Vuelta a España Vuelta a España 2025, Stage 7: Andorra la Vella – Cerler (188.0k)

[Ripper]

I get he's making a point. But kind of sad (just to me) to celebrate what would be a big win for most riders with a show of spite.

Me as well on that. It says a bit about a rider's maturity when they try to make some 'point' that will be lost on many (and more in time) than just the joy of winning

 

[PetPaima]

I think we all lost a lot more time watching that

Nevermind I thought I saw him the first group behind the GC guys.

I thought exactly the same. But it was Buitrago and only Buitrago for Bahrain.

Now, if Tiberi ain't sick and has team morale up he could be a valuable domestique for Traeen.

And outside Vingo-Ciccone-Almeida I haven't seen anyone being strong enough to look likely to make serious damage to Norwegian Under the Sign of Cancer. He is in running for at least 4th overall. 3rd given how Ciccone never manages to finish GC in one piece.

 

[RedheadDane]

And I just noticed there's something looking like the leg of a roast pig behind Michael Stærke in the studio... for some reason...

 

[Brullnux]

Big shame that he is in this, or any, race yes. Hope he won't make a break so that his tv-time is minimal from now on.

Name checks out

 

[aruipksni]

UAE-fest... lucky there are still some of this sprint stages in between...

 

[yaco]

@James M
I don't know why you're laughing. A team like UAE has to win the GT, not stages at the Giro and Vuelta.

I'd prefer Simon Yates' Giro than two stages that UAE won.

Last year they won three stages at the Vuelta, but Kuss has one GT and Almeida and Ayuso none.

For a big team, it's more important to win GTs than to win stages in consented breakaways.

Ayuso's performance is especially disappointing. A stage win is fine, but for someone who aspires to win a GT, win a stage against Marco Frigo because the peloton allows him, it's a failure.

Why do you think Jumbo chased stage wins at the TDF ? because UAE had the dominant rider and you need to get something from the race. It's the opposite at the Vuelta, where Jumbo have the dominant rider.

 

[HashRouge]

I'm pleased for Ayuso, but at the same time a rider of his calibre will easily win from the breakaway so I don't know if I am actually that impressed. Like Remco at the 2023 Vuelta, he's too good a rider to be d!cking about in a mountain breakaway and I'd have liked to see him fight a little harder to keep his GC bid going. I can't believe he's in that bad shape.

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

I'm pleased for Ayuso, but at the same time a rider of his calibre will easily win from the breakaway so I don't know if I am actually that impressed. Like Remco at the 2023 Vuelta, he's too good a rider to be d!cking about in a mountain breakaway and I'd have liked to see him fight a little harder to keep his GC bid going. I can't believe he's in that bad shape.

Maybe that was the agreement with UAE. Maybe he's leaving at UAE said, "ok, you can go to the Vuelta but Almeida is our leader. Feel free to go for stages."

I dunno. Just guessing here.

 

[KZD]

Impressive streak for UAE, 3 wins in a row, unfortunately I don't think that Ayuso or Vine will give it all for Almeida when it truly matters.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

Pretty poor GC action in the last 2 stages (those MTFs were pretty weak though). Vingo hasn't shown anything yet but toughest climbs are still ahead. Hopefully the race will improve.

 

[slim charles]

Yeah that's why the TDF this year has very low viewing figures, and the Giro had it's highest for almost 10 years, where Pogacar wasn't racing....
Pogacar was great, particularly in 2022/23, but it's really predictable and boring now.

There is no way to tell TdF had lower ratings, and Giro higher because of anything in particular, let alone pogacar being in the race or not. That is just pure speculation, and frankly is absolutely counter intuitive.

 

[Lequack]

Is this the first time UAE are performing without Pogacar?

 

[Andy262]

I'm pleased for Ayuso, but at the same time a rider of his calibre will easily win from the breakaway so I don't know if I am actually that impressed. Like Remco at the 2023 Vuelta, he's too good a rider to be d!cking about in a mountain breakaway and I'd have liked to see him fight a little harder to keep his GC bid going. I can't believe he's in that bad shape.

Says alot about his level of ambition that he tanked yesterday to get in the break today.

 

[P4rthen0n]

Vingegaard at limit. Visma fake pacing and Almeida will come stronger during this Vuelta!

Yea, why would Visma fake pace? It's very strange.
However, Vingegaard has been pretty snappy in his responses whenever someone attacked.

 

[Unchained]

Why do you think Jumbo chased stage wins at the TDF ? because UAE had the dominant rider and you need to get something from the race. It's the opposite at the Vuelta, where Jumbo have the dominant rider.

Visma chased everything, every single thing that Pogacar did at TDF because of idiotic tactics. Team director, riders said that they were going to put Pogacar under constant pressure, try to break him.
Absolutely nothing, zero data for @2 years said that Pogacar was weak, faltering, flat, vulnerable, ready to break.
The guy was,(is) riding lights out!. Absolutely on fire!
Visma management needs to push away from the bong, splash cold water on their face... if they saw something going into July that signaled UAE and Pogacar were getting ready to stumble and submit to some hard pulls by Jorgenson, Wout, Victor C..ridiculous idea, ridiculous results for attacking their own tail!!
Visma riding very smart so far, not acting crazy over confident in early stages, keeping GC in a tight bunch, have good numbers representing up front late in the race, Kuss, Jorgenson look at good as anything Trek or UAE have for support. Maybe the director stopped smoking and drinking, burned his lips on the pipe.

 

[Red Rick]

Visma chased everything, every single thing that Pogacar did at TDF because of idiotic tactics. Team director, riders said that they were going to put Pogacar under constant pressure, try to break him.
Absolutely nothing, zero data for @2 years said that Pogacar was weak, faltering, flat, vulnerable, ready to break.
The guy was,(is) riding lights out!. Absolutely on fire!
Visma management needs to push away from the bong, splash cold water on their face... if they saw something going into July that signaled UAE and Pogacar were getting ready to stumble and submit to some hard pulls by Jorgenson, Wout, Victor C..ridiculous idea, ridiculous results for attacking their own tail!!
Visma riding very smart so far, not acting crazy over confident in early stages, keeping GC in a tight bunch, have good numbers representing up front late in the race, Kuss, Jorgenson look at good as anything Trek or UAE have for support. Maybe the director stopped smoking and drinking, burned his lips on the pipe.

Ah yes, the old "the plan didn't work, what idiots" without offering any alternative plan.

 

[James M]

@James M
I don't know why you're laughing. A team like UAE has to win the GT, not stages at the Giro and Vuelta.

I'd prefer Simon Yates' Giro than two stages that UAE won.

Last year they won three stages at the Vuelta, but Kuss has one GT and Almeida and Ayuso none.

For a big team, it's more important to win GTs than to win stages in consented breakaways.

Ayuso's performance is especially disappointing. A stage win is fine, but for someone who aspires to win a GT, win a stage against Marco Frigo because the peloton allows him, it's a failure.

I laugh at you because prio to the Tour, you were crying in every thread, convinced Visma would crush Pogacar even how that make sense is truly beyond me even though majority of their riders are past their prime and washed(not jonas but majority of their top riders are)

Even after the Dauphine, thinking that was bizarre to me. I told you to relax, that Narváez even would drop the entire team, and that’s exactly what happened. Narvaez dropped entire team and how people where surprised by that is also funny, when it happened just weeks before too, the typing is on the wall with several riders.

Now you cry when UAE riders win too? you see the silver lining here, you just cry no matter what they do. Then you proceed to point out something which in itself are just wrong, thats when it becomes hard to take you serious. Is it cause your afraid it takes anything away from Pogacar or what? cause it doesnt at all..

Let me help you out again, the best rider doesn’t automatically mean the best team. Even if UAE won the Tour in 2020, I don’t think we can say they were the best team? By your logic we can I dont agree, same with Visma in this Giro, team was bad Yates was just the best rider and climber straight up and two of the favorites crashed.. You’re mixing up two different things, best team rider for rider is not the same thing. Your measurements are off cause you want it to be true and what happened 5 years ago dosent matter today, and it seems like you don’t even know what you’re arguing against. Thats when it gets hard to take you seriously.

Why do you think Jumbo chased stage wins at the TDF ? because UAE had the dominant rider and you need to get something from the race. It's the opposite at the Vuelta, where Jumbo have the dominant rider.

Its not harder than this, exactly what it is. But its to much logic for people not objective.

 

[Gratemans]

Visma chased everything, every single thing that Pogacar did at TDF because of idiotic tactics. Team director, riders said that they were going to put Pogacar under constant pressure, try to break him.
Absolutely nothing, zero data for @2 years said that Pogacar was weak, faltering, flat, vulnerable, ready to break.
The guy was,(is) riding lights out!. Absolutely on fire!
Visma management needs to push away from the bong, splash cold water on their face... if they saw something going into July that signaled UAE and Pogacar were getting ready to stumble and submit to some hard pulls by Jorgenson, Wout, Victor C..ridiculous idea, ridiculous results for attacking their own tail!!
Visma riding very smart so far, not acting crazy over confident in early stages, keeping GC in a tight bunch, have good numbers representing up front late in the race, Kuss, Jorgenson look at good as anything Trek or UAE have for support. Maybe the director stopped smoking and drinking, burned his lips on the pipe.

I often enjoy your rants but this one is just utter bull. Visma used the best strategy available to them this Tour. Pogacar was just too strong, simple as that. It's incredibly shortsighted to think that whenever a team doesn't win, it means their strategy was wrong. In the end, GT cycling comes down to the raw power of the top dogs. Sometimes you can use clever tactics to beat the other team but this time, the difference in power was just too big to overcome.

On a whole different note, Jonas not reacting to Almeida's attack makes me wonder if he's really in top shape. It's not like Almeida usually is that more explosive than Vingegaard.
Then again, in the end they almost caught up to him and the time difference was negligible.lbat the finish. Might just be they chose to ride conservatively until they reach the Angliru and those other two monster finishes.

 

[Rob5091]

Well, I've no idea what UAE are up to but it is amusing. I did get a bit worried when Vingegaard got the munchies with 8km to go - he should have been all carbed up by then. Then again, this is the Vuelta so not many can hold together some decent form for more then 1 day it seems.
That is of course apart from the Man to Watch - Chumil. Rides in with Landa etc to leap up the GC to 23rd spot, ahead of a few notable names ...Vamos!

 

[Cookster15]

Didn't watch the stage but congrats to Juan Ayuso. I suppose a good comeback after his collapse yesterday although he did attack from the break which he was allowed into rather than ride away from the GC favorites and it also looked an easy climb. But I am not expecting him to be a factor from here on. If so he would not have had that collapse.

Interesting the murmurs that Vingegaard might not be in top shape? We will see if that is true as this race progresses. I doubt it, Vingo is still the overwhelming favorite.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

I often enjoy your rants but this one is just utter bull. Visma used the best strategy available to them this Tour. Pogacar was just too strong, simple as that. It's incredibly shortsighted to think that whenever a team doesn't win, it means their strategy was wrong. In the end, GT cycling comes down to the raw power of the top dogs. Sometimes you can use clever tactics to beat the other team but this time, the difference in power was just too big to overcome.

On a whole different note, Jonas not reacting to Almeida's attack makes me wonder if he's really in top shape. It's not like Almeida usually is that more explosive than Vingegaard.
Then again, in the end they almost caught up to him and the time difference was negligible.lbat the finish. Might just be they chose to ride conservatively until they reach the Angliru and those other two monster finishes.

It was Soler who attacked towards the finish, not Almeida.

 

[CyclistAbi]

Interesting. It seemed that Visma will go to this race with Danish aligned approach, on where overall is basically in the bag and hence let Jonas win a bunch of stages on top of that too. They given that up partially and decided to race more conservatively. UAE meanwhile is hammering it, Almeida feeling relaxed and comfy and the rest of team members winning day in day out. This now really puts a lot of pressure on Jonas to put that two minutes into everybody when a steep enough climb comes, otherwise i guess good bye to Danish aligned approach at the Tour 2026. At RBH i do wonder if youngster or senior will try first.

 

[Tim Cahill]

Sorry, but it took me a few moments to realise you weren't talking about a 'train' - in the cycling sense.
I know you can't easily write 'Træen', but how did you get to 'Train'? Isn't the "English way" of writing his name usually 'Traeen'?

'Train' is more marketable I think, they can put it on the front of lunchboxes, children's birthday cards, balloons for when he wins his Vuelta.

'Tommy Train', like the children's TV show written by Wilbert Awdry, narrrated by Ringo Starr.

 

[Escarabajo]

Poor design this one for La Vuelta. Very bad IMHO.

 

[yaco]

Didn't watch the stage but congrats to Juan Ayuso. I suppose a good comeback after his collapse yesterday although he did attack from the break which he was allowed into rather than ride away from the GC favorites and it also looked an easy climb. But I am not expecting him to be a factor from here on. If so he would not have had that collapse.

Interesting the murmurs that Vingegaard might not be in top shape? We will see if that is true as this race progresses. I doubt it, Vingo is still the overwhelming favorite.

Ayuso was not allowed into the break. He rode the first climb 23kms by himself. The peleton could not catch him.