vuelta a espana

uberwolf

goldencleric wrote: »

Then why are they clicking on this thread??

discuss the previous days action.
For the TDF there's a thread per stage, and one day races wouldn't have spoilers.

Beasty

goldencleric wrote: »

Then why are they clicking on this thread??

This is a general race thread, which requires spoilers

Stage specific threads do not.

It's all in the Charter, which you are required to read before posting

What other posters do at work is none of my business. The spoiler rules have been designed to avoid spoiling the results or race incidents for anyone who decides they wish to watch delayed coverage, whatever their reason.

Midnight is the bewitching hour, before then, references to same day race incidents should be put in spoilers

c montgomery

el tonto wrote: »

Very surprised to see Nibali crack today. He'd been looking so comfortable to date. I do think he's the best TT'er of the contenders, so he might be back in red on Wednesday.

Thought Roche rode well today. Would have been very easy to panic and try to chase Schleck, but he could have easily have ended up cooked, which is what happened to Tom Danielson

Do ya reckon he will win it outright?

Morrisseeee

I agree, we should do away with spoilers

So, there are 2 big stages left, the TT and the 2nd last stage, which has a Cat 3 climb, 2 Cat 1's and a belter of a finish climb, 22km's avg 6% hitting 20% in places !! Which stage will decide it though ?? Can Nico pull out all the stops and even win it ?? Well..............at least it makes it interesting :cool:

ednwireland

brilliant diary from roche today real insight inrto life at the sharp end

http://www.independent.ie/sport/other-sports/nicolas-roche-when-i-crossed-the-line-i-was-in-bits-and-had-to-sit-on-the-roadside-to-catch-my-breath-again-2336352.html

mike12

Think he will finish 5th now there is no one behind him that he has to fear but dont think he is able to ride away from any of the real climbers and dont think he will get enough time in the tt think Nibali will win and Shleck will get a podium last mountain stage should be good.
Mike

buffalo

ednwireland wrote: »

brilliant diary from roche today real insight inrto life at the sharp end

http://www.independent.ie/sport/other-sports/nicolas-roche-when-i-crossed-the-line-i-was-in-bits-and-had-to-sit-on-the-roadside-to-catch-my-breath-again-2336352.html

Just read it, and thought the exact same - it really is a superb look into the inner sanctum of peloton!

alfalad

I think he diary is a very good read every morning, but the fact he is getting a piece in the Indo everyday is the best part I feel, an event other than the tdf is getting good coverage and that is important for the development of the sport in Ireland. I just wish the Irish Times would push the coverage a little higher in the pecking order. But still all the papers seem to cover it so that is good! Oh an great ride by Roche!!

jwshooter

A great report there from Nicolas ,we really have a star in the making .

Lets we have a tour of ireland next year ,so we can see these men race hear .

RobFowl

jwshooter wrote: »

A great report there from Nicolas ,we really have a star in the making .

Lets we have a tour of ireland next year ,so we can see these men race hear .

Great diary all right. Ghost written by Ger Cromwell i believe.

PS we do have a Tour of Ireland , it's called the RAS

Not too sure there is the market here for a 2.1 TBH. there is room for a scond 2.2 IMO and a few good one days races ranked 1.1 or 1.2 might be alot more realistic than a 5 day 2.1. The Sahy Elliot was a 1.2 for a while and I'd personally love to see that happen again.

Chips Lovell

c montgomery wrote: »

Do ya reckon he will win it outright?

Morrisseeee wrote: »

So, there are 2 big stages left, the TT and the 2nd last stage, which has a Cat 3 climb, 2 Cat 1's and a belter of a finish climb, 22km's avg 6% hitting 20% in places !! Which stage will decide it though ?? Can Nico pull out all the stops and even win it ?? Well..............at least it makes it interesting :cool:

I think he's a better TTer than J-Rod and Mosquera. As someone pointed out earlier in this thread, he put 3:30 into Rodriguez in the final Tour de France time trial. Rodriguez was defending a top ten position in the Tour too, so he was hardly taking it easy. He could also probably go better than Schleck, but Nibali is usually very good against the clock.

But then they've got to finish on Bola del Mundo on the second last day. I rode this earlier on in the summer and its a brutal climb. You go up the Puerto de Navacerrada, which is about 20km of climbing in itself, then take a turn off at the top of the pass to go up a private road to a television mast and that's the toughest part in terms of gradient. Rodriguez and Mosquera will both be able to put Roche under the cosh here. Schleck now appears to have ridden himself into form too if yesterday is anything to go by. It may not seem suited to Roche, but remember he had a decent result on the Angliru two years ago.

Bottom line, I think he's got an excellent chance of holding on to fifth, which would be a fantastic result in itself. If he rides a great TT, he could move up a few places, but it's very hard to see him building up such a lead that he could defend it on Bola del Mundo to grab the overall. I'd love to see it happen though.

I expect Nibali to regain the overall at the TT tomorrow and put a decent amount of time into Rodriguez, Mosquera and Schleck. For Roche to win, he'd need to over take the latter three in the TT and then hope that a.) Nibali cracks again on Bola del Mundo and b.) the pure climbers don't put enough time into him on the climb.

Oldlegs

Excellent diary.

We have the inside track by a leading international sportsman on a daily basis. Makes for a great read and really gives the insight into what happens on a tour. But do think that the Indo should make a little more of it. I know many non-cyclists who have become avid readers of the Veulta diary. But you do have to search the online edition to find it under "Other Sports"

Had asked the Indo to provide a backward link each day to all the TdF diary entries- which they did but then they let it drop for the Veulta diaries.

death1234567

Heart Rate 196 beats per minute? %^&* me!

spurscormac

Oldlegs wrote: »

Excellent diary.

We have the inside track by a leading international sportsman on a daily basis. Makes for a great read and really gives the insight into what happens on a tour. But do think that the Indo should make a little more of it. I know many non-cyclists who have become avid readers of the Veulta diary. But you do have to search the online edition to find it under "Other Sports"

Had asked the Indo to provide a backward link each day to all the TdF diary entries- which they did but then they let it drop for the Veulta diaries.

I have seen it linked in the banner in the top of the page, but it can be a pain to find sometimes.

Chips Lovell

In fairness, I do think the Indo do a lot to promote it. It appears as a banner a lot and it's the fourth item down on the sports section of the website today.

ednwireland

did RTE even mention it on six one last night - watched the online sports news and didnt seem to be in there, if not typical after dissing him the night before

Chips Lovell

Shane Stokes has an interview with Roche on Velonation today.

mo_bhicycle

ednwireland wrote: »

did RTE even mention it on six one last night - watched the online sports neww and didnt seem to be in there, if not typical after didding him the night before

Nope, but they did have a feature on cliff diving in Hawaii that didn't seem to have any Irish connection at all.

Speak Now

Great stuff Nicolas.

iregk

He is having a superb ride alright no question.

godihatedehills

alfalad wrote: »

I think he diary is a very good read every morning, but the fact he is getting a piece in the Indo everyday is the best part I feel, an event other than the tdf is getting good coverage and that is important for the development of the sport in Ireland. I just wish the Irish Times would push the coverage a little higher in the pecking order.

I don't see how people can expect it to get the same coverage as the TdF when people like Contador don't ride it.

ednwireland

godihatedehills wrote: »

I don't see how people can expect it to get the same coverage as the TdF when people like Contador don't ride it.

i dont think contador riding it makes much difference i remeber scratching around (before the internet ) looking for info on when kelly won it and malcolm elliot won the points jersey
its a grand tour and an irish rider is in 5th ffs

anyway we'll see how much tour coverage is around now armstrong is gone

alfalad

godihatedehills wrote: »

I don't see how people can expect it to get the same coverage as the TdF when people like Contador don't ride it.

Fair comment, but it is a Grand Tour and if Contador wants to sit it out there is nothing Roche can do about it, he is still 5th and it's a great achievement. For the record I think all the top guns should be riding it, as it is a grand tour and there are only 3 of them.

petethedrummer

alfalad wrote: »

For the record I think all the top guns should be riding it, as it is a grand tour and there are only 3 of them.

Sure its only a grand tour. Another 3 weeks of riding won't hurt anyone.

Speak Now

alfalad wrote: »

Fair comment, but it is a Grand Tour and if Contador wants to sit it out there is nothing Roche can do about it, he is still 5th and it's a great achievement. For the record I think all the top guns should be riding it, as it is a grand tour and there are only 3 of them.

How many would seriously ride and complete all 3 in one year?

Did the Vuelta calender clash with the Giro in the past. I have memories from my younger days of the Vuelta starting late spring with the end of it possibly over lapping with the Giro. Were both seen as warm up for Le tour back then? (Late 80's/early 90's)

ednwireland

Jerry Seinfeld wrote: »

How many would seriously ride and complete all 3 in one year?

Did the Vuelta calender clash with the Giro in the past. I have memories from my younger days of the Vuelta starting late spring with the end of it possibly over lapping with the Giro. Were both seen as warm up for Le tour back then? (Late 80's/early 90's)

yep used to be held in spring usually april moved to september in 1995 (god was it as long ago as that !)

buffalo

Was anybody else watching the six-one news? They reported that Barredo won today's stage, and that Roche had dropped to sixth. Who gave them Sunday's cycling bulletin?

Hermy

buffalo wrote: »

Was anybody else watching the six-one news? They reported that Barredo won today's stage, and that Roche had dropped to sixth. Who gave them Sunday's cycling bulletin?

Sounds like a tough rest day today.:D

godihatedehills

buffalo wrote: »

Was anybody else watching the six-one news? They reported that Barredo won today's stage, and that Roche had dropped to sixth. Who gave them Sunday's cycling bulletin?

Aw jeez, an' here's me tryna stick up for them.... :rolleyes:

alfalad

petethedrummer wrote: »

Sure its only a grand tour. Another 3 weeks of riding won't hurt anyone.

Are there not plenty of riders in the peloton who have ridden the three tours? Is this not something that the likes of Kelly would do? Contedor did not ride the Giro either this year. Granted in saying that being in the business end of three grand tours maybe too much but would have thought two was certainly fine for a lot of riders?

ktz84

alfalad wrote: »

Are there not plenty of riders in the peloton who have ridden the three tours? Is this not something that the likes of Kelly would do? Contedor did not ride the Giro either this year. Granted in saying that being in the business end of three grand tours maybe too much but would have thought two was certainly fine for a lot of riders?

Yeah perhaps if you done the Giro and the Vuelta but what top rider wants to win either of those at the expense of the Tour de France. Contador done that when he was forced to do it because of his teams exclusion from the Tour.

TheBlaaMan

Sastre has ridden all three this year...


On another point....wasn't that a fantastic example of co-operative riding between the breakaway five yeaterday in advance of the final climb. They could all have been on the same team - I suppises they were, if only temporarily. COmmon purpose and all that....

RobFowl

Marino Lejarreta rodeall 3 competitively in the late 80'sand early nineties(top 10 in all 3). It's done every so often but rarely as planned season more of a last minute replacement or season salvaging ride.

sy

RobFowl wrote: »

Marino Lejarreta rodeall 3 competitively in the late 80'sand early nineties(top 10 in all 3). ..

Was about to post same but just beat me to it Great rider also rode well in worlds

Morrisseeee

Times for today's TT (Spanish time I presume):
Note: 3 mins between the top 5, only 2 mins for the rest in the top 20. I'm not sure how good Velits is at TTing but it might be an incentive for Nico to catch him, whereas Frank starts 3 mins behind Nico.

20º 131 BAKELANDTS, Jan Omega Pharma - Lotto 16:03
19º 51 ARROYO, David Caisse D'Epargne 16:05
18º 114 KASHECHKIN, Andrey Lampre - Farese Vini 16:07
17º 91 LE MEVEL, Christophe FDJ 16:09
16º 184 GUSEV, Vladimir Team Katusha 16:11
15º 57 PLAZA, Ruben Caisse D'Epargne 16:13
14º 186 KARPETS, Vladimir Team Katusha 16:15
13º 65 MONCOUTIE, David Cofidis, le credit en ligne 16:17
12º 58 SÁNCHEZ, Luis León Caisse D'Epargne 16:19
11º 75 NIEVE, Mikel Euskaltel - Euskadi 16:21
10º 8 SASTRE, Carlos Cervelo Test Team 16:23
9º 214 GARCÍA, David Xacobeo Galicia 16:25
8º 9 TONDO, Xavier Cervelo Test Team 16:27
7º 101 DANIELSON, Thomas Garmin - Transitions 16:29
6º 179 VELITS, Peter Team HTC - Columbia 16:31
5º 11 ROCHE, Nicholas AG2R - La Mondiale 16:33
4º 209 SCHLECK, Frank Team Saxo Bank 16:36
3º 211 MOSQUERA, Ezequiel Xacobeo Galicia 16:39
2º 126 NIBALI, Vincenzo Liquigas - Doimo 16:42
1º 181 RODRIGUEZ, Joaquin Team Katusha 16:45

buffalo

So that's 15:33 Irish time for Nico? And Eurosport coverage starts at 15.00. I'm all set!

Fender76

Has any rider ever won all three in the same year.......?

Or not in the same year...? Did Merckx win the three grand tours...?

Speak Now

Fender76 wrote: »

Has any rider ever won all three in the same year.......?

Or not in the same year...? Did Merckx win the three grand tours...?

No one ever won all 3 in the one year

5 have won all 3 though

Jacques Anquetil (60's)
Alberto Contador
Felice Gimondi (60's)
Bernard Hinault (80's)
Eddy merckx (70's)

dastardly00

Spartacus has set the fastest time so far in the TT.... no suprise there!

Fender76

I'm Spartacus..!

ednwireland

loving the stage profile

papac

Fender76 wrote: »

I'm Spartacus..!

I'm Bryan and so is my wife.

nitrogen

As the camera came up behind him, I could tell it was Menchov straight away by his drunken wobble – haha.

Aoibheann

MENCHOV! Woah....

Edit:

25 seconds ahead of Cancellara. Unbelieveable.

papac

Aoibheann wrote: »

MENCHOV! Woah....

A lot of happy bookies. Some going Denis

Morrisseeee

Nico expects to come in around Riblon's time, he's at a respectable 56:49. Am I right in saying that Cancellara is at 45km/h compared to his 50km/h at the TDF TT !!!

papac

Morrisseeee wrote: »

Nico expects to come in around Riblon's time, he's at a respectable 56:49. Am I right in saying that Cancellara is at 45km/h compared to his 50km/h at the TDF TT !!!

I make it 51+kmh

dastardly00

Morrisseeee wrote: »

Nico expects to come in around Riblon's time, he's at a respectable 56:49. Am I right in saying that Cancellara is at 45km/h compared to his 50km/h at the TDF TT !!!

I did a back of an envelope calculation and he did today's TT at 51.78 km/hr. I'm probably wrong though.

buffalo

Nibali slips up, but keeps going with a new wheel, minus his bidon.

Morrisseeee

Ooops, my bad, I divided by 40 instead of 46 doh !