Vuelta a España Vuelta a España 2025, Stage 18: Valladolid - Valladolid (12.2k)

[Netserk]

Contador lost 44s to Rodriguez on Bola del Mundo

He cruised to the finish.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Back in the day there used to be laps in TTs if the course was shorter. Like at Rio, or Mendrisio, or Madrid. We could then at least give some kind of test against the clock.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

Back in the day there used to be laps in TTs if the course was shorter. Like at Rio, or Mendrisio, or Madrid. We could then at least give some kind of test against the clock.

To avoid having first lap riders being alongside second lap competitors, you would need on rider a minute for maybe 13 minutes, then a a pause of similar duration; repeat a dozen or so times. And that's without 2 minute gaps towards the top of GC (which seems entirely redundant with a TT of this length.)

 

[Libertine Seguros]

To avoid having first lap riders being alongside second lap competitors, you would need on rider a minute for maybe 13 minutes, then a a pause of similar duration; repeat 12 or 13 times. And that's without 2 minute gaps towards the top of GC (which seems entirely redundant with a TT of this length.)

They didn't do that when they used laps in the races I mentioned. Admittedly on a shorter startlist as they were championship events, but they just enforced no drafting rules if the route got crowded. The only TT I'm aware of where the riders started in waves was the Kronplatz TT in 2008 and 2010 in the Giro, and that was because of the logistics, to get the motos back to the start to deal with the next set of their team's riders, because the cars weren't allowed on the dirt section after the Passo Furcia.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

Back in the day there used to be laps in TTs if the course was shorter. Like at Rio, or Mendrisio, or Madrid. We could then at least give some kind of test against the clock.

They did this as recently as Wollongong 2022.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

They didn't do that when they used laps in the races I mentioned. Admittedly on a shorter startlist as they were championship events, but they just enforced no drafting rules if the route got crowded.

Rio definitely did. It was only two waves (longer course, fewer riders) as did some event much more recently, can't remember right now.

 

[tobydawq]

They did this as recently as Wollongong 2022.

They even did it in Tour de Suisse this year.

 

[Mayomaniac]

Really dissapointing that they couldn't even be bothered to do 2 laps to keep the nature of the ITT intact.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Is the length still 12 km or will they finish at the 3 or 8 km banners?

 

[Devil's Elbow]

They even did it in Tour de Suisse this year.

They started in waves, yes, but they didn't do multiple laps (which is what me and LS were referring to).

 

[Devil's Elbow]

Really dissapointing that they couldn't even be bothered to do 2 laps to keep the nature of the ITT intact.

It's pretty obvious that Unipublic don't want to waste any more energy on the race than is needed to see it through to the finish. Which I can't really blame them for - they can't do anything about the thing the protesters are targeting, and they also can't do much about the protesters themselves other than ask for police reinforcements, yet they are arguably bearing more of the brunt than anyone else.

 

[Eyeballs Out]

I'd wrongly assumed they were just going to do the city centre part (which would have suited Pidcock for example) but it looks from the PCS map like they're actually omitting the only uphill/downhill bit and a lot of the technical bits. That makes it a very different course as well as being a lot shorter - now quite similar to the UAE TT they have most years.

 

[KZD]

This is the final nail in the coffin for me, I would have hoped Almeida to put time into Vingegaard but with this length, the gaps will be minimal.

 

[CyclistAbi]

From sports point of view i don't feel Jonas could have lost this Vuelta today, so ultimately it will come down to stage 20, if the race won't get cancelled altogether. It's hard to imagine Jonas would get dropped, still, UAE and Almeida can try. So far they where reluctant to go all in for Almeida, maybe they will finally do it on stage 20. Then again somehow it seems they would rather collect another stage win anyway, and not with Almeida that is. So that is that.

 

[topcat]

I'm really looking forward to this one, a real screamer.

 

[YavorD]

To me we're in relatively unknown territory with how both are performing right now, so if Almeida finds his legs again and Vingegaard just keeps gradually getting worse I can see 50s happening. Especially if Vingegaard ships 15-20s in the TT, and then blast the first parts of Bola del Mundo.

35s or thereabout is a pretty realistic gap from the 1st to the 4th best climber on the Bola. And Vingegaard was the 4th best climber on the Morredero yesterday.

And then if Almeida is (presumably) the best climber and wins the stage and Vingegaard is the 4th best climber, Almeida would need 25 seconds. That's doable.

 

[dazaau]

12km is short for a freaking foot race.

 

[Danskebjerge]

To me we're in relatively unknown territory with how both are performing right now, so if Almeida finds his legs again and Vingegaard just keeps gradually getting worse I can see 50s happening.

Absolutely, and I don't get why so many have considered this GC as over and done with long ago. Riders are crashing and getting ill all the time, so why would this not include the best GC riders (we even saw Pogacar crash in the Tour while leading, and people tend to forget how narrow an escape that was).

Now, Vingegaard may have caught some of what Campenaerts got, and the slightest weakness is enough to lose a minute in the mountains and on a TT.

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Is the length still 12 km or will they finish at the 3 or 8 km banners?

I got a little confused reading the map and initially thought the tt was only 400m, so even just a 4k tt if the finish were to be at the 8km banner would be a vast improvement! 🤣

 

[Krzysztof_O]

To me we're in relatively unknown territory with how both are performing right now, so if Almeida finds his legs again and Vingegaard just keeps gradually getting worse I can see 50s happening. Especially if Vingegaard ships 15-20s in the TT, and then blast the first parts of Bola del Mundo.

35s or thereabout is a pretty realistic gap from the 1st to the 4th best climber on the Bola. And Vingegaard was the 4th best climber on the Morredero yesterday.

Yes, Bola del Mundo is a proper HC climb (in Tour terms) that could produce substantial gaps. In Vuelta there are few steep climbs with 1000+ vertical meters. It could produce 30-40 second gaps in both ways actually: in Almeida's or Vingegaard's favour. It's really not clear who's stronger or who's fading more. Maybe we'll know more after today.

 

[Eagle_Alps]

12km is short for a freaking foot race.

Plot twist:
It will be a foot race. No bikes allowed! (But still a TT!)
This way, we actually might get some time gaps!

 

[theyoungest]

To me we're in relatively unknown territory with how both are performing right now, so if Almeida finds his legs again and Vingegaard just keeps gradually getting worse I can see 50s happening. Especially if Vingegaard ships 15-20s in the TT, and then blast the first parts of Bola del Mundo.

35s or thereabout is a pretty realistic gap from the 1st to the 4th best climber on the Bola. And Vingegaard was the 4th best climber on the Morredero yesterday.

Maybe, but Almeida was 5th...

 

[topcat]

12km is short for a freaking foot race.

Not really. You'll really feel it in the legs after running 12 km, especially at age 56 with a few extra pounds.

 

[dazaau]

Plot twist:
It will be a foot race. No bikes allowed! (But still a TT!)
This way, we actually might get some time gaps!

Ha ha, finally some real time gaps 😂

 

[QueenStagiaire]

12km is short for a freaking foot race.

I‘ve heard there are some as Short as 100 meters (or 60)