconds to Carapaz

 

[Carols]

Yep, Kuss is too good to be a demestique. It's time to change teams and fight for a GT win. Today it was clear that he was of little help as Roglic was struggling to hold his wheel on steepest ramps (so Kuss had to slow down ). Sepp would have won this stage methinks.

He's going to need to learn to ITT if he ever wants to win a GT. Or find a GT with Only a Mountain TT.

 

[johnymax]

FREE SEPP.

Sepp should have been left to fly, there is no drafting on the Angliru, and he could have stolen back bonus seconds.

Perhaps having him near Roglic induces a psychological boost for Primoz, but really, I wish he had been able to win the climb. He would have. And that's a career maker.

I agree Sepp should have chances to ride for himself. But he did have them already and I'm sure he'll get even more of them in the future even at TJV. Let's not forget he already got his Vuelta stage win last year. He was also a designated co-leader of the team when Dumoulin lost time early but he blew it in the Formigal stage.

One thing about Kuss is he always looks comfortable while climbing even when he is struggling and is about to blow up. He was free on stage 8 on Moncalvillo, he didn't do any work, he followed Carthy, looked extremely comfortable, then attacked himself but was immediately caught and dropped by Carapaz and Roglič. He ended up losing almost a minute (ok probably wasn't going all out till the finish).

So it's not a sure thing he would have won. It was the right decision to stay with Roglič. Maybe because of Kuss' help he only saved 10s but those 10s are important. Jumbo should be allin for overall victory now, forget stages. Tour de l'Ain is the only stage race they've won this year. With the team they've got, it would be a big disappointment losing the Vuelta. But they've done an amazing job today, from top to bottom.

And congrats to Carthy. A big win for him. I'm a little surprised to be honest. It looked to me like he was fading a little bit in the previous stages. But he's found enough strength to raise above the rest today. The top 7 were all so evenly matched though. There was an amazing camera shot from above when they were all like 5meters from each other and barely moving up yhe hill. It looked almost like a gap of one meter on the road was a gap of one second in time. So slow they were moving.

 

[Red Rick]

Yeah Kuss should get a chance at some point, but now is not the time lol. He also gets to rest up much more than the guys duking it out for GC every day. Quite a few differences.

 

[Luthor]

People have short memory regarding Kuss. He was 44 seconds behind before Formigal debacle and TJV clearly wanted to have a second leader up there. But then he loses like 10 minutes which is a huge amount no matter how much he pulled for Roglic, not when there are others much better on the flat. It was Bennett who stayed up close, while Kuss was completely done.


He is the best climber on steep slopes on less than 2k altitude and he would've won today probably. He also had some days off this week so obviously he is more fresh than the rest. But a stage win matters less for TJV then Roglic losing more time.


If Roglic would've been in a better shape he would've been let go like it happened last year. It might happen on Covatilla where btw we might have rain in that day so even if Roglic gets red things are far from done.

 

[Cannavaro]

Ey? Carthy has been noticeable in quite a lot of mountain stages for a few years now. He's very inconsistent so hasn't been a big threat to date much, but he's also now 26 so getting to the point where he ought to be able to put it together.

Back in 2016 with Caja Rural he was 9th in the Volta a Catalunya, finishing with Froome and Martin on Port-Ainé. He won the Vuelta a Asturais admittedly against a fairly mediocre field. He had a pretty meh first year at the top with Cannondale but he was 8th on Lo Port. He was 5th in Utah in 2018 and 3rd in Colorado, and perhaps most worthy of note, he was 11th in the 2019 Giro d'Italia, as well as winning the queen stage and the GPM in the Tour de Suisse. He's been prominent with attacks or in breaks in the mountains in the Giro and Vuelta for the last 3 years but hasn't been strong enough to make it stick. However, 11th in last year's Giro shows that he has the ability to put it together but he hasn't been able to really manage a consistent enough performance to make him a man talked up for the top end of the GC until now.

This was one of the most memorable stage wins in the last 10 years! He attacked at the lower slopes of the first climb (Nufenenpass), expanded his advantage on the second climb (Gotthardpass) and rode the last climb (Furkapass) as fast as Dennis and Bernal. to crown his fine 100 km solo. On his day, he is unstopaple.

 

[Carols]

Movistar made it interesting for quite a long time and at Least Mas did something after all their effort.

The Angliru is a Monster unsuited to man or beast. It hurt my legs just watching these guys crawl up that mountain.

Chapeau to Carthy, EF and JV. Good show .

Roglic showed weakness but no one else was strong enough to kill him off. If he has a good recovery rest day he'll whip them all in the ITT and have a decent lead to defend for the final 4 stages. I think it's his race to lose.

 

[Anderis]

If not for stage 1- crashes of Martinez and Woods- EF could have 3 riders in the top10 overall at this point.

 

[Lequack]

At one point it really looked Carapaz was going to fly off and gain at least a minute, but then they panned out to a wide shot and everyone was almost standing still.
It's not really a climb you can attack on, more everyone going full out and see who can lose the least time.

 

[Lequack]

UPDATE on @davideformolo after his crash on stage 12 #LaVuelta20: Davide a little cut up and bruised but feeling ok.

 

[Koronin]

Any idea on how bad Amador was injured in that crash?

 

[Gargamel35]

Roglič appoligized Kuss for not setting him free. He said Kuss could win it, but Roglič would loose more time without him in front.

 

[Andy262]

Not so sure. In horse racing parlance I always think he's the equivalent of a bridle-horse. Looks to be travelling easily through the race but finds rather little when let go.

I’m very curious about what time Kuss could have won that in if he’d gone all out.

 

[Red Rick]

Roglič appoligized Kuss for not setting him free. He said Kuss could win it, but Roglič would loose more time without him in front.

Drinks are on Primoz in Madrid.

I fear for Kuss next sunday evening. Heard Primoz knows how to handle a beer like an uphill sprint.

 

[Lequack]

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Not so sure. In horse racing parlance I always think he's the equivalent of a bridle-horse. Looks to be travelling easily through the race but finds rather little when let go.

Often it’s hard to know how he would do riding for himself. Today it wasn’t. He was riding with the top GC guys throughout, chatting on the radio, breathing through his nose, looking over his shoulder, accidentally dropping the GC leader every time he forgot to check on him and freewheeling to let him back. Meanwhile everyone else was turning themselves inside out.

 

[Luthor]

Roglič appoligized Kuss for not setting him free. He said Kuss could win it, but Roglič would loose more time without him in front.

Where did you see that? Or it's just your assumption?

 

[Red Rick]

Where did you see that? Or it's just your assumption?

He said it.

Guy is dry AF. Said it wasn't a good climb for a sprinter like him