La Vuelta 2016 **SPOILERS**

[BSRU]

From watching the whole of the live coverage yesterday, it seemed to me Sky had settled for second place but tried something very late on just in case Quintana was so fatigued from the ITT that he would instantly blow up on the last part of the last climb. Unfortunately for Sky Quintana looked effortless at the end.
I think Quintana and Froome have been fairly evenly matched but Movistar played a blinder on stage 15 while Sky made a very costly school boy tactical error exacerbated by the fatigue from the previous stage.

 

[coffeejo]

I'm glad to see Quintana back on form and hope he remembers to pack it before heading to Dusseldorf next year. I was impressed by Froome's reaction as Quintana crossed the line yesterday. Froome might be a bit dull and all elbows but he seems a decent bloke, though I'm sure that spectator from the TDF disagrees!

 

[Aperitif]

An 'extended' team time trial from Sky today should surprise Quintana and grab back the missing seconds needed for a Froome victory.

 

[Adam4868]

Froome does what he does,and most of the time that involves winning.I guess a second place is not good enough for some.Bit give the guy credit where's it's due.It was a great Vuelta and but for a "off day" by his team there's no doubt for me he would have won.

 

[mjr]

La Challenge is on. https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/la-madrid-challenge-by-la-vuelta-spoilers.207034/

 

[roadrash]

Quintana just put a champagne glass in his jersey pocket. I would fancy falling off with that against my back

 

[themosquitoking]

Froome does what he does,and most of the time that involves winning.I guess a second place is not good enough for some.Bit give the guy credit where's it's due.It was a great Vuelta and but for a "off day" by his team there's no doubt for me he would have won.

But for stage two in the tour be France last year quintana would have won, on such things are a bike race won and lost. The rest of this isn't in relation to your post but I'm going to say it here anyway. For me it's inconceivable that Quintana won't win la tour at some point, even if they have to design one for him like they did with Wiggins, and that will complete all three GTs for him, I cannot imagine Froome even entering the Giro let alone winning it so no matter how many TDFs Froome wins he'll never be the cyclist Quintana is.

 

[Adam4868]

Id say that's your opinion,not one I'd agree with.I agree team sky are a dominant force and a tough cookie to crack.But it can be done as we have just seen.But as a rider I don't think Froome is really below Quintana.Where do you get this Froome can never be the cyclist quintana is ? Three tours,olympic medal.Lets not forget the time trial,which incidentally Quintana did say he wasn't going to lose time on ? I'm glad he won by the way,it made for exiting racing and a great Vuelta.But as they say everyone has a opinion......

 

[HF2300]

... even if they have to design one for him like they did with Wiggins...

I keep seeing this said. Sky undoubtedly targeted a Tour that suited Wiggins, just as they and other teams have targeted GTs that suit their lead riders on other occasions. That's a long way from a particular Tour being designed specifically for Wiggins. It seems unlikely the ASO would deliberately design a parcours to put a particular rider in yellow when their best interests are served by having a competitive race.

 

[themosquitoking]

I keep seeing this said. Sky undoubtedly targeted a Tour that suited Wiggins, just as they and other teams have targeted GTs that suit their lead riders on other occasions. That's a long way from a particular Tour being designed specifically for Wiggins. It seems unlikely the ASO would deliberately design a parcours to put a particular rider in yellow when their best interests are served by having a competitive race.

What if, at the time, the best interests of cycling was to have a British winner? Since then the Brits have been winning an awful lot of cycling, track and road, and getting the British public engaged with it was a master stroke.

 

[dellzeqq]

I keep seeing this said. Sky undoubtedly targeted a Tour that suited Wiggins, just as they and other teams have targeted GTs that suit their lead riders on other occasions. That's a long way from a particular Tour being designed specifically for Wiggins. It seems unlikely the ASO would deliberately design a parcours to put a particular rider in yellow when their best interests are served by having a competitive race.

David Millar did say Prudhomme designed this year's TdF with Froome in mind, although the Pyrennean stages were supposed to keep the GC tight.

 

[Crackle]

I keep seeing this said. Sky undoubtedly targeted a Tour that suited Wiggins, just as they and other teams have targeted GTs that suit their lead riders on other occasions. That's a long way from a particular Tour being designed specifically for Wiggins. It seems unlikely the ASO would deliberately design a parcours to put a particular rider in yellow when their best interests are served by having a competitive race.

I think it's both. Without a doubt ASO cater to the riders of the day and the audience of the day. They've courted UK cycling for the last few years because the audience and the money are growing here. Two ITT's and a minimum of high mtn finishes were extremely favourable to an emerging Wiggins and Sky team.

 

[mjr]

David Millar did say Prudhomme designed this year's TdF with Froome in mind, although the Pyrennean stages were supposed to keep the GC tight.

Not exactly the same thing as designing it for Froome, though. It's probably a very good idea to think who the likely competitors will be, if you want to try to make for a close race finish.

Also, Thierry Gouvenou is route designer. Prudhomme is race director. I'm sure they coordinate, but I'd expect Gouvenou to be designing the route.

 

[dellzeqq]

well, what Prudhomme apparently said, according to Millar, was that that the Tour needed heroes, and that he thought that Froome was a hero, and that, in consequence, he wanted a route that would suit him.

Good to see last Sunday's ToB stay clear of the bike lanes!

 

[mjr]

Good to see last Sunday's ToB stay clear of the bike lanes!

Apart from the painted feeder ones at the southern end of Whitehall