Vuelta a España Vuelta a España 2020: Stage 17 (Sequeros > Alto de la Covatilla , 178.2 km)

[Fernandez]

Carapaz laughed when asked about Movistar pulling Roglic

 

[bob.a.feet]

Same here. Roglic must be the most boring GT winner of the current generation. Follow the train, attack final 400m for boniseconds, rinse, repeat, wait for ITT.

Roglic won the Vuelta thanks to boniseconds. Take all boni's away and even the ITT couldn't save him.

You say even the ITT couldn't save him, as if it isn't already a gift for the pure climbers that the only TT in the entire race finished on a 2km @ 14% climb.

 

[topt]

More often than not he shows that he fades in the last week of grand tours.

you better tell that to all the teams, cause I guess they dont know it yet

 

[LaFlorecita]

yeah, behind him

I think you should rewatch the finale.

 

[Rollthedice]

Ineos did more harm to Carapaz than Unzue's boys. They denied him a Giro win and brought a Froome knife to a Jumbo gun fight.

 

[Red Rick]

Yeah, Kelderman or Hindley winning would have been much more exciting?


Those were definitely two exhilarating kilometers. The exception proves the rule.

Any of them could've been exciting winners if they'd made the difference themselves. Instead Kelderman got his ass dragged up to Piancavallo, Hindley then got dragged up to Lagi di Cancano, and TGH never really had to to much himself except sit on Dennis.

When I saw Dennis dropping Kelderman on Sestriere I just couldn't stop laughing. So much excitement in the NID wins.

 

[JosefK]

you better tell that to all the teams, cause I guess they dont know it yet

Roglic in his last four grand tours: 2019 Giro, placed 3rd; 2019 Vuelta, placed first; 2020 TDF, placed second; 2020 Vuelta, placed first. So, in his last 4 grand tours, he's podiumed all of them, won 2, finished 2nd, and finished 3rd. . . . Clear signs of a weak final week rider.

 

[ice&fire]

Ineos did more harm to Carapaz than Unzue's boys. They denied him a Giro win and brought a Froome knife to a Jumbo gun fight.

Yes, but Movistar action was the last bullet that killed him

 

[Mayomaniac]

Same here. Roglic must be the most boring GT winner of the current generation. Follow the train, attack final 400m for boniseconds, rinse, repeat, wait for ITT.

Roglic won the Vuelta thanks to boniseconds. Take all boni's away and even the ITT couldn't save him.

Prime Purito with a good TT and his own Skytrain.

 

[bob.a.feet]

I can understand Movistar is annoyed they were constantly getting marauded by Ineos, but Carapaz is a guy with a financially not brilliant or secure family background, so money might mean something different to him than for a slightly spoiled European, and also Movistar did not really show enormous trust in him, so I can understand his decision.

Movistar supported him at the Giro and he was supposed to lead them at the Vuelta, until he injured himself in a criterium that his team didn't want him riding in the first place. They might not have shown enormous trust in him but he seriously let them down in the Vuelta before jumping ship.

 

[titan31]

4 stage wins, GC and points jersey ain't a bad return

 

[bajbar]

It's 100% a situation where Contador or Nibali would just attack balls deep themselves to find out how good Jumbo really is. If they're dissuaded by Bennet or Kuss that's on them lol.

Roglic has attacked this Vuelta when he had the legs to so. He attacked when he had the legs to do so in the Tour. He was by far the most aggressive GC rider in the 2018 Tour. People just overrate his climbing only to *** on him and his team.

Exactly. He rides to his strenghts. And that is a short burst of power at the end of the stage, on shorter very steep climbs and in the TTs. He is not the Contador/Froome type of climber where he would attack 10k to go on a MTF, drop everyone and just keep increasing the gap. When it comes to long, sustained climbing efforts there are people equal or better than him - especially when he is not in top form. He will always be better at the start of each week in a GT than at the end. He will always be better in shorter stages where the pace is easier in the first part. These are his strenghts and that is what get him wins.

So why would he race the way that does not suit his qualities? So some people could be more entertained? He is paid to win races. The team know what he is good at, they utilise that and more often than not, he deliveres.

 

[ice&fire]

Prime Purito with a good TT and his own Skytrain.

His sprint yesterday and his Liege win make him more like prime Valverde than Purito

 

[Red Rick]

Exactly. He rides to his strenghts. And that is a short burst of power at the end of the stage, on shorter very steep climbs and in the TTs. He is not the Contador/Froome type of climber where he would attack 10k to go on a MTF, drop everyone and just keep increasing the gap. When it comes to long, sustained climbing efforts there are people equal or better than him - especially when he is not in top form. He will always be better at the start of each week in a GT than at the end. He will always be better in shorter stages where the pace is easier in the first part. These are his strenghts and that is what get him wins.

So why would he race the way that does not suit his qualities? So some people could be more entertained? He is paid to win races. The team know what he is good at, they utilise that and more often than not, he deliveres.

There have been some cases where I he could've probably just dropped everyone solo, but you know those because when he takes off he immedaitelly takes a heap of time. Col de Portet in the Dauphine and Moncalvillo come to mind.

 

[Sciatic]

Carapaz almost pulled it out with a late surge in the absentee ballots votes.
You have to understand for those of us over here, everything these last 4 days through the prism of vote counting and returns from outlying precincts

 

[Eclipse]

On a different topic - How long before FDJ consider shifting their focus a bit more towards Gaudu? Another really good ride from him today.

Perhaps a concerted focus on the Vuelta next season and see how he goes with a bit more support and without being leaned on at Le Tour?

 

[Blanco]

Roglic is the winner, Carapaz is the fastest.

No. Roglic is the winner because he's the fastest.

 

[ice&fire]

Carapaz almost pulled it out with a late surge in the absentee ballots votes.

Yeah, for a while I thought that watching the ballot count would be more exciting than this race

 

[Forever The Best]

Well, Roglic struggling wasn't surprising. He has been operating at an extremely high level since L'Ain/Dauphine. Won the National Champs RR against Pogacar, won L'Ain against strong competition, would have won Dauphine without the crash in the penultimate stage, was 2nd in Tour, was 6th in WCRR, won LBL and now he is doing the Vuelta. The route and an easier final week helped him, but still a very impressive job by him to lead the Vuelta heading into the parade stage.

Also, Carapaz should have attacked earlier, perhaps that could've been the difference.

 

[Fuente De]

I can understand Movistar is annoyed they were constantly getting marauded by Ineos, but Carapaz is a guy with a financially not brilliant or secure family background, so money might mean something different to him than for a slightly spoiled European, and also Movistar did not really show enormous trust in him, so I can understand his decision.

Dude is a national hero in Ecuador after the Giro, so probably a lot safer than most cyclists.

 

[ice&fire]

No. Roglic is the winner because he's the fastest.

He's the winner according to the race rules.
He's not the fastest in the strict physical sense of the word.

 

[Billie]

His sprint yesterday and his Liege win make him more like prime Valverde than Purito

His Liege win can only be referenced to Fondriest

 

[Forever The Best]

I'm sure Pogacar just dropped himself on Col de La Loze.

Yeah Roglic was actually the strongest in the Alps in my opinion. He was stronger than Pogacar on Loze and he was the strongest on Glieres imo. That TT from Pogacar just came out of nowhere.

 

[broppo]

Ineos did more harm to Carapaz than Unzue's boys. They denied him a Giro win and brought a Froome knife to a Jumbo gun fight.

yeah pathetic, they just needed to give him one more climber and he would have finished it, kwiatkowski or Moscon would have been enough

 

[Sciatic]

Today’s finale reminded me of Quintana pulling time back from Froome on Alpe d’huez and for a moment it seemed like it might be possible, until realizing they were going to run out of road.