Vuelta a España Vuelta a España 2020: Stage 7 (Vitoria-Gasteiz > Villanueva de Valdegovia, 159,7 km)

[fbjim]

Valverde was by far the favorite in the group sprint. The correct move was to hold energy for attacks, and compel Valverde to pull. Driving pace in that group is just playing into Valverde's hands there.

What a bizarre argument. What was he supposed to do, carry the reduced bunch to the line so he could lose?

 

[Koronin]

Valverde was by far the favorite in the group sprint. The correct move was to hold energy for attacks, and compel Valverde to pull. Driving pace in that group is just playing into Valverde's hands there.

What a bizarre argument. What was he supposed to do, carry the reduced bunch to the line so he could lose?

He was supposed to pull through like the other riders were doing.

 

[fbjim]

Or he could ride to win from an attack instead of riding negatively. Which is virtually always the correct move if you have next to zero chance to win a reduced sprint.

 

[fbjim]

Am I the only one who is suddenly reminded of stage 5 of the 2018 Paris-Nice? Cousin away with Politt, Cousin refused to work, in the end attacked and won. I don't seem to have noticed any indication that Cousin is super unpopular with everyone in the peloton...




Oh, come on! In the Vuelta you run your own rider over, and then he wins!

honestly, any time in a 2-rider break where one rider sits on another forever toward the finish (excepting obvious situations like a sprinter towing a non-sprinter, where it's more or less accepted) makes me laugh. Like, dude, nothing is compelling you to pull the wheelsucker. Call the bluff and start soft-pedaling! See if he's really less scared of getting caught by the breakaway than you are!

 

[Cian]

He was well below part long BEFORE the interruption started.
Also Carthy DROPPED two spots today. Thus proving that his supposed being so worried about Valverde was the WRONG person to be worried about. Actually since Carthy LOST time and LOST the podium what Woods did actually HURT his teammate.

How did Woods winning a stage hurt his teammate?
Carthy is quite clearly one of the 4 strongest riders in the race and was right to defend his GC position.

 

[Koronin]

How did Woods winning a stage hurt his teammate?
Carthy is quite clearly one of the 4 strongest riders in the race and was right to defend his GC position.

Woods literally did NOTHING to help Carthy in stage 7. NOTHING. Woods did everything to help HIMSELF only. If Woods was helping Carthy then he needed to be back in the peloton helping Ineos pull. He was in the break looking out for his OWN interests.

 

[Cian]

Woods literally did NOTHING to help Carthy in stage 7. NOTHING. Woods did everything to help HIMSELF only. If Woods was helping Carthy then he needed to be back in the peloton helping Ineos pull. He was in the break looking out for his OWN interests.

He combined his interests with Carthy's.
He went for the stage win himself but did not help someone who could possibly be a rival to his team leader. Once again, there was no benefit to working with Valverde.

 

[Koronin]

He combined his interests with Carthy's.
He went for the stage win himself but did not help someone who could possibly be a rival to his team leader. Once again, there was no benefit to working with Valverde.

Except he did not. Again Valverde is not good enough in the mountains to contend for GC. If they truly think Valverde is a threat to Carthy then by definition they do not believe Carthy is good enough to podium. It's really that simple. If he told the TRUTH which was I didn't work because I can't win if I do, then he wouldn't be shoveling a BS excuse that does not fly.

 

[Cian]

Except he did not. Again Valverde is not good enough in the mountains to contend for GC. If they truly think Valverde is a threat to Carthy then by definition they do not believe Carthy is good enough to podium. It's really that simple. If he told the TRUTH which was I didn't work because I can't win if I do, then he wouldn't be shoveling a BS excuse that does not fly.

Gifting a RIDER who HAS podiumed 7 Vueltas INCLUDING last YEARS time IS not a CLEVER move.
Valverdes FORM hasn't BEEN great but that DOESN'T guarantee HE can't improve.

 

[Leinster]

He was well below part long BEFORE the interruption started.
Also Carthy DROPPED two spots today. Thus proving that his supposed being so worried about Valverde was the WRONG person to be worried about. Actually since Carthy LOST time and LOST the podium what Woods did actually HURT his teammate.

Carthy dropped 2 spots, but all that means is he swapped places with the reigning Vuelta champion. He's still sitting in 4th place, closer in time to 1st than 5th. Valverde is one of 3 Movistar riders who are all less than 3 minutes behind Carthy, and it's likely that one or more of them will gain significant time on him on some upcoming stages, not least of which the TT. It would not be a good idea on Woods' part to help any of those Movistar riders in any way.

 

[Koronin]

Carthy dropped 2 spots, but all that means is he swapped places with the reigning Vuelta champion. He's still sitting in 4th place, closer in time to 1st than 5th. Valverde is one of 3 Movistar riders who are all less than 3 minutes behind Carthy, and it's likely that one or more of them will gain significant time on him on some upcoming stages, not least of which the TT. It would not be a good idea on Woods' part to help any of those Movistar riders in any way.

If Valverde wasn't in that break yesterday he's be about 4 minutes down after losing another minute today. Also the 3 riders ahead of Carthy proved today they CAN drop him on climbs. Mas and Soler may very well gain time on Carthy, Valverde's climbing has not proven he can do anything. If they are worried about Valverde being 3 and a half minutes down currently and likely a good bit more down by the TT and beating Carthy then, Carthy has a lot more problems.

Gifting a RIDER who HAS podiumed 7 Vueltas INCLUDING last YEARS time IS not a CLEVER move.
Valverdes FORM hasn't BEEN great but that DOESN'T guarantee HE can't improve.

Except it actually DOES mean he can't improve at all this year. He's known for his consistency NOT for being able to improve form once races start. Literally ANY thing to attempt to agree with Woods' BS excuse is a huge reach. Again Valverde himself did NOT accept the excuse, he only acknowledged it as lame.

 

[Cian]

If Valverde wasn't in that break yesterday he's be about 4 minutes down after losing another minute today. Also the 3 riders ahead of Carthy proved today they CAN drop him on climbs. Mas and Soler may very well gain time on Carthy, Valverde's climbing has not proven he can do anything. If they are worried about Valverde being 3 and a half minutes down currently and likely a good bit more down by the TT and beating Carthy then, Carthy has a lot more problems.




Except it actually DOES mean he can't improve at all this year. He's known for his consistency NOT for being able to improve form once races start. Literally ANY thing to attempt to agree with Woods' BS excuse is a huge reach. Again Valverde himself did NOT accept the excuse, he only acknowledged it as lame.

It is clear we are not going to agree so I will stop repeating myself.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

If Valverde wasn't in that break yesterday he's be about 4 minutes down after losing another minute today. Also the 3 riders ahead of Carthy proved today they CAN drop him on climbs. Mas and Soler may very well gain time on Carthy, Valverde's climbing has not proven he can do anything. If they are worried about Valverde being 3 and a half minutes down currently and likely a good bit more down by the TT and beating Carthy then, Carthy has a lot more problems.

Stage 1: 21st +37"
Stage 4: 30th +21"
Stage 6: 10th +26"
Stage 9: 23rd +1'07"
Stage 11: 23rd +40"
Stage 14: 1st
Stage 15: 17th +1'32"
GC position after 2 weeks: 7th, +4'52"...

Somehow I don't think Dumoulin (2nd on GC) would have been happy had one of his teammates collaborated with that guy in a breakaway.

 

[Anderis]

I can't believe this whole thing is still being discussed.

 

[Netserk]

But you have to understand, it is simply IMPOSSIBLE for Valverde to completely drop out of the GC and lose 30 minutes. IT CANNOT BE DONE.

 

[Koronin]

But you have to understand, it is simply IMPOSSIBLE for Valverde to completely drop out of the GC and lose 30 minutes. IT CANNOT BE DONE.

I agree with that. His brain and body won't allow him to do that. At this point it's even possible that if brain wanted to his body would just react anyway.

 

[Fernandez]

If Valverde wasn't in that break yesterday he's be about 4 minutes down after losing another minute today. Also the 3 riders ahead of Carthy proved today they CAN drop him on climbs. Mas and Soler may very well gain time on Carthy, Valverde's climbing has not proven he can do anything. If they are worried about Valverde being 3 and a half minutes down currently and likely a good bit more down by the TT and beating Carthy then, Carthy has a lot more problems.




Except it actually DOES mean he can't improve at all this year. He's known for his consistency NOT for being able to improve form once races start. Literally ANY thing to attempt to agree with Woods' BS excuse is a huge reach. Again Valverde himself did NOT accept the excuse, he only acknowledged it as lame.

Valverde has NOT said anything about Woods.

 

[Blanco]

Valverde has NOT said anything about Woods.

Yeah, but he DID NOT congratulate Woods on the win (we of course have no idea whether this is true..), and he usually ALWAYS does that (again, we don't know if this is true), so that means that he did NOT ACCEPT Woods excuse, but only acknowledged it as lame (which means Valverde probably isn't mad at all, but we, his fans, certainly know he is!)

 

[Fernandez]

Valverde: "Ganar es el doble de difícil cuando todos te miran"

El murciano, el más combativo del día, terminó tercero en Villanueva de Valdegovía tras Woods y Omar Fraile en una potente fuga que se jugó el triunfo.

as.com

Actually Valverde did congratulate Woods for the win.
About Woods excuse he said that he didnt care about it and that he was only thinking about the win.