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Vuelta a España Vuelta a España 2021: Stage 17 (Unquera - Lagos de Covadonga, 185.8 km)

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So... fun stage... but then I just looked at the results and was a bit disappointed to realize that apart from Martin and Eiking expectedly dropping and Vlasov dropping due to his crash nothing at all happened in the standings... :oops:
So, I guess we will see the effects tomorrow instead.
 
I'm honestly not as high on Angliru anymore, because it's effectively like 6km
I guess it depends a lot on how climbs are ridden. The first half of the Gamoniteiru could be an absolute bloodbath which the first half of the Angliru is a lot less likely to be. Then again I think it's possible to more or less "softpedal" the Gamoniteiru until they are already relatively close to the finish because it never has those completely ridiculous gradients which will always make the race explode like on the Angliru.
 
The 2012 Mortirolo side might be up there if they had ridden it all the way to the top, but iirc they started descending 2 km before the pass. It was still a brutal climb, but I don't think as hard as the Gamoniteiru.
I've climbed worse stuff than the Gamoniteiru (Zoncolan from Ovaro and the old road to Oberbozen https://www.cronoescalada.com/index.php/puertos/view/3411)
It's a super hard climb, but I'm not a fan of adding a few extra steep kms on top of an already good climb. The fact that the central part of the climb is not so steep and the final km the steepest one is usually an indicator that the racing won't be great, but after today we should get big gaps.
 
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I guess it depends a lot on how climbs are ridden. The first half of the Gamoniteiru could be an absolute bloodbath which the first half of the Angliru is a lot less likely to be. Then again I think it's possible to more or less "softpedal" the Gamoniteiru until they are already relatively close to the finish because it never has those completely ridiculous gradients which will always make the race explode like on the Angliru.

The problem with Angliru is that nowadays it is often ridden in a very passive way where everyone is reluctant to race hard early on due to the hardest part at the end. And then at the hard part it's almost too steep to be decisive so that the gaps often are way smaller than expected for a climb of this caliber.
 
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It really bothers me on a day like this that when Rogla got the red jersey on the podium, he just appeared already wearing it. It's much cooler when we actually see the rider getting the jersey on.
That’s a COVID precaution? When they put on the jersey on the podium (in the past) the podium helpers stood much closer to the rider to help him get the jersey on.
 
I guess it depends a lot on how climbs are ridden. The first half of the Gamoniteiru could be an absolute bloodbath which the first half of the Angliru is a lot less likely to be. Then again I think it's possible to more or less "softpedal" the Gamoniteiru until they are already relatively close to the finish because it never has those completely ridiculous gradients which will always make the race explode like on the Angliru.
I would, at least before today's stage, have laid good odds on little occurring before they pass Cobertoria, similar to when they first introduced Bola del Mundo and all the action came after Navacerrada, or Cuitu Negru atop Pajáres. Even if Cobertoria east is already a very tough climb, it's on wide, well paved roads that the péloton will have done before (albeit not that often as it's the side frequently descended).

However, typical expectations would have had today as being a shootout on Los Lagos because of the fear of Gamoniteiru tomorrow, and that obviously did not happen. Collada Llomena is not that much tougher than Mirador del Fito, but it's new, and it offers opportunities. Holy 2011 Tour, Batman, a race is breaking out!

I have to say that when I looked at the stage profile, I was reminded of the 2010 Cotobello stage due to the two steep climbs mid stage then the lengthy false flat down and up before the final climb, however that was at the end of the mountain trifecta and not at as difficult or iconic a climb as this so I didn't expect as much. But that stage gave us the Euskaltel Team Time Trial as they dragged Nieve to the front to salvage the race now that Igor Antón had crashed out. This was like that stage, only if Fuji had still been there, and had gone on that move that Nieve did. With Nieve as his helper. OK, so it wasn't the team masterstroke of, say, Heras on Pajáres, but I did think of the 2011 Tour here, as after two weeks of grumbling, we suddenly get an epic, Primož Roglič gets a proper signature ride, Bernal wins the hearts and minds battle, and Movistar show that they can put what their men in the cars learnt from their trip to the Volta a Portugal into action.

And they're now going to have to get just as creative if they want to win this race. I have been saying, semi-seriously, all along that Movistar are in the perfect position for them, holding 2nd and 3rd, but realistically... they might just be settling for that, although if they were simply stunned into submission by Jumbo allowing Roglič to actually try to maximise gains rather than try to win by as little as possible. Their only hope now is for Roglič to collapse Yates '18 style, it would seem.
 
A spectator holding a sign in the side of the road - everybody: "how reckless - what an idiot!"
Roglic riding against the race direction on a narrow road - everybody: "he's a big champion!"
  1. It was perfectly safe, he was looking towards the oncoming riders.
  2. Short of waiting 45 minutes for the last man to finish, he had no choice, and he was doing exactly what the race organisers expected, and probably insisted upon. It happens all the time on small MTF locations.

Every other rider (except those right in the gruppetto) rode down with others climbing towards them. Is your complaint against all of them, or just Roglic?
 
I would, at least before today's stage, have laid good odds on little occurring before they pass Cobertoria, similar to when they first introduced Bola del Mundo and all the action came after Navacerrada, or Cuitu Negru atop Pajáres. Even if Cobertoria east is already a very tough climb, it's on wide, well paved roads that the péloton will have done before (albeit not that often as it's the side frequently descended).

However, typical expectations would have had today as being a shootout on Los Lagos because of the fear of Gamoniteiru tomorrow, and that obviously did not happen. Collada Llomena is not that much tougher than Mirador del Fito, but it's new, and it offers opportunities. Holy 2011 Tour, Batman, a race is breaking out!

I have to say that when I looked at the stage profile, I was reminded of the 2010 Cotobello stage due to the two steep climbs mid stage then the lengthy false flat down and up before the final climb, however that was at the end of the mountain trifecta and not at as difficult or iconic a climb as this so I didn't expect as much. But that stage gave us the Euskaltel Team Time Trial as they dragged Nieve to the front to salvage the race now that Igor Antón had crashed out. This was like that stage, only if Fuji had still been there, and had gone on that move that Nieve did. With Nieve as his helper. OK, so it wasn't the team masterstroke of, say, Heras on Pajáres, but I did think of the 2011 Tour here, as after two weeks of grumbling, we suddenly get an epic, Primož Roglič gets a proper signature ride, Bernal wins the hearts and minds battle, and Movistar show that they can put what their men in the cars learnt from their trip to the Volta a Portugal into action.

And they're now going to have to get just as creative if they want to win this race. I have been saying, semi-seriously, all along that Movistar are in the perfect position for them, holding 2nd and 3rd, but realistically... they might just be settling for that, although if they were simply stunned into submission by Jumbo allowing Roglič to actually try to maximise gains rather than try to win by as little as possible. Their only hope now is for Roglič to collapse Yates '18 style, it would seem.
Tbh I expect Bernal to just launch it in the first half tomorrow.
 
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Quite ironic- Bernal's attack while dragging Roglic along was the best gift ever to Movistar & Yates to regroup, reset & give it all out on Lagos to drop them both & gain time on Roglic ......

anyways, I'm still trying to figure Movistar's tactics (if they ever have one)
 
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Some more pics

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