Vuelta a España Vuelta a España 2021: Stage 15 (Navalmoral de la Mata - El Barraco, 197.5 km)

[Andy262]

Good to see Wanty making a good show of controlling the race, even if everyone else was out for a Sunday morning ride. Really not sure what Meintjes tactics are though. He seems to be the Sepp Kuss of Wanty.

 

[Lequack]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1431905015006957574

View: https://twitter.com/MorcuendeT/status/1431905015006957574

 

[jmdirt]

Congrats RM! 90K is a tough solo!

 

[Tricycle Rider]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1431905015006957574

View: https://twitter.com/MorcuendeT/status/1431905015006957574

Hell yeah, Rock-n-Roll!

 

[yaco]

So far the Vuelta is rivalling the Giro as the poorest GT' of 2021.- Unusually, the TDF has clearly been the best GT of 2021.

 

[Lequack]

It's not Eikings fault that no one wants to attack him.

 

[tobydawq]

So far the Vuelta is rivalling the Giro as the poorest GT' of 2021.- Unusually, the TDF has clearly been the best GT of 2021.

Hmm, yeah, and the best stage in the Giro was not for us mere mortals to see...

 

[Escarabajo]

It's not Eikings fault that no one wants to attack him.

I am not sure the other GC contenders care about Eiking or Martin for that matter.

 

[Lequack]

They didn't care about Carapaz as well, and then he won the Giro.

 

[JosefK]

The Vuelta this year still has the potential for much more exciting GC battles than the Giro or TDF. --Note, I said "potential for." -- Doesn't mean it won't be a snoozer in the end.

 

[Escarabajo]

They didn't care about Carapaz as well, and then he won the Giro.

I like your positivism about Eiking!
But I don't think he is as talented as Carapaz.

 

[Sciatic]

By stage 6 I think they wanted to keep Dumoulin up in GC at least and he was on a really bad day or something. Given Pogacar was 2nd on stage 4 I don't see any reason to think he would've just dropped Poggers there.

As for the Peyresourde, Roglic responded twice to Pogacar, he can be weak and still close down an attack or two. But perhaps he could've dropped less than 40s there.

If anything I think the biggest tactical mistake in that Tour was racing Port de Bales and the bottom of the Peyresourde so hard. Part of that was on Dumoulin.

The 2nd mistake was probably that Roglic didn't train his ITT enough during that year. Maybe in combination these mistakes make a difference of a minute.

Clearly the biggest mistake was Nairo not going with Pogacar on Peyresourde! So what if he would have blown up trying to stay with Pog, he still had his good form from the spring and should have known he would be crashing several times in the next few days and never again a factor

And to not stray too far from the gist of this 2020 Tour discussion, it’s a shame for all of us Nairo didn’t try to follow Pog, because certainly Roglic would then have followed his wheel and we would have been treated to the drama of seeing how long Roglic could hand in there with Pogacar’s record breaking pace.
Yup, more what ifs . . .

 

[gregrowlerson]

I bring shocking news!

Majka has been given the Fighter Prize! I repeat: Rafal Majka has been given the Fighter Prize! Not a Spaniard.

They misread his name as Rafael rather than Rafal.

 

[Sciatic]

Hell yeah, Rock-n-Roll!

The old Greenedge team would have loved that (if you remember some of their race videos)!

 

[Tricycle Rider]

The old Greenedge team would have loved that (if you remember some of their race videos)!

You mean they would have loved the old AC/DC?

Why do you think they don't love it now?

 

[Sciatic]

You mean they would have loved the old AC/DC?

Why do you think they don't love it now?

Good point, they probably do still love it. I just don’t If the playful/spirited ambiance that seemed to be present (at least going by their videos) in that old Greenedge bunch still exists.

View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ow2T_HCbMhc

 

[gregrowlerson]

Poor Reijnen. After he DNFed - and got confused with Elissonde - they made him walk home in his socks!

Trek - It's about the journey, not the destination. After all, you may not make it there.

 

[gregrowlerson]

Back to the 2020 Tour: I don't think Perysourde was that big a deal. Roglic didn't lose that much time, and I don't think that he hangs onto Pogacar that day. Perhaps he could/should have gone with Porte/Landa and worked with them; in which case that group may have held off the rest, and lost a little less time to Pogacar.

The biggest tactical mistake of that race (or at least what if) concerning the 2 Slovenians was Pog in the crosswinds on stage 7....but because of his strength in the final time trial, he got away with it.

 

[Red Rick]

Back to the 2020 Tour: I don't think Perysourde was that big a deal. Roglic didn't lose that much time, and I don't think that he hangs onto Pogacar that day. Perhaps he could/should have gone with Porte/Landa and worked with them; in which case that group may have held off the rest, and lost a little less time to Pogacar.

The biggest tactical mistake of that race (or at least what if) concerning the 2 Slovenians was Pog in the crosswinds on stage 7....but because of his strength in the final time trial, he got away with it.

I think another "problem" for Jumbo was that while their team was dominant, Dumoulin dropped too much time too early and wasn't quite good enough to be tactical leverage over Pogacar.

 

[RedheadDane]

Back to the 2021 Vuelta!

Yesterday's stage is a reason I'm all for as much full-stage coverage as possible. Imagine if we'd only been allowed to watch the last 100ish Ks of the stage!

 

[Red Rick]

Back to the 2021 Vuelta!

Yesterday's stage is a reason I'm all for as much full-stage coverage as possible. Imagine if we'd only been allowed to watch the last 100ish Ks of the stage!

The problem a lot of stages have is that the formation of the breakaway can easily be the most interesting thing all day.

 

[CyclistAbi]

Congratulations to Rafał Majka for taking the stage win.

Majka and Kruijswijk have put on a good show. In my opinion Kruijswijk should get more such opportunities in the future and to capitalise on some. As for JV tactics. They are racing like a seasoned professionals on this race. Good job.

As for TDF 2020. The only thing that could have made a difference would have been having a crystal ball. The rest wouldn't have had worked.