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

[Red Rick]

Would cost a bit of coin for an initial outlay.

And the payment wouldn't end there. For you would have to keep a security guard by it 24/7 to protect it from Red Rick's spray can.

Could be worse. Could've had Poels/Froome catching Contador in 2017.

 

[gregrowlerson]

Could be worse. Could've had Poels/Froome catching Contador in 2017.

The forum would never have survived that actually happening.

 

[Lexman]

when does the race start?

 

[Netserk]

14:08

 

[Gigs_98]

If this climb isn't steep enough, he should just leave the sport. His presence actively makes races worse.

That descent at the end though...are we sure the Angliru is a good place to attack?

 

[Eclipse]

Bit of a clarification on the protest from the other morning.

Basically everyone in agreement and unhappy that the UCI don't bother spending any time looking at stuff to avoid these issues in advance

https://twitter.com/x/status/1322840119343271936

 

[Red Rick]

That descent at the end though...are we sure the Angliru is a good place to attack?

Steep Kuss girlfriend left him, citing she suspected he was cheating with a girl with the weird name 'Scanuppia'

 

[Libertine Seguros]

I like Soler, and if we (someone) could convince the team and him that he's a stage hunter and not a GC rider it would be a lot easier to really cheer for him.

He's doing a reasonable job of being both. He's been out on the attack and in the break of the day repeatedly despite being a GC relevance - he just doesn't have a sprint at the best of times and because of the need to gain time was driving the breakaway for much more of the time than Gaudu yesterday. Let us remember that Movistar won a Grand Tour as recently as 2019 by having somebody operate the way Soler is doing now. And yes, Carapaz is stronger than Soler, but Abarcá have also won a Grand Tour with Pereiro and podiumed one with Arroyo because of this kind of tactic. Both of those guys were pretty decent stage hunters. Soler is 26, has a couple of years' potential improvement in him. I think he's already a more dynamic threat than Arroyo was, and Arroyo rode the Giro as leader for Abarcá pretty credibly for about five years, mostly finishing around the 10th overall kind of area à la Mikel Nieve.

 

[Red Rick]

He's doing a reasonable job of being both. He's been out on the attack and in the break of the day repeatedly despite being a GC relevance - he just doesn't have a sprint at the best of times and because of the need to gain time was driving the breakaway for much more of the time than Gaudu yesterday. Let us remember that Movistar won a Grand Tour as recently as 2019 by having somebody operate the way Soler is doing now. And yes, Carapaz is stronger than Soler, but Abarcá have also won a Grand Tour with Pereiro and podiumed one with Arroyo because of this kind of tactic. Both of those guys were pretty decent stage hunters. Soler is 26, has a couple of years' potential improvement in him. I think he's already a more dynamic threat than Arroyo was, and Arroyo rode the Giro as leader for Abarcá pretty credibly for about five years, mostly finishing around the 10th overall kind of area à la Mikel Nieve.

I'd say Soler is a bit similar to Luis Leon Sanchez right now albeit a better climber/GC rider but worse stage hunter. Solid, very multifucntional rider.

Prime real estate for Ineos?

 

[Libertine Seguros]

One day, they will change things up and head to Angliru via Cuchu Puercu. I mean, you aren't going to get moves before Angliru from the top guys on GC whatever you do (your best hope will be along the lines of Contador's move in 2017), but let's at least try.

 

[Lequack]

According to Enric Mas he thinks his legs should be good for tomorrow on Angliru, however I'm not sure how well Angliru fits him.

 

[Lequack]

Froome interview

https://twitter.com/x/status/1322848339633856512

View: https://twitter.com/itvcycling/status/1322848339633856512?s=20

 

[Zoetemelk-fan]

I expect a solid borefest without any kind of initiatives nor even breaks on the first four mountains. Domestiques soft pedalling monotonously in front of the intact peleton through the 23% section, delivering Bennet, Ackermann and Philipsen the last 25 meters for a photo sprint finish.

Hope I've jinxed it now.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Angliru was the one where Froome became a leader for the first time, though. They'd been expending him as a domestique even in the red jersey, which originally cost them the win on Cabeza de Manzaneda of all the climbs!

 

[Scarponi]

How would have riders Like Peak Pantini and Armstrong gone on these brutal climbs?

 

[railxmig]

The forum would never have survived that actually happening.

i did survive Froome doing a Landis and the last week of Tour 2011.

One day, they will change things up and head to Angliru via Cuchu Puercu. I mean, you aren't going to get moves before Angliru from the top guys on GC whatever you do (your best hope will be along the lines of Contador's move in 2017), but let's at least try.

I'm not entirely sure about the descent. It looks shaky, but going uphill from Cordal should be perfectly feasible.

 

[BlueRoads]

I am really excited about this stage, not because of the outcome, I don't expect any upsets, but because I think this will tell what kind of a rider Roglic actually is. If he can win dominantly here, I think all that defensive riding of Jumbo is just a preference because of mentality of either Roglic or the responsible people behind.
If he shows weaknesses we know that the Jumbo concept is tightly knit to the strengths of Roglic and that there are holes in his armour.
I am not really willing to acknowledge any talk of day-form or something for the results we will see.

 

[luckyboy]

Does someone know what the Angliru road exists for? Like there is no town, ski station, weather station, monument, antennas up there. Is it just for people to drive up and go hiking?

 

[richwallone]

Does someone know what the Angliru road exists for? Like there is no town, ski station, weather station, monument, antennas up there. Is it just for people to drive up and go hiking?

AFAIK, it was just an old cattle track leading to high pastures... As to why it got paved, no idea.

 

[Red Rick]

AFAIK, it was just an old cattle track leading to high pastures... As to why it got paved, no idea.

IIRC they paved it specifically because they wanted something crazy for La Vuelta.

I don't know which but I actually think one of Angliru/Zoncolan directly triggered the other?

 

[Scarponi]

AFAIK, it was just an old cattle track leading to high pastures... As to why it got paved, no idea.

Those poor cattle, clibed the Angrilu in record time at one point

 

[sir fly]

Any info about gearing?
Anybody going Ulle style?

 

[ice&fire]

IIRC they paved it specifically because they wanted something crazy for La Vuelta.

I don't know which but I actually think one of Angliru/Zoncolan directly triggered the other?

Mortirolo triggered Angliru, and then Il Giro upped the game with Zoncolan

 

[titan31]

IIRC they paved it specifically because they wanted something crazy for La Vuelta.

I don't know which but I actually think one of Angliru/Zoncolan directly triggered the other?

Wiki says it was designed for Vuelta to have something like Alpe dHuez, Ventoux and Mortirolo

 

[Libertine Seguros]

i did survive Froome doing a Landis and the last week of Tour 2011.


I'm not entirely sure about the descent. It looks shaky, but going uphill from Cordal should be perfectly feasible.

This would be the Cobertoria side, so the descent to the base of Angliru would be the same as the one they always take. There are a couple of stretches between the summit and Cordal that probably need some care admittedly which would need sorting before they could race it, however it does look like a lot of them would be more a case of taking care of the vegetation overgrowth rather than anything else.