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Pidders to drop the other GC riders and take the lead?
You wouldn't have bet on it at the start of this week. I think just being thereabouts will be an achievement for him though. I think a top 5 finish overall is his to **** up. Will certainly be watching with interest.
@nbt yes were wandered up to the Tour of Britain and it was great. I started a thread with a few photo here
It kept us entrained for hours. Meeting up with relatives and mates. Looking at buses. Spotting Dani and Ned.
The podium was a bit gutting. Confirming that that if the Women’s tour hadn’t been cancelled 2 yrs ago Mrs Ampthill, as Mayor, would have got to present a trophy on the podium
The Tour of Britain is over. It was a good race, with a thrilling finish - I think Onley can be justifiably disappointed with fourth place, he was very close to third. I wonder in any blame could be apportioned to the farmer who "accidentally" herded cows over the road, halting the peloton? Picnic PostNL were on the front at that point, chasing the break: had they caught the break then bonus seconds would have come into play, possibly allowing Onley to gain places on the standings. Then again, that incident happened with over 50k to go, a long time before the intermediate and final sprints.
Back to matters in hand, it's week 3 at the Vuelta and racing resumes today with a 167.9km "hilly" stage. While Jonas is in the race lead and doesn't look like he'll struggle to keep it, UAE have dominated the race over all - they have won 5 stages and lead the team standings by over 34 minutes. Pidcock is battling but my money says he won't finish on the podium, he'll be 5th at best as I expect both Jai Hindley and Felix Gall to take time out of him in the coming days. How those two will fare against Almeida given the bigger gap between 2 and 3 is more difficult, especially as Almeida will be giving his all to catch Jonas. Ultimately I don't think he'll succeed there unless Jonas has a mishap, but the question is whether he'll blow up and allow those chasing to pass him in the rankings
Some notable withdrawals that I'd missed: I remember Guillaume Martin Guyonnet and Valentin Paret Peintre withdrawing in week 1 but I'd missed that Esteban Chaves, Ben o'Connor and Sergui Higuita all withdrew ( or failed to start) last week.
Yes Hindley is rising, I think Almeida should be worried. Or it could be just now that I'm watching it on SBS they won't shut up about him.
The TT could be key
Pidcock looked like he was really digging deep Fri/Sat. Top 5 is a good result.
But it's Vingos to lose really
I mean Almeida might have more chance if UAE were focused on him too
Almeida looks strong to me. Agree SBS tend to talk up the AU/NZ riders. Hindley and Gall both look better than Pidcock at the moment. I think Pidcocks aim at the start was top 10, so top 5 would be exceeding expections.
Still Vingos race to lose - he just needs a decent TT and to shadow Almeida in the mountains.
Of all the stages this week, thisa one loks the most Pidcock-friendly so I wonder if he'll try something today. I'd hazard it's worth the risk to put some time into Hindley and Gall but perhaps it's just me hoping for some exciting racing.
I also think theres a possibility that a disciplined UAE squad could dismantle visma and give Almaeda a chance at taking red this week. Jonas looks ok at the moment but I'd have expected his advantage to be measured on a calendar not a clock by this point. Perhaps trying to shithouse Pogačar out of yellow at the tour hast taken a bit of a toll.
I mean Almeida might have more chance if UAE were focused on him too
Yeah I might be a bit peeved if I were him and I missed the GC because my teammates were busy grabbing stages !
I reckon pidcock regretted that effort to drop Vingo a billion times over going up the Angliru. Maybe that will shape his strategy this week? Obviously we hope not
Shame about the shortened route again yesterday, I bet there were a few riders planning to make an effort on that last climb only to find it wasn't there any more. Great to see Egan win again, though I'd have been equally happy to see Landa get the stage
Anothe mountain stage today, a cat 3 bump half way along then a cat 1 finish. Tomorrow is the ITT, a 27km pan flat ride (well, maybe 50m climbing) but with what looks like some nadgery corners based on the route map - quite a few right angles and at least one 180 hairpin. How that translates into the riding on the ground is another thing, it maybe that there will be minimal braking and re-accelerating, but then again it might be constant on and off for the first half of the ride (there are come longer straights in the second half).
Combine that with the flat (likely sprinters) stage on Friday, I think we'll see fireworks on the finish today, regardless of whether they let break go - but I don't think they will. I think it's a GC day.
I think we'll see fireworks on the finish today
Possibly from the protesters.
I think after the altered finish yesterday and publicity from the disruption I can see further impacts from protests. It's not going to be hard to block a mountain climb, or interfere with IPT riders.
It's not going to be hard to block a mountain climb, or interfere with IPT riders
Sadly I think this is a very valid point 🙁
I agree with the protestors, I just think it's a shame that they're disrupting the exciting bits.
Reckon Pidcock and team must feel a bit aggrieved about yesterday's stage being cut short, but still awarding a stage winner. Was it S9 where he and Vingegaard would have been fighting for the stage win, but with the shortened finish, no winner was given? Obviously not guaranteed to beat Vingegaard but he had a good chance, and would have been a major victory for Q36.5. Obviously it's not ideal having to shorten stages at the last moment, but the organiser should IMO show some consistency.
Probably depends on what can be communicated to the riders via the team FS on the road. I imagine they didn’t have enough forewarning. Maybe. Still hard on Tom though.
First time it happened they had to react quickly. Yesterday they may have had a plan A, plan B and plan C already prepared.
Tom is an unknown quantity when it comes to ITT. Most of the other GC contenders in the top 10 are really quite good. Hopefully Tom can keep his podium place. Agree with others that Tom's 1 or 2 chances at possible stage wins have been scuppered.
Sometimes beautiful things happen at bike races
https://escapecollective.com/my-god-its-magnificent/?gift-token=ZP7BoJwd
Yes that was a classic. Obviously support for pidCOCK. Completely ignored by the commentary team lol.
Have to say that the last climb yesterday looked stunning and had me thinking of a northern Spain road holiday.
Bora should have tried the one/two tactic earlier IMO. Easy to say though, everyone was on the limit.
Vuelta organisers announced later on Wednesday the individual time trial in Valladolid on Thursday's 18th stage will be reduced from 27.2km to a 12.2km route, with the same start and finish as originally planned, to ensure "greater protection" for the stage.
Not seen the new layou t but my guess is that they will be cutting a lot from the first half so a lot of the more technical corners will go, favouring the powerful riders. Ganna for the win, then
…was the right answer. But only by one second. Well done Tom. Produced the TT of his life today and it could have all gone so wrong. Can’t see past Jonas for the overall win though with only two racing stages to go.
Can’t see past Jonas for the overall win though with only two racing stages to go.
Looking that way unless UAE work as a team and rip Visma to bits while looking after Almeida
Can’t see past Jonas for the overall win though with only two racing stages to go.
Looking that way unless UAE work as a team and rip Visma to bits while looking after Almeida
It could be the ultimate long-game fake out. Act totally disjointed for 18 stages then ride as a team on the final mountain stage.
Yesterday, Friday was a bit quiet on GC level, sprint was better, intermediate 4 sec bonus well claimed by Vineg' 😉
Hopefully today big mountain stage will run well and have some battles, but last chance often means everyone is too tired to fight or risk a position...can UAE mount a fight at this stage? Wish it was live on TV but will have to wait for highlights.
It is if you're in Australia. Or can appear to be.
So Vingegaard wins the final proper race day. I think it’s good that he was able to show he can beat his rivals in a place it counts and not just hang on to seconds accumulated elsewhere. Good ride by Almeida - who knows what might have been with better team support, and a longer time trial.
Almeida was never going to have a minute gain, even with a 50 km TT and a proper team! Well done Jonas. And especially well done to Tom. Podium well deserved and he was battling today at the end of his climb. You only had to look at his cadence compared with Kuss. Delighted for him and showing why he had to leave Ineos.
Happy for Vingegaard, he deserved that and to do it after turning himself inside out at the Tour is impressive.
Great stuff from Pidcock too. I reckon everyone will remember that he probably should have been the victor on that stage that was finished 3km short, much as it may be a sore point that he wasn't able to officially win it, it'll be tacitly understood that he was the likely winner. Next step is a team that can properly support him in Grand Tours.
Post stage comment from Thomas here:
(Domestique cycling is a pretty new site and well worth visiting)
Another new cycling website - and doesn't bother with MTB racing.......Not for me. MTB badly needs a proper English language website with news, reports, rumours, etc - having to go to ESMTB, or Brujulabike is a poor show.
Looks like the Vuelta is over then.
Probably the safest solution, with protestors getting the airtime required.
As Lenny sang, it ain't over till it's over. Well, it's over. Not even a podium ceremony
It must be particularly galling to have secured a podium place and not be able to stand on a podium.
protestors getting the airtime required.
There’s that, and there’s also preventing IPT from doing “business as usual” during a crime against humanity.
Absolutely disgraceful. I have no problem with peaceful protest but these ridershave the right to go about their business. The fans who travelled to watch expect to see their event. The protesters have done themselves no favours with this appalling behaviour. It’s not going to change anything
Very disappointing. I have no issues with protests either and the TV time may have helped their cause. But this has not.
On a positive note. If you get the chance, watch the end of the GP Montreal. Classy finish.
I think the protests have done a decent job of highlighting the discontent at Israel’s* participation in the race. The whole point of the protest was to be disruptive and fight against the normalisation of what is happening in Palestine. The fact that the Spanish PM has come out in support for the protesters shows that this kind of thing is what has emboldened Spain to adopt a very public pro Palestinian position.
The sport of bike racing is one of my favourite things in the world but I can’t begrudge losing a tiny bit (and it was a tiny bit - there was still plenty of racing) of it to such an important cause.
* ok technically not a state sponsored team, but nevertheless a team intended to sportswash the state.
Just saw this, good on the protesters, 👍
I think the protests have done a decent job of highlighting the discontent at Israel’s* participation in the race
Presumably they are happy that Bahrain and uae governments sponsor teams. They are nice peace loving dictators
I don’t think this behaviour helps their cause one bit. What have the riders done to deserve this or the fans. Would you be as happy if the disruption was caused by a group you disagreed with. I agree with their cause but this doesn’t help
Congratulations to Cvilla, coming in at the top of the STW league.
Looks like the unofficial podium was enjoyed by all.
https://twitter.com/vismaleaseabike/status/1967333822917423362
https://twitter.com/vismaleaseabike/status/1967319068756816196
Presumably they are happy that Bahrain and uae governments sponsor teams. They are nice peace loving dictators
I was wondering how long it was going to take for someone to come out with this particular bit of whataboutery. Glad you didn't disappoint me.
While Middle Eastern countries that sportwash through cycling is absolutely something that should be stopped, I'm not sure if Bahrain and UAE can really hold a candle to Israel at the moment. What is happening is genocide.
If, once IPT is gone from cycling, the protesters want to turn their attention to Bahrain Victorious, UAE Team Emirates, Jayco AlUla, or any other team whose money shouldn't be in the sport then I'm all for that.
However, only one team is promoting a country that is currently carrying out ethnic cleansing.
Presumably they are happy that Bahrain and uae governments sponsor teams. They are nice peace loving dictators
I was wondering how long it was going to take for someone to come out with this particular bit of whataboutery. Glad you didn't disappoint me.
While Middle Eastern countries that sportwash through cycling is absolutely something that should be stopped, I'm not sure if Bahrain and UAE can really hold a candle to Israel at the moment. What is happening is genocide.
If, once IPT is gone from cycling, the protesters want to turn their attention to Bahrain Victorious, UAE Team Emirates, Jayco AlUla, or any other team whose money shouldn't be in the sport then I'm all for that.
However, only one team is promoting a country that is currently carrying out ethnic cleansing.
The world knows the killings are wrong... but disrupting the sporting event isn't going to stop the killers doing what they're doing.
"oh man, we should stop killing all the Palestinians, why didn't we see that earlier... "
Come on... whilst i agree with the sentiment, the actual logic is massively flawed.
I don’t think this behaviour helps their cause one bit.
They showed that there is massive support for Palestine in Spain, which arguably empowers the government to adopt a hard line on Israel - embargoes etc. Whether that has an impact on the psychopaths in Israel is another matter.