Vuelta a España, Stage 20: Benidorm → Alto de Aitana

neris

Started already today the penultimate day of what a GT race should be. 193km from Ballymun in the sun with some Cat 2 climbs along the way and finishing with a biggy. Quintana lost a lot more then seconds yesterday but still has a small cushion of time over Froome.

The weather
If the riders had hoped that the heat would ease off a bit in the final weekend, they will be left disappointed. Saturday will be a sunny day with a maximum temperature at the bottom of the final climb of 27 degrees. However, there is a 25% chance of an afternoon shower so for once the riders may have to face wet conditions.

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MPFGLB

Its all over the place

pelevin

I'd have said a minute & 20 seconds to be more than a small cushion for Quintana though. It'll have to be a big turnaround from what we've seen in the mountains so far for Froome to gain that back but it's definitely not an impossibility. I wonder will Froome & Sky try to attack on the descent of the penultimate climb to try to get away from or at least pressure Quintana - thinking of Nibali in the Giro.

MPFGLB

Sure anthing is prossible

pelevin

Contador distanced from this group though I can't see staying ahead as only Puccio will ride presumably at the front.

pelevin

Looks like there could be a lot of people struggling to make the cut today the way they're racing, & presumably there won't be too much leniency after the last time.

neris

id say this is where they could get away with being lenient on the time cut, 2nd last stage race is pretty much over down the back

pelevin

I'd agree. They've certainly done their fair share of suffering to get to this point, & once not taking the pish in terms of degree outside the limit, it's not as if there's much advantage to be had in the rest of the race.

irishrover99

Froome wins the vuelta today on the last climb😉

Brian?

Contador hasn't attacked yet. Disgraceful

JK.BMC

One village is missing it's idiot- he is splattered on the side of a Spanish mountain having jumped like an idiot out on the road in front of the breakaway riders. Carlton had a right canary on camera while Sean showed remarkable restraint in speaking about rider faaaateeg and how mistakes can be made at this stage of the race.
But seriously, these 'fans' deserve every kind of slap they get; this absurd selfish vanity is like a plague.
Meanwhile back at the race, Kenny Ellisonde looks like he has sown up the mountains classement. Manky blue spotted jersey. Not a patch on the proper polka dot

retalivity

chaves has pulled out almost 2 mins on the peloton..

Shoco83

Gonna be a long last 15k for howson!

Brian?

Shoco83 wrote: »

Gonna be a long last 15k for howson!

He can stop and wait for the bus now.

retalivity

Orica are mad

Daroxtar

retalivity wrote: »

Orica are mad

Ya, but sure why not?!

godtabh

Froome trying to crack Quintana (sp). No luck so far

DDC1990

Froome going all out. Himself and Quintana should catch Chavez. The question is whether Contador can close the 40 seconds or so that he needa to hold the podium.

Hope Chavez can hold on to the podium place. He looks like he might have gone a little too early. He looks leggy.

Atapuma and Latour for the win. Great stage.

JK.BMC

JK.BMC wrote: »

One village is missing it's idiot- he is splattered on the side of a Spanish mountain having jumped like an idiot out on the road in front of the breakaway riders. Carlton had a right canary on camera while Sean showed remarkable restraint in speaking about rider faaaateeg and how mistakes can be made at this stage of the race.
But seriously, these 'fans' deserve every kind of slap they get; this absurd selfish vanity is like a plague.
Meanwhile back at the race, Kenny Ellisonde looks like he has sown up the mountains classement. Manky blue spotted jersey. Not a patch on the proper polka dot

Actually in looks like Fraile will win the mountains category- hard to keep track with all the climbs on this Vuelta.
According to Tyler Farrar, this year's route was just ridiculously hard to the point of stupidity. He might not be entirely wrong

retalivity

Fantastic by latour to get back in the last 500m....

JK.BMC

'Quintana is our champion'

Carlton sounds utterly disgusted

DDC1990

So Chavez attack was worthwhile and he makes the podium by 13 seconds.

Delighted, such a happy smiley guy.

Brian?

A decent Vuelta. Plenty to enjoy.

Mixed feelings today. I'm happy for Chavez and Quintana, hopefully they're the future of cycling. I'm sad to see Contador fade so badly, he probably will retire now and he'll be a huge loss. Let's not forget that if Contador hadn't initiated the split earlier in the week, Froome would have been wearing red today.

Only really Il'Lombardia left to look forward to now.

Brian?

Brian? wrote: »

A decent Vuelta. Plenty to enjoy.

Mixed feelings today. I'm happy for Chavez and Quintana, hopefully they're the future of cycling. I'm sad to see Contador fade so badly, he probably will retire now and he'll be a huge loss. Let's not forget that if Contador hadn't initiated the split earlier in the week, Froome would have been wearing red today.

Only really Il'Lombardia left to look forward to now.

Didn't sound like it in his interview on the ITV highlights there when asked if he had a Vuelta win in him next time Contador smiled and said "The Tour, The Tour"

pelevin

Great all-in effort by the ungainly Latour to come back & beat Atapuma there. Didn't look at all likely. Latour seemed to be the perfect image of Suffering on a Bike.

Quintana looked super smooth dealing with Froome's attacks. Physically he looks the perfect climber, elegant, contained - a polar opposite of Latour, & perhaps Froome. Regarding Contador, maybe the old dog is not able to really challenge the others anymore though given his crash it's impossible to say. And as Brian said, he is the one who lit up the race with last Sunday's heroics.

For me the greatest two days racing this year, last Sunday & Paris Roubaix for similar reasons.

pelevin

pelevin wrote: »

Great all-in effort by the ungainly Latour to come back & beat Atapuma there. Didn't look at all likely. Latour seemed to be the perfect image of Suffering on a Bike.

Quintana looked super smooth dealing with Froome's attacks. Physically he looks the perfect climber, elegant, contained - a polar opposite of Latour, & perhaps Froome. Regarding Contador, maybe the old dog is not able to really challenge the others anymore though given his crash it's impossible to say. And as Brian said, he is the one who lit up the race with last Sunday's heroics.

For me the greatest two days racing this year, last Sunday & Paris Roubaix for similar reasons.

Yeah I'll not be forgetting last sunday in a hurry.

godtabh

Compared to the Tour this wins hands down. Pity the threads seemed to be only small blips on the cycling forum. I really enjoyed. Seemed a less of a procession that the Tour.

Found it hard to warm to the Giro this year so I;d rank the GTs as Vuelta, Tour, Giro

pelevin

I'd go Vuelta, Giro, Tour. Winning the Tour was of course a much greater achievement in terms of the standard but in terms of a GC contest it was completely devoid of drama, and I found the mountain stages, the supposed areas of greatest drama, genuinely horrible to watch. Just an army of Sky super-doms in total control of everything. I didn't enjoy the Giro as much as other versions but it did have real drama as it went along.

Inquitus

The Vuelta gave the most entertainment, but I do feel it's undermined by the fact it's generally patchwork teams with leaders far from top form. The Tour was too dominant by Sky, and the Giro win by Nibali poses a few too many questions for my liking.

irishrover99

Easily vuelta, giro, tdf. Glad froome didn't win but still have to give him credit for been the best rider in the GC. Contador blew it today let chavez go like that today.

Also good to see talansky showing up for a GT for a change and finishing well. Again I think it shows that if you take control of the race rather than letting sky control it, you have a chance

MPFGLB

Inquitus wrote: »

The Vuelta gave the most entertainment, but I do feel it's undermined by the fact it's generally patchwork teams with leaders far from top form. The Tour was too dominant by Sky, and the Giro win by Nibali poses a few too many questions for my liking.

But that is what makwa the race ...more even teams. Anyway having form after one Grand Tour is also a quality to be admired ...its about enduracne not just freshness...See nothing wrong with it being riders second Tour or it allowing young riders who maybe not strong enough for the Tour to make a break through ....The Tour sufferrs imo from everyone turning up in top form and then getting so excited they crash left right and centre or one of the top teams mostly SKY being so dominant ...I want to watch racing not dominance
I couldnlt care less who is or is not in top form....that is a conversation for the nerds on cyclign forum...I care only that there is a some what evenly matched competition and riders race and attack

Anyway the Vuelta has had the top cyclists present in the last years ....

Vuelta best GT for me since 2012