Vuelta a España Vuelta a España 2023, stage 3: Súria - Arinsal, 158.5k

[Andre]

The problem is that whatever he himself says, he has an army of fanboys and fangirls who will treat anything other than blind praise as a grave insult, and an army of detractors who will criticise his every move, and both are so entrenched in those views that they see anything not conforming to their side as being 100% on the opposing side, which makes trying to have any discourse about him extremely tiresome.

Yes I see your point. In my text I referred that I loved his ride today and find him an admirable competitor.

 

[Andre]

Great ride by Cian as well...only 1 second out.

 

[RobertCrawley]

Sounds like Jumbo believes Likeable Remco will wear down (like Pog) in the latter stages of the race.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1696197417165615237

View: https://twitter.com/NBCSCycling/status/1696197417165615237?s=20

 

[awavey]

Disagree. That was a mighty short runout.

I've seen worse and it ended in riding into oncoming moving traffic if you chuted the wrong way instead of hitting the metal barrier

 

[Sciatic]

I keep thinking about Kuss and why he didn't keep going

Was it too far out ? He kept looking back
Was he unsure of what to do if not doing a leadout
I dont think he was blown so why not keep going

I think he would have kept going if Soler didn’t chase, but once Soler had closed the distance and would be on his wheel, I doubt Jumbo wouldn’t of wanted Kuss pulling Soler to a win for the latter. I thought the attack was good strategy for Jumbo, since it would leave it to other teams teams to chase while they sat on. And the timing was good because I could imagine in some instances no one would take up the chase and he’d have the stage.

 

[Tim Cahill]

Hirt and Vervaeke looked at least decent enough today.

Vuelta has never really been one of those races where you need a massive dominant team like the tour because so many riders show up tired.

A little curious that Vingegaard didn't work with or go over the top of Ayuso, thought that looked like a good opportunity and they had some separation.

 

[Red Rick]

I think he would have kept going if Soler didn’t chase, but once Soler had closed the distance and would be on his wheel, I doubt Jumbo wouldn’t of wanted Kuss pulling Soler to a win for the latter. I thought the attack was good strategy for Jumbo, since it would leave it to other teams teams to chase while they sat on. And the timing was good because I could imagine in some instances no one would take up the chase and he’d have the stage.

Kuss attacking was a good move.

Sadly I don't think he was nearly as good as in th Tour. Normally when Kuss does a turn there's not ~30 guys finishing within a minute.

 

[awavey]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1696202728425259380

View: https://twitter.com/SpoelJo/status/1696202728425259380


From the overhead it looks like there actually was more of a run-off area that was mostly barricaded off for some reason, with people crowding the only gap. Also looks like the fact he celebrated over the line instead of braking instantly made it basically impossible to stop in time. He went right to try and avoid them but would’ve smashed into those barriers even if he didn’t hit the lady. The situation was made more dangerous than it should’ve been thanks to the organization and the crowd of people

I don't agree the organisation is at fault there, he crosses the line at 5 secs, hits the people at 10secs.

That's 5secs to celebrate, thump your chest do whatever and still time to grab some brakes and stop. It's a mtf after a 13% climb, you aren't hitting 30mph across the finish line

What was he riding with rim brakes ? 😉

 

[dgodave]

Disagree. That was a mighty short runout.

Now after seeing the overhead it was WAY too short for the speed they were going plus a reasonable winner celebration.

Organizers probly anticipated a much slower finishing speed.

 

[pelotonIQ]

I haven't seen Ayuso, Mas, Vlasov, go down yet.

I specifically said GC favorites

 

[Krzysztof_O]

So cograts to Remco on an impressive finish! UAE wanted to take the initiative but Ayuso's attacked was marked by JV guys. I'm a bit surprised that JV didn't drill the tempo before: maybe one of their leaders (probably Primoz) didn't feel good so they decided not to do it. Also surprised that Primoz wasn't fighting for victory at the end but maybe it's associated with my previous sentence. Remco most explosive at the end. Skeletor was looking good, easily covering attacks and came 2nd at the end (explosivity at the finish is not his strongest weapon OFC). I feel the Dane could've tried an attack today, keep in mind that they've been trailing Remco since the TTT.

 

[Volderke]

I don't agree the organisation is at fault there, he crosses the line at 5 secs, hits the people at 10secs.

That's 5secs to celebrate, thump your chest do whatever and still time to grab some brakes and stop. It's a mtf after a 13% climb, you aren't hitting 30mph across the finish line

What was he riding with rim brakes ? 😉

It was a 5-6% downhill finish.

 

[Escarabajo]

Bernal closed a sizeable gap for Arensman then paced Thomas to the finish. He should be allowed to go for some stages at the least.

Why is he doing that? trying to be a good soldier? Maybe because they took him to the Vuelta on that condition.

 

[Andy schleck]

Seems like a super likeable guy.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1696203295474303449

View: https://twitter.com/NBCSCycling/status/1696203295474303449?s=20

He is crying again 😂

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Vingegaard's impressive cornering let him down in the sprint, Remco's shortly after.
Hitting women can get riders into trouble in Andorra, but both she and Remco are hopefully alright after the incident. I expect there to be somewhat safer finish areas on future stages.

 

[Volderke]

He is crying again 😂

I saw him smiling, genuinely. But whatever he does, it always seems good entertainment

 

[Sciatic]

That's other races though, and its rare you see anyone shoving a microphone at a rider immediately post finish for a quote, theyre tv camera crew, photographers, teams and if the barriers don't extend far enough sometimes it's just joe public.

but the journalists were supposed to be behind the barrier, Eurosport know that for a fact because their journalist on the ground was behind the barrier.

I think you’re correct that the big broadcasters—RTVE, Eurosport/GCN, Sporza—with their bigger cameras stay behind the barriers, but I doubt very much the print/online news reporters—from Marca, l’Equipe, and particularly the regional papers—can be kept behind the barriers even if they’re supposed to. But I will watch the finish line scenes in the coming stages to see if that’s the case.

Mainly I was reacting to Orla’s definitive sounding statement that “those weren’t journalists.” I like Orla, but I can tired of that crews proclamations that they know exactly what the reality is when they of course don’t. Not unless they went down and asked those people.

 

[Sciatic]

Kuss attacking was a good move.

Sadly I don't think he was nearly as good as in th Tour. Normally when Kuss does a turn there's not ~30 guys finishing within a minute.

Good point—seemed like the same snap wasn’t there. Could have been the wind as well.

 

[Big Doopie]

To the people finding Remco "extremely unlikeable", I suggest you watch his Youtube series. You probably won't and if you do it probably won't change your whole view about him but I feel like it shows a nice picture of who he really is. Which according to me is definitely not unlikeable (but yes I'm obviously biased as a fan).

(And yes, I understand the caveat that it's his own Youtube series so he can try to portray himself in the best way possible but I think it's still obvious he's a very relaxed and funny guy who gets along with everybody)
(Also, I'm not defending him for the crash. I haven't watched any replays yet but at first glance it did look like he could have handled that better)

There’s also a great presser just pre-Vuelta from his hotel I think.

Funny, charming, honest, relaxed, humble, respectful throughout. Impossible NOT to like.

 

[Jagartrott]

I don't agree the organisation is at fault there, he crosses the line at 5 secs, hits the people at 10secs.

That's 5secs to celebrate, thump your chest do whatever and still time to grab some brakes and stop. It's a mtf after a 13% climb, you aren't hitting 30mph across the finish line

What was he riding with rim brakes ? 😉

Strange calculus. If he starts celebrating 2 seconds before the finish line, until 3 seconds past, he then has 2 seconds to come to a complete stop from perhaps 35 km/h. How would that work? I think that basically anyone celebrating much longer than 5 m past the finish line, would've been in trouble.

5 seconds at 10 m/s = 50 m between finish line and barrier, that is very short, especially considering it was going downhill.

 

[Blanco]

First MTF and our podium in Madrid finish on the first 3 places.

Nah, podium in Madrid finished 3,4,6

 

[Sciatic]

For folks who think there should have been a much longer and clear run-out after the line, scroll down in this Marca.com article (big apologies that I haven’t learned to post photos) to the aerial view of the finish.

Evenepoel gana en Arinsal... ¡y sufre un accidente tras cruzar la meta!

Tras un inicio accidentado en Cataluña, las montañas andorranas prometían calma. Al menos en lo que excede lo deportivo. Los principales favoritos asumían las primeras rampas para

www.marca.com

Looking at that, how much longer could the runout be without hitting the building or going off the cliff.? Certainly you could argue if they really cared about rider safety they wouldn’t choose a finish in such a tight space. But the organizers believe that such finishes draw more fan interest and viewers. You can certainly blame them for that if you’re inclined.

 

[Tim Cahill]

Why is he doing that? trying to be a good soldier? Maybe because they took him to the Vuelta on that condition.

He replaced Sivakov who is in good form, I believe due to the contractual situation and because he wanted a base for next season, which would explain why he's not bothered about being a domestique. Though looks to be in promising form here himself, better than Thomas at least, so I think Ineos might reassess his role here.

 

[Volderke]

For folks who think there should have been a much longer and clear run-out after the line, scroll down in this Marca.com article (big apologies that I haven’t learned to post photos) to the aerial view of the finish.

Evenepoel gana en Arinsal... ¡y sufre un accidente tras cruzar la meta!

Tras un inicio accidentado en Cataluña, las montañas andorranas prometían calma. Al menos en lo que excede lo deportivo. Los principales favoritos asumían las primeras rampas para

www.marca.com

Looking at that, how much longer could the runout be without hitting the building or going off the cliff.? Certainly you could argue if they really cared about rider safety they wouldn’t choose a finish in such a tight space. But the organizers believe that such finishes draw more fan interest and viewers. You can certainly blame them for that if you’re inclined.

It was longer (even without having to make it longer, which they indeed only had limited space for). Look at the Twitter clip above. But people were in the way of that roll-out zone.
And the barriers were there so the organisers had more parking space / working space.

The organisers simply didn't think this would be a sprint finish. That doesn't mean Remco shouldn't be more prudent, but it was a very hard finish to both celebrate and stop in time. Organisers could have designed it better, Remco could have coped better with the bad design.

 

[Sciatic]

It was longer (even without having to make it longer, which they indeed only had limited space for). Look at the Twitter clip above. But people were in the way of that roll-out zone.
And the barriers were there so the organisers had more parking space / working space.

The organisers simply didn't think this would be a sprint finish. That doesn't mean Remco shouldn't be more prudent, but it was a very hard finish to both celebrate and stop in time. Organisers could have designed it better, Remco could have coped better with the bad design.

I did look at the Twitter clip, several times, and see that the clip ends before you can see—or doesn’t pan back enough—to see what’s further beyond the group of people before the plateau ends. That’s why I suggested looking at the Marca photo. At the end of the video clip it Looks like there are 5-10 meters of open space behind the group before the equipment and building, so that would give riders a little more time to respond. But they would still have to break and turn off to the right.