gazr99 said:
But why would riders decide with 4 mountain stages left that they can't beat him. I hate the saying in the old days but even as close as the 90's riders would have believed they can chase 3/4 minutes in 4 mountain stages nd several holy stages
Because there's less variety in stages now, there are more superteams, Froome has super strong riders he can expend as domestiques, and because there's no variation in the stages to come AND the hardest MTF is placed last, riders will not have faith they can take time they won't lose again.
Compare the 2009 Vuelta with the 2010 Vuelta. Both had a triple-header of big mountain stages back to back.
2009 had the biggest multiple-mountain stage first, the queen stage second, and a finish on a super-steep ramp 3rd. Because of the fear of the time that would be lost in the second and third of those, they soft-pedalled the first (next to no gaps), raced conservatively until late on in the second, and because it was a one-climb stage the gaps in the third were small. The break took all three.
2010 had the toughest MTF in the middle, the steepest MTF first and the queen stage last. Because the first MTF was so steep, time gaps were opened already, then even though it was a one-climb stage, the Covadonga MTF caused gaps to open. This meant that the time gaps were already there to mean attacks on the final one. In the end the Cotobello stage was tame from the favourites, but the design and pacing of the triple mountain stage was far superior resulting in better racing across all three stages.