Vuelta a España Vuelta a España 2023, stage 18: Pola de Allande - La Cruz de Linares, 178.9k

[Pippo_San]

You just can't take away anything from Sepp.
He really deserved the Roja.
Is he the strongest in the Vuelta? No.
And yet, he's always there, always in the best trio.
A bit of a shame Rogla didn't try something somewhere, I still hope for an ambush in the penultimate stage.

 

[tobydawq]

I was thinking it was staged, like (his apology to Landa yesterday also looked staged honestly)

Lol. Please stop with your tinfoil hat.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

I don't get this. It's evidently team orders (I mean everyone accepts this) & once the dust has settled on this GT, people will see Kuss won because he got into the right breakaway & the team told Vingegaard & Rog to stop fighting. The end.

It was fun whilst it lasted though. The Angliru was a big win for Rog tbh so in the intra-Jumbo skirmish he lost 2nd in GC but did win the most famous MTF in Spain. So that's something.

I know right, I can't believe people hate on the 2002 Austrian GP. I mean, the race was settled by an overtake on the final corner of the final lap, how much more excitement could you want?

 

[bill1109]

I don't think that is a widespread view, Remco acting void of humility and sportsmanship..said out loud that Kuss was a non factor in a immature moment of chest beating for the media, was totally unnecessary.
No matter him kicking butt in stage wins, his cavalier and careless overconfidence letting Kuss plus 40 roll away was a mental mistake, he proves over and over and over that he has the physical part of bike racing mastered. Bravo for todays outstanding victory, impressive indeed but get your ego in check.

saying someone that is leading gc is a non factor when he is too much of a publicity hound to actually battle ..and lose...again, to in shape, uninjured, real gc riders....instead using gimmick rides to get publicity. would have enjoyed seeing him denied the stage win today too since its obvious the 20+ minute loss was a plan to do more gimmick rides.

 

[topcat]

Almeida dropped?

The most repeated post on the forum. Up there with Remco is the next Richard Virenque.

 

[movingtarget]

Jumbo's are very community minded animals..............they swept the grand tours for the season with three different winners, it would be churlish to see negatives in that sort of season but the race took a turn when the chest beater lost 27 minutes or whatever and the race became more of a promenade for a much superior team. Happy for Kuss who has been a great domestique.. Remco gets stage wins and the KOM, could have been a lot worse.

 

[SHAD0W93]

The most repeated post on the forum. Up there with Remco is the next Richard Virenque.

And still Almeida’d ahead of Valsov on the stage.

 

[Netserk]

That one also had significantly better breakaway action than what we got here.

But going in to the stage, Quintana's podium place was at least vulnerable. Yet absolutely nothing was tried.

Here Landa at least tried a bit in vein.

 

[tobydawq]

Roglic: "I have my own thoughts about it."

Clearly not entirely happy with this. But I guess he prefers Sepp winning than Jonas. And he probably knows that if he rode for it, Jonas would win. There was no way for this to end well for him so helping Kuss was probably the lesser of two evils (okay, evils is probably an exaggeration but you know what I mean).

 

[noob]

Lol. Please stop with your tinfoil hat.

But tin foil is so comfortable and it doesn't weigh anything

 

[Red Lobster]

I don't get this. It's evidently team orders (I mean everyone accepts this) & once the dust has settled on this GT, people will see Kuss won because he got into the right breakaway & the team told Vingegaard & Rog to stop fighting. The end.

And? Hinault won the tour in '85 because the team told Greg to stop riding. These things happen in cycling.

 

[GroupDK]

Gorgeous breathtaking landscape..

 

[Unchained]

Chapeau to Remco beating a bunch of breakaway riders from Caja Rural and team Hermanos Ebrios.

Previous pros all screaming Kuss being stabbed in the back and all over by selfish teammates.. Kuss saying in a time of reason, I don't want to be gifted the race..so he only has to chose if today was his birthday or Christmas, Jonas and Roglic wrapped it up w a bow.

 

[ChewbaccaDefense]

Does Kuss apologize after every single stage?

I think he wakes up and apologizes

 

[noob]

OMG the views! I just....

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Roglic: "I have my own thoughts about it."

Clearly not entirely happy with this. But I guess he prefers Sepp winning than Jonas. And he probably knows that if he rode for it, Jonas would win. There was no way for this to end well for him so helping Kuss was probably the lesser of two evils (okay, evils is probably an exaggeration but you know what I mean).

Oh toby, toby.... you were doing so well until that part!

 

[ontheroad]

Vingegaard has no problem giving kuss the vuelta. He just wanted to show that even without his shape of the tour, he can be better than Roglic, and assured that Roglic doesn't won this race. There's clearly conflict between the two.

He said he felt better than his Tour form only 2 days ago. He wanted to win it until the team reigned them both in after the reaction to Angliru.

 

[Oldermanish]

You just can't take away anything from Sepp.
He really deserved the Roja.
Is he the strongest in the Vuelta? No.
And yet, he's always there, always in the best trio.
A bit of a shame Rogla didn't try something somewhere, I still hope for an ambush in the penultimate stage.

Yeah....no. Again, barring a catastrophy to Kuss he has 4 minutes in hand for #2, #3 riders to pick him up and carry him to the finish as they should. "Strongest" isn't always the winner and that's been said many times before. 3 weeks and still standing is the sign of a smart and well-supported rider.

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

Pretty f'n amazing that people keep arguing that "Kuss isn't the strongest" without acknowledging that the reason why he might not be the strongest is because he spent the last two Grand Tours towing those other two Jumbo dolts.

 

[ManicJack]

It would be interesting to know what input the incoming sponsor had about the publicly perceived infighting amongst the JV guys.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Previous pros all screaming Kuss being stabbed in the back and all over by selfish teammates.. Kuss saying in a time of reason, I don't want to be gifted the race..so he only has to chose if today was his birthday or Christmas, Jonas and Roglic wrapped it up w a bow.

It is worth also noting... these were previous pros, almost all of whom being American or working for American or American-owned media companies.

 

[Sciatic]

But tin foil is so comfortable and it doesn't weigh anything

And such a good protective devise (for genuine tin-hat wearers).

 

[RedheadDane]

Chapeau to Remco beating a bunch of breakaway riders from Caja Rural and team Hermanos Ebrios.

I know you were being sarcastic, but you might have noticed that the guy in third already won a stage this Vuelta.

 

[Oldermanish]

And? Hinault won the tour in '85 because the team told Greg to stop riding. These things happen in cycling.

...and the following year the Badger did his best to ambush Greg, divide the team all in the guise of testing his character?

 

[theyoungest]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1702350088138334438

Transl. "And Vingegaard even lets the front guys go a little so that he doesn't accidentally win the Vuelta on Saturday if he sneezes too hard on the final climb."