Vuelta 2014, **el sp-olé-rs**
- Thread starter Pro Tour Punditry
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uphillstruggler
Guru
- Location
- Half way there
Where are you staying? I'm in nerja at the moment and will be hiring a bike so I can ride to Friday's stage.
As some said, the heat here is somet else. I will be try to get as high up as possible but we will see.
400bhp
Guru
I
We are in cordoba today then la zubia tomorrow and thurs. Will pick up tomorrows stage as we move hotels.
Wow, Degenkolb really made a great Kittel-impersonation yesterday, winning with like 3 bike-lengths ahead of the next guy.
Have to say, I don't quite agree with Daniel Martin's tactics though.
There isn't any issue positioning him in the front of the peloton, even nothing wrong with doing this in the final hundreds of meters, but also sprinting... it seems a bit too dangerous for me. (Wasn't one of Talansky's falls in this year's Tour also because he decided to sprint with the sprinters from a reduced peloton?)
He was perfectly placed (riding in 2nd place in Tony Martin's wheel till about 200m of the finish line), but even then he "only" managed 5th place... I realize 5th place is still pretty darn good, but - personally - I believe the useless waste of energy and the potential danger of getting in-between the weaving sprinters (especially when you're not used to it, since he isn't a sprinter) isn't worth it.
He probably was hoping to get a top 3 finish and snag some bonus seconds, but surely he must realize that with a peloton that still has a decent size of about 50-ish riders he better keep his powder dry for a better suited moment.
Then again... his tactics do bring in nice fantasy points
Cancellara, Sagan, Boonen and Gilbert all clearly still have/want to build their form (for the WC RR)
Low level GC-favourites Cunego, Arredondo and JVDB are all out of a decent GC with yesterday's ride
Have to say, I don't quite agree with Daniel Martin's tactics though.
There isn't any issue positioning him in the front of the peloton, even nothing wrong with doing this in the final hundreds of meters, but also sprinting... it seems a bit too dangerous for me. (Wasn't one of Talansky's falls in this year's Tour also because he decided to sprint with the sprinters from a reduced peloton?)
He was perfectly placed (riding in 2nd place in Tony Martin's wheel till about 200m of the finish line), but even then he "only" managed 5th place... I realize 5th place is still pretty darn good, but - personally - I believe the useless waste of energy and the potential danger of getting in-between the weaving sprinters (especially when you're not used to it, since he isn't a sprinter) isn't worth it.
He probably was hoping to get a top 3 finish and snag some bonus seconds, but surely he must realize that with a peloton that still has a decent size of about 50-ish riders he better keep his powder dry for a better suited moment.
Then again... his tactics do bring in nice fantasy points
Cancellara, Sagan, Boonen and Gilbert all clearly still have/want to build their form (for the WC RR)
Low level GC-favourites Cunego, Arredondo and JVDB are all out of a decent GC with yesterday's ride
Wafer
Veteran
- Location
- Somerset/Devon border
Hah, I noticed you'd snuck up to 2nd already! Little annoyed with myself for picking, then removing Dan Martin at the moment!
No need in draining their energyby having "the domestiques" following the pace during the kind of stages we had in the past 2 days. They don't really have the riders that could win those type of races (in current form/stage in their career) and they don't need to maintain a good GC, since they aren't a real valid replacement anyway at the moment (Nieve is their only other top 10 GC threat at best and he is actually the only one bothering to stay with Froome and/or the head of the race)
b.t.w. it is probably a sign that the rest of the team really is committed to help/protect Froome as much as possible in the more dangerous (mountainous) stages
Teams like Belkin, Garmin, Movistar, Katusha (currently) have multiple guys going for GC and/or have guys who think they could have won/placed well in past stages
Chris Norton
Well-Known Member
- Location
- Boston, Lincs
Another hot day. Don't really look like racing. Wouldn't blame them at 41 degrees.
U
User169
Guest
Dan Martin posted on face pants a couple days ago that he got through 10-12 litres of water in a stage.
RobNewcastle
Senior Member
Interested to see today's first summit finish albeit a small one. Should be a decent indicator of where people are at form wise.
Hmmm... almost 10 minutes for the escape with "only" 65km to go.
This could be a bit late that they start eating into this lead (although it's in the peloton's advantage that there are only 2 leaders and Mas - the best climber of the 2 - isn't a great climber by all means)
This could be a bit late that they start eating into this lead (although it's in the peloton's advantage that there are only 2 leaders and Mas - the best climber of the 2 - isn't a great climber by all means)
