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

[Pinot's goat]

I just don't see enough difficulty here to change the GC results in any significant way.

Last year stage 20 did not look tough yet it created the biggest time gaps

 

[Red Rick]

The route was front loaded due to the olympics as more riders would carry their form and go to la vuelta

I like that idea. Stage 6 Tourmalet queen stage, stage 12 Angliru is really good, apart from stage 11 Farrapona.

The real problem is that week 3 just has NOTHING. Last year weak 3 was also the weakest but it was enough for riders to try really, really hard anyway.

 

[Red Rick]

Last year stage 20 did not look tough yet it created the biggest time gaps

Excluding for Poggers it didn't.

 

[Ranagazoo]

True it's hard to see anything crazy happening tomorrow, but then nothing much was expected for the penultimate stages at the Tour and the Giro either...

 

[Descender]

I guess the finishing town/regions offers must've been dire? But then why not go the other way aruond?

Even that wouldn't be an excuse (and I doubt it's true).

Puebla de Sanabria, where they finished yesterday, offers lots of possibilities.

 

[Koronin]

Last year stage 20 did not look tough yet it created the biggest time gaps

Only because Pogacar decided to attack from distance and no one thought he could pull it off. This is also the stage that the rain killed Movistar's team radios so Valverde was being told by fans on the side of the road on the final mountain how much time Pogacar had gained and he was close to losing his 2nd place on the podium and thus he had to try to chase down Pogacar and Roglic went with him. That is how you got time gaps last year.

 

[Escarabajo]

Last year Stage 20 weather was dreadful plus the teams were not as strong as Jumbo is this year.

 

[Escarabajo]

True it's hard to see anything crazy happening tomorrow, but then nothing much was expected for the penultimate stages at the Tour and the Giro either...

That's not true. ITT always produces gaps. Even if Roglic had won. Giro offered a last week where you could create huge differences if the rider were strong enough.

 

[Eyeballs Out]

Last saturday's stage was ___/\/\/\_/ with no headwind but nobody tried anything and it was a procession

Anyone who could have won the GC but ran out of hard stages only has themselves to blame

 

[Keram]

Roglic will NOT lose second GT in a row on penultimate stage. It would be also heartbreaking to see it again.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

To be fair, we're also simply seeing the final throes of an incredibly time-compressed season, with a huge number of important races thrown together back to back. It's not surprising if by the final few days of the Vuelta riders just aren't incentivised to take risks. The stage tomorrow is perfectly fine in a vacuum, but it would be best in my opinion as a stage 19 (stage 16 in this edition) with another mountain stage in the Sierra de Gredos or the Sierra de Madrid to finish tomorrow, akin to stage 20 that Dumoulin crumpled on in 2015 or the classic Ávila stages of 1983 and 1999 vintage. People could ride the mountaintop finish as the last mountaintop and just contest the last 11km or what have you, and then there'd be a stage where, if you wanted any time, you'd have to work for it, but it was there for the taking if you did want it, on stage 20 with nothing to wait for the following day.

Even maybe something like Stage 8 in 2011 or stage 19 in 2004 could work, maybe even something like Los Ángeles de San Rafael 1997. Would love to see Abantos back, just because it's not the greatest of climbs but the steepest parts are at the bottom, it's not been seen since 2007, and it's like a lesser version of Formigal in terms of always producing better racing than it deserves to.

 

[Red Rick]

That's not true. ITT always produces gaps. Even if Roglic had won. Giro offered a last week where you could create huge differences if the rider were strong enough.

When the race leader is can get dropped by a guy's domestique on a cat 2 you will always see hilarious stuff. It's not a scenario to assume will happen. The original Giro stage design was godly

 

[roundabout]

To be fair, we're also simply seeing the final throes of an incredibly time-compressed season, with a huge number of important races thrown together back to back. It's not surprising if by the final few days of the Vuelta riders just aren't incentivised to take risks. The stage tomorrow is perfectly fine in a vacuum, but it would be best in my opinion as a stage 19 (stage 16 in this edition) with another mountain stage in the Sierra de Gredos or the Sierra de Madrid to finish tomorrow, akin to stage 20 that Dumoulin crumpled on in 2015 or the classic Ávila stages of 1983 and 1999 vintage. People could ride the mountaintop finish as the last mountaintop and just contest the last 11km or what have you, and then there'd be a stage where, if you wanted any time, you'd have to work for it, but it was there for the taking if you did want it, on stage 20 with nothing to wait for the following day.

Even maybe something like Stage 8 in 2011 or stage 19 in 2004 could work, maybe even something like Los Ángeles de San Rafael 1997. Would love to see Abantos back, just because it's not the greatest of climbs but the steepest parts are at the bottom, it's not been seen since 2007, and it's like a lesser version of Formigal in terms of always producing better racing than it deserves to.

good luck getting away from the Jumbo death train on Navalmoral which has a maximum of about 8 percent and doesn't have a single km above 7

 

[Libertine Seguros]

good luck getting away from the Jumbo death train on Navalmoral which has a maximum of about 8 percent and doesn't have a single km above 7

That's why you gotta get creative. The harder climbs are further from the line. Hell, I'd actually quite like a difficult circuit race somewhere like San Lorenzo de El Escorial, doing those punchy climbs several times, that'd be fun.

Besides...

 

[roundabout]

obviously these things can not be known in advance, but against a team that can place five riders in the top 20 of a mountain stage one either

hopes they get food poisoning
has a stage finish on Bola del Mundo, Cuitu Negru other impossible murito after a long climb

attacking from far is futile

 

[Gargamel35]

Stop complaining. It was a very entertaining GT. Wish Roglič some luck and happiness after that TdF finish. It can't happen again...

 

[Ulle97]

To be fair, we're also simply seeing the final throes of an incredibly time-compressed season, with a huge number of important races thrown together back to back. It's not surprising if by the final few days of the Vuelta riders just aren't incentivised to take risks. The stage tomorrow is perfectly fine in a vacuum, but it would be best in my opinion as a stage 19 (stage 16 in this edition) with another mountain stage in the Sierra de Gredos or the Sierra de Madrid to finish tomorrow, akin to stage 20 that Dumoulin crumpled on in 2015 or the classic Ávila stages of 1983 and 1999 vintage. People could ride the mountaintop finish as the last mountaintop and just contest the last 11km or what have you, and then there'd be a stage where, if you wanted any time, you'd have to work for it, but it was there for the taking if you did want it, on stage 20 with nothing to wait for the following day.

Even maybe something like Stage 8 in 2011 or stage 19 in 2004 could work, maybe even something like Los Ángeles de San Rafael 1997. Would love to see Abantos back, just because it's not the greatest of climbs but the steepest parts are at the bottom, it's not been seen since 2007, and it's like a lesser version of Formigal in terms of always producing better racing than it deserves to.

I remember the Abantos created real problems for Ullrich in 1999.... there were attacks from Zulle, Jimenez and Heras. On paper it doesn't look like the toughest climb but the gradient is irregular and it creates exciting action.

 

[roundabout]

post Moncalvillo it has been a dreadful GT

 

[broppo]

its gonna rain tomorrow and be reasonably cold

 

[richwallone]

I just don't see enough difficulty here to change the GC results in any significant way.

The only changes I can see in the top 10 is Carthy squeezing past Carapaz into the 2nd place, and Vlasov, maybe, edging past Valverde... Otherwise, this is done

 

[Sciatic]

Maybe some of the discouragement about this stage profile (that was my initial reaction too) also derives from our knowledge that this will be the last meaningful road stage of the year (ok, except for the sprint on Sunday) And though we’ve had gotten a lot of cycling to watch these past few months, we’re (certainly I am) going to miss it. It’s been a really helpful salve as some aspects of our lockdowns continue (or start again). There have been a number of mornings In which knowing a race was “on” helped me get out of bed earlier and start the day. So I will try to watch with appreciation tomorrow, but will still be disappointed if it’s a lackluster day of racing.

 

[richwallone]

Alberto Contador: Ineos have let Richard Caparaz down
"Carapaz is playing his role and I don't think he can do much more with what his colleagues are doing. In the end when you don't achieve the goal you set out to achieve you start to question and look for explanations. Jumbo is winning without any problems and almost without any effort and that has to be analysed. ."

La Vuelta - Alberto Contador: Ineos have let Richard Caparaz down, nobody is testing Primoz Roglic

Alberto Contador believes Ineos Grenadiers have not been strong enough in their support of Richard Carapaz’s general classification challenge at La Vuelta.

www.eurosport.co.uk

So true!!! The only one who has been reliably at his side was Amador. Van Baarle did his job too, Wurf a bit... But the rest? I don't even know they were there: Golas (abandoned), Rivera and Sosa were non factors and Froome, oh well, let's just say he was being Froome... Just a great waste of a good spot in the team. But I guess being the multiple GT winner, if he wanted to be there, INEOS wouldn't say no to him... The only way he could repay to be on this team, Froome would need to be some kind of extra-terrestrial magician and help Carapaz to win it all tomorrow

EDIT: No wonder I didn't hear about Rivera at all... Just realized he also abandoned, stage 2!!!

 

[broppo]

So true!!! The only one who has been reliably at his side was Amador. Van Baarle did his job too, Wurf a bit... But the rest? I don't even know they were there: Golas (abandoned), Rivera and Sosa were non factors and Froome, oh well, let's just say he was being Froome... Just a great waste of a good spot in the team. But I guess being the multiple GT winner, if he wanted to be there, INEOS wouldn't say no to him... The only way he could repay to be on this team, Froome would need to be some kind of extra-terrestrial magician and help Carapaz to win it all tomorrow

EDIT: No wonder I didn't hear about Rivera at all... Just realized he also abandoned, stage 2!!!

froome is at least giving it all. What the hell is Sosa doing? he is getting dropped on 3% climbs with 80 people in the peloton. It is really a disgrace, I would just get rid of him if I was Ineos.

 

[Tonton]

The route was front loaded due to the olympics as more riders would carry their form and go to la vuelta

Great point and great name!

 

[Tonton]

Roglic will NOT lose second GT in a row on penultimate stage. It would be also heartbreaking to see it again.

I have seen worse...