Vuelta al País Vasco 4–9 April 2016

[Red Rick]

Re: Re:

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.

LOL!! What???!!

Basque fans=the best fans in the world

Could a rider potentially test positive for that?

If they test for that they might as well test for *** alcohol

 

[TMP402]

Re: Re:

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.

LOL!! What???!!

Basque fans=the best fans in the world

Could a rider potentially test positive for that?

If they test for that they might as well test for **** alcohol

Well go and take it up with WADA.

 

[Velolover2]

Isn't there even a stage for the "sprinters" in this race? Could we see GC action every day?

Fastest men are puncheurs like Albasini, Gerrans, Gallopin, Ulissi, Martin. Even Purito and Costa if the "peloton" gets reduced to a dozen of riders.

 

[Arredondo]

Re:

Isn't there even a stage for the "sprinters" in this race? Could we see GC action every day?

Fastest men are puncheurs like Albasini, Gerrans, Gallopin, Ulissi, Martin. Even Purito and Costa if the "peloton" gets reduced to a dozen of riders.

I think stage to Lesaka can be a sprint of a reduced 'peloton'. Or more a 40 guy peloton.

Normally Swift is here, but now i only see Battaglin and especially Felline apart from the names you mentioned.

 

[Brullnux]

The profiles are pretty bad so its hard to tell. Stage 2 looks pan-flat, but has a 3km long wall at the end. How hard are the climbs on Stage 1 and the Lesaka stage?

 

[liamito]

Re:

The profiles are pretty bad so its hard to tell. Stage 2 looks pan-flat, but has a 3km long wall at the end. How hard are the climbs on Stage 1 and the Lesaka stage?

https://oceta.s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/media/public/race/2016-itzulia-guide.pdf

 

[Arredondo]

Never mind about a possible sprint, based on the roadbook.

I forgot the Orio stage is ofcourse with the Aia climb in it. Purito won that stage in 2010, after a solo of 25 km. Great stage to attack from far and get time on GC.

Guys like Henao, Martin and Purito really have a chance in every stage!

 

[Arredondo]

And the stage to Lesaka reminds me a little bit of the Oñate stage back in 2012. The stage where a lot of people thought it had an easy finale, but instead of that the riders had to tackle a wall in the last 3 km, and Sammy and Purito rode away from the rest of the field.

 

[TMP402]

Re: Re:

Isn't there even a stage for the "sprinters" in this race? Could we see GC action every day?

Fastest men are puncheurs like Albasini, Gerrans, Gallopin, Ulissi, Martin. Even Purito and Costa if the "peloton" gets reduced to a dozen of riders.

I think stage to Lesaka can be a sprint of a reduced 'peloton'. Or more a 40 guy peloton.

Normally Swift is here, but now i only see Battaglin and especially Felline apart from the names you mentioned.

The bad luck strikes again!

 

[Taxus4a]

Re:

And the stage to Lesaka reminds me a little bit of the Oñate stage back in 2012. The stage where a lot of people thought it had an easy finale, but instead of that the riders had to tackle a wall in the last 3 km, and Sammy and Purito rode away from the rest of the field.

In that stage was raining a lot and was at the end, after Arrate.

 

[Taxus4a]

Re:

[*]

The profiles are pretty bad so its hard to tell. Stage 2 looks pan-flat, but has a 3km long wall at the end. How hard are the climbs on Stage 1 and the Lesaka stage?

In the official profiles that is the only stage wrong.

 

[Arredondo]

Re: Re:

And the stage to Lesaka reminds me a little bit of the Oñate stage back in 2012. The stage where a lot of people thought it had an easy finale, but instead of that the riders had to tackle a wall in the last 3 km, and Sammy and Purito rode away from the rest of the field.

In that stage was raining a lot and was at the end, after Arrate.

Sure, but it was still a hard short climb. But it looked more like a little bump at the profile.

But i agree it had also to do with the way they rode the stage. There were already attacks from Scarponi and Sammy on the penultimate climb, some 30 km's from the finish.

 

[johnymax]

A rider that hasn't been even mentioned in this thread, will win this bike race. After last year's moral victory, he'll make sure that this time he takes the win on the road.

 

[staubsauger]

Heart says Aru.

Mind tells me Pinot might surprise Quintana and Contador big time!

 

[Waterloo Sunrise]

Simon Yates was a better climb in the last km of the race away from victory. Think one of the brother's is ready for a win; I'll do with Adam after being screwed by snow in Italy.

 

[Matteo.]

Re:

Simon Yates was a better climb in the last km of the race away from victory. Think one of the brother's is ready for a win; I'll do with Adam after being screwed by snow in Italy.

It seems to me a bit too optimistic with that field

 

[Brullnux]

Yeah I agree, and I'm a yates fan. I think a top 5 is optimistic but possible if they put in a good performance, and they should aim for that.

 

[Taxus4a]

Re:

Yeah I agree, and I'm a yates fan. I think a top 5 is optimistic but possible if they put in a good performance, and they should aim for that.

Neil will have his plans for him, the stage of Lesaka is at his home.
Climbs are similar to San Sebastian.
He must take advantage of some stages doesnt finish in a climb of the surveillance between favouirites.

 

[Valv.Piti]

I just went over the stages. Every stage looks brutal apart from the first one. I still have high hopes for Quintana since Im getting more and more confident this is his year to show everyone that he is the best climber. Are those stages a bit too explosive? I don't know, it should be better suited to Contador and especially Henao + Rodriguez on paper. Ion can get a top-5, maybe even top-3 again. I don't believe in Aru. Thibaut seems to have taken the next step, but he is as much of a diesel as Quintana, maybe more. Quintana has done very well on Mende fx. in the past, but thats 2 weeks into a GT - big difference. Likewise, Contador as dominated Mende and Malhao, so stage 2 should be a super showdown between those 2.

This is seriously shaping up to be a super watchable race (always is...) Hoping for rain and carnage on stage 3 and 4, extremely promising stages if the GC-guys come out to play.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Izagirre has a better chance than Quintana IMO with the ITT and the punchy finishes. So he should be a protected rider at the very least.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re:

Izagirre has a better chance than Quintana IMO with the ITT and the punchy finishes. So he should be a protected rider at the very least.

Ion really isn't an explosive guy. He will obviously be a protected rider, thats for sure, but Quintana still has the better winning chances on a route like this. And I will get very surprised if Quintana will be as bad as last year in the ITT, I'm confident that he will show better up this year and show who is boss. Pollen is a ***, he wasn't really good in Pais Vasco last year. Cant have Izaguirre beating him in hilly/mountainous TT's no more.

 

[LaFlorecita]

I guess the top 5 will be Izagirre, Henao, Contador, Quintana, Dan Martin but I don't know about the order.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re: Re:

Izagirre has a better chance than Quintana IMO with the ITT and the punchy finishes. So he should be a protected rider at the very least.

Ion really isn't an explosive guy. He will obviously be a protected rider, thats for sure, but Quintana still has the better winning chances on a route like this. And I will get very surprised if Quintana will be as bad as last year in the ITT, I'm confident that he will show better up this year and show who is boss. Pollen is a ***, he wasn't really good in Pais Vasco last year. Cant have Izaguirre beating him in hilly/mountainous TT's no more.

Ion may not be super explosive but surely he is stronger than Quintana on those finishes.

 

[Arredondo]

Re:

I guess the top 5 will be Izagirre, Henao, Contador, Quintana, Dan Martin but I don't know about the order.

What about Purito Flo?

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re: Re:

Izagirre has a better chance than Quintana IMO with the ITT and the punchy finishes. So he should be a protected rider at the very least.

Ion really isn't an explosive guy. He will obviously be a protected rider, thats for sure, but Quintana still has the better winning chances on a route like this. And I will get very surprised if Quintana will be as bad as last year in the ITT, I'm confident that he will show better up this year and show who is boss. Pollen is a ***, he wasn't really good in Pais Vasco last year. Cant have Izaguirre beating him in hilly/mountainous TT's no more.

Ion may not be super explosive but surely he is stronger than Quintana on those finishes.

If he surely is stronger on Baranbio and Arrate, I think you are seriously underrating Quintana or severely overrating Ion Izaguirre. Quintana WON this race 3 years ago, at 23 years. He is a better rider at this point and comes fresh off a victory against your man in Catalunya. I know those aren't Catalunya-climbs, but Quintana can also get explosive.