Vuelta a España Vuelta a España 2024, stage 9: Motril - Granada, 179.2k

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Must be illness for Tiberi, surely? I noticed his teammate Kepplinger DNF-ed today.

hard to say, it's not ununusual for a young rider to crack in his 2nd GT a season. But there've been no signs of weakness at all so far.

 

[Brullnux]

I don't agree. I think he's more likely to finish in the top-5 than not.

It's a bit hard to say as he hasn't put together a solid Grand Tour for almost two and a half years now. He's definitely much more accomplished climber/rider than O'Connor but there is a bit of doubt hanging over him

 

[Mayomaniac]

hard to say, it's not ununusual for a young rider to crack in his 2nd GT a season. But there've been no signs of weakness at all so far.

He was also saying that the more explosive finishes didn't suit him that much and that he was looking forward to the proper mountain stages. Either sickness or fried by the heat.

 

[Sciatic]

Not annoyed ...just why write off someone so easily unless you wanted to as not based on previous evidence
As for Roglic he didn't look as good as he was but it maybe not just a day is all .....We all know how great he is on steep uphill finishes but lets see how he continues to on the longer climbs

But why assume everyone has “written him off” with put downs? My perception is that most comments reflected that catching O’Connor would be a tall order.
Maybe you’re confusing the comments of folks rooting for O’Connor to get caught with them “not having a clue.” I certainly am rooting for him to get caught because I really disliked his comments about conditions in the Giro, particular his “let’s see (Vegni) other people do this.” So annoying and condescending from a pro.

 

[Brullnux]

Must be illness for Tiberi, surely? I noticed his teammate Kepplinger DNF-ed today.

Maybe reacted badly to the heat. 30+ degrees, in the sun all day, climbing, can sometimes just destroy you and there's not much you can do to stop it. Carapaz and Yates did the same on stage four, just happened to be a much better day to react so badly.

That said, 30+ minutes back might suggest illness or something.

 

[Potomac]

I hope Covid doesn destroy this race

For me it is asteroids. I hope an asteroid doesn't destroy this race.

 

[Sciatic]

Please substitute Kuss, for all people considered irrelevant and non factors, repeat of last year. People angry that some nobody, some outsiders are screwing up the script!!

Kuss is not a great example because the two riders better than him were on his team and told not to contend for the win.

 

[memyselfandI]

Interesting turn of tables, but this race is just about started. Stages after the rest day are not getting easier so to speak. Maybe bit more tolerable temps but but..

 

[Oldermanish]

Roglic was the very clear underperformer today, so who the favorite is now depends mainly on why he was *** today.

Everyone complained of the heat at the finish. I didn't see an interview with Roglic but he may have been on the edge and it would make sense to stay on the conservative side. He managed to keep his head for the long term GC and the improvements in UAE prospects are helpful for the battle to take time from O'Connor. Bora doesn't need to do all the work and Mas was contained. Carapaz definitely helped his own cause.
None of us would have projected a rather neutral stage with all of the activity but the end result is somewhat of a reset. UAE, Movistar and EF all have a reason to contribute now.

 

[Oldermanish]

End result looks like boring breakaway win with GC group holding hands behind

....result may look like that but much energy was spent to get there.

 

[Tim Cahill]

Race has been illuminated by the lack of absurd teams, no old Sky/UAE/Jumbo rubbish going on like 7 GT podium and big classic winners doing 400 watts on the front for 6 hours, just random climbers attacking from way out because they 'had good legs' and 'the sensations were good'.

Reduce all GT teams to a 5 riders and you'll get GTs like this constantly

 

[AnotherArmChair]

But why assume everyone has “written him off” with put downs? My perception is that most comments reflected that catching O’Connor would be a tall order.
Maybe you’re confusing the comments of folks rooting for O’Connor to get caught with them “not having a clue.” I certainly am rooting for him to get caught because I really disliked his comments about conditions in the Giro, particular his “let’s see (Vegni) other people do this.” So annoying and condescending from a pro.

I never said every one ...I said some posters?
I can go back a find the comments but alot said he would be in grave difficulty today
I am not confusing anything. Why are you arguing with me if you re rooting for him to get caught ? So be it ..that is fine everyone has their favourites . My point is so many posters wrote him off but not based on previous evidence

Havent a clue is just about O Connor's abilities ...its not an indicator of anyone's cycling knowledge

 

[Squire]

Tiberi DNF.

 

[Oldermanish]

Race has been illuminated by the lack of absurd teams, no old Sky/UAE/Jumbo rubbish going on like 7 GT podium and big classic winners doing 400 watts on the front for 6 hours, just random climbers attacking from way out because they 'had good legs' and 'the sensations were good'.

Reduce all GT teams to a 5 riders and you'll get GTs like this constantly

....and eliminate radio coms except for safety alerts. It'd force everyone to keep their head in the game instead of robotic domestiques being the dominant theme.

 

[red_flanders]

Or back is hurting . . .

Didn't seem to be hurting much when he was putting the hurt on everyone yesterday.

 

[KZD]

Brutal stage, one of the best of the season so far.

Yates did an incredible effort to win the stage and more important than that, get himself back into contention. Great work from Soler.

Carapaz also had an incredible ride attacking from very far off alone and managing to finish less than 2 minutes back on Yates. Given that he is usually very strong on a second half of a Grand Tour, he is a legit contender too.

Roglič was simply no good today but I think that this was more a bad day than anything else. Still its one less stage that he has to recover ground on O'Connor and he now has two more rivals on GC. For Red Bull though, Lipowitz is another card that they can use on the hard mountain stages.

Great defence from O'Connor, I didn't really expected him to gain time on Roglič today but it seems that the fact that today was a more attritional stage helped him when compared to the more explosive efforts from previous days. Mas looked very strong today but sadly that near crash and the descent finish didn't help his cause.

 

[Miha81]

Didn't seem to be hurting much when he was putting the hurt on everyone yesterday.

Apparently they were preparing attack but then he did not feel good. He said back was hurting and legs were not there.

 

[Unchained]

Kuss is not a great example because the two riders better than him were on his team and told not to contend for the win.

O'Connor is a historical doppelganger for the Kuss script, Roglic and Jonas were secondary, with the sub plot, would one of the two obviously superior athletes on same team take it from the unexpected new guy.
EF rode good, Carapaz riding absolutely lights out. Yates made a bold and unexpected recovery. Covid was in the bus, so it's all a crap shoot for UAE koodies catching!!
Roglic solid and O'Connor does great thing for a team not used to great things..
Going into the day off, excellent race thanks to guys like Mas, O'Connor and Carapaz..
I am not much for gambling, have zero idea who I would pick to win..no idea

 

[zlev11]

Didn't seem to be hurting much when he was putting the hurt on everyone yesterday.

today was a very different type of effort than yesterday was. haven't you ever raced a bike???

 

[red_flanders]

Apparently they were preparing attack but then he did not feel good. He said back was hurting and legs were not there.

Previously the whole race he's seemed to be quite fit and had me wondering if the back thing has been a bit overblown. I certainly buy that the legs weren't there today, that much seemed clear.

today was a very different type of effort than yesterday was. haven't you ever raced a bike???

You can do better than that, no?

I have no idea what he's feeling, and back injuries are tricky. But I think if he's not going to mention it when you're going well, maybe don't when you're not.

 

[dobrien]

Very solid from BOC today; yesterday was a blow but he's got great character (f not always the best tactical nous) and bounced back nicely today. He is fortunate however that Rog did not seem at his best; if Rog could have gone with Mas I think they could have stayed away for perhaps a minute? Good result for him considering.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Any word on Del Toro? Lost 35 minutes.

 

[zlev11]

Any word on Del Toro? Lost 35 minutes.

sounds like he got dropped mate

 

[Miha81]

Previously the whole race he's seemed to be quite fit and had me wondering if the back thing has been a bit overblown. I certainly buy that the legs weren't there today, that much seemed clear.

That is clear. Probably will never know what happened. Heat, general bad day, pain in the back,... ? He was underperformer of the day and somehow lost only 4s to O'Connor.

 

[red_flanders]

That is clear. Probably will never know what happened. Heat, general bad day, pain in the back,... ? He was underperformer of the day and somehow lost only 4s to O'Connor.

I think he managed a bad day quite well, and the day's tactics and course helped a lot. Lucky not to have a day like this on a MTF.