Vuelta al País Vasco 4–9 April 2016

[johnymax]

Congrats to Contador. He is ready for the big battle. Surprisingly good time for Quintana after yesterday's struggles and good answer by Henao. He (Henao) is gonna win this race in the future. It suits him down to the ground.

 

[SeriousSam]

Re:

How was Quintana's bike change possibly fair? I know it didn't have any implication on the end results, but the guy got pushed up three quarters of a ramp...

It's fair to get a push after a mechanical or a fall, but a push up a climb like that after a pre-planned change? I know everyone does it but it's really not fair when you think about it

Agreed. Are there any rules about this? There should be. Imagine Quintana wins by like 2 seconds.

The easiest solution would be to disallow pushes in a TT

 

[Rollthedice]

Re:

Contador has really put alot of effort into improving his TT it seems in the last few years...looking good for the Tour

I got the feeling Contador rode the whole race in a very measured way ...as did Quintna ...both waiting somewhat for the TT

I said earlier in the year Contador can win the Tour if he keeps his major efforts for the last week...i still think he can do it

In 2009 he beat freaking Fab Canc in his primetime to win a long TDF TT, what do you mean he improved his TT?

 

[Publicus]

Re: Re:

Contador didn't take any risks in the descent. That was 2014/2009 kinda stuff

Maybe, of cirse he didnt take too much risk. but he lost time on the last Km as well. Anyway he has margin to do it.

Samuel descent as crazy and he is very good on that, and Contador lost with him in the second part just 11 seconds, so Contador didnt lost a lot in the descent. But that is something to analyze later watching videos and taking times of the last Km.

watching it live, it was very clear that Contador was taking ZERO risks in the descent or the corners. The only thing I would take away from this ITT, is that Contador is flying when he's going uphill. He just shattered Quintana and Henao. Bodes well for the TdF

 

[cineteq]

Re: Re:

In hindsight, you sound like you know what you're saying. NOT.

So Bertie lost 22 to Henao and 18 to Quintana on the descent? Odd...

Odd? he took no risks, he already had the victory in the bag. Very simple

 

[SeriousSam]

Re: Re:

Contador has really put alot of effort into improving his TT it seems in the last few years...looking good for the Tour

I got the feeling Contador rode the whole race in a very measured way ...as did Quintna ...both waiting somewhat for the TT

I said earlier in the year Contador can win the Tour if he keeps his major efforts for the last week...i still think he can do it

In 2009 he beat freaking Fab Canc in his primetime to win a long TDF TT, what do you mean he improved his TT?

That's by far his best ITT performance, though. An outlier that isn't indicative of how good he typically is, although he is typically very good when in form.

 

[Taxus4a]

Re: Re:

Contador didn't take any risks in the descent. That was 2014/2009 kinda stuff

Maybe, of cirse he didnt take too much risk. but he lost time on the last Km as well. Anyway he has margin to do it.

Samuel descent as crazy and he is very good on that, and Contador lost with him in the second part just 11 seconds, so Contador didnt lost a lot in the descent. But that is something to analyze later watching videos and taking times of the last Km.

Do you have specific times of the descent by the GC guys?

As I said that is something that just in some extend you can do later, watching videos and taking times. I am sure contadorr could have done 10 second lees by btaking the risk Henaod took, but 10 second, i dont think more, so I am sure he lost time on Quintana in the last 5 km despite the bike change of Quintana.

I said once in an spanish forum Contador is maybe the bet rider of History in cycling in this kind of ITT, short and with a hard climb and ryth changes.

in the econdd ITT of the Tour, it will be close between Contador, Quintana and Froome. (with good weather, with rain that is for Contador except he is very tired after 15 days of race).

 

[HelloDolly]

Re: Re:

Contador has really put alot of effort into improving his TT it seems in the last few years...looking good for the Tour

I got the feeling Contador rode the whole race in a very measured way ...as did Quintna ...both waiting somewhat for the TT

I said earlier in the year Contador can win the Tour if he keeps his major efforts for the last week...i still think he can do it

In 2009 he beat freaking Fab Canc in his primetime to win a long TDF TT, what do you mean he improved his TT?

Since he came back from eating that streak...that is what I mean ... would you like to expand this discussion

 

[Irondan]

Familier sight seeing Alberto on the top step, very nice!

 

[Publicus]

Re:

Contador has really put alot of effort into improving his TT it seems in the last few years...looking good for the Tour

I got the feeling Contador rode the whole race in a very measured way ...as did Quintna ...both waiting somewhat for the TT

I said earlier in the year Contador can win the Tour if he keeps his major efforts for the last week...i still think he can do it

I had a similar feeling. Especially watching him yesterday. He clearly didn't try to seriously drop Henao.

 

[rune1107]

Danish commentators are saying that Contador is a bad descender. That he has been talked up to be magnificent, but that he has had some big crashes downhill, and that today showed that he isn't that good. Stupid comment!

 

[JRanton]

Emphatic from Contador. Quintana shows how good his recovery is after a poor day yesterday. Henao the eternal bridesmaid.

 

[burning]

Re: Re:

Contador has really put alot of effort into improving his TT it seems in the last few years...looking good for the Tour

I got the feeling Contador rode the whole race in a very measured way ...as did Quintna ...both waiting somewhat for the TT

I said earlier in the year Contador can win the Tour if he keeps his major efforts for the last week...i still think he can do it

In 2009 he beat freaking Fab Canc in his primetime to win a long TDF TT, what do you mean he improved his TT?

Since he came from eating that streak...that is what I mean ...

Even though he's in *** form, he can perform really well on hilly TT's, like 2nd time trial in 2013 Tour

 

[Taxus4a]

Re: Re:

Contador has really put alot of effort into improving his TT it seems in the last few years...looking good for the Tour

I got the feeling Contador rode the whole race in a very measured way ...as did Quintna ...both waiting somewhat for the TT

I said earlier in the year Contador can win the Tour if he keeps his major efforts for the last week...i still think he can do it

In 2009 he beat freaking Fab Canc in his primetime to win a long TDF TT, what do you mean he improved his TT?

That's by far his best ITT performance, though. An outlier that isn't indicative of how good he typically is, although he is typically very good when in form.

That ITT there was achange in the bike that allow him to win.

His most impressive ITT was as well in Pais Vasco:

http://www.cqranking.com/men/asp/gen/race.asp?raceid=10970

 

[Hugo Koblet]

For reference, here are the descending times of the top 20 on the stage:

Sergio Henao: 11'47
Brambilla +14
Monfort +16
Bilbao +16
Costa +17
Quintana +18
Sanchez +25
Visconti +28
Rodriguez +31
Van den Broeck +34
Vervaeke +35
Contador +36
Spilak +37
Yates +38
Felline +40
Pinot +44
Cataldo +45
Sebastian Henao +58
Lopez +1'04
Rosa +1'05

 

[Arredondo]

Re: Re:

Contador didn't take any risks in the descent. That was 2014/2009 kinda stuff

Maybe, of cirse he didnt take too much risk. but he lost time on the last Km as well. Anyway he has margin to do it.

Samuel descent as crazy and he is very good on that, and Contador lost with him in the second part just 11 seconds, so Contador didnt lost a lot in the descent. But that is something to analyze later watching videos and taking times of the last Km.

Do you have specific times of the descent by the GC guys?

As I said that is something that just in some extend you can do later, watching videos and taking times. I am sure contadorr could have done 10 second lees by btaking the risk Henaod took, but 10 second, i dont think more, so I am sure he lost time on Quintana in the last 5 km despite the bike change of Quintana.

I said once in an spanish forum Contador is maybe the bet rider of History in cycling in this kind of ITT, short and with a hard climb and ryth changes.

in the econdd ITT of the Tour, it will be close between Contador, Quintana and Froome. (with good weather, with rain that is for Contador except he is very tired after 15 days of race).

He is. Even in his horrible 2013 season, he was 2nd in the mountain-ITT in Chorges at Le Tour.

I wonder how fast Costa did the descent, because he lost a lot of time on Arrate (i think 30 seconds on Pinot, Purito and Sammy), but manages to finish just behind them at the finish. Looks like a really strong 2nd part of his TT.

 

[BigMac]

Re: Re:

How was Quintana's bike change possibly fair? I know it didn't have any implication on the end results, but the guy got pushed up three quarters of a ramp...

It's fair to get a push after a mechanical or a fall, but a push up a climb like that after a pre-planned change? I know everyone does it but it's really not fair when you think about it

Agreed. Are there any rules about this? There should be. Imagine Quintana wins by like 2 seconds.

The easiest solution would be to disallow pushes in a TT

This has been going on for ages, nobody in the peloton makes a fuss of it. It's an acceptable thing to do among the participants, nobody cares even if you're affected by it because you've done it before yourself and will want to do it in the future. Fair and square. Even more so if you receive a puch on a sloped road.

 

[Publicus]

Re: Re:

Contador didn't take any risks in the descent. That was 2014/2009 kinda stuff

Maybe, of cirse he didnt take too much risk. but he lost time on the last Km as well. Anyway he has margin to do it.

Samuel descent as crazy and he is very good on that, and Contador lost with him in the second part just 11 seconds, so Contador didnt lost a lot in the descent. But that is something to analyze later watching videos and taking times of the last Km.

Do you have specific times of the descent by the GC guys?

As I said that is something that just in some extend you can do later, watching videos and taking times. I am sure contadorr could have done 10 second lees by btaking the risk Henaod took, but 10 second, i dont think more, so I am sure he lost time on Quintana in the last 5 km despite the bike change of Quintana.

I said once in an spanish forum Contador is maybe the bet rider of History in cycling in this kind of ITT, short and with a hard climb and ryth changes.

in the econdd ITT of the Tour, it will be close between Contador, Quintana and Froome. (with good weather, with rain that is for Contador except he is very tired after 15 days of race).

what gives you the confidence to speak with such certainty? are you one of Contador's former coaches? DS maybe?

 

[blackmamba]

Re:

For reference, here are the descending times of the top 20 on the stage:

Sergio Henao: 11'47
Brambilla +14
Monfort +16
Bilbao +16
Costa +17
Quintana +18
Sanchez +25
Visconti +28
Rodriguez +31
Van den Broeck +34
Vervaeke +35
Contador +36
Spilak +37
Yates +38
Felline +40
Pinot +44
Cataldo +45
Sebastian Henao +58
Lopez +1'04
Rosa +1'05

Before ignorant people comes showing up with stupid comments.

On a wet decent like this which is not very super technical its more about who is willing to take most risks rather than who is the best descender, now you know that too

 

[Arredondo]

Re:

For reference, here are the descending times of the top 20 on the stage:

Sergio Henao: 11'47
Brambilla +14
Monfort +16
Bilbao +16
Costa +17
Quintana +18
Sanchez +25
Visconti +28
Rodriguez +31
Van den Broeck +34
Vervaeke +35
Contador +36
Spilak +37
Yates +38
Felline +40
Pinot +44
Cataldo +45
Sebastian Henao +58
Lopez +1'04
Rosa +1'05

That's great. Thx!

 

[JRanton]

That's three world tour race wins in a row for Tinkoff and they've been on the podium in 7 of the last 8. Only miss was San Remo when Sagan was obstructed by Gaviria's crash for the sprint. Impressive!

 

[johnymax]

Re: Re:

Spilak slow. He just isn't in shape this season yet.

There are many contenders doing worse and he's not the leader here.

He's been a co-leader with Purito. I know some other contenders are doing worse but in this kind of TT he should be second only to Contador if in great shape. I hope he brings his A game in Romandie.

Absolutely not...

Ok maybe I'm exaggerating a bit. But than again not by that much. Losing 1:31 to the winner is just too much. One of his worst ITT in years in this time of year. He hasn't done this bad since 2011. And he has been improving his TT skills gradually every year. So this is a big step back. Also his climbing took a hit. I hope this is all because he wants to be a factor in the Olympics otherwise the season has been a disappointment so far. Tell me where am I wrong.

 

[Taxus4a]

Re: Re:

Contador has really put alot of effort into improving his TT it seems in the last few years...looking good for the Tour

I got the feeling Contador rode the whole race in a very measured way ...as did Quintna ...both waiting somewhat for the TT

I said earlier in the year Contador can win the Tour if he keeps his major efforts for the last week...i still think he can do it

In 2009 he beat freaking Fab Canc in his primetime to win a long TDF TT, what do you mean he improved his TT?

Since he came from eating that streak...that is what I mean ...

Even though he's in **** form, he can perform really well on hilly TT's, like 2nd time trial in 2013 Tour

More than that second (i won than ITT in Zweeler, 110 euros by betting 2,5), it is than he was very close to Froome that day, he almost win.

So he could win the second ITT of le Tour this year and be as well out of the podium.

But it is clear it is a good race for him, and the first ITT is very good for him as well, it has two important climbs, but in that ITT Froome shoudl be better... other way he would have difficult to win le Tour.

 

[Hugo Koblet]

Re: Re:

For reference, here are the descending times of the top 20 on the stage:

Sergio Henao: 11'47
Brambilla +14
Monfort +16
Bilbao +16
Costa +17
Quintana +18
Sanchez +25
Visconti +28
Rodriguez +31
Van den Broeck +34
Vervaeke +35
Contador +36
Spilak +37
Yates +38
Felline +40
Pinot +44
Cataldo +45
Sebastian Henao +58
Lopez +1'04
Rosa +1'05

That's great. Thx!

No problem I think they are all correct, but don't shoot me if I made a mistake somewhere

 

[Taxus4a]

Re:

For reference, here are the descending times of the top 20 on the stage:

Sergio Henao: 11'47
Brambilla +14
Monfort +16
Bilbao +16
Costa +17
Quintana +18
Sanchez +25
Visconti +28
Rodriguez +31
Van den Broeck +34
Vervaeke +35
Contador +36
Spilak +37
Yates +38
Felline +40
Pinot +44
Cataldo +45
Sebastian Henao +58
Lopez +1'04
Rosa +1'05

The descent was 4-5 Km, so that is impposible, you mean the econd part of the race.

In that part there is a hard climb as well and a wide road to fly without risk...