- Jul 3, 2022
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- May 5, 2010
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Not to get all teetotaller on you, but being drunk for three weeks is not healthy.
Until you've lived in a Winter in the North you haven't touched on what is possible....
- Apr 30, 2011
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Unless you live in Alaska, I think she lives more northern than you do.
- May 5, 2010
- 51,414
- 30,001
- 28,180
- Feb 21, 2019
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Philipsen clearly the best sprinter of this race.
Unforgivable how Almeida and UAE lost these 4 seconds to Vingegaard.
Unforgivable how Almeida and UAE lost these 4 seconds to Vingegaard.
Cookster15
Moderator
- May 14, 2011
- 6,089
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- Jun 4, 2009
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This is more rich than team UAE.
It's obvious that Almeida is not #2 gc rider in his current team anymore. Del Toro is virtual #2 in team athlete hierarchy. This Vuelta is really really sad case of UAE's team management. I feel so sorry for Almeida because of this, even as I hope Vingegaard wins.
- May 29, 2019
- 11,029
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Cookster15
Moderator
- May 14, 2011
- 6,089
- 6,599
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Not seeing this as “obvious” based upon actual performances. I think Del Toro isn’t there yet?This is more rich than team UAE.
It's obvious that Almeida is not #2 gc rider in his current team anymore. Del Toro is virtual #2 in team athlete hierarchy. This Vuelta is really really sad case of UAE's team management. I feel so sorry for Almeida because of this, even as I hope Vingegaard wins.
In the Giro Del Toro couldn’t hang with Simon Yates on Finestre. At this Vuelta Almeida hung with Vingegaard on Angliru and even looked a little stronger. And Almeida has hung tough since then this Vuelta.
Based upon performances on the road Almeida deserves to be #2 IMO.
Del Toro’s time will come, but not yet.
- Jul 8, 2017
- 2,176
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This is more rich than team UAE.
It's obvious that Almeida is not #2 gc rider in his current team anymore. Del Toro is virtual #2 in team athlete hierarchy. This Vuelta is really really sad case of UAE's team management. I feel so sorry for Almeida because of this, even as I hope Vingegaard wins.
Little early to declare Del Toro as number 2.
He was dropped hard on San Valentino, he was dropped again on Mortirolo. Yes he came back and won the stage, but on a proper Mortirolo he would've been killed, I think.
And then there is Finestre...
I couldn't believe they didn't budge when they could see Jorgenson setting Jonas up....right in front of them. Jonas was incredulous; looking around to figure out how it happened! Some blame the DS and maybe yes. But the riders had one sprint to look for. Write GO FAST at KMx with a sharpie and tape it on your bars and the ass of your teammate. Jeeeeezzzz.
- Nov 16, 2013
- 26,608
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He has not been supporting every time that matters, lol, are you kidding?
If they had actually cared to ride for him, Vine, Soler and Ayuso could have drilled the mountains so that he would have had a much higher likelihood of attacking Jonas successfully. That's pretty basic stuff.
- Nov 16, 2013
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I hardly think that a winter in Denmark holds up to a winter at similar latitude in the US (there is no part of the US at similar latitude as Denmark, is there?).
In North America then.
- Feb 20, 2012
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Every time he's been set up by the team he's failed to drop Vingegaard. Vingegaard meanwhile took a 1km leadout to drop Almeida when he wanted to.
At the most, Almeida has was down like 1 guy of support because UAE were chasing breakaways. Visma have been down 1 guy since stage 3 and they've been down 2 guys since a few days ago.
But I find it hilarious that UAE gets criticized for not supporting Almeida enough when Van Aert is can make attacks while Vingegaard is dropped in an echelon and be defended from criticism.
When someone becomes a darling of fans it's always the team's fault.
- Nov 16, 2013
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He has never been set properly up by the team because Soler and Ayuso have never stuck around to do any meaningful work for him. That's at least two people who could have shifted the power balance massively if they had had an inclination to do so.
It's not hard to see that UAE have been riding exceedingly shambolically in this race, but of course you must be contrarian (and I never voiced an opinion on the Van Aert situation - it looked stupid indeed but the situation was not that dangerous, really, so that was more a situation of the optics being bad, which I don't think you can make a case for regarding UAE in this Vuelta).
- Apr 30, 2011
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- Apr 30, 2011
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It's not clear to me that more manpower could have made a difference on Angliru. Vine and Grossschartner did really well. Almeida just wasn't strong enough to drop Vingegaard.
Ayuso did work for him the day after, and while Soler went for glory, RedBull helped put on a strong pace, but Almeida didn't try anything in the headwind before the sprint.
Could anyone on the team have made a difference on Wednesday? I don't think so. Both Almeida and his teammates were too weak to attack there.
- Nov 16, 2013
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And why were his teammates too weak? Because they've spent half the Vuelta in breaks chasing personal success.
- Apr 30, 2011
- 46,758
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What would a strong team have done Wednesday? Almeida was the first of the contenders to drop when the pace went up.
To be clear, I also find it ugly and disrespectful. I think the team is a mess. But looking back, I just can't see where Almeida had good opportunities.
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- Feb 20, 2012
- 53,771
- 44,097
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Having teammates ahead on mountain stages in case of contingency which then go hunt stages when not needed is very common. Domestiques saving themselves on days they would barely make a difference is also very common. Even on uphill finishes.
Meanwhile, we could also be criticizing Kuss and Jorgenson for chasing a top 10 after getting dropped instead of trying to hold on to Vingegaard before exploding and going to the finish at 2 W/kg. But we're not.
There's room for invididual ambitions when they don't clash with the team leader and when that effect is neutral, which is nearly 100% the case for both Visma and UAE domestiques this race.
- Apr 30, 2011
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I am! They never used their GC to put them in breaks, I have only seen Jorgenson once in break formation mark a group. Team GC is dominated by breakaways and is a pitiful goal in the Vuelta.
Kuss affected the TTT, and maybe Andorra. Jorgenson dropping early in order to limit his time losses has been much worse, he should have rested far more throughout the race to make a difference when it counts. Tulett has been perfect.
Before the race, I had expected Visma to be more often in breaks and tried for stage wins.
Can you name an occasion when Soler has helped Almeida in the Vuelta. Its like they are on different teams.
- Nov 16, 2013
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Perhaps not much Wednesday but on Valdezcaray, it could certainly have been helpful if Soler, Ayuso and Vine had been there and shown the level they have done in breakaways.
And that is the one stage with the biggest time difference in this race.
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