Who will win the 2011 Vuelta a España?

[Nikoloz]

Who will win the 2011 Vuelta a España?

This thread is for discussing the General Classification only. It is 1 week out from th start so I thought it would be approopriate to make another thread about the VaE.

we need new poll

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[Midnightfright]

My top 5 predictioners now are
1 Nibbles(yes I know he's my "mancrush" but he still should win
2 Wiggo he is looking very good
3 Bauke, again looking great
4 J Rod
5 Kessiakoff

 

[Mambo95]

we need new poll

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Why? Anton is going to win, and that is a fact.

The forum says so.

To say otherwise is to doubt the collective wisdom of the internet. If an internet forum can be wrong, who on earth can be right?

 

[daveinzambia]

I have got as much idea who is going to win this as i do where Cav will be riding next year

the more i watch the more i question if Nibali can take Wiggins. And unless someone else is going to start working on the front time bonuses are not going to come into it. Wiggins is looking less and less like he is going to massively crack, and not sure the Vuelta has the really high altitude rides that have really hurt him before.

So think one of the climbers is going to have to attack hard and take some time. you look back and think Mollema looks good on the big climbs but can he get more than 30 seconds?

 

[rzombie1988]

I really would like J-Rod to win it, but I'm losing hope. I think even if he has a great day on the Angliru, he won't get enough time. I worry if he will also have another bad day before it.

Nibali has got to still be the big favorite. He's been pretty consistent and he should continue to be so. Wiggins may have a chance too but I think he needs atleast 30 seconds on Nibali going into the Angliru. He has to hope for Nibz having an off day. A shame for him that there is no end ITT or else I'd go with him. Menchov has no chance and I have no idea where TGBM ends up. He's been riding well though, but I don't see him getting 36 seconds on Nibz.

 

[Midnightfright]

I have got as much idea who is going to win this as i do where Cav will be riding next year

the more i watch the more i question if Nibali can take Wiggins. And unless someone else is going to start working on the front time bonuses are not going to come into it. Wiggins is looking less and less like he is going to massively crack, and not sure the Vuelta has the really high altitude rides that have really hurt him before.

So think one of the climbers is going to have to attack hard and take some time. you look back and think Mollema looks good on the big climbs but can he get more than 30 seconds?

I'm am actually sharing your way of thinking, although I'm still very confident Nibbles can take 11 o. angrilu and also thing Mollema could gain enough time as well. One thing I will see say is in the climbing Wiggo has looked very composed.

 

[Sciatic]

I'm guessing Nibali, even though he doesn't look real great.

What I'm surprised at is how the predictions revolve around Angrilu as though it were the only climb and stage that matters. That will obviously be a big factor, but bigger still will be who has the recovery capacity for three straight days in the bigger mountains after 2 full weeks of racing. Friday won't sort anything out but it will have put a long, possibly hard climb into their legs, and you could argue that Saturday is, overall, a tougher stage than Sunday. But as I've learned from folks here, it will depend how they race it.

If it does come down to Angrilu, I think there will be more than a 20 or so seconds separation b/t because the peloton will have already climbed 2 Cat 2s and 3 Cat 1s during the weekend before they even start up that final monster climb. If one of the key players cracks at that point they will be losing minutes, not seconds.

 

[Winterfold]

Loving all the Wiggo won't podium dogma still

Let us not forget these are the same peeps who had Wiggo not podiuming the Dauphin - even on the Friday - and I expect there is a high crossover with the Anton will win utter fail.

Does it look like Nibali has more W/kg than Wiggo right now?

If Wiggo is setting the pace all we are going to see is some short attacks which cannot be sustained and which get brought back - the gradient does not come into it - it will be about nicking bonifications at the finish - so Wiggo has to grind Nibbles off his wheel and let breaks go and win.

 

[auscyclefan94]

we need new poll

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I'm onto it.

 

[will10]

we need new poll

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Yeah, maybe we could do another one in a couple of weeks and see if we're all right then.