Vuelta a España Vuelta a España 2021: Stage 20 (Sanxenxo - Castro de Herville, 202.2 km)

[Rackham]

Congratulations to Clément Champoussin for taking the stage win.

It was not a gift this one was a steal. As for the stage. Imagine Roglič would not made the effort to close the gap. Some serious time could get lost as Ineos going all in with Yates. Baharain profited the most with Mäder taking the white jersey and Haig staying on the GC podium. Considering the strength of Baharain it's a shame Landa wasn't in a good shape. As soon as they deliver in this aspect Baharain will become a force to be recon with on any GT race. Too bad Valverde wasn't around to discipline López (fan style). Then López would finish the race. Some great mano-a-mano action at the end of the race.

Roglič strong.

Adam Yates made a huge mistake in this stage.

Just back in the Tour of UAE this year, he put 19 seconds into Jack Haig over 13km. So instead of playing games with Roglic & Mas for a stage win (which he would always lose against the superior puncheur Roglic), he was the one who needed to drill it all the way to the line as fast & hard as possible to distance Haig to make a final podium spot more attainable in today's final TT.

 

[CyclistAbi]

If we are talking about the stage win then i agree racing for second place is not the best strategy. Doing disservice to mano-a-mano type of action the big four has put on. No risk, no glory.

As for the rest. Yates did a rather good job on this years Vuelta and with a bit of luck the tactical move Ineos made could win them the race.

 

[Sciatic]

If we are talking about the stage win then i agree racing for second place is not the best strategy. Doing disservice to mano-a-mano type of action the big four has put on. No risk, no glory.

As for the rest. Yates did a rather good job on this years Vuelta and with a bit of luck the tactical move Ineos made could win them the race.

I don’t understand: what tactics could possibly get one of the Ineos to finish ahead of Roglic? If Roglic wasn’t already in such a commanding position he could rather easily taken more time out of the others, especially yesterday.

 

[CyclistAbi]

If Roglič would have stay behind with Mas and Bernal then he would be in trouble. Tactically hence Ineos made a good move when they tried to go all in with Yates.

As Jack Haig doesn't have a dedicated thread i will congratulate him for the podium position in this thread. As he secured it on this stage and that moment when he showed Padun where he needs to position himself. That was just gold.

 

[Sciatic]

If Roglič would have stay behind with Mas and Bernal then he would be in trouble. Tactically hence Ineos made a good move when they tried to go all in with Yates.

As Jack Haig doesn't have a dedicated thread i will congratulate him for the podium position in this thread. As he secured it on this stage and that moment when he showed Padun where he needs to position himself. That was just gold.

Credit to Haig, but it was his 3 strongman teammates in front that got him on the podium, and shaped the rest of the action in that stage as well. It’s a team sport!

 

[CyclistAbi]

Exactly. Now imagine Yates would be there and Roglič would be not.

 

[Sciatic]

Exactly. Now imagine Yates would be there and Roglič would be not.
[/QUOTE
Sorry; while I am game for discussing different scenarios that could have played out in key moments of a race, I'm not interested in rethinking the action with a different roster at the start. That leads to futile what ifs: what if Froome hadn't crashed and was here going for another Vuelta title? What if Lopez didn't get sick with COVID? What if COVID never happened. I know those are exaggerations, but my point is once you start removing people, or mountains, or gravel as if they were never there--well, therbecome way too many rabbit holes to go down.

 

[CyclistAbi]

No my point was for both being there. Roglič missing out the chance to chase down the gap. In that case Roglič could have lost a couple of minutes to Yates.

Hence the original point. It was a nice tactical idea from Ineos. To go all in with Yates. It didn't pan out for them but still a nice idea.