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Roberto Velásquez: The Story of A Legend |
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| Ian Butler |
Posted on 17-10-2012 11:51
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 21854
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Wild Dog: Thanks 
Atlantius: Indeed  thanks! |
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| TimoCycling |
Posted on 17-10-2012 12:09
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Sprinter
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Great solo man! He's just a crazy good rider! He's becoming one of the biggest riders in history I think . |
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 23-11-2024 05:27
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Bot Agent
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| Pinktay3 |
Posted on 17-10-2012 12:13
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Breakaway Specialist
Posts: 959
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Um, this is kinda awkward, but I think you may have forgotten stage 5... |
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| Ian Butler |
Posted on 17-10-2012 13:50
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 21854
Joined: 01-05-2012
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TimoCycling: Thanks! He'll become even better yet
Pinktay3: No, it was a flat race, not interesting for Roberto. But thanks for noticing anyway! |
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| Daggen |
Posted on 17-10-2012 13:55
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Sprinter
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Incredible solo effort!! Just so....INCREDIBLE!!! |
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| FreitasPCM |
Posted on 17-10-2012 17:08
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 8389
Joined: 08-09-2009
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Great GC win after an incredible solo effort! |
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| JuanMotr |
Posted on 17-10-2012 18:35
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Domestique
Posts: 701
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Incredible Solo effort!!
nothing much to say |
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| francopell |
Posted on 17-10-2012 18:36
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Domestique
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| dienblad |
Posted on 17-10-2012 19:00
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Classics Specialist
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Amazing effort!!
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| kimiopn |
Posted on 17-10-2012 19:14
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"I remember that stage in Castellane like if it was yesterday. I was only 11 and my father, who also loved cycling told me that this young men lived near us some years before in Bogotá. At the time, Contador was believed to become the best rider ever and seemed invincible, but Roberto that day was just superb. I started to follow every race that i could on the Internet and on the Cable TV. He started to be my hero!"
Juan Franco Gutiérrez, Bogotá, Colombia |
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| Daggen |
Posted on 17-10-2012 19:45
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kimiopn wrote:
"I remember that stage in Castellane like if it was yesterday. I was only 11 and my father, who also loved cycling told me that this young men lived near us some years before in Bogotá. At the time, Contador was believed to become the best rider ever and seemed invincible, but Roberto that day was just superb. I started to follow every race that i could on the Internet and on the Cable TV. He started to be my hero!"
Juan Franco Gutiérrez, Bogotá, Colombia
You wrote that??!! Thats genius!! |
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| Wild Dog |
Posted on 17-10-2012 19:51
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Domestique
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Now that's what we talk about!  When others are beginning to write on the story in the comments |
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| kimiopn |
Posted on 17-10-2012 20:45
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Daggen wrote:
kimiopn wrote:
"I remember that stage in Castellane like if it was yesterday. I was only 11 and my father, who also loved cycling told me that this young men lived near us some years before in Bogotá. At the time, Contador was believed to become the best rider ever and seemed invincible, but Roberto that day was just superb. I started to follow every race that i could on the Internet and on the Cable TV. He started to be my hero!"
Juan Franco Gutiérrez, Bogotá, Colombia
You wrote that??!! Thats genius!!
Inspired by Ian Butler's stories Imagination! |
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| Daggen |
Posted on 17-10-2012 20:47
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Sprinter
Posts: 1849
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Still genius |
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| Ian Butler |
Posted on 17-10-2012 20:55
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 21854
Joined: 01-05-2012
PCM$: 400.00
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Daggen: Thanks man
FreitasPCM: Thanks, it was a risk, but it paid off!
JuanMotr: Thank you
francopell:
dienblad: Thanks!
kimiopn: Wow, that's great! Amazing that you did that feel free to participate any time you want that way, I really like it thanks!!
Wild Dog: Indeed, that's awesome
Thanks a lot to everyone for the many comments and all the others who are watching, thanks! |
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| Jakstar22 |
Posted on 17-10-2012 20:59
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Team Leader
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Great race as usual. Roberto makes it very interesting.
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| Ian Butler |
Posted on 17-10-2012 21:02
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 21854
Joined: 01-05-2012
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Thanks
I guess the next stage won't be long. His next race is Catalunya but I don't know how much of the race I'll report. I'm actually quite eager to start the 3 hilly classics, so I think I'll only report a couple of stages of Catalunya and Basque Country.
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| Ian Butler |
Posted on 17-10-2012 22:03
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 21854
Joined: 01-05-2012
PCM$: 400.00
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Volta a Catalunya 2013
Would you be surprised if I told you that Roberto went on to win the Volta a Catalunya? No? I guess not.
Yet this race was another important event in Roberto's life, as we got to know a new side of him. We'll give you a brief overview of Volta a Catalunya 2013:
Stage 1
A hilly stage.
| 1 | Koldo Fernandez | Team Garmin-Barracuda | 3h16'55 | | | 2 | Sergio Paulinho | Team Saxo Bank | s.t. | | | 3 | Marco Pinotti | BMC Racing Team | s.t. | | | 4 | Roberto Velásquez | Colombia Coldeportes | + 1'14 | IanButler | | 5 | Alejandro Valverde | Movistar Team | + 1'35 | | | 6 | Luis León Sánchez | Rabobank Cycling Team | s.t. | | | 7 | Johnny Hoogerland | Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team | s.t. | | | 8 | Daniel Moreno | Katusha Team | s.t. | | | 9 | Assan Bazayev | Astana Pro Team | + 2'05 | | | 10 | Bradley Wiggins | Sky Pro Cycling | s.t. | |
Stage 2
Another hilly stage.
| 1 | Pieter Weening | Orica-GreenEDGE | 3h52'08 | | | 2 | Nicki Sørensen | Team Saxo Bank | s.t. | | | 3 | Egoi MartÃnez | Mipfre - Euskadi | s.t. | | | 4 | Leonardo Bertagnolli | Lampre-ISD | + 57 | | | 5 | Bradley Wiggins | Sky Pro Cycling | + 4'07 | | | 6 | Luis León Sánchez | Rabobank Cycling Team | s.t. | | | 7 | Igor Anton | Mipfre - Euskadi | s.t. | | | 8 | Cameron Meyer | Orica-GreenEDGE | s.t. | | | 9 | Roberto Velásquez | Colombia Coldeportes | + 4'33 | IanButler | | 10 | Alejandro Valverde | Movistar Team | s.t. | |
Stage 3
The only real mountain stage of the Volta, and Roberto's first victory there, the first of 3 consecutive wins. He took the leader's jersey as well.
| 1 | Roberto Velásquez | Colombia Coldeportes | 6h40'20 | IanButler | | 2 | Alejandro Valverde | Movistar Team | + 16 | | | 3 | Damiano Cunego | Lampre-ISD | + 42 | | | 4 | Igor Anton | Mipfre - Euskadi | s.t. | | | 5 | Vincenzo Nibali | Liquigas-Cannondale | s.t. | | | 6 | Bradley Wiggins | Sky Pro Cycling | + 57 | | | 7 | Domenico Pozzovivo | Colnago - CSF Inox | + 1'10 | | | 8 | Andy Schleck | Radioshack Nissan Trek | + 1'42 | | | 9 | Richie Porte | Sky Pro Cycling | s.t. | | | 10 | Fabio Duarte | Colombia Coldeportes | s.t. | IanButler |
Stage 4
His second win in a row. By now he was really getting to be the extremely confident rider he would be for over a decade.
| 1 | Roberto Velásquez | Colombia Coldeportes | 4h39'26 | IanButler | | 2 | Igor Anton | Mipfre - Euskadi | s.t. | | | 3 | Dries Devenyns | Omega Pharma-Quick-Step Cycling Team | + 15 | | | 4 | Alejandro Valverde | Movistar Team | + 31 | | | 5 | Geraint Thomas | Sky Pro Cycling | s.t. | | | 6 | Simon Gerrans | BMC Racing Team | s.t. | | | 7 | Johnny Hoogerland | Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team | s.t. | | | 8 | Roman Kreuziger | Astana Pro Team | s.t. | | | 9 | Assan Bazayev | Astana Pro Team | + 45 | | | 10 | Bradley Wiggins | Sky Pro Cycling | s.t. | |
Stage 5
And yet another one. He was dominating, really dominating!
| 1 | Roberto Velásquez | Colombia Coldeportes | 5h02'31 | IanButler | | 2 | Bradley Wiggins | Sky Pro Cycling | s.t. | | | 3 | Igor Anton | Mipfre - Euskadi | s.t. | | | 4 | Michael Albasini | Orica-GreenEDGE | + 39 | | | 5 | Simon Gerrans | BMC Racing Team | s.t. | | | 6 | Alejandro Valverde | Movistar Team | s.t. | | | 7 | Pieter Weening | Orica-GreenEDGE | s.t. | | | 8 | Johnny Hoogerland | Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team | + 1'15 | | | 9 | Cameron Meyer | Orica-GreenEDGE | s.t. | | | 10 | Ivan Basso | Liquigas-Cannondale | s.t. | |
Stage 6
And then it happened, Roberto had a very bad day and lost the lead.
| 1 | Alejandro Valverde | Movistar Team | 4h07'26 | | | 2 | Luis León Sánchez | Rabobank Cycling Team | s.t. | | | 3 | Damiano Cunego | Lampre-ISD | + 24 | | | 4 | Diego Ulissi | Lampre-ISD | s.t. | | | 5 | Dries Devenyns | Omega Pharma-Quick-Step Cycling Team | s.t. | | | 6 | Bradley Wiggins | Sky Pro Cycling | s.t. | | | 7 | Lars Petter Nordhaug | Sky Pro Cycling | s.t. | | | 8 | Andy Schleck | Radioshack Nissan Trek | s.t. | | | 9 | Michael Albasini | Orica-GreenEDGE | + 48 | | | 10 | Simon Gerrans | BMC Racing Team | s.t. | | | (...) | | 45 | Roberto Velásquez | Colombia Coldeportes | + 3'02 | IanButler |
The day before the final stage, this was the General Classification:
| 1 | Alejandro Valverde | Movistar Team | 27h46'04 | | | 2 | Igor Anton | Mipfre - Euskadi | + 46 | | | 3 | Bradley Wiggins | Sky Pro Cycling | + 54 | | | 4 | Roberto Velásquez | Colombia Coldeportes | + 1'01 | IanButler | | 5 | Vincenzo Nibali | Liquigas-Cannondale | + 5'51 | | | 6 | Damiano Cunego | Lampre-ISD | + 7'24 | | | 7 | Steve Morabito | BMC Racing Team | + 10'50 | | | 8 | Thomas Löfkvist | Sky Pro Cycling | + 11'36 | | | 9 | Michael Albasini | Orica-GreenEDGE | + 13'11 | | | 10 | Andy Schleck | Radioshack Nissan Trek | + 15'32 | |
After four days in the leader's jersey, Roberto lost it in one bad stage. But we know he won, how did he do that? Simple, by something Roberto would do to the end of his racing days: never give up until the final km is raced.
Stage 7
A short stage.
The stakes: the GC win.
The deficit: 1 minute and 1 second.
Roberto tried from far out, as he did in Paris - Nice.
Valverde got behind and was clearly having an off-day.
Roberto was ahead and the peloton ripped up.
But Roberto wasn't a mindless cyclist, he had brains and never failed to use them! He didn't go full power and waited for a chasing group to catch him, to ride the final 10km with them instead of alone. He hardly stood a chance with riders like Nibali, Schleck and L. L. Sánchez chasing him.
The only problem that arose was that Wiggins was inside that group. Wiggins had 7 seconds on Roberto. So what did it mean? It meant Roberto had to get boni seconds...
And he did it! In an extremely close sprint, Roberto took his fourth stage win in the Volta a Catalunya 2013, reclaiming what was his: the overall win.
Result
| 1 | Roberto Velásquez | Colombia Coldeportes | 2h55'41 | IanButler | | 2 | Luis León Sánchez | Rabobank Cycling Team | s.t. | | | 3 | Damiano Cunego | Lampre-ISD | s.t. | | | 4 | Vincenzo Nibali | Liquigas-Cannondale | s.t. | | | 5 | Andy Schleck | Radioshack Nissan Trek | s.t. | | | 6 | Angel Madrazo | Team Saxo Bank | s.t. | | | 7 | Bradley Wiggins | Sky Pro Cycling | s.t. | | | 8 | Diego Ulissi | Lampre-ISD | s.t. | | | 9 | Maxim Iglinskiy | Astana Pro Team | s.t. | | | 10 | Simon Gerrans | BMC Racing Team | + 41 | | | (...) | | 37 | Alejandro Valverde | Movistar Team | + 2'34 |
General Classification
| 1 | Roberto Velásquez | Colombia Coldeportes | 30h42'33 | IanButler | | 2 | Bradley Wiggins | Sky Pro Cycling | + 6 | | | 3 | Igor Anton | Mipfre - Euskadi | + 1'14 | | | 4 | Alejandro Valverde | Movistar Team | + 1'46 | | | 5 | Vincenzo Nibali | Liquigas-Cannondale | + 5'03 | | | 6 | Damiano Cunego | Lampre-ISD | + 6'32 | | | 7 | Steve Morabito | BMC Racing Team | + 12'36 | | | 8 | Thomas Löfkvist | Sky Pro Cycling | + 13'22 | | | 9 | Andy Schleck | Radioshack Nissan Trek | + 14'44 | | | 10 | Michael Albasini | Orica-GreenEDGE | + 14'57 | |
Points
| 1 | Roberto Velásquez | Colombia Coldeportes | 124 | IanButler | | 2 | Alejandro Valverde | Movistar Team | 87 | | | 3 | Bradley Wiggins | Sky Pro Cycling | 73 | |
KoM
| 1 | David De la Fuente | Caja Rural | 85 | | | 2 | Angel Madrazo | Team Saxo Bank | 74 | | | 3 | Roberto Velásquez | Colombia Coldeportes | 62 | IanButler |
Roberto was conquering not only the cycling world, but also the hearts of many. His performance and his way of cycling inspired many and it seems as if he was becoming number one in cycling! But his palmares still had big holes in it, no Tour De France, no WC, no Liège - Bastogne - Liège. However unfortunate to say it, Roberto was still only a flash celebrity. He needed much more to become a legend, and in the end, he took it all... |
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| Wild Dog |
Posted on 17-10-2012 22:08
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Domestique
Posts: 425
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"So close but then again so far off. This colombian guy, Velésquez, is an absolute beast. He's becoming great one day!"
Alejandro Valverde.
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Haha, thought I would do the same as kimiopn. Great win! |
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| Jakstar22 |
Posted on 17-10-2012 22:22
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Team Leader
Posts: 7294
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Great job. Win in the past stage got the lead back. Great racing
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