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

[Carols]

He hasn't won nearly as many one day races or one week races. Nor does he even have a Worlds podium. Yes he got started later. (Valverde had his first GT podium at 23 years old.)

He's only been racing for 5 years not 19!

 

[Koronin]

He's only been racing for 5 years not 19!

Well Valverde's first Worlds podium was in his 2nd year as a pro and his first attempt at the Worlds.
Valverde's first 5 seasons includes 2 Vuelta podiums, 2 Worlds podiums, 1 LBL win, 1 FW win (along with the ardennes double) plus a bunch of other stuff. All that by the age of 26. No Roglic won't race as long, heck very few riders will race as long. This is part of where those insane longevity records Valverde holds likely won't be touched for a long time if ever.

 

[TMJ]

What the hell was that BORA rider doing killing himself in front of Jumbo Visma at the start of the final climb?

He had no teammate behind him, no chance of winning the stage.

What the heck was going on? Anybody?

 

[Frosty]

What the hell was that BORA rider doing killing himself in front of Jumbo Visma at the start of the final climb?

He had no teammate behind him, no chance of winning the stage.

What the heck was going on? Anybody?

Grossschartner (Bora) was in the favourites group and 7th before the stage on GC but losing time to de la cruz and gaudu who were both up the road. Grossschartner ended up 9th overall on GC after the stage, 30 seconds behind Gaudu and 40 seconds behind De La Cruz. I therefore assume the Bora rider was riding to protect Grossschartner's GC place but it was a bit late.

 

[richwallone]

Loving Chris Horner Absolutely "crapping" on Jumbo Visma tactics today... Luckily, they made it with Roglic still in the red and no one will question them about it:

View: https://youtu.be/tlxWLMRevjg

 

[movingtarget]

Good rides by the top 3. Too close for comfort. Roglic has podiumed his last four grand tours but the final few stages always seem to be a struggle for him. Chris Froome said before the final week of the Tour that Roglic's form often seems to tail off in the third week but I guess you could say that about a lot of riders. I thought Roglic looked much better in last year's Vuelta. Looking at the race margins for this year's GTs there can't have been many other years where the three races were so close on time.

Looking at the proposed route for next year's Tour, it seems to be a good one for the GC riders that have a strong TT. I think Pinot should ride the Giro. Quintana, Lopez and Landa should as well. Dumoulin should like the Tour course but may prefer to do the Giro as leader. Be interesting to see what Ineos do with Carapaz. Dennis will have to be included in the Tour team you would think along with Porte.

 

[yaco]

Good rides by the top 3. Too close for comfort. Roglic has podiumed his last four grand tours but the final few stages always seem to be a struggle for him. Chris Froome said before the final week of the Tour that Roglic's form often seems to tail off in the third week but I guess you could say that about a lot of riders. I thought Roglic looked much better in last year's Vuelta. Looking at the race margins for this year's GTs there can't have been many other years where the three races were so close on time.

Looking at the proposed route for next year's Tour, it seems to be a good one for the GC riders that have a strong TT. I think Pinot should ride the Giro. Quintana, Lopez and Landa should as well. Dumoulin should like the Tour course but may prefer to do the Giro as leader. Be interesting to see what Ineos do with Carapaz. Dennis will have to be included in the Tour team you would think along with Porte.

Dennis will ride the Giro to prepare for the Olympics.

 

[movingtarget]

Dennis will ride the Giro to prepare for the Olympics.

Forgot about the Olympics. I guess the Giro will have a better field next year then but I think the extra TT kms would have deterred a few of the GC riders anyway. Thomas will want to return to the Tour but it will depend on what happens with Bernal and Carapaz.

 

[Blanco]

I don't get it. How are Pogačar and Valverde comparable type of riders, when one of the very few things Valverde knew was out of reach for him, was winning the Tour. And it never looked like he was coming close to the Tour victory either. On the other hand, Pogačar has won the Tour in his first attempt.

With Roglič there are more similarities for now, but Roglič is a better TT rider than Valverde ever was and a better climber over 2000m. That makes him a better GT rider in my opinion.

Rogla is a far better ITT-er, Bala was faster then Rogla ever was, as for the climbing ability, I think peak Bala is very close to Roglic, maybe even at that level.
I mean imagine Valverde having an ITT like Roglic, I guess he would add one or two GT victories to his palmares...

 

[topt]

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.

why would you take them away, why not give 20 sec instead of 10, you know its damn hard to win a stage

 

[topt]

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

you sure about that ? did you check every stage when they both crossed the line, you know cause of the cycling rules ?

 

[Krzysztof_O]

Loving Chris Horner Absolutely "crapping" on Jumbo Visma tactics today... Luckily, they made it with Roglic still in the red and no one will question them about it:

View: https://youtu.be/tlxWLMRevjg

Grandpa Horner, what a legend! Peaking at the age of 42 to win La Vuelta.

 

[tobydawq]

Loving Chris Horner Absolutely "crapping" on Jumbo Visma tactics today... Luckily, they made it with Roglic still in the red and no one will question them about it:

View: https://youtu.be/tlxWLMRevjg

It's hard to disagree with him. He is smarter than he sounds

 

[Valv.Piti]

Roglic is not comparable with Valverde in the way that Roglic is a far superior climber and tt-er than Valverde ever was, even in peak.
Roglic is comparable to Valverde in the way that Roglic has a good sprint on both flat and hilly terrain, far superior to every other GC riders and can even contend with good punchers.
Roglic is not comparable with Valverde in the way that his sprint is good enough to beat the likes of Alaphilippe (unless they cheer too early)

No way Roglic is a far superior climber to peak Valverde uphill. On his day it was almost impossible to get rid of Valverde.

Anyways, too all the danes: Dont you feel that TV2 has become more and more unwatchable, specifically Rolf Sørensen? Hes angry all the time, and the guy must absolutely loathe Movistar with all the hate he spews towards that team and their tactics... I feel like Chris is the only guy I actually want to listen to when tuning in.

 

[RedheadDane]

Anyways, too all the danes: Dont you feel that TV2 has become more and more unwatchable, specifically Rolf Sørensen? Hes angry all the time, and the guy must absolutely loathe Movistar with all the hate he spews towards that team and their tactics... I feel like Chris is the only guy I actually want to listen to when tuning in.

I'm okay with it. Better than Eurosport, anyway. Even with the uninterrupted coverage on the Player.

 

[tobydawq]

No way Roglic is a far superior climber to peak Valverde uphill. On his day it was almost impossible to get rid of Valverde.

Anyways, too all the danes: Dont you feel that TV2 has become more and more unwatchable, specifically Rolf Sørensen? Hes angry all the time, and the guy must absolutely loathe Movistar with all the hate he spews towards that team and their tactics... I feel like Chris is the only guy I actually want to listen to when tuning in.

No, I love Rolf.

 

[RedheadDane]

No, I love Rolf.

He just seems to expect big attacks with 200 Ks to go every day, even on a 30 K ITT stage!

 

[Valv.Piti]

No, I love Rolf.

Well I used to do so aswell, but the last couple of years I feel like hes fallen off. For example yesterday he got so angry at Ineos for not bringing the break back when it was obvious to everyone and their mom that they dont have any team to do it.

 

[RedheadDane]

Well I used to do so aswell, but the last couple of years I feel like hes fallen off. For example yesterday he got so angry at Ineos for not bringing the break back when it was obvious to everyone and their mom that they dont have any team to do it.

My biggest issue was how he keeps complaining when riders are delegated for dangerous sprinting; the constant "back in my days." Well, back in your days someone didn't recently almost die, right, Rolf?

 

[Valv.Piti]

My biggest issue was how he keeps complaining when riders are delegated for dangerous sprinting; the constant "back in my days." Well, back in your days someone didn't recently almost die, right, Rolf?

Yes, hes downplaying that really hard as well. "Let boys be boys"-rhetoric, "these are some real gladiators" etc. Its really getting to me, I cant help it. Im going Eurosport next year.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Grossschartner (Bora) was in the favourites group and 7th before the stage on GC but losing time to de la cruz and gaudu who were both up the road. Grossschartner ended up 9th overall on GC after the stage, 30 seconds behind Gaudu and 40 seconds behind De La Cruz. I therefore assume the Bora rider was riding to protect Grossschartner's GC place but it was a bit late.

The bora rider has a name btw. Ide Schelling.

 

[IndurainsTdF1994]

The bora rider has a name btw. Ide Schelling.

Is this you Ide?

 

[Cannavaro]

Loving Chris Horner Absolutely "crapping" on Jumbo Visma tactics today... Luckily, they made it with Roglic still in the red and no one will question them about it:

View: https://youtu.be/tlxWLMRevjg

He makes a lot of assumptions without evidence. If his assumptions are right, than his analysis is great, if they are wrong it is rubbish. The assumption that missing Hofstede killed the rest of the Jumbo squad seems grotesque to me. Also that Hofstede meeting Roglic at the flatter section should be pure luck is questionable. It is not forbidden to look back or ask for time gaps. He is not a Lemming (maybe some people here still know the computergame).
But his task is to get as many clicks as possible and he is definitely good in that.
(By the way I must have missed the thick forests around Formigal)

 

[Netserk]

No way Roglic is a far superior climber to peak Valverde uphill. On his day it was almost impossible to get rid of Valverde.

Anyways, too all the danes: Dont you feel that TV2 has become more and more unwatchable, specifically Rolf Sørensen? Hes angry all the time, and the guy must absolutely loathe Movistar with all the hate he spews towards that team and their tactics... I feel like Chris is the only guy I actually want to listen to when tuning in.

Chris Anker I like the least. And Rolf is certainly far better than Holm, still. Bay is great, and I also really like the voice of Ritter. Worre is surprisingly good, I think.

But of course, no one gets anywhere near Bastian Emil Goldschmidt. Get him in the booth with Bay for all coverage, thank you very much.

 

[Red Rick]

No way Roglic is a far superior climber to peak Valverde uphill. On his day it was almost impossible to get rid of Valverde.

Anyways, too all the danes: Dont you feel that TV2 has become more and more unwatchable, specifically Rolf Sørensen? Hes angry all the time, and the guy must absolutely loathe Movistar with all the hate he spews towards that team and their tactics... I feel like Chris is the only guy I actually want to listen to when tuning in.

On his day Valverde was never good enough in the mountains to be close to winning the Giro or Tour. Roglic in the 2020 Tour and 2019 Vuelta was better uphill than Valverde ever was.