Vuelta a España Vuelta a España 2021: Stage 11 (Antequera - Valdepeñas de Jaén, 133.6 km)

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Aug 5, 2009
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Roglic is very hard to beat on those types of finishes even more so when when there is no Valverde or Ala around. Impressed by Mas, Matthews was never hope on that finish.
 
Aug 5, 2009
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Roglic is undeniably the big favorite, but gotta wait on the big mountains. If Mas is this strong on short muritos, he’s going to be very hard to keep in check on Covadonga and Gomoniteiru- long steep terrain that he favors.
He usually fades a little in the third week but outside of Mas there is no one else really. Lopez will get buried by Roglic in the TT and Ineos are not looking like race changers more like passengers.
 
Sep 26, 2020
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True. But I can't really think of a set circumstances where the last climb would have been done much slower.

And now I think they won't be able to control the stage tomorrow, although perhaps they were not planning to

Well it would definitely have made more sense for them to go for the stage tomorrow, either from the peloton or from the break, just like I still think is the case for Cort.

He didn't...

Yes, because Mas didn't have the from he has now. Are we going to get stuck in a loop here?
 
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Mar 11, 2009
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If Mas had this form when he rode the TDF, then Vingegaard probably would have finished 3rd.

Which is a real head scratcher for me. He undoubtedly needs to enter the season with a higher base. I’m a Mas fan, but it looks like he was slowly brought up to hit the TDF in good form and hold it for La Vuelta. If he wants to challenge for the podium or compete with Pogacar, he needs to be competing for wins by País Vasco, not slowly building up.
 
Nov 16, 2013
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I didn't really get what Eiking was doing. A decent position at the bottom and he could have been third on the stage, I think... Indteas he was just sitting at the very back all the time and then floated past a lot of riders on the final straight.
 
Jul 13, 2012
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I feel like Mas needs 2 minutes on Roglic in the time trial and even that's tight. Assuming he'll lose before 17/18, he could need to gain 3 minutes on Roglic there to win this race. I'm not sure he can do that unless Lopez is willing to go 100% for Mas cos if Roglic is suffering, he'll likely have Kuss at least with him to help.
 
Aug 3, 2015
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Mas will probably be a Tour-Vuelta lifer like Sastre, doing both races in great condition and riding for top 1-5 the next many years and not be seen that much outside of those races. But they should definitely look at this buildup - I assume the Tour is still the most important race for the team, so if youd choose between what race you'd peak for, it should be the Tour and try to do the Vuelta at 95%. This year its the other way around.

Dont know if he should contest Catalunya and Pais Vasco, but he should definitely be better at Dauphine
 
Jul 4, 2009
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If you don't try, you've already lost.

If you go after everything, you will lose.

Matthews can’t win on steep 2 kilometer climbs, especially not with that mountain before and Jumbo and Movistar obviously going for the stage win.

He fell behind already at the bottom of the finishing climb. They should have waited for tomorrow.
 
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Jul 7, 2013
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If Mas had this form when he rode the TDF, then Vingegaard probably would have finished 3rd.

Mas was so intimidated by Pogacar on the first Alpine stage that he was afraid of following him the next day. I don't know where he would regain time lost in TTs to Vingegaard - definitely not on Ventoux or in the Pyrenees.