September 7, Stage 17: Faustino V - Peña Cabarga 212.5km

ednwireland

The last uphill finish

The race’s final summit finish returns to the mountain overlooking the bay city of Santander. Last year Euskaltel’s Igor Antón crashed out of the race on route to this summit when in the leader’s red jersey and Joaquim Rodríguez took the stage on the Peña Cabarga. This is a longish stage with a couple of testing climbs before the final summit, where the red jersey should be decided. Although the final climb measures just 5.9km, it is steep enough for there to be decent gaps between the main contenders. If the GC is tight going into this stage, those final 5.9km will be very interesting.





guys someone else will have to do these for the rest of the stages i'm away till sun

happytramp

Martin talks about his chances on today's final mountainous stage.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/martin-looking-for-another-mountain-win-at-the-vuelta

happytramp

Actually it's probably worth throwing a few quid on Martin today. Anywhere in town you can just walk into a put on a bet? Don't have or want to set up an online account.

Morrisseeee

Well today's stage is interesting, especially with this tough finish :


Roche finished well here last year, I'm sure Dan will give it a go today especially is Rodriguez isn't fully recovered. But............what tactics will Sky employ !! and will Cobo reach the same 'heights' as he did a few days ago ??!!

On a lighter note, Sagan 'climbing' the AngryLoo :cool:

niceonetom

Interesting to hear Harmon dropping in some choice descriptions of Geox. Apparently they've "come very well prepared" and "look to be running on super-unleaded"...

donfers

a really really interesting fact is that just 2 short years ago Ireland's own Phillip Deignan finished 18 seconds ahead of Cobo in the GC and got an impressive 9th place overall as a youngish lad - what has happened to Phil since? injuries?

RobFowl

donfers wrote: »

a really really interesting fact is that just 2 short years ago Ireland's own Phillip Deignan finished 18 seconds ahead of Cobo in the GC and got an impressive 9th place overall as a youngish lad - what has happened to Phil since? injuries?

Viral infection wiped out last year and he's largely been assigned domestique duties this year.

Morrisseeee

Dan the man going for it

BTH

Morrisseeee wrote: »

Dan the man going for it

Was that Roche on the front chasing him down??

RobFowl

I see Sky left the tactics manual at home again. Too busy looking at the "numbers"......

Morrisseeee

Froome looking ready to unleash!

Peterx

I hope they keep looking at each other and their numbers, leave off DAN THE MAN to take it ahead of Bruseghin and whoops -now Sorenson as well

happytramp

He probably went too early.

retalivity

go on froome!!

Morrisseeee

Wow !!!!!!

JacksonHeightsOwn

Morrisseeee wrote: »

Wow !!!!!!

Elaborate the wow, I'm in work???

RobFowl

RobFowl wrote: »

I see Sky left the tactics manual at home again. Too busy looking at the "numbers"......

Morrisseeee

Barely had the power to lift his arms, great stage finish tho !

BTH

That was brilliant stuff

niceonetom

That was exciting.

retalivity

that was fantastic...unfortunate that cobo came back but fair play to froome for holding on for the win!

Morrisseeee

chrisbonnie wrote: »

Elaborate the wow, I'm in work???

Oh I couldn't possibly :pac::pac:

RobFowl

Looking at the live feed !
Thats what a stage winner in the mountains should look like afterwards....
He looks wrecked but what a super ride

happytramp

What a race, epic battle!! Well done to Martin for hanging in there.

BTH

Nice jumps for Dan and Nico on GC. 11th and 14th

Peterx

14 seconds down....It's A pity Froome worked for Wiggins when he was in red earlier and lost those 27 seconds.

Morrisseeee

Why did Cobo stop(ish) on the last corner (while in the lead) ? or was it just that he was shaggged ? !! (or should I head over to the conspiracy forum instead) :pac:

happytramp

Morrisseeee wrote: »

Why did Cobo stop(ish) on the last corner (while in the lead) ? or was it just that he was shaggged ? !! (or should I head over to the conspiracy forum instead) :pac:

Is it my imagination or did he let Froome go through when he could have cut him off. Just one of those things or an exceptional display of sportsmanship?

retalivity

i dont think he realised that the finish was so close, and wanted froome to come round for a turn on the front

happytramp

BetterThanHoyte wrote: »

Nice jumps for Dan and Nico on GC. 11th and 14th

14th and 17th actually

Morrisseeee

happytramp wrote: »

Is it my imagination or did he let Froome go through when he could have cut him off. Just one of those things or an exceptional display of sportsmanship?

Itlooked like he let him in for the win, but that just wouldn't make sense, especially with time bonuses up for grabs, I'm putting it down to exhaustion

BTH

happytramp wrote: »

14th and 17th actually

They changed it. Damn spaniards :mad:

mahoo

just saw replay of the last few k. wow what a finish!! it was in french but i havent heard commentators go that mad at a finish in a long time... savage attack by froome!!! great moment when cobo blew. but then he came back!! glad he didnt have enough left in the tank to win it....puuuuure drama. exhausting just watching it

donfers

the tour de france and la vuelta have been excellent this year, i lost faith in cycling during the armstrong era and even a bit before that with all the drug scandals but now that the sport has been cleaned up the racing is excellent to watch, it's unpredictable as guys crack one day and go great guns the next and there's a lot of contenders in each race and the lead is switched multiple times, makes me sad that the drama we see this year was stolen away by drug cheats in the past but am happy to see cycling back as a truly excellent and exciting sport to watch

Inquitus

donfers wrote: »

the tour de france and la vuelta have been excellent this year, i lost faith in cycling during the armstrong era and even a bit before that with all the drug scandals but now that the sport has been cleaned up the racing is excellent to watch, it's unpredictable as guys crack one day and go great guns the next and there's a lot of contenders in each race and the lead is switched multiple times, makes me sad that the drama we see this year was stolen away by drug cheats in the past but am happy to see cycling back as a truly excellent and exciting sport to watch

Some performances in this Vuelta have come out of the blue form and ability wise, and been at a level that can only arouse suspicion. Yes it's been an exciting Vuelta, but if anything it raises more doping questions than it answers.

Hermy

donfers wrote: »

the tour de france and la vuelta have been excellent this year...

That's just two races.

Morrisseeee

Inquitus wrote: »

Some performances in this Vuelta have come out of the blue form and ability wise, and been at a level that can only arouse suspicion. Yes it's been an exciting Vuelta, but if anything it raises more doping questions than it answers.

Eh Lumen, look, another Grasshopper !! stamp on him...........quick :pac:

Lumen

Morrisseeee wrote: »

Eh Lumen, look, another Grasshopper !! stamp on him...........quick :pac:

Sorry, my supply of ill-considered patronising claptrap is exhausted.

Hail 2 Da Thief

mahoo wrote: »

just saw replay of the last few k.

Have you got an online link?

Edit: Nevermind, just watched it on the Eurosport site.

retalivity

the giro was pretty great as well

Morrisseeee

Froome: the case FOR : ok ok just kiddin

Today's stage was epic, the winner & 2nd place man looked to be on rocket-fuel as they propelled their way up the MTF, and have we found THE perfect MTF, ie. 6km @ 9%, or maybe it was just a combination of factors that lead us to an exciting finish.

Off topic: I hear Froome is going to ShreckShack next year as Team Lead !! and Andy is going to be his super-domestique, "look Andy, this is how to attack"

donfers

Inquitus wrote: »

Some performances in this Vuelta have come out of the blue form and ability wise, and been at a level that can only arouse suspicion. Yes it's been an exciting Vuelta, but if anything it raises more doping questions than it answers.

yes, i'd say there are still a few bad eggs around but i think we can all agree the problem is far less widespread now

I did ask questions about froome a few days back and wiser men than myself suggested that it's not so much a case of froome skyrocketing out of nowhere to become a superstar overnight, rather it's a case of the many drug cheats being drawn back to the pack making it a more even playing-field.......these wise heads said froome had improved his times on recent years but not significantly whereas the overall time needed to win stage races had slowed down significantly

Hermy

retalivity wrote: »

the giro was pretty great as well

No it wasn't - Contador was unbeatable. Would have had all threee jerseys if he hadn't gifted two stages to Rojano and Anton.

elduggo

Inquitus wrote: »

Some performances in this Vuelta have come out of the blue form and ability wise, and been at a level that can only arouse suspicion. Yes it's been an exciting Vuelta, but if anything it raises more doping questions than it answers.

have to say I agree with this. I was at the top of Pena Carbaga today. It took me over an hour to walk up from the bottom and I nearly passed out after 2.5km with the gradient and the heat (26 degrees). That climb is like nothing I've ever seen before. I'd love to give it a go on the bike but several veins would pop out of my head before I'd get anywhere near the top.

After walking up, given how steep it is (close to 20% in sections), I expected them to roll by slowly. I did not expect to see anyone, let alone almost nobodies like Cobo and Froome power past the way they did. I didn't really believe what I was looking at to be honest.

The guts of an hour after they passed, the back of the bus was still struggling its way up - in some cases lads cycling total squares. How is it there can be such a difference between professional cyclists? I expected the bus would make it up comfortably, but just taking it a little more slowly than the leaders. Not so. There was serious pain on their faces.

I don't know what to make of it. The only thing I'm sure of now is that I'll never make it as a pro cyclist!

Morrisseeee

Twitter from Wiggins :eek:

Chris Froome going from strength to strength, Superb. And all that after people shouting at him, "you win we kill you", unbelievable

happytramp

elduggo wrote: »

have to say I agree with this. I was at the top of Pena Carbaga today. It took me over an hour to walk up from the bottom and I nearly passed out after 2.5km with the gradient and the heat (26 degrees). That climb is like nothing I've ever seen before. I'd love to give it a go on the bike but several veins would pop out of my head before I'd get anywhere near the top.

After walking up, given how steep it is (close to 20% in sections), I expected them to roll by slowly. I did not expect to see anyone, let alone almost nobodies like Cobo and Froome power past the way they did. I didn't really believe what I was looking at to be honest.

The guts of an hour after they passed, the back of the bus was still struggling its way up - in some cases lads cycling total squares. How is it there can be such a difference between professional cyclists? I expected the bus would make it up comfortably, but just taking it a little more slowly than the leaders. Not so. There was serious pain on their faces.

I don't know what to make of it. The only thing I'm sure of now is that I'll never make it as a pro cyclist!

I thought it was suspicious the other day too but when you look at Martin, a youngish rider and member of bikepure, only 20+ seconds behind today and beating them both on stage 9, it doesn't seem so outrageous. What is so unbelievable about two GT contenders racing to win the Vuelta beating guys like Mollema and Martin by 20-30 seconds?

ROK ON

happytramp wrote: »

I thought it was suspicious the other day too but when you look at Martin, a youngish rider and member of bikepure, only 20+ seconds behind today and beating them both on stage 9, it doesn't seem so outrageous. What is so unbelievable about two GT contenders racing to win the Vuelta beating guys like Mollema and Martin by 20-30 seconds?

I have no opinion as to whether Cobo and Froome are doping, but I think you hit the nail on the head there. Martin and Mollema are both in the upper echelon of climbers in the pro peleton. But today they were fighting for a stage win not a GC win. It has happened on so many times that when guys are fighting for that big GC win, you can go a lot deeper - the hurt becomes more bearable relative to the payoff. When Martin was reeled in today, unless he was going to attack again, he did not have the same incentive to murder himself on the climb.

BTW, I know the max gradient was 20%, but on todays commentary, Kelly mentioned that the climbers in the peleton would not consider the 9% sections a steep gradient.
(for me anything above 3% is steep, above 10% and its time for oxygen).

happytramp

ROK ON wrote: »

(for me anything above 3% is steep, above 10% and its time for oxygen).

What the hell! it goes above 10%

elduggo

Morrisseeee wrote: »

Twitter from Wiggins :eek:

the crowd was fairly mad alright. At one stage a Eukatel rider went by and some young lad said something to him. Don't know what it was but it fairly upset him. He reacted and kept looking back down at him (no doubt so he could give him a clip round the ear on the way back down), as he continued cycling up the hill. The kid had a Euskatel cap on so its a strange one.

A lot of Basques on the hill today. All wanting to be friends with the token Paddy!

elduggo

happytramp wrote: »

What is so unbelievable about two GT contenders racing to win the Vuelta beating guys like Mollema and Martin by 20-30 seconds?

maybe you had to see the climb in person.

Incidentally Astana and Quick-Step are in the hotel next to me. Just saw them down having their dinner together, looking fairly wrecked. Astana just headed out for a stroll on the beach. Rabo and Saxo are down the road.

I'll post more stalker reports as I get them!!

happytramp

Potentially a piece of good news regarding the speculation above.

Apparently Cobo and Froome did the last km a full 10sec slower than Rodriguez did it last year.