Vuelta al País Vasco 4–9 April 2016

[Matteo.]

Last years final GC

1 Joaquim Rodríguez (ESP) Team Katusha 21hr 49' 38"
2 Sergio Henao (COL) Team Sky +13"
3 Jon Izagirre (ESP) Movistar Team +29"
4 Nairo Quintana (COL) Movistar Team +38"
5 Simon Yates (GBR) Orica–GreenEDGE +46"
6 Michele Scarponi (ITA) Astana +1' 06"
7 Rui Costa (POR) Lampre–Merida +1' 14"
8 Michal Kwiatkowski (POL) Etixx–Quick-Step +1' 15"
9 Ilnur Zakarin (RUS) Team Katusha +1' 25"
10 Thibaut Pinot (FRA) FDJ


4 April Etxebarria to Markina-Xemein 144 km

5 April Markina-Xemein to Baranbio-Garrastatxu (Amurrio) 174.2 km MTF 2.8km 10.5%

6 April Vitoria-Gasteiz to Lesaka 193.5 km

7 April Lesaka to Orio 165 km

8 April Orio to Arrate (Eibar) 159 km MTF

9 April Eibar to Eibar 16.5 km ITT

PROVISIONAL STARTLIST:

KATUSHA
1 RODRÍGUEZ, Joaquím
2 VAN DEN BROECK, Jurgen
3 SPILAK, Simon
4 BELKOV, Maxim
5 CHERNETSKI, Sergei
6 RESTREPO, Jonathan
7 SILIN, Egor
8 VICIOSO, Ángel
ADVERTISEMENT

SKY
11 LANDA, Mikel
12 HENAO, Sergio Luis
13 DEIGNAN, Philip
14 HENAO, Sebastian
15 KONIG, Leopold
16 LÓPEZ, David
17 NORDHAUG, Lars Petter
18 ZANDIO, Xabier

MOVISTAR
21 QUINTANA, Nairo
22 IZAGUIRRE, Jon
23 IZAGUIRRE, Gorka
24 ANACONA, Winner
25 HERRADA, Jesús
26 MORENO, Javier
27 MORENO, Daniel
28 VISCONTI, Giovanni

ORICA GREENEDGE
31 ALBASINI, Michael
32 GERRANS, Simon
33 HOWSON, Damien
34 MEIER, Christian
35 PLAZA, Rubén
36 TXURRUKA, Amets
37 YATES, Adam
38 YATES, Simon

BMC
41 SÁNCHEZ, Samuel
42 ATAPUMA, Darwin
43 CARUSO, Damiano
44 DILLIER, Silvan
45 MOINARD, Amaël
46 ROSSKOPF, Joseph
47 VELITS, Peter
48 WYYS, Danilo

TINKOFF
51 CONTADOR, Alberto
52 KREUZIGER, Roman
53 HANSEN, Jesper
54 HERNÁNDEZ, Jesús
55 KISERLOVSKi, Robert
56 MCCARTHY, Jay
57 TROFIMOV, Yuri
58 VALGREN, Michale

CANNONDALE
61 ROLAND, Pierre
62 SLAGTER, Tom Jelte
63 CARDOSO, Andre
64 CLARKE, Simon
65 CRADDOCK, Lawson
66 HOWES, Alex
67 KING, Benjamin
68 VILLELLA, Davide

AG2R LA MONDIALE
71 BAKELANTS, Jan
72 BONNAFOND, Gillaume
73 DUPONT, Hubert
74 KADRI, Blel
75 LATOUR, Pierre- Roger
76 MONTAGUTI, Matteo
77 RIBLON, Christophe
78 VUILLERMOZ, Alexis

LOTTO SOUDAL
81 GALLOPIN, Tony
82 MONFORT, Maxime
83 ARMEE, Sander
84 LIGTHART, Pim
85 MARCZYNSKI, Tomasz
86 VANENDERT, Jelle
87 VERVAEKE, Louis
88 WELLENS, Tim

FDJ
91 PHINOT, Thibaut
92 MAISON, Jeremy
93 MORABITO, Steve
94 PINEAU, Cédric
95 REICHENBACH, Sébastien
96 ROUX, Anthony
97 ROY, Jérémy
98 VICHOT, Arthur

DIMENSION DATA
101 ANTON, Igor
102 BERHANE, Natnael
103 CUMMINGS, Stephen
104 FRAILE, Omar
105 HAAS, Nathan
106 JANSE VAN RENSBURG, Jaques
107 JIM, Songezo
108 TEKLEHAIMANOT, Daniel

LAMPRE - MERIDA
111 COSTA, Rui
112 CONTI, Valerio
113 COSTA, Mario
114 MORI, Manuele
115 NIEMIEC, Przemyslaw
116 PETILLI, Simone
117 POLANC, Jan
118 ULISSI, Diego

TREK - SEGAFREDO
121 MOLLEMA, Bauke
122 HESJEDAL, Ryder
123 SCHLECK, Frank
124 ZUBELDIA, Haimar
125 DIDIER, Laurent
126 FELLINE, Fabio
127 REIJNEN, Kiel
128 STETINA, Peter

ETIXX - QUICKSTEP
131 MARTIN, Daniel
132 BRAMBILLA, Gianluca
133 BOUET, Maxime
134 CONTRERAS, Rodrígo
135 MEERSMAN, Gianni
136 SERRY, Pieter
137 VELITS, Martin
138 VERONA, Carlos

IAM CYCLING
141 CLEMENT, Stef
142 CHEVRIER, Clement
143 DENIFL, Stefan
144 FUMEAUX, Jonathan
145 LANG, Pirmin
146 PELLAUD, Simon
147 TANNER, David
148 WARBASSE, Lawrence

ASTANA
151 ARU, Fabio
152 CATALDO, Dario
153 FOMINYKH, Daniil
154 GRIVKO, Andriy
155 LÓPEZ, Miguel Ángel
156 ROSA, Diego
157 SÁNCHEZ, Luis León
158 TIRALONGO, Paolo

GIANT - ALPECIN
161 DUMOULIN, Tom
162 BARGUIL, Warren
163 FAIRLY, Caleb
164 GESCHKE, Simon
165 JONES, Carter
166 LUDVIGSSON, Fredrik
167 OOMEN, Sam
168 SKJOESTAD LUNKE, Sindre

LOTTONL - JUMBO
171 GESINK, Robert
172 BATTAGLIN, Enrico
173 BENNETT, George
174 BOUWMAN, Koen
175 CAMPENAERTS, Victor
176 LINDEMAN, Bertjan
177 VERMEULEN, Alexey
178 VERMEULEN, Alexey

CAJA RURAL - RGA
181 ARROYO, David
182 BILBAO, Peio
183 BENITO, Miguel Ángel
184 FERRARI, Fabricio
185 GONÇALVES, José
186 MADRAZO, Ángel
187 PRADES, Eduard
188 RUBIO, Diego

COFIDIS
191 NAVARRO, Daniel
192 SIMON, Julien
193 BAGOT, Yohan
194 EDET, Nicolas
195 JEANNESSON, Arnold
196 MATE, Luis Ángel
197 MOLARO, Rudy
198 TURGIS, Anthony

Who will win this edition?

 

[Miburo]

Pretty great field.

Landa, contador and quintana. 3 of the 4 best climbers in the world, not bad.

 

[del1962]

Think one of the Yates brothers will do well here

 

[Alexandre B.]

Purito won this race thanks to a TT. What a strange era we live in.

 

[Matteo.]

Reading the starters list is really difficult find the winner. same thing for the podium.
I think that finally Contador win the race for the ITT that suits him so much. In any case on MTFs I expect great battles between Henao, Contador, Purito. I doubt, however, about Quintana: these climbs short and hard doesn't suit him but has proven to be in great shape, it will be enough?
Landa: I do not think he can fight for the GC butmaybe heI will look for a stage victory.
Doubts also about Pinot: he is in good shape but the competitors in the Criterium International were objectively weak

 

[del1962]

Stage 5 same finish as this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99QM2WUXFYc

 

[liamito]

Re:

Stage 5 same finish as this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99QM2WUXFYc

Like every year

 

[Velolover2]

I think it's between Contador, Henao and Purito.

Those climbs should be too steep for a diesel like Pinot. Quintana should do well but tend to suffer on the brutal gradients. Hope for an aggressive race. The Aia-Aia stage has the potential be the most awesome if someone have the balls to attack.

If the race is done conservatively, Dan Martin and Tony Gallopin could be contesters.

 

[Ruudz0r]

Thank you for opening this topic, great race with some great stages and a great field.

Hopefully Henao will win here, he will lose some time in the ITT, but the ITT aint that bad for him, obviously with the steep climb in it but also heard the last kms are pretty technical which is better for him then just power riding.

 

[vedrafjord]

Seems like we're getting great fields at week-long stage races these days, and not only that, the big GC guys are racing to win. It's a lot more like the 70's or 80's than, say, the early 00's. Oleg will never get his dream of forcing riders to do 3 GTs in a year, but I don't mind as long as we get plenty of one-week fields like this. As for the reason these races went so poor for a while, I don't think this is the right forum for it.

 

[Arredondo]

I think this will be a Henao vs Purito vs Quintana fight. Of course the route is not that great for Nairo, but he still won this race back in 2013. So he can do well here. And he's in better shape then last year.

I doubt about Contador. He looks a little bit at the end of his first peak. For sure he will finish top-5, and podium is possible too. But the victory? Don't know about that.

 

[Red Rick]

TT isn't that good for Contador. Sure, he's at his best in hilly tt's, but against this field I think he'd rather have a tt with a less brutal climb in it

 

[Txrt]

First of all, hello to everyone on here. I've been reading this forum for quite a while now, almost a year; and today is the day I decided I should register and start participating a bit.

I decided to register because of this thread. I happen to be from the Basque Country, and, as every year, I'm very excited about this race (and every single one we're having in this fantastic month, why lie...).

As everyone above says, I think we have a great field for a race of this type, as we did in Catalunya. I think Contador will finish in the top 3, but I don't think he will have the legs to win this; these roads and climbs suit Henao down to the ground, and I believe he'll be the main Sky contender for the GC instead of Landa. Purito and Contador will do well, and will fight hard, as they both raced in these surroundings before becoming pro-s and they always enjoy racing here. I really am looking forward to seeing what Aru can offer; and I expect Dan Martin to be in the fight as well.

It's a shame Beñat Intxausti, who's also Basque and from my hometown, isn't racing this one; but I expect my other neighbour, Pello Bilbao, racing for Caja Rural to have an important role on this one.

Also, forgot to mention, I'll be going to the stage on Monday, hopefully to the third one in Orio as well, and of course the Arrate stage, like every year. Don't know about the TT, as I still don't know which day of the weekend I'll play.

So, to finish, thanks to everyone for making me enjoy reading this forum for so many months, and hopefully I'll contribute to it in the future as well.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Alberto will win

 

[Red Rick]

Re:

First of all, hello to everyone on here. I've been reading this forum for quite a while now, almost a year; and today is the day I decided I should register and start participating a bit.

I decided to register because of this thread. I happen to be from the Basque Country, and, as every year, I'm very excited about this race (and every single one we're having in this fantastic month, why lie...).

As everyone above says, I think we have a great field for a race of this type, as we did in Catalunya. I think Contador will finish in the top 3, but I don't think he will have the legs to win this; these roads and climbs suit Henao down to the ground, and I believe he'll be the main Sky contender for the GC instead of Landa. Purito and Contador will do well, and will fight hard, as they both raced in these surroundings before becoming pro-s and they always enjoy racing here. I really am looking forward to seeing what Aru can offer; and I expect Dan Martin to be in the fight as well.

It's a shame Beñat Intxausti, who's also Basque and from my hometown, isn't racing this one; but I expect my other neighbour, Pello Bilbao, racing for Caja Rural to have an important role on this one.

Also, forgot to mention, I'll be going to the stage on Monday, hopefully to the third one in Orio as well, and of course the Arrate stage, like every year. Don't know about the TT, as I still don't know which day of the weekend I'll play.

So, to finish, thanks to everyone for making me enjoy reading this forum for so many months, and hopefully I'll contribute to it in the future as well.

Welcome mate. Solid first post. Don't get easily discouraged if you get trolled

 

[Matteo.]

Re:

[quote="Red dif]TT isn't that good for Contador. Sure, he's at his best in hilly tt's, but against this field I think he'd rather have a tt with a less brutal climb in it[/quote]

Don't seek excuses red Rick .
In 2013 with an orrible shape , he beated Froome and was so close to Purito which was improving in those days.
In addition the hard segment is about 2kms of 16.5kms. It's short and in think differences will be small. The patch that will make differences it's the tecnical descent and the final slight slope where there is need of strenght

 

[Red Rick]

Re: Re:

[quote="Red dif]TT isn't that good for Contador. Sure, he's at his best in hilly tt's, but against this field I think he'd rather have a tt with a less brutal climb in it

Don't seek excuses red Rick .
In 2013 with an orrible shape , he beated Froome and was so close to Purito which was improving in those days.
In addition the hard segment is about 2kms of 16.5kms. It's short and in think differences will be small. The patch that will make differences it's the tecnical descent and the final slight slope where there is need of strenght[/quote]
Haha, I'm not seeking excuses, but I think on this tt his tt abilities don't mean so much as they would in a more rolling tt.

 

[Velolover2]

Re:

TT isn't that good for Contador. Sure, he's at his best in hilly tt's, but against this field I think he'd rather have a tt with a less brutal climb in it

Alberto is one of the best riders on steep gradients. In his prime, the best. Henao and Purito have a better acceleration on the steep gradients but when it comes to keeping a brutal pace on them, Contador is the best.

 

[DFA123]

Re: Re:

TT isn't that good for Contador. Sure, he's at his best in hilly tt's, but against this field I think he'd rather have a tt with a less brutal climb in it

Alberto is one of the best riders on steep gradients. In his prime, the best. Henao and Purito have a better acceleration on the steep gradients but when it comes to keeping a brutal pace on them, Contador is the best.

I don't think riding steady pace works well on Arrate from Azitain. The steep bits are too steep and there are gentle sections between them. A rider going a steady 400w on the whole climb would be significantly slower than one going 500w on the steep bits and 300w on the gentler sections.

I think Quintana could go surprisingly well, because there is such a big advantage being a lighter rider on a climb like this.

 

[Angliru]

Re:

Reading the starters list is really difficult find the winner. same thing for the podium.
I think that finally Contador win the race for the ITT that suits him so much. In any case on MTFs I expect great battles between Henao, Contador, Purito. I doubt, however, about Quintana: these climbs short and hard doesn't suit him but has proven to be in great shape, it will be enough?
Landa: I do not think he can fight for the GC butmaybe heI will look for a stage victory.
Doubts also about Pinot: he is in good shape but the competitors in the Criterium International were objectively weak

I don't rate Pinot too highly for this race. Maybe he was comfortable just winning that final stage of Criterium International but he didn't seem overpoweringly dominant when he finally attacked. LaTour, who had been out on his own much of the climb (I'm quite impressed with him), still was able to hold off the rest of the chasing group and only lost seconds to Pinot at the line.

 

[Carols]

Re:

First of all, hello to everyone on here. I've been reading this forum for quite a while now, almost a year; and today is the day I decided I should register and start participating a bit.

I decided to register because of this thread. I happen to be from the Basque Country, and, as every year, I'm very excited about this race (and every single one we're having in this fantastic month, why lie...).

As everyone above says, I think we have a great field for a race of this type, as we did in Catalunya. I think Contador will finish in the top 3, but I don't think he will have the legs to win this; these roads and climbs suit Henao down to the ground, and I believe he'll be the main Sky contender for the GC instead of Landa. Purito and Contador will do well, and will fight hard, as they both raced in these surroundings before becoming pro-s and they always enjoy racing here. I really am looking forward to seeing what Aru can offer; and I expect Dan Martin to be in the fight as well.

It's a shame Beñat Intxausti, who's also Basque and from my hometown, isn't racing this one; but I expect my other neighbour, Pello Bilbao, racing for Caja Rural to have an important role on this one.

Also, forgot to mention, I'll be going to the stage on Monday, hopefully to the third one in Orio as well, and of course the Arrate stage, like every year. Don't know about the TT, as I still don't know which day of the weekend I'll play.

So, to finish, thanks to everyone for making me enjoy reading this forum for so many months, and hopefully I'll contribute to it in the future as well.

Welcome! On site commentary and pictures are always appreciated .

 

[Escarabajo]

Hoping for Henao to get it finally.

 

[Angliru]

Re:

First of all, hello to everyone on here. I've been reading this forum for quite a while now, almost a year; and today is the day I decided I should register and start participating a bit.

I decided to register because of this thread. I happen to be from the Basque Country, and, as every year, I'm very excited about this race (and every single one we're having in this fantastic month, why lie...).

As everyone above says, I think we have a great field for a race of this type, as we did in Catalunya. I think Contador will finish in the top 3, but I don't think he will have the legs to win this; these roads and climbs suit Henao down to the ground, and I believe he'll be the main Sky contender for the GC instead of Landa. Purito and Contador will do well, and will fight hard, as they both raced in these surroundings before becoming pro-s and they always enjoy racing here. I really am looking forward to seeing what Aru can offer; and I expect Dan Martin to be in the fight as well.

It's a shame Beñat Intxausti, who's also Basque and from my hometown, isn't racing this one; but I expect my other neighbour, Pello Bilbao, racing for Caja Rural to have an important role on this one.

Also, forgot to mention, I'll be going to the stage on Monday, hopefully to the third one in Orio as well, and of course the Arrate stage, like every year. Don't know about the TT, as I still don't know which day of the weekend I'll play.

So, to finish, thanks to everyone for making me enjoy reading this forum for so many months, and hopefully I'll contribute to it in the future as well.

Welcome to the forum!

 

[Escarabajo]

That April 5 profile is misleading if the climb is the one that is showing below. That's crazy steep!

 

[Taxus4a]

Thanks for the thread.

it is the most Pais Vasco for climbers in years. anyway the longer climb has 5 Km, so for people as Quintana or Aru is not a very good race.

The favourite is Contador with that ITT, with a really hard climb, but with some flat as well.
Purito, Henao close to him. Quintana as well despite the kind of climbs.

I dont understand why Roland wanst at Catalunya and Urán here.

Hope to see Dumoulin in good shape, too many climb anyway for him, He could be good at Aia, but no in longer climb.

People as Mollema or Rui Costa could be the surprise hen nobody talk about them. Yates as well as someone wrote.

Rain is expected, so it will be hard, My town in close to the basque country, 770 meters hight, yesterday I rode with 20 degrees on the sun, today we are write for the snow..Crazy weather.

Several stages to someone take some important seconds if there is no control

The second one is designed by Landa, It pass through Murgia, his town, at the middle of the stage, it has the climb where he use to train. anyway he is better in longer climbs, and he is not in top shape, although he get the shape very quicky when his body and mind are ok.

All the stages are dangerous for GC.