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Doing this from my phone today so will be a bit short, unlike the stage.
Stunning display of time trialling by Froome yesterday saw him close the gap on Nairo down to under a minute and a half. While Nairo looked a bit hesitant around some of the twisty descents, Froome just looked incredibly quick. Have to echo Juan Antiono's comments on Eurosport when asked about what makes Froome so good at that sort of thing, his response being incredible mental strength.
So on to today's stage. A big test. A lot of climbing. A big summit finish. Longer than the Ventoux but supposedly not quite as tough. Suspect Quintana will be confident of defending his lead based on past stages and his strong team. Froome and Sky will need a spectacular result to overhaul his lead. The way Froome has ridden so far I can't see him quietly settling for second place. Another stage win may be some consolation but Nairo will really want to win in the leaders jersey too.
Summary, photos and profile over at inrng...
http://inrng.com/2016/09/vuelta-stage-20-preview-alto-aitana/
****ing itv4 showing the TOB live instead if the Vuelta 🙁
Think Quintana will have this under control, would love to see him have a crack at actually extending the lead though.
Yates for the stage (probably not , but would be cracking)
Lets hope Froome doesnt care about a podium and goes down in a blaze of glory
Orica and Sky v Moviestar and Astana?
Orica and Sky v Moviestar and Astana?
Movistar and Tinkoff more likely. It's been talked up, and OBE and Sky probably are in the best position to make gains and will both want to make the stage a hard one. Though Astana might come into play as they could potentially bump Scarponi up to 5th.
There's a big gap between Froome and Contador though and 2nd place does look a bit out of reach so probably Tinkoff more inclined to defend than attack.
Hear Sammy Sanchez is out this morning. Looked like he'd had a pretty bad fall when he rolled across the finish line yesterday.
frantic stuff, race is a state groups all over the place 🙂 followed by grupo compacto and now another break!
Sounds like Sky had a bit of a go on the descent too. Maybe a sign of things to come.
Is anywhere broadcasting this live?
(Yes, I could google but the may be stw insider knowledge)
Eurosport
Top job, thanks to you both. Afternoon sorted.
what time we hitting the last climb GMT?
nasty crash for Rojas, under a barrier on a downhill corner
Was that rider error? Looked like too much speed too wide and a touch of front brake on a dusty road. Could be handy for Froome with a rider up the road.
Movistar rider looks in a bad way.
Are Movistar happy for the break to escape, as it means Froome can't get bonus seconds even if he beats Quintana?
broken ankle. Ouch!
Looks like everyone is taking a bit of a breather.
Great ride by Cummings today over at the ToB today to hold off Dumoulin and Dennis. He's a pretty mean tester when he puts in the effort! 🙂
that cricfree site seems to be legit, but the registration is through a stie calleed popplayz.com which doesn't mention cricfree at all.
Is that right, or have I clicked on a wrong 'un?
Edit: never mind, installed an adblocker, got rid of all the guff.
Cheers Sputnik!
Does it kick off at the top of the last Cat 2 or wait for the Esp? Can Froome put a few seconds into Nairo downhill and then hook up with Lopez for the climb?
@nedrapier - all of those links to register look a bit dodgy. Cyclingfans.com seems to have some better links
I do rather like Brailsfords attitude...
Team Sky is ready to turn the race upside down according to its team principal Dave Brailsford:
"If Quintana collapses, great, if he does not we will have to tactically or physically outmaneouvre him but we'll have to do something and we're going to try. The aim is to try and win. We've got a plan. It's possible. Chris did a stunning ride yesterday, that spoiled everybody. The whole team were just on the edge of their seat this morning they could not wait to get out and give it their best shot. It is an exciting day and I guess this is why we race. We may not be where we wanted to be but it's been a fantastic race."
Certainly has been!
Looks like it's started
OBE stepping up the pace - alliance with Sky today?
They just took 3 minutes out of the 2nd group in 7 minutes of riding.
Chaves up the road. Contador isolated. Very early to make his move. Settings things up do Yates maybe? Intriguing stuff.
Chaves attack. Does Froome follow?
I think this might be an attack into the downhill, but while that might work against Nairo, surely it doesn't against Contatdor.
Thing is, Contador is isolated. Can't afford to risk it all solo chase. Really good move.
They're making Contador chase apparently
What an effort by Howson!
Yates attacks
Team Sky is ready to turn the race upside down according to its team principal Dave Brailsford:
"If Quintana collapses, great, if he does not we will have to tactically or physically outmaneouvre him but we'll have to do something and we're going to try. The aim is to try and win.
The fact Sky haven't tried anything yet makes me think they must have a plan of some sort. Intriguing!
i don't think they are going to do anything 😕
I'm a bit disappointed if the plan is just to try to outride him on the last climb.
i think it was moderately more sophisticated than that (but not much), i read it as bluff a bit and leave a gap so quintana attacks then counter and bridge to your domestiques up the road, ride of into the sunset and gain 1:30 and hey presto you win the vuelta. but it doesn't work when you counter, reach your last domestique and you turn round and quintana is still there saying is that all you got? good stage though, chaves attack and the teamwork, awsum, battle for the win, also awsum.
Hmmmmmmm, well if OBE could think of their plan and execute it, what happened to Sky's? Wait, wait, wait, oh bugger, we've run out of KM... Cracking race though.
Should have gone with Chaves
I think Quintana was just too strong today. He looked very comfortable on Froome's wheel, and very sharp every time he attacked. Not much you can do about that. Fight for the stage was good though. Atapuma looked possessed!
Quintana too strong, Movistar too strong. I don't think there's much more Froome could have done.
Very well played by OBE and Chaves though, he'll be buying Howson a beer or two tomorrow!
Should have gone with Chaves
🙂 He'd have had Quintana glued to his wheel and Movistar would have shut the move down in seconds!
All in all a great Vuelta. The moment the race was won, the chaos at the start of stage 15, the move by Brambilla and Contador, with Quintana getting into it by the skin of his teeth.
I suspect Quintana will still be slightly concerned that he couldn't really put any time into Froome on the steep stuff and got blown away on the ITT.
And talk about commentators curse for Atapuma!
You're probably right, but attacking further back on the downhill might have shaken Nairo, and hooking up with Lopez at the bottom could well have worked if he had anything of a lead.
It would have had some chance - whereas dragging Nairo up the hill... they're too evenly matched.
Amused to hear Contador complaining about the lack of help from Movistar in chasing down Chaves. Rightly thinks he was owed a bit of assistance given that his initiative and efforts pretty much won Quintana the Vuelta.
If you're going to do a deal, make sure everyone knows it's a deal. Don't do something and then a bit later say "Hey, mate, I'm owed". If Movistar had burned themselves for Contador and Sky had cracked Quintana on the last couple of climbs, they'd look like morons (much as Sky did the other day).
From what I understood though, there's no love lost between Contador and Valverde so that could also be the reason 😉