Uran has to probably do altitude training in Colombia before he comes back to Europe ready to tackle the Giro.
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Re:
Forecast says weekend is going to be with good weather, but that we'll see rain on Monday and Tuesday. The first stage, the one closer to me, is not good to do with rains. San Miguel, Gontzagaraigana and Ixua are dangerous roads to do with rain, specially after the nice weather we've had these days with polen and dust, etc.
As you say, every stage can have a lot to say in the final GC, and there's a place to try something for everyone that wants too. The Gasteiz finish in previous years was a great option for fast men in the style of Matthews and Felline, for example, but this years is much more interesting in terms of fight for the GC in every stage.
I'm 15km away from Markina, where the first stage takes place; yesterday we had 23 degrees, sun and a lot of wind; today we've had rain non stop and barely any wind.Taxus4a said:
Forecast says weekend is going to be with good weather, but that we'll see rain on Monday and Tuesday. The first stage, the one closer to me, is not good to do with rains. San Miguel, Gontzagaraigana and Ixua are dangerous roads to do with rain, specially after the nice weather we've had these days with polen and dust, etc.
As you say, every stage can have a lot to say in the final GC, and there's a place to try something for everyone that wants too. The Gasteiz finish in previous years was a great option for fast men in the style of Matthews and Felline, for example, but this years is much more interesting in terms of fight for the GC in every stage.
Re: Re:
Agree. And it's not a course for him...I see one, maybe two stages where Thibaut could win, that's it. I think he'll go for a stage win.Angliru said:
Yeah I reckon Henao, if he is in good form. Contador will do well and run him close and so will Purito. The Yates Bros should do well and I'm looking forward to Aru here. Not expecting much from Landa as just last week he was not doing well against a weak field at Settimana Ciclista.
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You mean steep climbs like Zoncolan and Angliru, right? Because then i agree.
But if you talk about steep muro's like Mirador de Ezaro, Valdepenas, El Escorial or Montelupone, Purito was the best for years.
Velolover2 said:
You mean steep climbs like Zoncolan and Angliru, right? Because then i agree.
But if you talk about steep muro's like Mirador de Ezaro, Valdepenas, El Escorial or Montelupone, Purito was the best for years.
Re: Re:
Interesting fact. I remember we had the same stage to Markina in 2014, and it was Swift who was the only 'sprinter' who survived in a GC group of some 20 guys.
If it's going to rain non stop on monday too, i think we can expect some gaps between the GC guys already. Perhaps a group of 4/5 (Contador, Quintana, Purito, Henao and Aru perhaps) GC guys will manage to get away and sprint for the victory.
Enjoy your time on the CN forum btw!
Txrt said:
Interesting fact. I remember we had the same stage to Markina in 2014, and it was Swift who was the only 'sprinter' who survived in a GC group of some 20 guys.
If it's going to rain non stop on monday too, i think we can expect some gaps between the GC guys already. Perhaps a group of 4/5 (Contador, Quintana, Purito, Henao and Aru perhaps) GC guys will manage to get away and sprint for the victory.
Enjoy your time on the CN forum btw!
Re:
He has been always very good in ITT no long where the climb it is at the begining. This side of Arrate maybe is better for Purito and Henao, but there is later a flat, a descent and another flat in Eibar.
I miss Horner here, very goof ITT for him.
Welcome txrt! Aupa!
Red Rick said:
He has been always very good in ITT no long where the climb it is at the begining. This side of Arrate maybe is better for Purito and Henao, but there is later a flat, a descent and another flat in Eibar.
I miss Horner here, very goof ITT for him.
Welcome txrt! Aupa!
And for this race never forget the adaptation to the special environment of those climbs.
Philippe Gilbert @PhilippeGilbert: I like to inhale cannabis in every single climb of this race.
Philippe Gilbert @PhilippeGilbert: I like to inhale cannabis in every single climb of this race.
The climb is not like Ezaro and it is not short, so it is good for Contador, although againt Purito or Henao better by the usual side of Arrate, no so step. (Contador has the record in Arrate, 2009). But the climb is not Aia, short and crazy step.
Respect the specialist the last part of the ITT would be bad for Contador, becouse he use to fade a little at the end of the ITTs (but this is very short) and it is flat, but with people as Henao or Purito, not good in flat ITT Contador has advantage.
Anyway, the important is the strentgh you have at the end of a hard week, as Quintana showed when he won basque country in the ITT. Last year, the ITT was bad for Quintana, too explosive.
Respect the specialist the last part of the ITT would be bad for Contador, becouse he use to fade a little at the end of the ITTs (but this is very short) and it is flat, but with people as Henao or Purito, not good in flat ITT Contador has advantage.
Anyway, the important is the strentgh you have at the end of a hard week, as Quintana showed when he won basque country in the ITT. Last year, the ITT was bad for Quintana, too explosive.
It will also be interesting to see Woods here, he is really suited to the climbs in Pais Vasco and should have a bit better form in Pais Vasco then he had in Catalunya (judging from his blog here on CN). I hope he has his TDU legs and shows us what he can do on the steep climbs.
Re: Re:
Yes, longer climbs. Not 1-2k efforts like Aia and Mur de Huy. Purito is normally the best at those. But at 4k they might be more even. Purito has to go full gas on the climbing section if he doesn't want to lose time to Contador.
But I still expect Purito to be in top 5 in the time trial if he is strong.
Yes, longer climbs. Not 1-2k efforts like Aia and Mur de Huy. Purito is normally the best at those. But at 4k they might be more even. Purito has to go full gas on the climbing section if he doesn't want to lose time to Contador.
Arredondo said:
Yes, longer climbs. Not 1-2k efforts like Aia and Mur de Huy. Purito is normally the best at those. But at 4k they might be more even. Purito has to go full gas on the climbing section if he doesn't want to lose time to Contador.
But I still expect Purito to be in top 5 in the time trial if he is strong.
Yes, longer climbs. Not 1-2k efforts like Aia and Mur de Huy. Purito is normally the best at those. But at 4k they might be more even. Purito has to go full gas on the climbing section if he doesn't want to lose time to Contador.
Re: Re:
I agree. In these kind of TT's, it's also about how fresh you are after the climb (Arrate). If you suffer there, you will be less sharp in the descent and in the flat km's after that. So if Purito is better then Contador on the climbing part of that TT, he will lose less time on the flatter sections then in a normal flat TT.
Velolover2 said:
I agree. In these kind of TT's, it's also about how fresh you are after the climb (Arrate). If you suffer there, you will be less sharp in the descent and in the flat km's after that. So if Purito is better then Contador on the climbing part of that TT, he will lose less time on the flatter sections then in a normal flat TT.
I think Contador will really go for this, but he'll encounter steep opposition from Henao and at least one of the Yates. I don't rate Quintana among the favorites due to the route and possible pollen-induced health issues; but he could still fight for the win if he really is close to a form peak. I'm also interested in seeing how Contreras and Superman Lopez do here. Regarding Purito, he's still a mystery to me. What is he, 37? It's a little strange to see someone so old fighting for wins nowadays...
Re:
Bala is 36. Cancellara is 35. Hell even Horner won a GT at age 42!
You can compete for the win at that kind of age, if you love your profession, train and live like a pro and having a lot of talent.
AlexNYC said:
Bala is 36. Cancellara is 35. Hell even Horner won a GT at age 42!
You can compete for the win at that kind of age, if you love your profession, train and live like a pro and having a lot of talent.
About the last day's TT. I've been reading these last few days a lot of people talk about it, about how steep the climb is, right after starting... Indeed after 1km you're already looking up, 9% gradients... But while I don't think the differences in the climbing part will be massive between the main contenders, the descent will be difficult and decisive. Specially if there's rain.
The climb has never been done in a race before, and it lasts until Arrate where the previous stage will finish. After getting to Arrate, they have 2-3kms more upwards, that are the ones that they'll descend the previous day before reaching the finish line... And after that they will do the previous day's ascent in the opposite direction. None of the riders will know anything about it, as it has never been done in a race, and there are some pretty dangerous points in the descent... Specially if it rains. So not only will the riders have to be strong climbing, but also very focused going downwards too; specially if like I think, differences at that point are very small.
Then, after the descent, they have around 5kms of flat, good roads until they reach the finish line. It is a very complex TT I think, specially being that short, and with a climb in it, it'll be very important to see how each manages the TT and controls he's own energy.
All in all, I hope it's a great ending to a fantastic week of racing and it'll make the final day very interesting as well.
The climb has never been done in a race before, and it lasts until Arrate where the previous stage will finish. After getting to Arrate, they have 2-3kms more upwards, that are the ones that they'll descend the previous day before reaching the finish line... And after that they will do the previous day's ascent in the opposite direction. None of the riders will know anything about it, as it has never been done in a race, and there are some pretty dangerous points in the descent... Specially if it rains. So not only will the riders have to be strong climbing, but also very focused going downwards too; specially if like I think, differences at that point are very small.
Then, after the descent, they have around 5kms of flat, good roads until they reach the finish line. It is a very complex TT I think, specially being that short, and with a climb in it, it'll be very important to see how each manages the TT and controls he's own energy.
All in all, I hope it's a great ending to a fantastic week of racing and it'll make the final day very interesting as well.
Re: Re:
I feel the same way about the three riders you mentioned as I do about Purito. Pretty much everything we know about human fitness goes against the idea of being an elite athlete at that age, particularly the further you get from 32-34 years of age.
Arredondo said:
I feel the same way about the three riders you mentioned as I do about Purito. Pretty much everything we know about human fitness goes against the idea of being an elite athlete at that age, particularly the further you get from 32-34 years of age.
Re: Re:
For sure, it's not that there are 20/30 riders in the peloton with the same kind of capacities/results at that age. But it's more common in a sport like cycling, where endurance is the base, then for example football, where explosivity is way more important.
If you are 35, you can also win races due to experience and resistance, instead of true explosiveness. Just look at País Vasco last year. Henao was perhaps the strongest in the race, but Purito was the guy with the best approach: saving energies as much as you can for that final TT.
AlexNYC said:
For sure, it's not that there are 20/30 riders in the peloton with the same kind of capacities/results at that age. But it's more common in a sport like cycling, where endurance is the base, then for example football, where explosivity is way more important.
If you are 35, you can also win races due to experience and resistance, instead of true explosiveness. Just look at País Vasco last year. Henao was perhaps the strongest in the race, but Purito was the guy with the best approach: saving energies as much as you can for that final TT.
Looking forward to this, if the riders want, everyday can give us some great racing.
Some rosters have been confirmed and strangely, Dumoulin will not be riding (he won the TT last year). Kelderman added to Lotto-squad.
Some rosters have been confirmed and strangely, Dumoulin will not be riding (he won the TT last year). Kelderman added to Lotto-squad.
J.Rod should finally show his true colors but i hope this time Henao will get the GC win.Quintana to complete the podium.Simon Yates might shine here as he was decent already in Paris-Nice.
Re: Re:
You are more than invited to come over and enjoy this race! We have Vuelta España in Bilbao this year too, which should also be great!
jens_attacks said:Angliru said:Taxus4a said:
LOL!! What???!!
Basque fans=the best fans in the world
You are more than invited to come over and enjoy this race! We have Vuelta España in Bilbao this year too, which should also be great!
Re:
Giant has an interesting team though, with Barguil, Geschke and Oomen. Maybe they can get their first win of the year.
He won't ride Pais Vasco.Taxus4a said:
Giant has an interesting team though, with Barguil, Geschke and Oomen. Maybe they can get their first win of the year.
Re: Re:
Could a rider potentially test positive for that?
jens_attacks said:Angliru said:Taxus4a said:
LOL!! What???!!
Basque fans=the best fans in the world
Could a rider potentially test positive for that?
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