Why were Sky so overgeared on the Angliru?

[William H]

The good thing for Wiggins is that at The tour there are no time bonuses, and +10% gradients are rare. If you ran this years Vuelta field (with the same sort of form) over this years Tour de France profile with no time bonuses, I'm pretty sure Wiggins would win unless Froome beat him in the final TT.

Of course, the bad thing for Wiggins is that Contador, Schleck and Evans are a class or two above anyone in this Vuelta.

 

[hrotha]

We saw Wiggins awesome climbing on Pena Cabarga.

I hate to break it to you but Wiggins always falters on the more serious climbs. We saw that on the Allevard in the Dauphine too. The other tempo climbs this Vuelta were perfect for him, and even more so because they didn't have 2/3 mountains in front of them.

Wiggins is still too weak in serious multi-mountain stages or actual steep mountains. Not the mention he loses a bit too much time on steep short hill finishes as well...

Wiggins had a less than perfect preparation for this race, though. That might be catching up with him now.

 

[benpounder]

Cobo 34×32 (28.3-inch);
Nibali 34×29 (31.2-inch);
Froome and Wiggins 38×32 (31.6-inch);
Kessiakoff 34×28 (32.3-inch);
Fuglsang and Mollema 36×28 (34.2-inch);

Off topic somewhat...

When the organizers of a GT have a route that demands this kind of gearing more than once, it is outside the realm of a Grand Tour. Alto de l'Angliru has become acceptable for the Vuelta, as has Zoncolan for the Giro. But multiple stages requiring something below a 38x28 is not road cycling.

 

[Damiano Machiavelli]

Off topic somewhat...

When the organizers of a GT have a route that demands this kind of gearing more than once, it is outside the realm of a Grand Tour. Alto de l'Angliru has become acceptable for the Vuelta, as has Zoncolan for the Giro. But multiple stages requiring something below a 38x28 is not road cycling.

You can stuff your sorries in a sack, mister. If you want boring then watch the Tour de France or the U.S. Pro Challenge.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

Off topic somewhat...

When the organizers of a GT have a route that demands this kind of gearing more than once, it is outside the realm of a Grand Tour. Alto de l'Angliru has become acceptable for the Vuelta, as has Zoncolan for the Giro. But multiple stages requiring something below a 38x28 is not road cycling.

oh and you decide? I saw them racing entirely on roads this years vuelta

 

[El Pistolero]

You can stuff your sorries in a sack, mister. If you want boring then watch the Tour de France or the U.S. Pro Challenge.

Erm, this Vuelta defines boring.

 

[Angliru]

Off topic somewhat...

When the organizers of a GT have a route that demands this kind of gearing more than once, it is outside the realm of a Grand Tour. Alto de l'Angliru has become acceptable for the Vuelta, as has Zoncolan for the Giro. But multiple stages requiring something below a 38x28 is not road cycling.

These are the elite of the sport with the best advances in technology the industry has to offer. If short stretches, in the case of this last stage, 3k, of grades ranging from 9 to 20% is more than they're willing to handle, then maybe they should find another profession. It's a part of the sport that they have to endure. If the gearing is available to handle it, as it is, then its the team's fault for not preparing the rider with the appropriate materials to successfully complete the task.

 

[xmoonx]

Froome gear commentary after the Angliru

"Team Sky’s Chris Froome said Monday that in hindsight he would have changed his gear ratio to something easier than his 38×32 (31.6-inch).

Sky uses the asymmetrical front chain, which Froome said changes the dynamic, but said he would have liked to have had an extra gear or two to take on Cobo.

“We could have used smaller gears yesterday,” Froome said. “Even with different gearing, it’s never going to be easy when it’s 23 percent. We hadn’t seen the climb before, but all the guys were talking about it. We all knew it was going to challenging.”

Sky teammate Bradley Wiggins also rode 38×32, but said it was his preference to have lower gearing when you’re at the sharp end of the action."

What I find completely outrageous is him saying "We hadn’t seen the climb before……….", duh..

 

[thehog]

The easier gearing allows for accelerations. That's the bit they missed. You can't blame Froome for not riding the climb prior. I don't think he thought he was going to be challenging for victory in the final sections of the stage.

"Team Sky’s Chris Froome said Monday that in hindsight he would have changed his gear ratio to something easier than his 38×32 (31.6-inch).

Sky uses the asymmetrical front chain, which Froome said changes the dynamic, but said he would have liked to have had an extra gear or two to take on Cobo.

“We could have used smaller gears yesterday,” Froome said. “Even with different gearing, it’s never going to be easy when it’s 23 percent. We hadn’t seen the climb before, but all the guys were talking about it. We all knew it was going to challenging.”

Sky teammate Bradley Wiggins also rode 38×32, but said it was his preference to have lower gearing when you’re at the sharp end of the action."

What I find completely outrageous is him saying "We hadn’t seen the climb before……….", duh..

 

[Damiano Machiavelli]

Erm, this Vuelta defines boring.

Think about how much worse it would have been without the Angliru.

 

[Benotti69]

The easier gearing allows for accelerations. That's the bit they missed. You can't blame Froome for not riding the climb prior. I don't think he thought he was going to be challenging for victory in the final sections of the stage.

For a team based in Spain it is not really an excuse not to check out what is the hardest climb in the race. I know Gijon is not exactly close but a weeks training in the Basque could've be been combined with checking out the Angliru. I thought TeamSky were all about the perfection of the details that makes the difference.

 

[hatcher]

Wiggins, Lofkvist, Zandio weren't supposed to be riding the Vuelta, so timewise I can understand them not riding it prior to the race. Froome could have done, but the team weren't really expecting this from him. Top 20, top 15; do those guys tend to recon Vuelta stages more than just watching a DVD of the climbs?