Vuelta a España Vuelta a España 2024, stage 8: Úbeda - Cazorla, 158.7k

[Cookster15]

Oh come on, BOC had his fun in the red and by the looks of it, it'll be gone by tomorrow anyway. He's probably gonna ship 10 minutes on the second Hazallenas ascent.

I bet he doesn't. It was poor - and all for 13 seconds. Gall is tenth on GC. He will need to show a lot more to even podium. He should have stayed with red jersey for psychological support which riders do all the time when they have a teammate in a grand tour leaders jersey. Seems a bit like Ayuso at UAE - inflated personal ambitions. All because Pogacar had a bad day in the 2023 TdF.

 

[QueenStagiaire]

Caption this

PR: Wow Wout, you are really tall.
WvA: This ghost won‘t stop talking to me, I‘m going crazy.

 

[SHAD0W93]

Caption this

“Take me with you” or “how come every time I win you win the next day?”



But they could be the only riders to win multiple stages this edition.

 

[Sciatic]

In another news, the crash of Ciccone and Juaristi was caused by three herds of roe deer crossing the road. They also did some damage to one of Euskaltel's cars.

El salto de tres corzos provoca la caída de Ciccone y Juaristi

“Tres manadas atravesaron la carrera. La primera impactó con Txomin y la última de ellas rompió dos bicis del coche”, dicen del Euskaltel a AS.

as.com

Oh dear . . .

 

[Sciatic]

Almeida is apparently sick with C-19 and was dangling off the back for the entire second half of the race day
The last 400m were so steep, Gall couldn't do anything anymore for Ben O Connor. In double digits grades, it's every man for himself.

The bigger questions is why IPT were pulling the bunch. Did they really think they could upset Roglic on a terrain like that? A climb like this is a living room for Roglic.

That’s true for the steep section but the last 500 meters leveled out and could have saved his teammate some seconds there. Not enough to matter though.

 

[search]

Woods' strava confirms he did crash/was held up.

there's an interview available now. He did crash indeed

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cKlcpLtflo

 

[Mako]

I bet he doesn't. It was poor - and all for 13 seconds. Gall is tenth on GC. He will need to show a lot more to even podium. He should have stayed with red jersey for psychological support which riders do all the time when they have a teammate in a grand tour leaders jersey. Seems a bit like Ayuso at UAE - inflated personal ambitions. All because Pogacar had a bad day in the 2023 TdF.

Let's agree to disagree then. I'm also biased since I'm Austrian
I think the Ayuso comparison is a bit inflated though.

 

[Cookster15]

Let's agree to disagree then. I'm also biased since I'm Austrian

Agree. And yes I suspected you might be Austrian

 

[Barnacle Bill]

Caption this

"Remember, if you ever get bored with all that GC stuff there's always room for you in the sprint train I'm building. Although Sepp's coming along nicely..."

 

[Mako]

i think Eurosport comentator told the answer about IPT: obviously IPT DS didn't like ther are not in the break , and didn't want to reward teams like ASTANA, ARKEA, DSM, COFIDIS, MOVIESTAR JAICO easy points, that will help them with the relegation battle next year - simple as that, and it proved itself, because otherwise , the break would succeed and cepeda would have scored easy 180 points , and stage victory, while other teams score points.

That makes an awful lot of sense actually.

 

[AnotherArmChair]

The thing everyone needs to realise is this race is only really starting

And as they go north it will get cooler . Roglic looks unbeatable but anyone can fall by the way side any day. Just ask Almeida

 

[meat puppet]

Caption this

Rogla: Hey about that one time I accidentally memetised you and Dumoulin...

 

[Eagle_Alps]

Caption this

PR: Red Bull pays me €€€€€ bonus for every stage win! How much do they give you for a stage win while you wear their helmet ?
WvA: F@#€%&, they don't pay me anything...!

 

[Escarabajo]

PR: Red Bull pays me €€€€€ bonus for every stage win! How much do they give you for a stage win while you wear their helmet ?
WvA: F@#€%&, they don't pay me anything...!

I'll give you half if you help me win one stage!

 

[Ilmaestro99]

Great performance by our Mikel today. Slowly climbing the overall classement

 

[tobydawq]

In another news, the crash of Ciccone and Juaristi was caused by three herds of roe deer crossing the road. They also did some damage to one of Euskaltel's cars.

El salto de tres corzos provoca la caída de Ciccone y Juaristi

“Tres manadas atravesaron la carrera. La primera impactó con Txomin y la última de ellas rompió dos bicis del coche”, dicen del Euskaltel a AS.

as.com

Three herds? How do they know it was not just one herd?

 

[hayneplane]

There is only 2 minutes between 4th and 20th places with a handful of riders that have no chance of remaining there. Del Toro has a great chance of a top 10 or better with a bit of support.

Still believe in him for top 5. We are yet to see a really long final climb which is much more suitable to him self pacing and coming to the fore as others go into the red and crack.

 

[hayneplane]

I would be wary of reading too much into the final climb today as the crash was so high up in the group that less than 10 riders were completely unaffected by it.

Gaps appeared that otherwise would not have occurred and time losses could have been much smaller.

 

[dazaau]

O'Connor +45" on the best of the GC riders

Credit where it is due. That was an accurate call!

 

[Andre]

I was unable to watch the end. What happened to Van Eetveld. I thought this stage suited him for the win

 

[Metal earth]

I was unable to watch the end. What happened to Van Eetveld. I thought this stage suited him for the win

Got behind the crash just as the climb started, he had to get off his bike. So a lot of energy expanded to get back to the front group. He was making up time at the end of the climb and passed lots of riders, he looked good.

 

[Psycat]

There is only 2 minutes between 4th and 20th places with a handful of riders that have no chance of remaining there. Del Toro has a great chance of a top 10 or better with a bit of support.

If that's the goal they set it's really snooze, who cares about him being top 10 or not? Nah go for stages instead would be my inclanation.

 

[dazaau]

If that's the goal they set it's really snooze, who cares about him being top 10 or not? Nah go for stages instead would be my inclanation.

I'm guessing being a successful GC rider takes experience and well developed resilience - riding for GC here develops that.

 

[Squire]

The thing everyone needs to realise is this race is only really starting

And as they go north it will get cooler . Roglic looks unbeatable but anyone can fall by the way side any day. Just ask Almeida

Really don't think he looks unbeatable. Average opening TT and winning two sprints in stages that are perfect for him. Sunday will finally give proper answers, and the answer might be that the two Spaniards are stronger.

 

[jmdirt]

Interesting tugging on the stopwatch today. PR made a clear statement. BO still fighting.