2014 Volta a Catalunya (spoiler tags until midnight)

dastardly00

Contador was looking lively earlier today so I was fully expecting him to go on the attack. I'm surprised that Froome was actually the first of the big guns to go for it.

MPFG

Betencur in 67th position ....yeah those 4kgs will have to go

Blackrockcomet

Any word on dan?

MPFG

Blackrockcomet wrote: »

Any word on dan?

31 seconds back in 28th position

Brian?

I think the cold did a lot more damage than anything today. No one looked like they had the legs to attack at all.

Bit of a disappointment really. Tomorrow should be interesting though.

Darkglasses

Chris Horner won't be starting today's stage, due to tendinitis

dastardly00

Our favourite Colombian Carlos Betancur will be a DNS today.

The weather at the finish is currently clear and sunny. But it will become cloudy with periods of snow this afternoon. Winds will be light and variable. There is a 50% chance of snow

ZiabR

Darkglasses wrote: »

Chris Horner won't be starting today's stage, due to tendinitis

I thought he had just come back from a treatment plan for that? Odd that he is gone again. Age?

dastardly00

It's started to snow at the finish

tomdempsey200

no live race?

dastardly00

Eurosport:
"Due to bad weather conditions we are unable to broadcast the live race."

Ryath

dastardly00 wrote: »

Eurosport:
"Due to bad weather conditions we are unable to broadcast the live race."

Spoilers!:D

dastardly00

There is some consolation in that Cyclingnews are providing a live text ticker for the stage.

neris

i just turned on the player on ipad and theres a uci channel showing a feed of what looks like the finish line/area with a heavy fog and a few bodies wandering around and a guy on a bike aswell

neris

snowing to. bit of visibility at the finish wonder will eurosport show it

MPFG

Stanby Spanish feed is back so maybe back on Eurosport soon

Sorry only some live images

pelevin

neris wrote: »

i just turned on the player on ipad and theres a uci channel showing a feed of what looks like the finish line/area with a heavy fog and a few bodies wandering around and a guy on a bike aswell

What kind of bike is he on?

neris

pelevin wrote: »

What kind of bike is he on?

push bike:)

happytramp

Official Spanish feed. http://www.esport3.cat/directes/esport3/

At least well see the finish line I suppose

pelevin

neris wrote: »

push bike:)

They're good.

Blackrockcomet

Tejay van Garderen wins

Darkglasses

Results:

Stage 4 Results
USA 1 VAN GARDEREN, Tejay (BMC RACING) 4:49:30
FRA 2 BARDET, Romain (AG2R LA MONDIALE)
ESP 3 CONTADOR VELASCO, Alberto (TINKOFF-SAXO) + 3
ESP 4 RODRIGUEZ OLIVER, Joaquin (KATUSHA) + 4
COL 5 QUINTANA ROJAS, Nairo Alexander (MOVISTAR) + 5
USA 6 TALANSKY, Andrew (GARMIN SHARP) + 8
GBR 7 FROOME, Christopher (SKY)
FRA 8 BARGUIL, Warren (GIANT-SHIMANO) + 15
ITA 9 POZZOVIVO, Domenico (AG2R LA MONDIALE) + 16
CRO 10 KISERLOVSKI, Robert (TREK FACTORY RACING) + 21

General Classification after Stage 4
1 Joaquin Rodriguez Oliver (Spa) Team Katusha 17:47:34
2 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Tinkoff-Saxo 0:00:04
3 Tejay van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team 0:00:07
4 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:00:10
5 Nairo Alexander Quintana Rojas (Col) Movistar Team
6 Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky 0:00:17
7 Andrew Talansky (USA) Garmin Sharp 0:00:18
8 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale 0:00:26
9 Warren Barguil (Fra) Team Giant-Shimano 0:00:42
10 David Arroyo Duran (Spa) Caja Rural - Seguros RGA 0:00:45

MPFG

Ag2R are having a great season ...they have 2 in top 10 ...same at Tirreno and won Paris Nice

Ryath

Is it going to be worth watching the highlights tonight or just look at the results now? Was there no feed for most of the day?

happytramp

Ryath wrote: »

Is it going to be worth watching the highlights tonight or just look at the results now? Was there no feed for most of the day?

They have the ability to put all the moto footage into a hi-lights reel whether they bother or not is a different story.

Darkglasses

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuoPPHndZiQ

Final km, with Spanish commentary (I think)

Ryath

happytramp wrote: »

They have the ability to put all the moto footage into a hi-lights reel whether they bother or not is a different story.

Going by other days I don't think they will be bothered.

Glass Prison 1214

How did Dan do today?

Darkglasses

Glass Prison 1214 wrote: »

How did Dan do today?

He finished 20th, 1'22 behind the stage winner. He's also now 20th in the GC, 1'49 behind. Andrew Talansky appears to be the team leader, he finished 7th on today's stage at 8', and sits 7th in the GC at 18'.

letape

Ryath wrote: »

Going by other days I don't think they will be bothered.

Just turned on the highlights program there and it wasn't on - so they weren't bothered.

bazermc

Darkglasses wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuoPPHndZiQ

Final km, with Spanish commentary (I think)

Yes that is Spanish .

letape

bazermc wrote: »

Yes that is Spanish .

Or is it Catalan?

gordongekko

Any news on today?

Darkglasses

gordongekko wrote: »

Any news on today?

Not much interest today as it was relatively flat. Bit intriguing though to see Luka Mezgec win another stage, that's his hat-trick. Didn't see it, but it sounded very comfortable. Nobody important lost time in the GC

Brian?

Darkglasses wrote: »

Not much interest today as it was relatively flat. Bit intriguing though to see Luka Mezgec win another stage, that's his hat-trick. Didn't see it, but it sounded very comfortable. Nobody important lost time in the GC

The most interesting thing to happen today was Contador thinking he's a sprinter. He finished 6th.

He must be feeling seriously good.

gordongekko

Brian? wrote: »

The most interesting thing to happen today was Contador thinking he's a sprinter. He finished 6th.

He must be feeling seriously good.

bonus seconds were available for the first 4

happytramp

It's been a fairly poor spectacle in my opinion and I blame the organisers. They picked a route which looked exciting on paper but the reality has been quite different. Very poor coverage, little to no on screen info, poor camera work missing finish on first stage, 2nd time in three years that the route has been effected by weather which has resulted in no live coverage, Snow neutralising racing on the climbs resulting in riders focusing on surviving and not getting sick. Not the riders fault by any means.

Brian?

gordongekko wrote: »

bonus seconds were available for the first 4

I know. That's exactly why he went for it. But he finished 6th in sprint, that's seriously impressive for a guy like Contador who's essentially a specialist climber who can TT a bit.

Brian?

happytramp wrote: »

It's been a fairly poor spectacle in my opinion and I blame the organisers. They picked a route which looked exciting on paper but the reality has been quite different. Very poor coverage, little to no on screen info, poor camera work missing finish on first stage, 2nd time in three years that the route has been effected by weather which has resulted in no live coverage, Snow neutralising racing on the climbs resulting in riders focusing on surviving and not getting sick. Not the riders fault by any means.

It's a one weeks stage race with nowhere near the prestige or budget of a race like Paris-Nice.

I agree with everything you say, but I also think it's unfair to expect the level of coverage to be much better than it is. We've been spoiled by watching big races on Eurosport, not everyone can afford that level of coverage.