Vuelta stage 20. Corvera → Alto de El Angliru - 119km

[TMP402]

Re: Re:

Can we just take a minute to appreciate the ability of Moscon?

Absolutely incredible for all 3 weeks, some thought he would fall away but his performance is truly astonishing!

I really don't appreciate it. In fact, it is beyond unbelievable. Sorry

A comment for the clinic.

 

[Red Rick]

Re: Re:

Nibali actually fell for real, he tweeted:

"Ciao Ragazzi volevo rassicurarvi sulla mia condizione dopo la caduta. qualche escoriazione e male alle costole! Per domani stringo i denti"

Translated
"Hello guys, wanted to reassure you on my status after the fall, some scratches and pain in the ribs! For tomorrow I'll grit my teeth!"

Most probably was up the road with Contador when it happened, cause he was immediately back in the peloton after the crash.
Doesn't really matter I feel Froome was untouchable today.

He can only blame himself for that. He was playing with fire there.

Nibali never whines when he crashes, unlike Froome.

I was actually quite impressed. He had crashed and unlike almost everyone you see descending direct after a crash, he was taking the better lines than Pelizotti and het to hold a bit back

 

[Jungle Cycle]

it has been fun reading the responses to Thinkoff's tweet... people are delivering to him...

 

[Breh]

Unbelievable, he's going out as the great Campeon he is.

The one and only.


Adios...

 

[Lequack]

73 Big Photos/Paintings from Stage 20 (more to come) — flockton/sirotti/aso/smith:
http://www.steephill.tv/2017/vuelta-a-espana/photos/stage-20/

 

[VayaVayaVaya]

Re: Re:

So how do today's times compare to Granpappys

http://www.climbing-records.com/2017/09/slowest-angliru-ascent-since-1999.html

2017:12,8 km@9,6%---44:35---average speed 17.26 km/h(Poels-Froome)
---44:45---average speed 17.16 km/h(Alberto Contador)
2013:12,8 km@9,6%---43:06---average speed 17.82 km/h(Chris Horner)

Can anyone provide context? Were they slower this year because of wind, the difficulty of the Vuelta overall, stage length, previous climbs? Or just not super fast?

What did Contador do it in in 2008?

 

[VayaVayaVaya]

Re: Re:

Definitely the hardest Grand Tour I've done Thanks for the amazing support over the past 3 weeks. It's been emotional! #LV2017 #lavuelta

---------------------------------------

Chris Froome said on Spanish TV they really want to catch Alberto but Alberto was very strong
http://www.rtve.es/alacarta/videos/vuelta-ciclista-a-espana/vuelta-2017-froome-hemos-tratado-cazar-contador-pero-estaba-muy-fuerte/4210338/

Alberto Contador said on Spanish TV, SKY Team tried to avoid their attacks on the descent
http://www.rtve.es/alacarta/videos/vuelta-ciclista-a-espana/vuelta-2017-contador-no-puede-haber-despedida-mejor/4210339/


So, it wasn't a gift

Of course it's not a gift. When did Sky and Froome gifted anything to anybody? Froome doesn't gift stages to teammates, let alone to biggest rivals. They only pushed when Nibali dropped, until then Poels was on alert for possible shark attack.

IMO definitely not a gift. Froome likely wanted to make sure he wouldn't crack again, as he had on stage 17, so they marked potential threats and rode defensively. When it became apparent that Froome wasn't st risk of cracking and Nibali wasn't going to attack, he went for the stage win but came up short.

Froome and Contador always head and shoulders above the rest in class. I don't care what place AC came in; he was the second best rider in this race. Shame about the illness.

I also think AC could have threatened in Tours but crashes and Sky and pressure got in his head. No way he should have been getting 9th in any GT.

 

[Red Rick]

Re: Re:

So how do today's times compare to Granpappys

http://www.climbing-records.com/2017/09/slowest-angliru-ascent-since-1999.html

2017:12,8 km@9,6%---44:35---average speed 17.26 km/h(Poels-Froome)
---44:45---average speed 17.16 km/h(Alberto Contador)
2013:12,8 km@9,6%---43:06---average speed 17.82 km/h(Chris Horner)

Can anyone provide context? Were they slower this year because of wind, the difficulty of the Vuelta overall, stage length, previous climbs? Or just not super fast?

What did Contador do it in in 2008?

Rain, headwind and they didn't do the Cobertoria in the last few editions. Also Contador did a lot of work from the start of the climb

I believe Contador rode 43'23 or something in 2008. But considering the circumstances this is really impressive

 

[wwabbit]

Re: Re:

Of course it's not a gift. When did Sky and Froome gifted anything to anybody? Froome doesn't gift stages to teammates, let alone to biggest rivals. They only pushed when Nibali dropped, until then Poels was on alert for possible shark attack.

2013 Tour de Romandie - Stage 4
2015 Sun Herald Tour - Stage 1

He really hasn't had any other opportunities to gift the stage win to teammates and there were a couple of other occasions he has tried to drag a teammate up to catch the front man in order to gift the stage win only to fail.

 

[Eyeballs Out]

If it wasn't a gift and Froome / Poels were definitely trying to win the stage then they badly misjudged it. By the time they started putting the hammer down it was virtually impossible to catch Contador unless he faded badly

 

[Netserk]

Re: Re:

So how do today's times compare to Granpappys

http://www.climbing-records.com/2017/09/slowest-angliru-ascent-since-1999.html

2017:12,8 km@9,6%---44:35---average speed 17.26 km/h(Poels-Froome)
---44:45---average speed 17.16 km/h(Alberto Contador)
2013:12,8 km@9,6%---43:06---average speed 17.82 km/h(Chris Horner)

Can anyone provide context? Were they slower this year because of wind, the difficulty of the Vuelta overall, stage length, previous climbs? Or just not super fast?

What did Contador do it in in 2008?

Rain, headwind and they didn't do the Cobertoria in the last few editions. Also Contador did a lot of work from the start of the climb

I believe Contador rode 43'23 or something in 2008. But considering the circumstances this is really impressive

Dude, the link is right there

He did 43'12'', so just 6 seconds slower than the youngling.

 

[wwabbit]

Re:

If it wasn't a gift and Froome / Poels were definitely trying to win the stage then they badly misjudged it. By the time they started putting the hammer down it was virtually impossible to catch Contador unless he faded badly

The priority was to mark Nibali. Once it became clear that Nibali was suffering, they switched to trying to catch Contador for the stage win by which time it was too late.

 

[jens_attacks]

Re:

alberto contador will win this bike race.



for the last time ((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((

a bit of history yesterday, i hope you all had the tissues near you :razz:

what a way to say goodbye _O_

 

[TMJ]

We probably will never see Froome start a Vuelta again. He's won it now and has nothing more to prove at an event he has started 6 times already.
I do not think he is a fan of the colder Giro, with its snow-topped mountain finishes either.
As long as he is competitive I see Sky and Froome going all-in for the Tour only during the next couple of years.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re: Re:

alberto contador will win this bike race.



for the last time ((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((

a bit of history yesterday, i hope you all had the tissues near you :razz:

what a way to say goodbye _O_

I had no tissues. This was a mistake

 

[Pentacycle]

Re: Re:

alberto contador will win this bike race.



for the last time ((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((

a bit of history yesterday, i hope you all had the tissues near you :razz:

what a way to say goodbye _O_

I had no tissues. This was a mistake

 

[cantpedal]

Re:

We probably will never see Froome start a Vuelta again. He's won it now and has nothing more to prove at an event he has started 6 times already.
I do not think he is a fan of the colder Giro, with its snow-topped mountain finishes either.
As long as he is competitive I see Sky and Froome going all-in for the Tour only during the next couple of years.

Not sure why you would think he won't come back to the Vuelta? He has stated repeatedly that he enjoys the race, the people and Spain.

edit - coming after the main goal of his season it doesn't threaten it. He may alter his build up depending on the tour design making it harder to do a double but I think he'll be back.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

No word from the race organisers about why they are ignoring the HD cutoff for this stage?

27 riders missed it, and although the rules allow extension of the limit, it is "only in exceptional, unforeseeable cases of force majeure".

Losing the Green jersey favourite, the Polka dot jersey leader, and the majority of those who will meaningfully sprint today would be unfortunate, but is not exceptional and unforeseeable.

Did something serious happen to impede the later finishers, or did they just hope no-one would notice and decide that it was not worth the hassle?

 

[Lequack]

Re:

No word from the race organisers about why they are ignoring the HD cutoff for this stage?

27 riders missed it, and although the rules allow extension of the limit, it is "only in exceptional, unforeseeable cases of force majeure".

Losing the Green jersey favourite, the Polka dot jersey leader, and the majority of those who will meaningfully sprint today would be unfortunate, but is not exceptional and unforeseeable.

I think they want the last stage to be about Contador and Froome and not about the controversy of chucking out many riders. They maybe would've done it if the stage was earlier in the Veulta.

 

[hrotha]

There shouldn't have been any controversy, but all hope is lost.

 

[Forever The Best]

So the time limit is meaningless again? Sigh. Throw them out of the race for once.

 

[Eyeballs Out]

Re:

No word from the race organisers about why they are ignoring the HD cutoff for this stage?

27 riders missed it, and although the rules allow extension of the limit, it is "only in exceptional, unforeseeable cases of force majeure".

Losing the Green jersey favourite, the Polka dot jersey leader, and the majority of those who will meaningfully sprint today would be unfortunate, but is not exceptional and unforeseeable.

Did something serious happen to impede the later finishers, or did they just hope no-one would notice and decide that it was not worth the hassle?

They probably realized that it would show up how daft their HD calculation is when riders get expelled for finishing 27 mins behind on a stage that included Cobertoria, Cordal and Angliru (and in such bad weather that the temporary village proved to be a bit more temporary than they'd hoped)

 

[hrotha]

Daft? The fact that all but 27 riders made the time cut at the end of a three-week race kinda proves you're wrong, but regardless, HD shouldn't be calculated so that nobody has trouble making it (unfortunately, it usually is).

27 minutes for a 119 km stage should be enough.

 

[Eyeballs Out]

Re:

Daft? The fact that all but 27 riders made the time cut at the end of a three-week race kinda proves you're wrong, but regardless, HD shouldn't be calculated so that nobody has trouble making it (unfortunately, it usually is).

27 minutes for a 119 km stage should be enough.

Yep daft. No pro rider should have trouble making it as long as they ride to their max - which I would think is exactly what happened yesterday. The rule is there to stop riders coasting in theory (and yes they absolutely should have thrown out everyone last year when it was obvious everyone had that was HD was having an extra rest day). We regularly see genuinely easier stages where the cut off is 50 mins +.

 

[Escarabajo]

Re:

We probably will never see Froome start a Vuelta again. He's won it now and has nothing more to prove at an event he has started 6 times already.
I do not think he is a fan of the colder Giro, with its snow-topped mountain finishes either.
As long as he is competitive I see Sky and Froome going all-in for the Tour only during the next couple of years.

You are assuming that he will win the Tour de France in the next 2 years.