Tour of Basque Country Stage 2

pelevin

Just turned onto beautiful descending by Dario Cataldo but with the big hitters not far behind and I think a pretty serious mountain finish, he presumably has no chance. Hopefully Dan will be in the mix in the coming minutes.
Presume no spoilers needed since this is a stage thread.

edit: Judging by them talking about Orica setting this up for Simon Gerrans I'm presuming this must have been yday's stage!! Oops. It can still be a thread for today though!

manwithaplan

Ha! I was thinking fair play to Cataldo for giving it another go. At least you were right about him having no chance.

neris

nice waterfall

pelevin

manwithaplan wrote: »

Ha! I was thinking fair play to Cataldo for giving it another go. At least you were right about him having no chance.

But not before betting my life's savings on him just in case.

Pudsy33

Dan should have a shot today, the final climb is reminiscent of La Fleche Wallone. The big GC guys will come out to play, and maybe we will see the Yates bros too.

neris

the Yates were giving it a good bash on the front yesterday and up there today

neris

2.3 left and dans looking good

Pudsy33

Dan out the back fairly early doors. Hopefully not a bad sign for the Ardennes

neris

Pudsy33 wrote: »

Dan out the back fairly early doors. Hopefully not a bad sign for the Ardennes

he got dropped out of the 2nd group and looked to be going backwards. Strange finish to that and the camera work/broadcaster making a balls of things again

pelevin

Looks like Landa is a very realistic challenger for the Giro again this year. Much the strongest on that climb today. If Astana had backed him when it became pretty clear he was their strongest rider last year, he could well have been going into it as the defending champion.

dastardly00

I didn't see the stage on TV, but 25th place from Dan seems quite a disappointing result from him. Any obvious reason why?

Pudsy33

dastardly00 wrote: »

I didn't see the stage on TV, but 25th place from Dan seems quite a disappointing result from him. Any obvious reason why?

He was in a cracking position but couldn't hang on. I think it was too steep for too long. I expected the Ardennes guys to be up there but that wasn't the case. Also he said he was unwell at the end of Catalonia so that's a factor too.

Dcully

pelevin wrote: »

Looks like Landa is a very realistic challenger for the Giro again this year. Much the strongest on that climb today. If Astana had backed him when it became pretty clear he was their strongest rider last year, he could well have been going into it as the defending champion.

Agreed he was majestic last year in the Giro.
Similar to Froome on Wiggins when Wiggins won the TDF I believe Landa could have taken Aru in the Giro.

neris

See Dan Martins pulled out of the race. Quintana aswell

ronanocon

Very skinny lads with cold weather and lots of climbing will lead to lots of illness.

neris

ronanocon wrote: »

Very skinny lads with cold weather and lots of climbing will lead to lots of illness.

weathers manky there very similar to here and lots of bare skin on display on some of them

neris

cheeky celebration on the finish line nearly sagan-esque

happytramp

neris wrote: »

cheeky celebration on the finish line nearly sagan-esque

I think Sagan will have his work cut out try to beat that.

Pudsy33

Top 4 within 16 seconds of one another. My guess is Pinot

at1withmyself

neris wrote: »

See Dan Martins pulled out of the race. Quintana aswell

Are you sure Quintana is out, i don't see that anywhere?

Some big names listed out from yesterday are Aru, Yates, Martin, Gerrans and Hesjedal.

Really enjoying this race so far and it looks like Contador has adapted Sagans 2nd place streak. If he comes second today it'll be his 3rd or 4th big race this year coming in second.

Pudsy33

Quintana definitely still going. Time trial today should be an absolute belter. My money is on Pinot

neris

Sorry hes still in carlton kirby said he,d gone when i posted that.

at1withmyself

A wet day with a technical descent today will make for some big risks for those looking for a podium. On live now on Eurosport....

neris

Any ideas what time the top 5 are off out?

velo.2010

Bueno!