2017 Vuelta Espania

[Vader]

As expected, the short sharp climb to the Vuelta's first (of 9) mountain top finishes resulted in a sorting of the field. The breakaway survived, arriving at the finish line over 4 minutes ahead of the peleton - not enough for Froome to lose his grip on the red jersey.

It's early days yet, Cannondale-Drapac's Davide Villella is already well on his way to taking out the KotM competition. He got himself into the breakaway again, and has now established a 19pt lead over the second placed rider, after claiming maximum points on 4 of the day's 5 categorised climbs. There are still a lot of mountains to come, but he seems to be the only rider at this stage with serious KotM ambitions.

Froome finished with a small group including Contador (now recovered from his stomach bug), Chaves, and Michael Woods (who?) from Cannondale-Drapac.

The final climb was short and punchy, so the time gaps weren't huge - but they were telling. TJVG was the best of the rest, finishing 8 seconds behind the Froome group, and holding onto 2nd by a solitary second as a result. Expect him to collapse in the 3rd week of the race, as he has in every other GT he's ever contested. Most of the other GC rides finished in groups at 11 & 21 seconds behind Froome & co. The big losers were Nibali, who lost 26 seconds, and Bardet, who lost 39 seconds.

Chaves moves up to 3rd, only 1 second behind TJVG. Orica have 3 riders in the top-10 - Chaves 3rd, Adam Yates 8th, Simon Yates 9th. Jack Haig is a very credible 18th, still only 2:19 down on Froome.

Chaves looks a lot better in the Vuelta, having used the TDF as one big training ride. He appears to be well and truly over the injury which prevented him from riding any races at all between February and July. His "freshness" could very well see him win the race, when other riders start to fatigue in the 3rd week. He's definitely shaping as Froome's biggest competition for this year's title.

 

[Vader]

More medium mountains on the menu tonight - 4x Cat 3 climbs, with a Cat 2 that tops out 36km from the summit. After that it's all downhill - so there is time for the sprinters to catch back up if they fall behind on the climb. This would be a stage for Sagan or Matthews, but neither of them are riding the Vuelta this year.

The start is 10m above the finish, so technically it's a downhill stage. Unfortunately there are a few lumpy bits along the way...

What's with all the late intermediate sprints? This time it's only 8km from the finish. That's really going to mess with the sprint trains, having to go twice in under 10km.

 

[Orange Agent]

Contador is going out with a bang it would seem.

 

[Vader]

Contador is going out with a bang it would seem.

Sammy Sanchez went out with a "pop". I wonder if Contador will do the same?

 

[Bigelow]

Jack Haig seems to be doing alright

 

[Vader]

Another win for the breakaway last night, with 5 riders staying clear of a reduced peleton which included most of the GC favourites. Meintjes and Simon Yates somehow managed to lose 17 seconds on the main group, which was enough to see Yates slip from 9th to 10th on GC. TJVG had 2 falls, and finished a further 3 seconds behind Meintjes and Yates, losing his grip on 2nd in the process - I suspect he's already had his high tide for this GT.

TJVG's demise meant that Froome extended his lead by a further second. Froome's not actually adding any time, it's just that the riders closest to him are falling away. Chaves now moves up to 2nd, 11 seconds behind Froome. This reflects what we've seen on the road so far, with Chaves the only rider who Froome hasn't managed to drop on any of the climbs.

Davide Villella extended his lead in the KotM competition, taking out the first two Cat 3 climbs.

 

[Vader]

Jack Haig seems to be doing alright

Finished with the big boys again last night, and holding firm in the top-20. Pretty damn good for a kid riding his 2nd GT.

 

[Vader]

At 207km, tonight's stage is the longest in this year's Vuelta. There's a lot of climbing in the first half of the stage, climbing from 175m at the start, to 1075m at the top of the 2nd (of 3) Cat 3 climb, after 98km. The last 109km appear to be riding on top of a plateau - there are a few minor ups and downs, but nothing too dramatic. The final climb is a short but steep Cat 3, gaining 150m in 2km, but it's 20km from the finish line.

Once again, the intermediate sprint is quite late, coming 27km from the finish.

There's no reason why the sprinters couldn't win this one, if they can survive the climbing in the first 100km. None of the climbs look too vicious, it's just that there's a lot of altitude to be gained.

Alternatively, it could be another stage for the breakaway.

 

[blue gunslinger]

stage 6 looks like some serious hard work

 

[Vader]

That's the Vuelta for you - even the easy stages involve a lot of climbing.

 

[Bigelow]

"Froome's not actually adding any time, it's just that the riders closest to him are falling away."

Prophetic words

 

[Vader]

"Froome's not actually adding any time, it's just that the riders closest to him are falling away."

Prophetic words

He put time into them last night.

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[Vader]

"Froome's not actually adding any time, it's just that the riders closest to him are falling away."

Prophetic words

What I meant by that was that Froome's lead grew, because the 2nd placed rider (TJVG) lost time. He didn't pick up time relative to the other riders (e.g. Chaves in 3rd), but because the 2nd placed rider fell off his bike repeatedly, Froome's gap increased. Froome finished in the same time as most of his opponents, but because the 2nd placed rider wasn't in the group, he effectively increased his lead.

What happened last night is a very different story...

 

[Bigelow]

yeah havent seen it yet
was just going off the timesheet

Thanks for the response

 

[RU486]

Nearly guaranteed Froome will gain more time tonight, if not win the stage. El Pistolero will be off tonight after his grinding efforts last night, too much fatigue metabolites.

 

[Orange Agent]

Froome hasnt been this good for a few years and that is saying something. Cant recall him climbing this good stage after stage for a couple of seasons, he will smash everyone in the TT but its far from a boring race that the Skybots normally allow, its just full on attacks and others trying to hang on. The gaps are still small in the top 10 but most look like passengers once the heat goes on, Chaves and Contador look the only 2 that can go with him.

 

[Vader]

Stages 6-8 were raced over the weekend. Nothing much happened on Stage 6 - the breakaway made it to the line, with no major changes to the GC race.

Stage 7 had the finish line located at the bottom of a Cat 1 climb. The climb was relatively short, but very steep. Froome put time into all of his rivals, other than Contador. Not a lot of time, but he's consistently putting seconds into the rest of the field now. 14 seconds here, 17 seconds there, after a while it all adds up.

Stage 8 last night was the first real mountain top finish of the race, on top of a Cat 1 climb. It was also Froome's first win for the season. He won the TDF, without winning a single stage, and hadn't won any other race (or stage) in 2017. Last night he was the first one across the finish line - the first time he's done that this year. In doing so, he claimed the bonus seconds. Chaves was the best of the rest, finishing 4 seconds behind Froome (plus bonus seconds).

Surprise packet, Michael Woods, was 3rd across the line. Woods has been one of the most consistent riders in this year's race. He was the only rider, other than Contador, who went with Froome on Stage 7. I'd never even heard of him before this race. I'm sure you all know my thoughts on complete unknowns, with no previous history, performing amazing feats of climbing in a GT. Anyone want to bet on how long it takes before he fails his first doping test?

Orica Scott went into the weekend with 4 riders in the top-20. They're now down to just 2. Jack Haig lost 9 minutes on Stage 7, and Simon Yates lost 10 minutes on Stage 8. That leaves Chaves in 3rd, and Adam Yates in 9th. Haig had a bad day on Stage 7, but he managed to finish ahead of both Yates brothers on Stage 8. He really is starting to look like a future GC contender.

No change to the KotM category, with Villella still holding a 21pt lead over Thomas de Gendt. Froome's win takes him to the top of the points competition, as well as leading the GC and combination categories.

Rest day tonight...

 

[Vader]

Froome hasnt been this good for a few years and that is saying something. Cant recall him climbing this good stage after stage for a couple of seasons, he will smash everyone in the TT but its far from a boring race that the Skybots normally allow, its just full on attacks and others trying to hang on. The gaps are still small in the top 10 but most look like passengers once the heat goes on, Chaves and Contador look the only 2 that can go with him.

And even they can't go with him consistently. Chaves was dropped on the climb on Stage 7, and last night it was Contador's turn. Froome is on another level.

At least the Vuelta's short, sharp, steep climbs allow for attacking - unlike the longer, shallower drags in the Tour. The Skybots just can't hang on and can't control things once the roads get that steep. That allows the real climbers to do their thing. Unfortunately, a fully juiced Froome is just about untouchable.

 

[Bigelow]

Trentin again !

Jack Haig seems to be going well

 

[newblueo]

it's got to be the best tour of the big 3 route wise.lack of gc battle is abit muh

not sure what greenedge is doing in the tour this year load up with modest gc riders an take home a top 5? no sparkle

 

[Vader]

it's got to be the best tour of the big 3 route wise.lack of gc battle is abit muh

not sure what greenedge is doing in the tour this year load up with modest gc riders an take home a top 5? no sparkle

I think they were hoping that Chaves would be better than he has been. He just hasn't been able to go with a fully juiced Froome on the big climbs. He'll lose even more time when they eventually get to the ITT.

The one big positive they'll take away is the performance of a young & inexperienced Jack Haig. Plenty to work with there.

 

[chargers 09]

Been difficult to follow this year for me- finishes are too late when I have work in the morning.


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[Vader]

Been difficult to follow this year for me- finishes are too late when I have work in the morning.

I know exactly what you mean. It's an hour later than the TDF, and that makes a world of difference when you have go get up in the morning.

 

[Orange Agent]

Forgot to record last night so have to wait for the highlights. Orica had a decent crack a few stages back on the rainy day but it didnt come off, Chaves just doesnt look to be at his best which is understandable given the year he has had. Froome is at his absolute best, maybe even above, if he wipes them all in the TT he could claim to be up there with Merckx. When Sky has ability to turn Moscon a young classics rider into one of the best climbers in this race, well...... good luck to everyone else. Even Nibali in the first week publicly said his power numbers for this race are through the roof but the peloton looks to be saving as much energy as they can in the past week. Its a shame Contador had a bad stage early on because he has lit the race up.

 

[Vader]

Forgot to record last night so have to wait for the highlights. Orica had a decent crack a few stages back on the rainy day but it didnt come off, Chaves just doesnt look to be at his best which is understandable given the year he has had. Froome is at his absolute best, maybe even above, if he wipes them all in the TT he could claim to be up there with Merckx. When Sky has ability to turn Moscon a young classics rider into one of the best climbers in this race, well...... good luck to everyone else. Even Nibali in the first week publicly said his power numbers for this race are through the roof but the peloton looks to be saving as much energy as they can in the past week. Its a shame Contador had a bad stage early on because he has lit the race up.

He's never going to be up there with Merckx. Merckx is still the only rider to win all 3 competitions in the TDF, in the same year - GC, KotM, points. Merckx won 1 of every 3 races he entered - Froome has only been first across the finish line once this season. Merckx also won all 3 GTs, one of only 6 riders to do so - Anquetil, Merckx, Hinault, Gimondi, Contador, Nibali. Has Froome even ridden the Giro?

Merckx stands alone as the greatest road cyclist of all time. Froome can never even aspire to matching that - he can, however, earn a position for himself on the second step of the podium.