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

[Red Rick]

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.

On this final climb, I think the top 4 guys were all pretty fresh so it got a bit hard to drop each other. they basically had gotten the gap at like 60km from the finish and then been chilling for an hour.

 

[Leinster]

When he went and Roglic sat up I thought that's probably it tbh.

He went past them like he was shot out of a cannon. He picked just the right spot to catch up to the group so he could be at full speed while they were still all watching each other.

 

[Stringer Bell]

Colombian media are reporting that he was told to stop riding in order to help Mas…superman went loco when given those orders because he wanted to keep pushing on

 

[Nickname]

IMHO, this Vuelta has been fine. At least, the best one of the GT (in a boring year). The thing is riders were quite afraid with the last week of Vuelta and the 2 first weeks were quite boring, except 3 or 4 stages.

But the final week was really good with 2 epic stages (Covadonga and Mos), a very good stage (Gamoniteiro) and a quite entertaining stage (Tapia).

 

[Red Rick]

Colombian media are reporting that he was told to stop riding in order to help Mas…superman went loco when given those orders because he wanted to keep pushing on

*** just got absolutely spicy.

 

[Escarabajo]

Lopez is listed as abandon on the official website

Withdrawals

Sitio oficial de La Vuelta.

www.lavuelta.es

I imagine that once you hand in the number, that's that?

Really bad for Lopez to do that today. Strange to be honest. If he was going in the Bernal group I don't understand why he didn't keep going.
Sometimes I think that these teams need phycologists . We see more and more riders having these issues. Something that we didn't see in the past (or at least they didn't show it), but times have changed. And we see it in other sports as well. A lot of pressure for some of these riders. The Colombian media is not easy to deal with either. Part of me feels bad about what happened. For the majority of the people there is no excuse for what he did. Oh well.

 

[titan31]

Stage hunter really? and not even guarantee because he only excel in high mountains which are not guaranteed at the Tour? LOL. And your best example is Pinot who is hanging on the rope with his own demons.
I think he should retire based on your assessment. Don't you think?

Yup. I mean it's hard to see him getting GT leadership at a major team unless he proves himself again cos today he pretty much spat on his teammates efforts (how do imagine guys like Rojas, Oliviera and Erviti feel after one of their leaders just quits on them and they end up losing out on money with the loss of prize money), so if he still wants to cycle, it comes to stage hunting or domestique work.

For stage hunting, he's never really proven he can win out of a small group on the stages that don't finish on a MTF (Pinot has in comparison), so his shots are solo breakaway or winning on a MTF. Solo breakaways are fairly rare and for MTF, he excels in the high altitude steep climbs imo which are rare.

Are you really a good stage hunter if you're limited to 1/2 stages in a GT. Not really imo. Pinot at his best has shown he can win on the same types of finishes that Lopez has, and he can actually beat people in a sprint.

 

[Escarabajo]

Colombian media are reporting that he was told to stop riding in order to help Mas…superman went loco when given those orders because he wanted to keep pushing on

I am not sure if I believe that. How was that going to help Mas?

 

[Lequack]

According to new information Movistar forbid Lopez to close the gap (probably when Mas and others got away). Of course it's part of tactics to do the 1-2 attacks and let others chase, they probably didn't count on him and others losing so many minutes. Sucks for him as he definitely had the legs to finish on the podium. He must've felt like they abandoned him (and his fellow Colombian), but then again so did Ineos with Bernal. Crap luck, still abandoning is a bit of an overreaction. finishing top 10 is still a good result to have.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1434211624840318978

View: https://twitter.com/DrinconrR3/status/1434211624840318978?s=20

 

[titan31]

Colombian media are reporting that he was told to stop riding in order to help Mas…superman went loco when given those orders because he wanted to keep pushing on

I saw that and feels like someone trying to save face here. Rojas was pulling on the front of the group when he caught up to them and they were keeping the gap to the main group really and closing down on Gibbons.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

When he went and Roglic sat up I thought that's probably it tbh.

Well yeah, the odds at 1.6km were obviously much lower than at 2km.

 

[Red Rick]

Well yeah, the odds at 1.6km were obviously much lower than at 2km.

Mate I've got a proven track record of predicting the future. I saw the chasing group winning coming from a mile away

I did feel like a moron for a good 30 minutes tbh.

 

[perico]

According to new information Movistar forbid Lopez to close the gap (probably when Mas and others got away). Of course it's part of tactics to do the 1-2 attacks and let others chase, they probably didn't count on him and others losing so many minutes. Sucks for him as he definitely had the legs to finish on the podium. He must've felt like they abandoned him (and his fellow Colombian), but then again so did Ineos with Bernal. Crap luck, still abandoning is a bit of an overreaction. finishing top 10 is still a good result to have.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1434211624840318978

View: https://twitter.com/DrinconrR3/status/1434211624840318978?s=20

If that is the case (and Colombian media is notoriously biased), it would make sense if Lopez couldn’t get away from Bernal. Bottom line is that he missed the split and should’ve immediately tried to close it or attacked from the chase group. When he was working, he was pulling Bernal with him.

And it’s not like JJ Rojas wasn’t pulling for him anyway.

 

[Red Rick]

If that is the case (and Colombian media is notoriously biased), it would make sense if Lopez couldn’t get away from Bernal. Bottom line is that he missed the split and should’ve immediately tried to close it or attacked from the chase group. When he was working, he was pulling Bernal with him.

And it’s not like JJ Rojas wasn’t pulling for him anyway.

Who gives a *** about Rojas pulling. Who give a *** about Bernal following you.

It was a situation with nothing to gain and a podium to lose. And if this rumor is true, then the Movistar DS just said "lol I guess we'll lose that podium" except in a rationale that might make sense in his perspective but that would also signal a significant lack of cycling tactical fundamentals you'd expect someone with a career in cycling to know.

 

[Lequack]

Miguel Ángel López's partner, Natha Acevedo, has shared on his Instagram that the broker's representation agency will make a statement explaining the situation.

 

[perico]

Who gives a * about Rojas pulling. Who give a * about Bernal following you.

It was a situation with nothing to gain and a podium to lose. And if this rumor is true, then the Movistar DS just said "lol I guess we'll lose that podium" except in a rationale that might make sense in his perspective but that would also signal a significant lack of cycling tactical fundamentals you'd expect someone with a career in cycling to know.

Because if you had Rojas pulling for the group, which was definitely the case, then the report is bogus. They aren’t going to say “don’t work” and then have whatever is left of the team go to the front and work.

 

[titan31]

Who gives a * about Rojas pulling. Who give a * about Bernal following you.

It was a situation with nothing to gain and a podium to lose. And if this rumor is true, then the Movistar DS just said "lol I guess we'll lose that podium" except in a rationale that might make sense in his perspective but that would also signal a significant lack of cycling tactical fundamentals you'd expect someone with a career in cycling to know.

I mean not sure if who Lequack quoted there is who the source of this is or not, but that guy has 1 follower on Twitter. I feel like its safe to say that person knows about as much as any of us on what actually happened.

 

[topcat]

Supermán is the greatest, he's like Mikel Landa, Thibaut Pinot and Rohan Dennis rolled into one.

The best climber in the world. He used to be hot-headed but he's calmed down. He has a great career ahead of him.

 

[SHAD0W93]

I mean not sure if who Lequack quoted there is who the source of this is or not, but that guy has 1 follower on Twitter. I feel like its safe to say that person knows about as much as any of us on what actually happened.

That one follower could be Lopez though.

 

[Red Rick]

Because if you had Rojas pulling for the group, which was definitely the case, then the report is bogus. They aren’t going to say “don’t work” and then have whatever is left of the team go to the front and work.

No they think in the moment they can do some tactics then 2 minutes later they realise they're *** morons and just cost MAL a podium spot on GC.

Also if you ahve 2 guys at the end of that stage you might actually win it

 

[titan31]

That one follower could be Lopez though.

Unless Lopez has a burner account called Sonson news, I don't think it is.

I really think this is just some face saving going on by Lopez or someone close to him. Rojas was pulling in that group and Lopez's blowup happened way too late for me to think Movistar told him on the climb itself (and he and Rojas spent ages chasing after that for me to think Movistar went don't chase, no now do chase). Nothing from what I've seen on TV anyway makes me think Lopez was told to not chase.

 

[SHAD0W93]

According to new information Movistar forbid Lopez to close the gap (probably when Mas and others got away). Of course it's part of tactics to do the 1-2 attacks and let others chase, they probably didn't count on him and others losing so many minutes. Sucks for him as he definitely had the legs to finish on the podium. He must've felt like they abandoned him (and his fellow Colombian), but then again so did Ineos with Bernal. Crap luck, still abandoning is a bit of an overreaction. finishing top 10 is still a good result to have.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1434211624840318978

View: https://twitter.com/DrinconrR3/status/1434211624840318978?s=20

Management had to know with just Bernal and Lopez, there was no one to help him maintain his podium. Maybe maybe maybe Bernal but Yates was ahead. Lopez had to have attacked and if not take his earpiece out.

 

[Koronin]

I've heard Roglic said that Mas was ordered not to help the front group due to Lopez having been caught out. I'm more inclined to believe Roglic that Mas was ordered not to help. Roglic is know for giving creditable information when he does give information.

 

[Eyeballs Out]

I am not sure if I believe that. How was that going to help Mas?

It wasn't going to help Mas at all. Once Lopez missed the split he was losing many minutes regardless of what he did. He's not a rouleur and obviously wasn't on a great day. Movistar should have called off the chase sooner if anything, and/or "invited" someone random to ride

 

[perico]

No they think in the moment they can do some tactics then 2 minutes later they realise they're *** morons and just cost MAL a podium spot on GC.

Also if you ahve 2 guys at the end of that stage you might actually win it

Lopez missed the move and the report is ***. Lopez was working and then had Rojas working for him. It looks like nobody else would work with him and he was losing time and threw a fit. Only other option would be for Mas to have dropped back and pace him to the front, and that wasn’t going to happen.

you are taking the report at face value, when it looks very suspect. Lopez missed the move and couldn’t get back over. He was on the front for the rest of the climb trying to pull it back.