Vuelta Stage 17: Villadiego - Los Machucos (180.5 km)

[movingtarget]

It gets harder for Froome now because of the margin, he will have to chase more. The Angliru stage probably decides it.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

In fairness to Lopez, it seems to be true that he's better at the real long diesel climbs, but coming third on that staccato beast today is hardly an indication that the kid can't do the uneven steep stuff.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re: Re:

Indeed, but even Quintana seems to be much better on such climbs than Lopez actually is. In shape Quintana is still very much one of the best in the world, Lopez isn't.

I think that's a bit harsh; Lopez wasn't that bad today though. He did still finish 3rd; beating all the GC guys except Contador and putting 40 seconds into Froome. TT probably took more out of him than the other guys with a lot more GTs under their belts.

I don't think its harsh, I would take Froomey, Quintana, Contador, Chaves etc. over Lopez on muritos. After all he lost 4 minutes in the first week, including stage 8 and 9. Pure murito stuff.

 

[Ruby United]

Both riders challenging for the win in this Vuelta have lost the Vuelta on the Angliru.
This will be interesting.

 

[bob.a.feet]

Re: Re:

Great last climb. Lopez confirms muritos isn't his thing again, I wonder how well he will fare on Angliru since that basically is a continued murito. I think very well tho.

Angliru is steep but more consistent so he should be fine

Not really

I would say it is compared to the climb we watched today, that thing was like steps over that short a distance, yeah the Angliru does ramp up and drop off but when you combine it with the start of it I reckon it's more consistent. I have personally ridden either so will have to wait until I do one day then I'll get back to you

Yeah, the first part of Angliru is more consistent for sure, but the last 6km are really up and down. They've even named each of the seven steepest sections, most of which are >20%. I guess the main difference between Angliru and Machucos is that Machucos has flattish and downhill recovery sections in between the steep bits. The recovery sections in the last 6km of Angliru are at about 11%. Also Angliru peaks at 23% for any reasonable length of time, compared with 26% for Machucos, which is a fairly big difference I guess.

I've never ridden Machucos either, but have climbed Angliru about 10 times now (it's part of my job!), and it's definitely irregular in the second half.

I do agree that it could suit Lopez more though, but because of the length. Angliru is a signifiantly longer climb in terms of how long it takes, so suits pure high mountain climbers more than Machucos. And it comes immediately on the back of two toughish climbs.

If you don't mind me asking, what is your job?

 

[Breh]

Hernandez finished infront of Chavez...

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Re: Re:

Indeed, but even Quintana seems to be much better on such climbs than Lopez actually is. In shape Quintana is still very much one of the best in the world, Lopez isn't.

I think that's a bit harsh; Lopez wasn't that bad today though. He did still finish 3rd; beating all the GC guys except Contador and putting 40 seconds into Froome. TT probably took more out of him than the other guys with a lot more GTs under their belts.

Beat me to it. Agreed entirely. If he wasn't already known as a high mountains hero and he finished third today at 23, people would be talking about him as a possible future specialist on this kind of finish.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re: Re:

Indeed, but even Quintana seems to be much better on such climbs than Lopez actually is. In shape Quintana is still very much one of the best in the world, Lopez isn't.

I think that's a bit harsh; Lopez wasn't that bad today though. He did still finish 3rd; beating all the GC guys except Contador and putting 40 seconds into Froome. TT probably took more out of him than the other guys with a lot more GTs under their belts.

Beat me to it. Agreed entirely. If he wasn't already known as a high mountains hero and he finished third today at 23, people would be talking about him as a possible future specialist on this kind of finish.

Its not that hard to look at the standings before the hit the real mountains, López was really nowhere to be seen and was losing 1 minute left and right when they hit that stuff in the first week. All of a sudden he was the best climber in Calar Alto at stage 11.

 

[Blanco]

Re:

One of the best performances of Contador in the past 5 years really. Impressive stuff.

Froome shows he's on the rope. I think he will go down on Angliru, if Nibali, Zakarin and Contador are willing to dare to attack on Cordal.

It will be an epic end of this Vuelta for sure!

After today Contador will attack on Cobertoria already

 

[Arredondo]

Re: Re:

Great last climb. Lopez confirms muritos isn't his thing again, I wonder how well he will fare on Angliru since that basically is a continued murito. I think very well tho.

Not sure if we can tell from today. It looks more like a combination of being the first real GT and fading a little after a big effort the second week.

Yes we can. Did you watch the first week? He has been the best on real mountains, by far I might add, but was extremely mediocre in the first week and in godlike shape he still lost 40 seconds or something to Contador today. It isn't possible to explain his performances differently.

Lopez is a diesel. He prefers long climbs. He's more of a Quintana then a Chaves.

Indeed, but even Quintana seems to be much better on such climbs than Lopez actually is. In shape Quintana is still very much one of the best in the world, Lopez isn't.

I don't know about that really. I mean, if you mean climbs like Los Machuchos, then yes. But Quintana isn't really that strong on steep muro's (1-2 km with an average above 10%).

He did well in the past on Mirador de Ezaro and Cumbre del Sol, but one of the best in the world?

 

[PremierAndrew]

Re: Re:

Indeed, but even Quintana seems to be much better on such climbs than Lopez actually is. In shape Quintana is still very much one of the best in the world, Lopez isn't.

I think that's a bit harsh; Lopez wasn't that bad today though. He did still finish 3rd; beating all the GC guys except Contador and putting 40 seconds into Froome. TT probably took more out of him than the other guys with a lot more GTs under their belts.

Beat me to it. Agreed entirely. If he wasn't already known as a high mountains hero and he finished third today at 23, people would be talking about him as a possible future specialist on this kind of finish.

Agreed 100%

 

[Breh]

Very nice final climb btw. Riders all over the place, Carnage like this is pretty nice to see.

 

[Arredondo]

Re: Re:

One of the best performances of Contador in the past 5 years really. Impressive stuff.

Froome shows he's on the rope. I think he will go down on Angliru, if Nibali, Zakarin and Contador are willing to dare to attack on Cordal.

It will be an epic end of this Vuelta for sure!

After today Contador will attack on Cobertoria already

That will be absolutely brutal! But let's hope the wind will not play that much of a role on Cobertoria like it did in 2012. If so, it will be really difficult to attack and sustain vs a proper Sky train.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Arredondo: La Camperona also. In shape he is great.

All you guys can disagree with me, I just don't know how you can. López is much more of a diesel than most think. Seems you all forgot his first 9 days and how he annihilated the field on stage 15 on shallow gradients.

 

[PremierAndrew]

Re:

Arredondo: La Camperona also. In shape he is great.

All you guys can disagree with me, I just don't know how you can. López is much more of a diesel than most think. Seems you all forgot his first 9 days and how he annihilated the field on stage 15 on shallow gradients.

Lopez can do both, bit like Froome and Contador

 

[Blanco]

Is Collada de la Hoz tomorrow the same climb as the one in 2012? If yes then we already know what will happen

 

[DFA123]

Re: Re:

One of the best performances of Contador in the past 5 years really. Impressive stuff.

Froome shows he's on the rope. I think he will go down on Angliru, if Nibali, Zakarin and Contador are willing to dare to attack on Cordal.

It will be an epic end of this Vuelta for sure!

After today Contador will attack on Cobertoria already

That will be absolutely brutal! But let's hope the wind will not play that much of a role on Cobertoria like it did on 2012. If so, it will be really difficult to attack and sustain vs a proper Sky train.

Fingers crossed. The highlight of the day was seeing six Sky riders in a circle swarming around Froome at the start of Machucos, absolutely powerless to help him because of the lack of drafting effect. Would be very nice for a repeat on the Cobertoria or steep bit of the Cordal!

 

[Krzysztof_O]

Great stage. It's a pity that Contador didn't win! He was so strong today, almost like his old self. But Denifl also was very strong and congratulations to him. Today's stage showed that Froome is beatable, especially on these steep gradients where wind protection from his teammates is of less importance. This Vuelta is still open and there'll be carnage on Angliru stage (3 steep climbs back to back ending with a monster). Next two stages also can bring some surprising results.

 

[ice&fire]

Re:

Is Collada de la Hoz tomorrow the same climb as the one in 2012? If yes then we already know what will happen

Confirmed. Ozalba, Carmona and la Hoz are the same climbs as in 2012. The finish is closer to those climbs than Fuente Dé.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re: Re:

Arredondo: La Camperona also. In shape he is great.

All you guys can disagree with me, I just don't know how you can. López is much more of a diesel than most think. Seems you all forgot his first 9 days and how he annihilated the field on stage 15 on shallow gradients.

Lopez can do both, bit like Froome and Contador

The longer and tougher mountain stage, the better. So nothing like Froome and Contador.

 

[Arredondo]

Re:

Arredondo: La Camperona also. In shape he is great.

All you guys can disagree with me, I just don't know how you can. López is much more of a diesel than most think. Seems you all forgot his first 9 days and how he annihilated the field on stage 15 on shallow gradients.

Sure, but La Camperona is more Los Machucos then Mirador de Ezaro. It's a combination of a steep muro and a proper steep climb.

But i agree with you Quintana is more explosive then Lopez. The latter one is a pure climber. He needs to work on his explosivity for sure. Especially if you want to win La Vuelta.

 

[telencefalus]

the comparison between lopez and quintana could be done , Lopez today was not that good but he has just 23,5 years of age , it's true that nairo at same age was distancing a peak froome of 28 years of age

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Nice win by Denifl, didn't think he would make it with only such a small lead on the peloton.

Contador was amazing today. Only one who really stood out from the favorites.
Zakarin is a crafty rider, when Nibali went he let Kelderman tire himself out, and then went himself and dropped him. But only 15 seconds, for Kelderman not bad on an ultra steep climb to Lopez, Zakarin and Nibali. Podium will be hard to impossible now though.

Froome must be worried.. he was really bad today. But 1.10 is still a lot. Nibali has no choice but to pressure him early on Angliru

 

[GraftPunk]

Re: Re:

Arredondo: La Camperona also. In shape he is great.

All you guys can disagree with me, I just don't know how you can. López is much more of a diesel than most think. Seems you all forgot his first 9 days and how he annihilated the field on stage 15 on shallow gradients.

Sure, but La Camperona is more Los Machucos then Mirador de Ezaro. It's a combination of a steep muro and a proper steep climb.

But i agree with you Quintana is more explosive then Lopez. The latter one is a pure climber. He needs to work on his explosivity for sure. Especially if you want to win La Vuelta.

It seems like he has worked on it. That acceleration the other day was a beauty.

edited for grammar

 

[Brullnux]

General classification

1. Chris Froome (GB/Team Sky) 67hrs 44min 03secs

2. Antonio Nibali (Ita/Bahrain-Merida) +1mins 16secs

From the bbc