Vuelta Stage 15: Alcalá la Real - Sierra Nevada (129.4 km)

[HelloDolly]

Re:

Even though Froome was weak Nibali was weak as well. Shame.

Froome was weaker ...he did nto attack ...like Nibali or Contador

Lopez strongets by a mile

 

[Simurgh]

Re:

So, how many minutes is Superman gonna take on the Angliru?

10

 

[Eclipse]

Can we never race this climb again please

 

[glassmoon]

Re:

Well that was crap coverage at the end.

As is tradition...

 

[bigcog]

Re:

Is Froome already dropped?

He came in 5th just ahead of Nibali

 

[DFA123]

Great stuff from Lopez. I think Froome was vulnerable today; he leant on Poels until the final 200m, normally he'd have gone with Zakarin - especially with a rest day tomorrow. Unfortunately only Lopez had the balls and legs to take advantage of the weakness.

Lopez is a big threat now to Nibali I think. Could easily take another few minutes on Angliru and Machucos on this form.

 

[spalco]

Does Lopez have a reasonable TT?

 

[Red Rick]

Re:

Great stuff from Lopez. I think Froome was vulnerable today; he leant on Poels until the final 200m, normally he'd have gone with Zakarin - especially with a rest day tomorrow. Unfortunately only Lopez had the balls and legs to take advantage of the weakness.

Lopez is a big threat now to Nibali I think. Could easily take another few minutes on Angliru and Machucos on this form.

Contador tried as well. He just didn't have the legs.

 

[Bolder]

Re:

Even though Froome was weak Nibali was weak as well. Shame.

I have no idea if Froome was weak but today doesn't really change anything for him. I suspect he wasn't feeling 100 percent after those crashes, and if Nibali wasn't going to test him he figured to save a few matches. I know it's hard to understand, but his goal is to win the overall, not l'etape du jour.

 

[Jungle Cycle]

Re:

Does Lopez have a reasonable TT?

He was great at Swiss last year..

 

[Matteo.]

Re: Re:

Is Froome already dropped?

He came in 5th just ahead of Nibali

reading the forecasts of these days he had to take minutes

As i said, it was nearly a walk in the park

 

[LaFlorecita]

Well that was underwhelming... Superman Lopez the only highlight. As expected Sky completely controlled the race and killed any suspense. Unfortunately very few really tried to achieve something as well.

 

[wheresmybrakes]

Re:

Froome is clearly getting weaker in the vuelta...

Froome is riding with his head, not his heart. He had no reason to chase the Contador group, he just needs to keep an eye on those close by especially Nibali. If Contador had rode with his head he would be a lot closer to the podium now. He's tried his heart out and now is the time to relax and enjoy the rest of this race. He has nothing to prove.

 

[zeamonkey]

Re:

Does Lopez have a reasonable TT?

He got a very respectable TT. In play for top podium for sure

 

[PremierAndrew]

Re:

Froome without sky, wouldn't have half of his palmares

On the contrary, Froome would arguably have an extra Tour and two extra Vueltas if it wasn't for Sky

 

[Carols]

Lopez, Like Wow . I think I'm looking at the future of cycling. Can he TT?????

 

[DFA123]

Re:

Does Lopez have a reasonable TT?

Think he's a bit of an unknown quantity, he's barely done a flat TT of any length since joining Astana. But he's clearly the freshest and strongest of the GC guys right now, which will help a lot.

 

[klintE]

Re:

Does Lopez have a reasonable TT?

Very close to Kelderman level I think.

 

[Jungle Cycle]

Re:

Lopez, Like Wow . I think I'm looking at the future of cycling. Can he TT?????

better than most climbers...

 

[skippo12]

What we learned today: If you aren`t Lopez an early attack on the sky train will get you nowhere. Contador payed the price on the last km and Nibali lost 6s as well. Zakarin and Keldeman never tried anything and just followed wheels but had some energy left for the final km.

 

[Sestriere]

Can't believe I wasted my afternoon on watching Froome watch his stem.

 

[zeamonkey]

Re: Re:

Does Lopez have a reasonable TT?

Think he's a bit of an unknown quantity, he's barely done a flat TT of any length since joining Astana. But he's clearly the freshest and strongest of the GC guys right now, which will help a lot.

"A strong time trial in the penultimate stage of the Tour de Suisse has given Colombia’s Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana) overall victory in the nine-stage WorldTour race.

Lopez went into the stage 8 individual time trial in second overall, 21 seconds behind leader Warren Barguil (Giant-Alpecin), before posting the second fastest time of the day. Ion Izagirre (Movistar) clinched the stage, completing the hilly 16.8km effort in 21:31 (46.8km/h average) while Lopez was 18 seconds behind."
Not flat but still...

 

[Cance > TheRest]

Re: Re:

Froome without sky, wouldn't have half of his palmares

On the contrary, Froome would arguably have an extra Tour and two extra Vueltas if it wasn't for Sky

Maybe he would have lost the 2015 tour without SKY though. It's not that simple

 

[Forever The Best]

Re: Re:

Froome without sky, wouldn't have half of his palmares

On the contrary, Froome would arguably have an extra Tour and two extra Vueltas if it wasn't for Sky

Maybe he would have lost the 2015 tour without SKY though. It's not that simple

Froome had 9 extra teammates in the name of Movistar that Tour.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Man Lopez could win at least 2 stages more, maybe even 3.