September 4, Stage 15: Avilés - Anglirú 144km

ednwireland

Avilés - Anglirú

A day of pain and suffering

Apart from the final day, this is the shortest stage but it won’t feel like it. On the back of two tough days comes the most brutal stage of the lot. Given the legend of the Angliru, it’s amazing that this is only the Vuelta’s fifth encounter with this feared ascent. The approach is the short but mean route via the cat 1 Cordal. Riders then press on to the Angliru, where the previous winners are all pure climbers – José María Jiménez, Gilberto Simoni, Roberto Heras and Alberto Contador. The final 6.5km averages 13 per cent. Even the best climb it at little more than walking pace.



http://cdn1.media.cyclingnews.futurecdn.net/2011/08/09/2/vuelta2011_stage_15_profile_600.jpg

funnights74

Can't wait, brutal stuff, the pain cave will be full to the brim. We'll find out what wiggins is made of tomorrow.

dastardly00

Yikes! :eek:

happytramp

This user at cyclingfans paints quite a terrifying picture of the hell that awaits on tomorrows ascent! Warning, not for the feint of heart.

http://forum.cyclingnews.com/showthread.php?t=15158

Hermy

Around the world it has only one rival.

What would that be?

happytramp

Zoncolan maybe?

I don't know but the Gradients listed for tomorrow seem borderline insane...

Hermy

Yeah, I can't think of anything else that compares with it

-K2-

Just climb Ballinagee Hill ("The Wall" of Orwell Randonee fame) 18-20 times. Without a break. Simples . This is ignoring the 20%+ ramps. It's almost comical.

Morrisseeee

Meh...........it just means another sprocket on the back..................a 25 maybe :pac:

The AngryLoo :eek:


El Pistelero conquers, bang bang:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afFI4alhJQc

Morrisseeee

So............this final climb is epic steep............surely the 'Tall' guys will struggle, eg. Froome, Wiggins, VDB, Taaramae maybe even Nibali, and surely the 'Small' guys will conquer, eg. Rodriguez, Moreno, Anton !! At least that's the way it should be. Just to put that in perspective, Wiggins is 6ft3 (69kg) and Rodriguez is 5ft7 (57kg), that means Wiggins is carrying an entry level alluminium bike on his back up the Angliru compared to Rodriguez :eek: Froome has out-performed everybody's expectations, he's 6ft1 (72kg) so it can't have been easy putting in those huge performances in a GT. (Note: those weights are either from their official sites or Wiki, there's obviously a slight difference to racing weight).

TheBlaaMan

happytramp wrote: »

This user at cyclingfans paints quite a terrifying picture of the hell that awaits on tomorrows ascent! Warning, not for the feint of heart.

http://forum.cyclingnews.com/showthread.php?t=15158

Thats a nice piece of prose................you have to love this quote

"the mountain has to be conquered first. If you want to walk with kings, you have to dance with the devil."

:eek::eek:

Why oh why can Eurosport not show this live?
I've got a spanish live feed at the following................ http://sports-livez.com/channel/ch-6.php

funnights74

Supposed to come on live here a 4 cet! Fingers crossed folks
http://sports-livez.com/channel/ch-3.php

furiousox

www.sportlemon.tv
Spanish commentary

Inquitus

furiousox wrote: »

www.sportlemon.tv
Spanish commentary

http://www.sportlemon.tv/v-2/8/126/v-292770.html

Sean kelly's dulcit Eurosport tones ^^

blobbie

http://sports-livez.com/channel/ch-7.php

Engerlish

JacksonHeightsOwn

am i correct in saying i see neither Roche nor Martin in that front group?

Edit: Martin is there

gaybeer

Nico already gone off the back..

Moflojo

Dan sticking in there for now.
He's looking ok, 3rd right now, attacks starting to come on the 21% section!

Edit:Dan struggling a bit off the back of the lead group, Froome doing incredible work for Wiggins. Insane climb, this one.

JacksonHeightsOwn

it looks like Wiggins has cracked

how steep is this mountain, horrendous!!!! :eek:

retalivity

jesus this is brutal....

Inquitus

Aye Sky probably lost this tour by not going with Froome earlier on.

JacksonHeightsOwn

now thats what i call a mountain stage!!!!

that was one brutally steep mountain, the last 6 km must have averaged over 15%, just horrible

Froome finishes the stage in front of a clearly f**ked Wiggins, will Wiggins work for Froome now?

Chapeau to Cabo, that was one helluva ride, thats the best mountain stage ive seen in a few years, what a fantastic attack, and exceptional ride

ednwireland

dan martin 11th on the stage

great ride from cobo though

goldencleric

Roche finishes outside the top 30!! Drops to 20th place

nitrogen

Any idea where Roche eventually finished?

Edit: 33, +6' 19''.

ednwireland

nitrogen wrote: »

Any idea where Roche eventually finished?

33 11 ROCHE, Nicolas ALM + 6' 19''

retalivity

33rd,
6'19' back

ednwireland

overall after today

1 61 COBO, Juan José GEO 59h 57' 16''
2 183 FROOME, Christopher SKY + 20''
3 188 WIGGINS, Bradley SKY + 46''
4 157 MOLLEMA, Bauke RAB + 1' 36''
5 104 MONFORT, Maxime LEO + 2' 37''
6 65 MENCHOV, Denis GEO + 3' 01''
7 103 FUGLSANG, Jakob LEO + 3' 06''
8 1 NIBALI, Vincenzo LIQ + 3' 27''
9 127 VAN DEN BROECK, Jurgen OLO + 3' 58''
10 217 POELS, Wouter VCD + 4' 13''
11 85 MORENO, Daniel KAT + 4' 32''
12 54 NIEVE, Mikel EUS + 4' 50''
13 81 RODRIGUEZ, Joaquin KAT + 5' 17''
14 117 PARDILLA, Sergio MOV + 5' 56''
15 161 SÖRENSEN, Chris SBS + 6' 08''
16 196 MARTIN, Daniel GRM + 6' 42''
17 215 LAGUTIN, Sergey VCD + 7' 50''
18 148 SEELDRAYERS, Kevin QST + 8' 02''
19 118 BRUSEGHIN, Marzio MOV + 9' 13''
20 11 ROCHE, Nicolas ALM + 9' 16''
21 66 SASTRE, Carlos GEO + 10' 07''

Lumen

10 CANCELLARA Fabian at 1' 35"

:eek:

ROK ON

Lumen wrote: »

10 CANCELLARA Fabian at 1' 35"

:eek:

?

happytramp

ednwireland wrote: »

overall after today

1 61 COBO, Juan José GEO 59h 57' 16''
2 183 FROOME, Christopher SKY + 20''
3 188 WIGGINS, Bradley SKY + 46''
4 157 MOLLEMA, Bauke RAB + 1' 36''
5 104 MONFORT, Maxime LEO + 2' 37''
6 65 MENCHOV, Denis GEO + 3' 01''
7 103 FUGLSANG, Jakob LEO + 3' 06''
8 1 NIBALI, Vincenzo LIQ + 3' 27''
9 127 VAN DEN BROECK, Jurgen OLO + 3' 58''
10 217 POELS, Wouter VCD + 4' 13''
11 85 MORENO, Daniel KAT + 4' 32''
12 54 NIEVE, Mikel EUS + 4' 50''
13 81 RODRIGUEZ, Joaquin KAT + 5' 17''
14 117 PARDILLA, Sergio MOV + 5' 56''
15 161 SÖRENSEN, Chris SBS + 6' 08''
16 196 MARTIN, Daniel GRM + 6' 42''
17 215 LAGUTIN, Sergey VCD + 7' 50''
18 148 SEELDRAYERS, Kevin QST + 8' 02''
19 118 BRUSEGHIN, Marzio MOV + 9' 13''
20 11 ROCHE, Nicolas ALM + 9' 16''
21 66 SASTRE, Carlos GEO + 10' 07''

How much better this would look had Martin not lost 2min 30sec more than expected on the TT and that 40sec drafting penelty.

Anyone know if there are any uphill finishes in the last week that could suit him? Remember him coming second to Sagan on a not very steep hill sprint in the Tour of Poland!!

velo.2010

Watched this while I was working out.:p Looked like a moto fell over on the way up just as Mollema and Martin were coming back up to the Wiggins group. I wonder if Martin was hampered as he finshed well off the pace in the end!?

Lumen

ROK ON wrote: »

?

I copied and pasted it. Now it's gone. Was I hallucinating?

happytramp

Lumen wrote: »

I copied and pasted it. Now it's gone. Was I hallucinating?

No, it was up on the Vuelta website briefly as well.

ednwireland

full video of the final climb

http://www.teamskyfans.com/

TheBlaaMan

Where did Cobo come from.............?

I watched it live and just now again and was struck again by just how Cobo's ride was pretty extraordinary........as in "extra" ordinary. Only three times in the last 8km, each for about 10 sec, did Cobo get out of the saddle, and this was only on the very severe >21% sections in the last 5km, something Contador didn't even match in his 2008 win, it would be interesting to compare their times.
I know climbing while seated is the best approach where its a compromise between front wheel lift and rear wheel grip, but he just looked to be very much within his limits on huge gradients where other good climbers were really suffering. Kelly even commented on just how comfortable and unpressurised he was. He continued to pull away right up to the line......!
I hope this is not another Spaniard resorting to the old methods again...... :cool:

happytramp

Times for previous winners up Angliru.

2008---43:12---average speed 17.50 km/h(Alberto Contador)
2002---43:41---average speed 17.30 km/h(Roberto Heras)
2000---41:55---average speed 18.03 km/h(Roberto Heras)
1999:---44:50---average speed 16.86 km/h(Jose Maria Jimenez-Pavel Tonkov)

Cobo did it in 43.44 and I believe 1999 and 2002 were in horrendous weather.

fat bloke

WHat kind of muppets are in charge of the Vuelta that they didn't have more police or barriers on those really narrow steep sections, and that they didn't have a back up motorbike and camera to broadcast pictures of the leader of the frickin race, in the defining moments of the most critical parts of the most exciting stage of the whole race.

Dumb-a$$es:mad:


As an aside, I have to say I'm getting really sick of watching idiot cycle fans and their all-over-the-road antics on the mountain stages. It really drives me mad watching it, and I don't know how the riders put up with it. If it was me I'd lose the gels and put a handgun and a brace of clips in my back pocket!:rolleyes:

niceonetom

TheBlaaMan wrote: »

Where did Cobo come from.............?

He comes from Saunier Duval via Caisse d'Epargne.

Here is his last grand tour performance of note:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Dk1KC9DDBQ

It's it great to see Peipoli, Ricco and Kohl at the peak of their powers and Cobo up there with them?

funnights74

Wiggins was found out bigtime today, decent enough but at the toughest part of the toughest climbs he ain't got it. In sayin that he might still be close enough to take the overall.

Lumen

funnights74 wrote: »

Wiggins was found out bigtime today, decent enough but at the toughest part of the toughest climbs he ain't got it. In sayin that he might still be close enough to take the overall.

This isn't news, he has the same issues in the Giro. It seems to be steepness-related, which means either he lacks the power/weight (which I doubt) or his gearing is wrong. Or maybe it's an altitude thing.

Froome was tremendous again today.

It would have been nice to see the two of them struggle, but Spanish TV director says no.

funnights74

Spot on Lumen, in the dauphine when the gradient increased he was always at the back of the groups grovelling, and he was being hyped up as a favourite as a tdf contender, mostly by the british press, it was a blessing in disguise that he crashed out.
Froome on the other hand this tour is excellent,the Sky management have a lot of thinking to do, not just for this week but next season.

spokeydokey

niceonetom wrote: »

He comes from Saunier Duval via Caisse d'Epargne.

Here is his last grand tour performance of note:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Dk1KC9DDBQ

It's it great to see Peipoli, Ricco and Kohl at the peak of their powers and Cobo up there with them?

It's interesting that Chris Froome finished in 120th place 33'14'' behind Cobo on this stage. He was at 48 seconds today.

seve65

happytramp wrote: »

Zoncolan maybe?

I don't know but the Gradients listed for tomorrow seem borderline insane...

zoncolan comes up as 64th in terms of difficulty on climbbybike
http://www.climbbybike.com/climb.asp?qryMountainID=36

I cant even begin to think how difficult these two climbs are. Too scared to even look at the other harder 63 !?

Inquitus

funnights74 wrote: »

Spot on Lumen, in the dauphine when the gradient increased he was always at the back of the groups grovelling, and he was being hyped up as a favourite as a tdf contender, mostly by the british press, it was a blessing in disguise that he crashed out.
Froome on the other hand this tour is excellent,the Sky management have a lot of thinking to do, not just for this week but next season.

Cadel is as much of a diesel as Wiggins, Wiggins would have made the podium in the tour imo, there were no explosive attacks of note, no big time put into the likes of Cadel, and Cadel and Wiggins would both have put eons into the Schlecks on the TT.....Contador had no form.

Hermy

I've just read here that Boonen is out with a broken scaphoid.

niceonetom

I wonder what gearing Wiggins was using. 42 is the normal inner ring for osymetric which would be ludicrous on tgat gradient without resorting to the monstrous MTB cassettes Millar was using in the giro, and that's not even an option with di2 AFAIK. The osymetric compact is still only 38 I think so hardly a granny ring... Even being marginally overgeared would be disastrous for Wiggins - he's a spinner. Cobo was on a 34 inner with a BIG cassette as far as I could see.

niceonetom

niceonetom wrote: »

I wonder what gearing Wiggins was using. 42 is the normal inner ring for osymetric which would be ludicrous on tgat gradient without resorting to the monstrous MTB cassettes Millar was using in the giro, and that's not even an option with di2 AFAIK. The osymetric compact is still only 38 I think so hardly a granny ring... Even being marginally overgeared would be disastrous for Wiggins - he's a spinner. Cobo was on a 34 inner with a BIG cassette as far as I could see.

https://mobile.twitter.com/#!/SSbike/status/110355723946434560

Hermy

Can't get that link to work - what gives?

Inquitus

Hermy wrote: »

Can't get that link to work - what gives?

For your information the gear settings of the GC top 5: Wiggins: 38x32, Froome: 36x28, Mollema: 36x28, Cobo: 36x32, Fuglsang: 36x28 #vuelta

tawfeeredux

Inquitus wrote: »

For your information the gear settings of the GC top 5: Wiggins: 38x32, Froome: 36x28, Mollema: 36x28, Cobo: 36x32, Fuglsang: 36x28 #vuelta

Not sure how to link to individual tweets, but this one suggests 34X32 for Cobo.

ProcyclingLive The winner of the day is Geox-TMC mechanic. Cobo has the best gear settings of the favourites, the only one with 34x32 #vuelta

Link: https://twitter.com/#!/procyclinglive/status/110375778570616832

The 2 Sky lads definitely seemed over-geared in comparison.