Vuelta a Espana Stage 4: Baza - Sierra Nevada 170.2 km

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Mar 13, 2009
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icefire said:
Be careful, the bolded statement puts Pardilla in the same league of Tony Martin ;)
but different in the sense that Pardilla is a climber, and not much of a time trial specialist.
I don't know how he will do in 3 weeks. Kinda like Dan Martin, inconsistent.

Although I believe D.Martin will now finally get a good GC result. He seems in fine form.
 
Sep 9, 2009
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Dekker_Tifosi said:
but different in the sense that Pardilla is a climber, and not much of a time trial specialist.
I don't know how he will do in 3 weeks. Kinda like Dan Martin, inconsistent.

Although I believe D.Martin will now finally get a good GC result. He seems in fine form.

If Phil Deignan can, surely Birmingham's own can too.
 
Jul 24, 2009
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From the cyclingnews recap:
while 2008 Tour de France champion Carlos Sastre saw his hopes of a high overall finish disappear as the race climbed to the 2112-metre summit.

Did they mean someone else? Sastre finished with the main GC group today.
 
Mar 27, 2011
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At least Menchov and Stevo lost no more time. Nieve not having to shepherd a wounded Anton is good as well as he can challenge for a top 10 if things go his way. Very annoyed at Cav for dropping out, he just does not care about this race. Congats to Moreno. It proves Katusha has a strong team.
 
Jun 10, 2010
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patrick767 said:
From the cyclingnews recap:
while 2008 Tour de France champion Carlos Sastre saw his hopes of a high overall finish disappear as the race climbed to the 2112-metre summit.

Did they mean someone else? Sastre finished with the main GC group today.
Maybe he had a vision of the future?
 
Jul 30, 2009
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greenedge said:
Aery annoyed at Cav for dropping out, he just does not care about this race. .

Do you mean the 2011 edition of the Vuelta in general?

Just like Machiavelli says he gets ill as soon as there is a hill on a GT?

:rolleyes:
 
Jun 10, 2010
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Libertine Seguros said:
HTC's final hurrah involves their two best sprinters on the way home by the end of stage 4. Schadenfreude, I love you.
Cue Degenkolb winning two or three stages :p
 
Jul 16, 2011
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More a skirmish of attrition than a war with only Anton being the major casualty. I thought there would only be about a dozen guys together at the top. I think Danny Boy's aim today was to keep in the main group and see how he's going, as he's not really competed for the GC in a GT before. So coming away with third is definitely a boost (and 8 seconds). There's still a long way to go, but so far so good.
 
Mar 13, 2009
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But how is it possible that Anton made such a mess out of a season goal?

Seriously. How do you manage that. He didn't fall or get sick this time either
 
Jan 27, 2011
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Libertine Seguros said:
HTC's final hurrah involves their two best sprinters on the way home by the end of stage 4. Schadenfreude, I love you.

Made me chuckle uncontrollably.
 
Jun 21, 2011
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greenedge said:
Very annoyed at Cav for dropping out, he just does not care about this race.

Seriously? It's his third GT of the year and the first stage that suits him is a week in. Cavendish clearly cares about the Vuelta because that's the only reason to do all three GTs in a year.

There was no chance of him finishing the stage within the time limit and abandoning was the sensible thing to do. Why make something worse for the sake of it?
 
Jul 20, 2011
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Dekker_Tifosi said:
Although Mollema has a very recognizable style, he looks like a bird repeatedly falling off a tree. Everytime you see him climb you think he's totally at his limit, and then after the race he tells you he wasn't trying. That's mollema's style :p

now i am going to spend the rest of the race with the sound off seeing if i can spot him. (to be fair I watch most of it in fast motion as have to cram a 90 minute overnight recording into 20 minutes before work)

best description of a riders style i have seen on here yet
 
Jan 20, 2011
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Everytime people have high expectations for Anton, he somehow messes things up. Nibali seems to be the big favourite now.
 
May 25, 2010
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Zinoviev Letter said:
Thanks David Harmon. Then again, the fact that I failed to notice that he got it wrong doesn't say much for my powers of perception. The Great One has a somewhat unique appearance on a bike.

On the ITV stream we were told it was Matti Breschel...although Mollema was mentioned to be the last one left on the front with Kruijswijk and then they disappeared into the pack. Who knows, if he's not wearing a Sky jersey then they have no clue. At least Keenan memorises the bib numbers.

@DT Slagter was obvious though. A Dutch Neo-Pro looks remarkably different (younger) than a nearly 30-something Spaniard. :D
 
Aug 5, 2009
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Anton is overrated. Dunno why every man and his dog was picking him to win. VDB and Wiggins looked good as did Nibali. Good win for Moreno though I was hoping Noddy would win.
 
Mar 12, 2009
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movingtarget said:
Anton is overrated. Dunno why every man and his dog was picking him to win. VDB and Wiggins looked good as did Nibali. Good win for Moreno though I was hoping Noddy would win.

Probably based on last years Vuelta where Anton was looking really good before he crashed out.
 
Mar 13, 2009
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movingtarget said:
Anton is overrated. Dunno why every man and his dog was picking him to win. VDB and Wiggins looked good as did Nibali. Good win for Moreno though I was hoping Noddy would win.
Anton was winning last years Vuelta up until the fall. I don't think he's overrated.

Just very unreliable, you never know if he's in form or not.