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Vuelta á España 2014
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| jacobjc88 |
Posted on 11-09-2014 19:35
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Domestique
Posts: 420
Joined: 13-03-2010
PCM$: 200.00
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Smoku wrote:
This is getting more and more entertaining. Where's my popcorn?
I assume you eat'em, so in your stomach?
Present:
Tinkoff-Saxo - AG2R - Colombian riders
Past:
Francisco Mancebo - Illes balears - Carlos Sastre - Kelme - Robbie McEwen
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| baseballlover312 |
Posted on 11-09-2014 20:02
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 16565
Joined: 27-07-2011
PCM$: 13738.70
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Alakagom wrote:
Aru..Aru..Aru..he's just special. I mean what he's doing at his age blow Nibali results out of water when he was same age. Special talent this one.
And always reminds me of Dombrowski..How Joe destroyed Aru in his home race at Giro Bio on Gavia..Shame abouy his knee issues ;/
Do you think he can ever do anything still and do you know anything about his contract next year?
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy |
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| Guido Mukk |
Posted on 11-09-2014 20:12
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 15176
Joined: 08-02-2007
PCM$: 200.00
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TimoCycling wrote:
FFS poor Gesink, he never has any kind of luck... Best decision for him, family is more important than racing. Still so so sad for him... He was doing so well!
Indeed ..come one..how much more,,give him a break |
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| Guido Mukk |
Posted on 11-09-2014 20:19
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 15176
Joined: 08-02-2007
PCM$: 200.00
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Riis123 wrote:
Bah, Contador was on his limit. Everyone knows Contador, if he is feeling well, he is either following or attacking. He is not at Valverde's wheel and losing 20 (?) seconds. Thats a fact.
Maybe..but I like to believe that you just dont know Contador..he's is grand tour joda who knows when to push. |
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| Riis123 |
Posted on 11-09-2014 20:28
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 5061
Joined: 07-08-2008
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As far as I am concerned, Contador wouldn't have let Froome slip away and gain 20 seconds if he indeed was able to do it |
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| Paul23 |
Posted on 11-09-2014 21:00
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4394
Joined: 10-08-2011
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i hope, that Contador cracks during the last days, and Froome takes it...would be a great finale 
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 13-12-2025 07:10
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Bot Agent
Posts: Countless
Joined: 23.11.09
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| silent_control |
Posted on 11-09-2014 21:09
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Under 23
Posts: 66
Joined: 28-06-2014
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admirschleck wrote:
silent_control wrote:
Froome won't win the Vuelta, but I hope that he wins the penultimate stage.
1'20" is nothing if you know that a pentultimate stage is coming, as well as an ITT after it and you have Froome on one side. It will be close.
I would love to see a close one, but I think that it is very unlikely for Contador to crack. Maybe only if Sky, Movistar and Katusha shake hands. |
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| Smoku |
Posted on 11-09-2014 21:25
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Domestique
Posts: 406
Joined: 22-07-2009
PCM$: 200.00
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silent_control wrote:
admirschleck wrote:
silent_control wrote:
Froome won't win the Vuelta, but I hope that he wins the penultimate stage.
1'20" is nothing if you know that a pentultimate stage is coming, as well as an ITT after it and you have Froome on one side. It will be close.
I would love to see a close one, but I think that it is very unlikely for Contador to crack. Maybe only if Sky, Movistar and Katusha shake hands.
And just what interest would Piti and Purito have to handle the win to a Brit? Remember what they've done to the Great Armada, them pantyhose pirate heretics?
Edited by Smoku on 11-09-2014 21:27
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| Gino_Bartali |
Posted on 11-09-2014 21:30
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Junior Rider
Posts: 40
Joined: 16-06-2012
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roturn wrote:
Nerz having once again a pretty good Vuelta showing that he is probably the best German GT racer right now.
He said in an interview some days/weeks ago that he thinks he is able to get a top10 eventually but therefore he would need to be the team leader from the beginning.
With Sanchez and Evans ageing he could get more chances on his own in future I guess.
Yes, he is the best German GT rider right now. But only because Germany sucks at GTs (GC wise).
Basically his 2014 season was very disappointing.
Yes, he was injured a lot. But this is no excuse for being shit for most of the year and then showing a little bit of form in this vuelta. |
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| silent_control |
Posted on 11-09-2014 21:34
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Under 23
Posts: 66
Joined: 28-06-2014
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Smoku wrote:
silent_control wrote:
admirschleck wrote:
silent_control wrote:
Froome won't win the Vuelta, but I hope that he wins the penultimate stage.
1'20" is nothing if you know that a pentultimate stage is coming, as well as an ITT after it and you have Froome on one side. It will be close.
I would love to see a close one, but I think that it is very unlikely for Contador to crack. Maybe only if Sky, Movistar and Katusha shake hands.
And just what interest would Piti and Purito have to handle the win to a Brit? Remember what they've done to the Great Armada, them pantyhose pirate heretics?
Well, the spanish riders aren't very nationalist. Just look at WCs, they don't really like to help each other very much, in contrast to italian riders (Italy thoroughly insists on compatriot teamwork).
Also, during the Vuelta, Contador, Rodriguez and Valverde didn't look forward to cooperation.
Edited by silent_control on 11-09-2014 21:35
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| Smoku |
Posted on 11-09-2014 21:40
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Domestique
Posts: 406
Joined: 22-07-2009
PCM$: 200.00
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Ok, you have this castellan-catalan, Madrid-Barca, Pistoler-Purito rivalry on one hand. But in this race they have never shown any kind of sign of the inside rivalry growing over the unwillingness to let outsider win. They fought for seconds, but all of them had Froome somewhere in mind in this fight. At least that's how I see it.
EDIT - coming to Nerz I'd love to see Germany raise to one of the top cycling countries. Everyone would benefit - money- and rivalry-wise. Thing is they already have much comparing to where cycling is in Germany - Kittel, Greipel, Degenkolb. Having a strong GC rider as well would be much over the capability of german cycling at tis time.
EDIT2 - yeah, I know how it looks like when a Polish fan says something like that
Edited by Smoku on 11-09-2014 21:53
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| Shonak |
Posted on 11-09-2014 22:47
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 15579
Joined: 16-07-2013
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Riis123 wrote:
Bah, Contador was on his limit. Everyone knows Contador, if he is feeling well, he is either following or attacking. He is not at Valverde's wheel and losing 20 (?) seconds. Thats a fact.
Riis123 wrote:
As far as I am concerned, Contador wouldn't have let Froome slip away and gain 20 seconds if he indeed was able to do it
Why you want to sell your personal opinion as fact? Maybe he was on limit. But might as well be that Contador played it too cool and made a tactical mistake on this given climb. At least that's what he says himself and frankly, that's how it looked a bit too. Don't forget that they almost breached the gap to Froome after a strong attack by Purito with one KM to go.
It's also highly doubtful that he is on a steady, short climb like today at his limit when he totally rocked the Vuelta 2-3 days prior, on much tougher climbs. Then again, maybe he did have a bad day or form is getting worse (doubtful).
“Clearly it is better not to lose time," stated the leader of Tinkoff-Saxo, “but I hope it's not too much of an issue. I had to control the three and I thought that Alejandro had to defend the podium, while the stage was a pretty good opportunity for him as well. It is true that we lost time and now I have to follow Froome on Ancares. But I'm happy with my shape, I feel pretty good and we have one less day to go now."[...]
“They also had interests, especially Alejandro, who didn’t want to lose his second place on the podium. Perhaps I was a bit cooler than usual," he said after crossing the finish line, still leading with 1’19’’ to second-placed Chris Froome.[...]
Finally, Alberto Contador said that if he had been alone, he would have followed Froome’s attack.
“Yes, sure I would have gone with him. Maybe in a couple of days I will regret this, but I don’t give it any significant importance right now," concluded the captain of Tinkoff-Saxo.
https://cyclingquo...ow_froome/
Also, note what Valverde said after the stage:
"Still, we must keep fighting because we're still in the mix. I don't really think Froome is doing better than us; he's physically level with us , but he was simply smarter today and took advantage of the fact that we were controlling each other. He’s strong but I don’t think he’ll dethrone Alberto from the lead in this Vuelta.
https://cyclingquo..._stronger/
Froome meanwhile sorta acknowledged that he made the right move at the right time.
“There had been many attempts until I found the right moment to attack," he said. "This is another second place but I’ve moved up on the general classification. Given the climb today, I’m very happy with that result.”
https://cyclingquo..._am_happy/
"It’s a little bit scary when Contador attacks." - Tommy V
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| Silvio Herklotz |
Posted on 11-09-2014 22:47
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Protected Rider
Posts: 1246
Joined: 26-02-2014
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Gino_Bartali wrote:
roturn wrote:
Nerz having once again a pretty good Vuelta showing that he is probably the best German GT racer right now.
He said in an interview some days/weeks ago that he thinks he is able to get a top10 eventually but therefore he would need to be the team leader from the beginning.
With Sanchez and Evans ageing he could get more chances on his own in future I guess.
Yes, he is the best German GT rider right now. But only because Germany sucks at GTs (GC wise).
Basically his 2014 season was very disappointing.
Yes, he was injured a lot. But this is no excuse for being shit for most of the year and then showing a little bit of form in this vuelta.
You may say, I'm biased here, but I don't think you can always look just on results when judging a (super-)domestique. I mean you just have to calculate his time losses (due to giving Evans his wheel losing 6mins and so on) out of the time and you see where he could be - even with bringing Sanchez bottles, which he has to do even more as Morabito left pretty early. I think he could surely get a GC Top 10 in a GT or even do much better in minor races if he would have team support. But BMC just always uses him as domestique and gives pretty less freedom. Though I admit that his results where pretty bad, I can't remember one time where he was really leader of BMC.
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| Jacdk |
Posted on 11-09-2014 23:24
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Breakaway Specialist
Posts: 910
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Paul23 wrote:
i hope, that Contador cracks during the last days, and Froome takes it...would be a great finale
Its hard to say but looking at Contador he seems to have his off days and today was strange, why would contador stay and be more watchful for Valverde and Rodriguez. Nah he simply couldn't follow Froome.
But my bet is and i am putting 100£ on it that Froome will take more time on 20th stage and then then finally take the win on the last TT. 1min is not enough for Contador to keep Froome in top form behind him and he will be destroyed on the last TT.
But again Riis seems to have put together the wrong team and with Rovny out this is again looking like Riis and his team choice is going to cost Contador a major win. |
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| Jacdk |
Posted on 11-09-2014 23:30
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Riis123 wrote:
As far as I am concerned, Contador wouldn't have let Froome slip away and gain 20 seconds if he indeed was able to do it
Anyone who is anything and anyone who have seen 2min of cycling knows that there is no way in hell that Contador would have been Valverde´s wheelboy if he could have followed Froome.
And Contador´s excuse that oh he thought Valverde would close the gap is probably the worst i have heard. Contador knows that both Valverde and Rodriguez would never in their life help Contador to a Vuelta win.
They would rather lose it to Froome. |
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| Riis123 |
Posted on 11-09-2014 23:39
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 5061
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You are making a great point and I definitely want to acknowledge that. To state that it is a fact is clearly not right, plain a simple. How should I know? I get where you are coming from and the comments clearly suggest that he, Contador, might have been able do follow Froome on a regular climb without the spanish tactical nonsense going on between Rodriguez and Valverde.
What my point was (I didn't clarify that) was that Alberto might have thought Valverde was stronger than he was and was able to bridge the gap or at least get closer. He wasn't, partly due to him not being strong enough, partly due to he didn't want to go full gas and let Alberto and Rodriguez pass him on the final kilometre (as his comment suggest with him saying that all of them are pretty equal - at least on a climb like that). But, what made me state that (which still is my belief, although its not a fact) was that I clearly expected Contador to close the gap by himself on the last kilometre. He simply didn't have the legs to do that. I have seen enough from Contador over the past 7 years that when he has something left, he goes for it. I thought that he wanted today's stage - which certainly was underlined when he closed gaps on the bottom of the climb to the nonsense of Moreno and Caruso and others who hadn't any chance to realistically win - but, as I stated, didn't have the legs.
Sure, Froome played it tactically better today but I am sure that he also was the better rider from a psychical standpoint which made me make that comment (although as I said, it is wrong to state it as a fact). |
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| Jacdk |
Posted on 12-09-2014 06:21
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Breakaway Specialist
Posts: 910
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Riis123 wrote:
You are making a great point and I definitely want to acknowledge that. To state that it is a fact is clearly not right, plain a simple. How should I know? I get where you are coming from and the comments clearly suggest that he, Contador, might have been able do follow Froome on a regular climb without the spanish tactical nonsense going on between Rodriguez and Valverde.
What my point was (I didn't clarify that) was that Alberto might have thought Valverde was stronger than he was and was able to bridge the gap or at least get closer. He wasn't, partly due to him not being strong enough, partly due to he didn't want to go full gas and let Alberto and Rodriguez pass him on the final kilometre (as his comment suggest with him saying that all of them are pretty equal - at least on a climb like that). But, what made me state that (which still is my belief, although its not a fact) was that I clearly expected Contador to close the gap by himself on the last kilometre. He simply didn't have the legs to do that. I have seen enough from Contador over the past 7 years that when he has something left, he goes for it. I thought that he wanted today's stage - which certainly was underlined when he closed gaps on the bottom of the climb to the nonsense of Moreno and Caruso and others who hadn't any chance to realistically win - but, as I stated, didn't have the legs.
Sure, Froome played it tactically better today but I am sure that he also was the better rider from a psychical standpoint which made me make that comment (although as I said, it is wrong to state it as a fact).
Yes, i was making some points, and despite everyone and anything in cycling says the same, well i wasn't stating facts, i was merely stating my opinion 
Im not sure what happened but it was very interesting, It could be that Contador just got overconfident or was told "forget froome today, today its Valverde´s terrain" and then when it finally dawned.
Anyways we will see on 20 and 21 who ends up the best, if Contador loses any time on 20 to Froome i have no confident in Contador holding Froome off and i am betting that Froome will drive so fast that he will take the stage and the race. |
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| Shonak |
Posted on 12-09-2014 09:45
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 15579
Joined: 16-07-2013
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Jacdk wrote:
1min is not enough for Contador to keep Froome in top form behind him and he will be destroyed on the last TT.
That's the route. Not even 10 Kilometers. So much for "destruction".
"It’s a little bit scary when Contador attacks." - Tommy V
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| Arberg27 |
Posted on 12-09-2014 11:23
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Shonak wrote:
Jacdk wrote:
1min is not enough for Contador to keep Froome in top form behind him and he will be destroyed on the last TT.
That's the route. Not even 10 Kilometers. So much for "destruction".
Froome in top condition will destroy Contador tomorrow with 2 min  |
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| gravus |
Posted on 12-09-2014 11:24
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Junior Rider
Posts: 40
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Lol, I can bet Contador will gain time on Froome both on mountain and TT. He beat froomebot by a minute in the last TT, same will happen now. |
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