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

[titan31]

Yates was trying to drop Haig but wasn't strong enough to do it.

MAL for some reason decided that trying to play poker with Roglic was a better bet than just attacking and hoping Roglic is on a bad day.

I mean I'd say Yates was physically strong enough to drop Haig and he had but he wasn't prepared to risk going into the red to actually finish it off. If he continued it the chances of him winning the stage would drop a lot as he wasn't beating Roglic, but he could have dropped Haig there (although tbh I'm not sure he could pull back enough to pass Haig anyway)

 

[JosefK]

Mader up to 5th on gc!

Well deserved, and earned.

 

[StryderHells]

Yes, but that sure as hell wasnt from me. I want to watch the best rider win, not some random french rider I have barely heard off

Oh come on that was really fun to watch

 

[Keram]

Ok and where is Bernal? I watched only last couple of kms.

 

[Strawberry_Jams]

Yates was only trying for the stage win and considering he hasn't had one yet, that was more important to him than gaining a few seconds on haig for a potential podium that he could lose in the time trial

 

[movingtarget]

Champoussin - wooooooo!

Someone actually wanted to win the stage apart from Gibbons..............

 

[IndianCyclist]

I didn't think a fight for third place was going to be that interesting

 

[Bye Bye Bicycle]

Yes, but that sure as hell wasnt from me. I want to watch the best rider win, not some random french rider I have barely heard off

Champoussin won, so he was obviously the best rider today. It's that easy, actually.

 

[Red Rick]

Lopez DNF?

Yes

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Gibbons winning combativity today - well deserved!

 

[Red Rick]

But he DID drop him and when he saw Rogla and Mas on his wheel, he stopped. Very weird riding.

If I was Roglic id win as much as possible. He basically threw a sure stage win here and a very memorable on at that! Mas, disappointing effort as well.

Roglic leaves a few meters most of the time. If Mas had countered Yates I'm fairly sure Roglic just jumps that, and that's if Mas isn't on the limit there.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Champoussin won, so he was obviously the best rider today. It's that easy, actually.

No its not, maybe he was the 17rd best rider on the day, but tactics also seem to play a role in cycling.

 

[ice&fire]

Lopez doing his best Pinot impersonation

Lopez doing his best Dennis impersonation

 

[Krzysztof_O]

Wow, what a stage it was. Low mountain stages can be really nasty. I kinda expected the race could explode on Mougas but it wasn't Bernal but Bahrain and Yates who did it. Lopez big loser of the day, Bernal also didn't capitalize on this chance. Haig and Bahrain with great ride into the podium. I feel a bit for Gibbons (bravo for such a long ride) but Padun and Yates were merciless at the end. This Champoussin guy was waiting in bushes 1.5 km from the finish for a few hours only to start his sprint and prevent another Roglic stomp. What a hero!

 

[Unterlenkerfahrend]

Yeah Roglic and Haig were fine. Roglic has the jersey and has won enough, he even did slight pulling because he was probably bored but why should he close the gaps - the look he gave them said it all haha. Haig just wants the podium and is happy to hang in. But for Mas and Yates to play poker with Roglic, yikes. Yates even confirmed in the interview that he was going for the stage instead of just dropping Haig - I mean, what can you say...

 

[titan31]

Someone actually wanted to win the stage apart from Gibbons..............

Bizkarra too.

 

[burning]

Bernal and Grossschartner finished at 7min, they kept on losing time to leading group all the way to the finish

 

[roundabout]

Let's hope that this stage impacts GT race design the way AdH 2011 did.

Also while those were some deceptively great climbs it still shows how team strength is one of the main factors.

1. When Ineos were able to whittle the group down and then have more than 1 rider capable of attacking
2. When Bahrain were able to get 2 riders into the main move and still had Padun ahead.
3. When Bahrain ran out of riders to control and there was action at 6+ km to go on a second category climb (probably as a consequence of point 2).

 

[JosefK]

Yes

Legendary implosion. Wow.

 

[TourOfSardinia]

Enjoyed watching those Yates' attacks.

 

[Aimar16]

Yes

What a legend

 

[Velolover2]

After Gibbons was caught by the GC group, Roglic decided to shut down a last effort attack by him.

Why? He could have gifted him the stage instead.

 

[SHAD0W93]

4th place on GC vs 5th place on GC before today tho

Bernal was closer to 4th than Yates. Now they’re 4th, 6th, and no jersey when they could have been 3rd, 5th, and jersey.

 

[More Strides than Rides]

Roglic leaves a few meters most of the time. If Mas had countered Yates I'm fairly sure Roglic just jumps that, and that's if Mas isn't on the limit there.

I agree. And, Yates also ran out of steep road. Even if he "dropped" Roglic, he could only do it on the 15%+ gradients and ran out of road.

 

[StryderHells]

No its not, maybe he was the 17rd best rider on the day, but tactics also seem to play a role in cycling.

Best rider includes tactics such as taking advantage of other riders mistakes which is what happened today, so yes the winner was the best rider on this stage.