Vuelta a España Vuelta a España 2024, stage 16: Luanco - Lagos de Covadonga, 181.3k

[Luthor]

I think Decathlon are playing this wisely. O'Connor has a better chance to stick with Roglic on Covadonga if he's fresh, I think.

If Roglic is fresh he will just drop a watts bomb and explode O'Connor like Ancares. O'Connor should go by his own pace and mark Carapaz.

 

[Rechtschreibfehler]

Rules only should apply when enough people get mad?

Are you familiar with the boo hoorah theory?

 

[Rackham]

Guys, rules are the rules. Just because some of you want to be particular about context of drafting or holding onto a car, why should any of that matter? 20 seconds is the going rate.

And there I was looking forward to this brave new world of cycling where a commissaire zero tolerance was enforced... oh well. C'est la vie I guess.

 

[tobydawq]

Shouldn't Decathlon just ride hard? They don't realise that that's probably Roglic' only weakness?

 

[Coffeeplanter]

We're approaching ten minutes. Once more, exactly the race one would expect when the initiative has to come from Menos and/or Roglic.

 

[Ilmaestro99]

It's funny how when Roglic just randomly let a GC rival take almost 7 minutes on him it was fine and all under control. But suddenly 20 seconds is going to decide the race and should be debated for hours.

 

[Rechtschreibfehler]

Guys, rules are the rules. Just because some of you want to be particular about context of drafting or holding onto a car, why should any of that matter? 20 seconds is the going rate.

Because rules are subject to interpretation and don't exist without a presupposed context (like a cycling race, like what a situation in a cycling race means, what the intention of the rule is in these contextes etc. etc.). If you are not some kind of atomist-literalist that is.

 

[Luthor]

We're approaching ten minutes. Once more, exactly the race one would expect when the initiative has to come from Menos and/or Roglic.

Roglic wants the stage to be as weak as possible to limit his back issues. Mas/Carapaz/Landa need to attack but they sent satellite riders.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

Guys, rules are the rules. Just because some of you want to be particular about context of drafting or holding onto a car, why should any of that matter? 20 seconds is the going rate.

And there I was looking forward to this brave new world of cycling where a commissaire zero tolerance was enforced... oh well. C'est la vie I guess.

Numerous replies were in relation to the absence of mitigating circumstances on Sunday. Why are you ignoring the point that most people made?

 

[Ricco']

I'm just here to see the fight for KOM between Vine and Soler

 

[AmRacer]

It's funny how when Roglic just randomly let a GC rival take almost 7 minutes on him it was fine and all under control. But suddenly 20 seconds is going to decide the race and should be debated for hours.

BOC isn't considered as a GC rival to Roglic.

 

[Gratemans]

BOC isn't considered as a GC rival to Roglic.

Give any rider enough minutes and they'll become a GC rival..

 

[Rou]

Roglic when the stage is quite easy and with low fatigue can push Jonas' numbers.
Examples: Angliru 2023, Ancares 2024.
Roglic on stages with a lot of elevation and hard pacing becomes lower than Enric Mas' level.
Examples: Monte Bondone 2023, Hazallanas 2024 , Cuitu Negru 2024 , Dauphine Stage 8 2024 etc.

 

[Rechtschreibfehler]

Roglic when the stage is quite easy and with low fatigue can push Jonas' numbers.
Examples: Angliru 2023, Ancares 2024.
Roglic on stages with a lot of elevation and hard pacing becomes lower than Enric Mas' level.
Examples: Monte Bondone 2023, Hazallanas 2024 , Cuitu Negru 2024 , Dauphine Stage 8 2024 etc.

Even if all of this is true,
it presupposes that O'Connor doesn't have the same issue, which I don't know, but if they think it's a better choice to go easy, he probably has. And Movistar ist Movistar.

 

[Rackham]

Numerous replies were in relation to the absence of mitigating circumstances on Sunday. Why are you ignoring the point that most people made?

I'm finding all this handwringing pretty entertaining but I have to disagree here, i.e. some of us did actually mention those mitigating circumstances in Rog's situation, it's just the majority chose to ignore it.

Th primary mitigating factor being he wasn't chasing to get back into the bunch after being dropped and he could have achieved the exact same result (aka getting back in the peloton) just by using his teammates wheels. There would have been no difference. Why? Because those teammates dropped immediately as soon as the climb started anyway, i.e. "saving their legs" by riding behind the car had no incidence on GC. None whatsoever.

But... everyone has pretty much made up their mind though, so here we are.

 

[tobydawq]

It's funny how when Roglic just randomly let a GC rival take almost 7 minutes on him it was fine and all under control. But suddenly 20 seconds is going to decide the race and should be debated for hours.

It's a bit like in tennis when there is one controversial judgment (for example double bounce or not) every once in a while. You would think that one point during a whole match would not matter that much.

 

[Tim Cahill]

Raining! Just like it was for Egan Bernal's attack on a classic edition of this stage!

 

[Samamba]

Vine should just let Van Aert take it, and not waste too much energy. Win the stage and you have the jersey.

 

[Tim Cahill]

Van Aert looks like he's sprinting against a toddler, should've attacked ages ago if you wanted it to be like this lads.

 

[noob]

Plz tell sick noob why the break has 10 minutes 😫

 

[ppanther92]

If Roglic is fresh he will just drop a watts bomb and explode O'Connor like Ancares. O'Connor should go by his own pace and mark Carapaz.

I think the gap is so small now, that he indeed rather tries the impossible and aims to match Roglic. Would he have ridden in his own pace, the gap would be still larger and he should have tried to stick with the strategy. Now that he literally doesn't have any second to lose anymore (ITT coming), he anyway has to try to go with Roglic.

 

[Rechtschreibfehler]

Plz tell sick noob why the break has 10 minutes 😫

Basically because they gave up right after the group formed, following a few attempts at creating one. No one seems to want to spend the energy or helpers necessary to chase them at this point.

 

[Tim Cahill]

Plz tell sick noob why the break has 10 minutes 😫

Something like this - Decathlon happy to let the bonuses go/maybe want O'Connor to save energy/can't win anyway, Movistar don't have the team, Bora not convinced Roglic is much better than Mas on the climbs.

 

[Rou]

UAE without Pogacar is hard to watch. What a joke of a team... I hope van Aert mugs them and takes the KOM jersey.

 

[Luthor]

I think the gap is so small now, that he indeed rather tries the impossible and aims to match Roglic. Would he have ridden in his own pace, the gap would be still larger and he should have tried to stock with the strategy. Now that he literally doesn't have any second to lose anymore (ITT coming), he anyway has to try to go with Roglic.

Realistically he kinda lost Vuelta on Ancares but a 2nd/3rd place would still be very good. Mas is the real direct opponent. For Roglic it's more about avoiding crashes or not having a bad day.