I thought his question was fine Nibali could have just said no we didnt discuss it as Bertie was uo the road so we raced, but I think something got list in translation or Nibali was being over defensive.
That was how I saw it as well. Nibbles was very quick to snap at him, I felt.
Good to see Nibali telling Daniel Friebe off for daring to suggest as much.
It seemed to me that the question wasn't why did you push on but why did you hesitate before you did. I think Nibali probably misunderstood it as it seems others on here have. The race was already on with Contador up the road so there was no question that anyone would wait and no one expected them to.
peloton has really got the hammer down, still 75km out
De Gendt in the break 🙂
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ban chain rings !!!!
have to say the bmc timemachine is the best looking bike in the peloton.
Dimension Data down to 3 riders! 😯 😀
mr blobby, I think there's an error in your chart
should the red bit say "trying to form a break" ?
Froome 7th on today's "flat" sprint finish. Nibbles 6th, Contador 9th!
should the red bit say "trying to form a break" ?
Yes indeed 🙂
Froome 7th on today's "flat" sprint finish. Nibbles 6th, Contador 9th!
Got to be up there, looks like Zakarin and De La Cruz both lost a few seconds with a small split with Wilco up to 4th.
Following on from Bargeuil getting kicked off the Vuelta for not being a team player, the French national selectors have him in their long list but saying their long list is made up of people who work for the team first. Odds are he doesn't make the cut then.
Bertie has put someone on the front to pick the pace up.
Disc brakes in the peloton. It's a miracle no one has died
not letting sky dictate the approach pace has got to be the best play, but probably not as beneficial on a single climb stage. Back in the tdf letting them (sky) amble up the early climbs in stages so they could use the big diesels on the valley roads was pretty poor IMO
******* 'ell that was a ramp and a half 🙂 bit of a softener before the main event!!!
Astana pushing for the stage win and dropping Aru again, they don't give a shit about his chances 😆
Great racing-apart from Aru
Is Froome tiring? Not sure if they gapped him there or he played a very smart game in not reacting knowing he'd close that gap later.
Probably the latter based on the end result?
In his post race comments he said he was holding back for tomorrow. Could just be mind games though!
Is Froome tiring? Not sure if they gapped him there or he played a very smart game in not reacting knowing he'd close that gap later.
I wouldn't read too much into it. He bridged across quite easily once Nieve and Poels dropped off. Looked normal Froome tactics to me. He might have went for the win if he was feeling strong, but I don't think he was struggling. Just keeping it steady and keeping his team mates at hand.
Froome didn't look to be in any bother when he bridged across, but then Nibali looked like he stopped working when Bertie didn't come through and the lull made it easy for Froome. I don't really understand why Nibali would stop to argue and not crack on if he could, he's got more to gain than Bertie, who's not really an immediate threat to him. Does seem one to get involved in petty squabbles and lose sight of the big picture.
another ultimately disappointing day where "who cracked?" is a much bigger topic than "who did something amazing/exciting?" - I'm going off stage racing; think I'm a classics man at heart
I wonder if I watch the same racing as some people at times, really enjoyed the stage!
He's been touted as the next big Colombian rider for a while now (with Bernal the next in line), does seem a lot more rounded than Quintana. Does not please me to see anyone in an Astana jersey winning anything though.
Yates exploding was..... something to see the winner bridged to him soooo easily. The others cannot do anything about Sky and Froome so far.
Yeah, Lopez's stage win was nice but in the end I still have a feeling he was "allowed out" while everybody else was just ground down by the skydozer and that just seemed inevitable; froome taking 5-10 seconds a day from his nearest rivals
another ultimately disappointing day where "who cracked?" is a much bigger topic than "who did something amazing/exciting?" - I'm going off stage racing; think I'm a classics man at heart
I'm going off stage racing when Sky are involved. Does Froome ever look tired? He's leading his second grand tour in weeks and looks fresher than I do when I get on my bike.
Was rooting for Yates, he was close until Lopez went. Not a particularly exciting stage though I thought. It looks like Froome has gone into defence mode now. Hopefully it will pick up again next week.
Well I must be watching a different race to some as enjoying it loads. Yes sky doing what they do but other going for breaks and sky reacting at time just not standing up.
Hate myself but have warmed to contador this race.
Don't get me wrong, it's been a pretty good race so far. And maybe for that reason I was expecting more today. Contador has been great throughout, aside from that one bad day he had. He's not had the results, but it's great to watch. I warmed to him a lot when he lost, was it Paris Nice - by about 1 second, after a monumental long range attack. Nibali's been good too. Enjoying it all for the main part.
ITT today, exciting stuff 🙂
Be interesting to see the gaps at the end of the day and how the GC guys pace it with a hard week to come. It's a long effort and if you're not well adapted to your TT position you're not going to have a good day. Advantage to Froome with all the time checks going last (though no super suit for him.) I'd expect him to pace it to try and put a bit of time into Nibali but not that much, and Nibali seems to be going well now. Looking at the top 10 I can't really see too much changing. Chavez and Aru maybe dropping back. Lopez and Woods, should go ok. Contador up to 6th maybe.
Rohan Dennis must be gutted today - he rides 15 stages, waiting for the TT to come round, and then has to withdraw the night before.
Makes Froome the favourite - my guess is he will put 2 mins into Nibbles
Nibali in an ITT, can do a good one, can also do a very bad one, I wonder which it will be today? He could easily find himself down behind Zakarin and Wilco.
Only 2 minute starting gaps. Nibali might be a target for Froome to chase in the closing stages.
I would pay good money to see the look on nibali's face if Froome sailed by...
Dirty Bertie to launch a pointless attack for the cameras and then sit behind the guy starting after him complaining he's not doing enough work?
Contador has been great throughout
When ever I see him I just think drug cheat who shouldnt be racing. He got caught taking steriods which give an advantage for the whole career if you keep training properly.
well that was impressive
And that, is the end of that discussion as to who's going to win.
Could he lose a couple of minutes on the last climb?
Potentially, but it seems improbable.
Could Nibali launch off the top of the first climb tomorrow?
Maybe, but it's a long way.
And that, is the end of that discussion as to who's going to win.
Unfortunately true! The drugs are too strong with that one!
Could still lose 2mins on angliru but that would need some back luck
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Ouch.
Ouch indeed and it's not just the gradient to deal with on this one
http://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/racing/vuelta-a-espana/the-vuelta-a-espana-will-take-on-an-incredibly-steep-31-climb-and-these-photos-show-just-how-tough-it-is-345302
I've done similar climbs in that area (Cantabria) on a mountain bike, that concrete will be really unpleasant on a road bike!
Wow, that looks pretty mental for a grand tour route. Are the team cars following at those points?! If 31 percent gradient isn't enough, they're basically riding on a glorified shed base with grooves in it.
Brilliant!
