Vuelta a Espana - Stage 12 (31-Aug), Motril - Antequera Los Dolmenes (160.1 km)

dastardly00

Don't think there is a thread yet.

Mid-mountain. Consolidated differences in the general classification will favour a breakaway. The ascent of the Puerto del León (a 1st category climb) and the Puerto del Torcal (2nd category - 17 km from the finish-line -), will wear the riders down. There shouldn't be any surprises, despite a total of 2,300 metres of slopes in this stage.

@101.4 km | Puerto del León | 17.4 km at 4.9% | Cat. 1
@142.6 km | Puerto del Torcal | 7.6 km at 7% | Cat. 2

Live TV coverage on Eurosport2 at 1:45pm. Highlights on Eurosport2 at 3am and on ITV4 at 7pm

REBELSAFC

Let there be wind

Borderfox

Enric Mas

Jungels is massive

neris

Patrick Lefevere

really need to explore the coast east of Malaga at some stage been going west of it for best part of 20 years. Nasty looking route today with those 2 climbs

MPFGLB

The real Vuelta begins today

dastardly00

Eros Capecchi

Nico's diary

http://www.independent.ie/sport/other-sports/cycling/the-climb-was-horrible-i-knew-i-was-in-trouble-36086425.html

A few of us were wondering why he dropped back to the team car on the penultimate climb yesterday... it was to get his chain lubricated.

dastardly00

Eros Capecchi

MPFGLB wrote: »

The real Vuelta begins today

Why do you say that?

dastardly00

Eros Capecchi

14-rider breakaway:
Edward Theuns (Trek-Segafredo)
Jose Joaquin Rojas (Movistar)
Pawel Poljanski, Andreas Schillinger (Bora-Hansgrohe)
Julien Duval (AG2R-La Mondiale)
Brendan Canty (Cannondale-Drapac)
Michael Morkov (Katusha-Alpecin)
Stef Clement (LottoNL-Jumbo)
Jan Polanc (UAE Team Emirates)
Tomasz Marczynski (Lotto Soudal)
Omar Fraile (Dimension Data)
Anthony Pérez (Cofidis)
David Arroyo (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA)
Peter Koning (Aqua Blue Sport)

MPFGLB

dastardly00 wrote: »

Nico's diary

http://www.independent.ie/sport/other-sports/cycling/the-climb-was-horrible-i-knew-i-was-in-trouble-36086425.html

A few of us were wondering why he dropped back to the team car on the penultimate climb yesterday... it was to get his chain lubricated.

I think he was unlucky with the weather ( as he was in 2013)...
Now I dont think he was going to be up there with Froome & Nibali at the end but as he said in the diary he lost most of the time on the flat sections...

I saw the flat sections (on the climb) and thought well he'll come back some here...but it was the opposite ..this is where he lost most of the time

I would have expected him to be with the Aru group if the weather was fine and still fighting for top 5

Its a bummer and a big disappointment for him

MPFGLB

dastardly00 wrote: »

Why do you say that?

I'm hoping I saw a little tiring of Froome yesterday

retalivity

Contador and nico attack!

MPFGLB

Weepsie wrote: »

He has to ride in the same weather as everyone else, how is he unlucky? The weather is what it is, it favours noone. Admittedly some handle hot conditions, or wet conditions, or windy conditions better than others, and some suffer more for all sorts of reasons but still.

Unlucky for him if it doesn't suit him was what I meant
Heat does not suit Wellens and he had to leave the Tour ...I would have said the same for him...jeez

Trouble for froome :eek:

neris

Patrick Lefevere

froomes in trouble

neris

Patrick Lefevere

and now hes down

Allez Allez!!!!!!!!

ThisRegard

It all sounded a bit mental during the last TV ad break. A spectator manages to run under motorbike, motorbike falls over and delays a chasing group.

ThisRegard

Ah **** off Kirby, they can't be slowing down because the race leader fell twice.

CrowdedHouse

That heap of scrap eurosport player has failed on me again (pc and mobile)

irishrover99

What have i missed,do not say they stopped for froome again

GetWithIt

Is Nico still with Contador? La Vuelta site has thrown the invisibility cloak over him again.

neris

Patrick Lefevere

CrowdedHouse wrote: »

That heap of scrap eurosport player has failed on me again (pc and mobile)

have you updated the app on your mobile? i had to update mien and its a pain the hole

pelevin

Respecting the jersey if the race leader screws up can be a garbage idea - definitely the 2nd fall is simply Froome's fault. That's part of racing ffs. Also Contador in contention to some degree is up the road. The race is on.

neris

Patrick Lefevere

im not a fan of nibali but i hope to **** he puts a load of time in to froome and gets red for a bit of variety

ThisRegard

irishrover99 wrote: »

What have i missed,do not say they stopped for froome again

There's the implication that after a conversation with some of the front runners in what was Froome's group they decided to slow it down a little. He only lost 19 seconds in the end.

MPFGLB

MPFGLB wrote: »

The real Vuelta begins today

retalivity

Gc group didnt exactly look like they were gunning it at the end.

3 sky lads vs a peloton of 20 and they only lost 20 seconds after a mechanical and a crash...

pelevin

Think it should be noted that Froome's troubles which he pretty much got away with came because of Contador's aggression. We dunno about Froome's first problem but certainly there'd have been little reason to be pushing it and crash the second time only there was pressure to get back on. Bit like the Giro Nibali beat Kruiswijk where the pressure of Nibali brought about Kwk's crash.

Contador is simply incomparable in how he races. That it's done without the best legs in the peloton in a way makes it perhaps all the greater. His attack that ended up deciding the Vuelta last year is probably the standout thing I've seen in cycling the last few years. Just huge spirit.

neris

Patrick Lefevere

nice looking town from the air

neris

Patrick Lefevere

https://twitter.com/katushacycling/status/903299951286988800

brianomc

Video of the incident online now too

https://twitter.com/LorenaBanderas/status/903310197493522432

Crazy, first the AquaBlue bus and now this.

pelevin

Hopefully that a$$hole gets criminal charges pressed against him.

letape

Horrific to watch that. You'd be worried other scumbags would do the same.

ThisRegard

There was a cop of some sort right there anyway and it doesn't look like that asshole could run far so I say he's well caught.

Just saw the ITV 4 highlights, it was actually a cop who pushed the guy who caused the motor bike crash

https://twitter.com/Laura_Meseguer/status/903305095936401408

pelevin

He's certainly caught. As I said, hopefully & surely there'll be criminal charges pressed against him but I wonder what would the charges comprise. Presumably he'd have to be treated pretty severely & deservedly so - very in terms of being a deterrent as well as the incident on its own terms - but what could the charge be. Pushing a guy off a fairly slow-moving bike wouldn't sound too serious in a court of law. That the Vuelta has been policed so well in terms of crowd control the last few years shows they are serious about the race being policed properly and the crowds behaving themselves so be interesting to know what follows.

And just saw the separate incident via Enfilade of the cop pushing the fan. What the hell did he think he was doing pushing him into the road like that?!

Keeks

pelevin wrote: »

but what could the charge be. Pushing a guy off a fairly slow-moving bike wouldn't sound too serious in a court of law.

Assault?

ednwireland

That was nuts

ThisRegard

What was that headcase priest charged with?

And WTF was that other cop thinking, Yin and Yang within a few posts.

Keeks

pelevin wrote: »

And just saw the separate incident via Enfilade of the cop pushing the fan. What the hell did he think he was doing pushing him into the road like that?!

i think he was trying more to push him off the road rather than on it just st that the idiot stumbled and fell onto the road

ThisRegard

Keeks wrote: »

i think he was trying more to push him off the road rather than on it just st that the idiot stumbled and fell onto the road

The 'idiot' is not the idiot. He wasn't that close to the cyclists and the cop pushing him was only going to end up with him being pushed in front of the cyclists or as happened, another vehicle.

You don't try clear someone from the road by pushing them from one side to the other. It's not his fault he got hit by a motorbike and then fell to the ground.

neris

Patrick Lefevere

Best push of the year had to be the cop on the tour pushing tne fat lad into the ditch

Darkglasses

Two really bad incidents of pushing, but it always just reminds of this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlLi0Hrx9QE

MPFGLB

If you like pushing then a job with these Spanish police is for you....they take no prisoners either ...can't see the gardai getting waay with half of what they do

Chips Lovell

The Guardia Civil make the Gendarmerie look like shopping centre security guards.

There's a joke in Spain, where two aliens land on earth one night to collect items that may tell them more about humanity. One of them finds a traditional, Guardia Civil "tricornio" cap on the ground.

"What's that?"
"I don't know," says the other. "Maybe its some kind of cooking pot?"
"Nah, it's hardly that. It wouldn't hold water."
"Perhaps it's a shoe?"
"Have you ever seen a human with a foot shaped like that?"
"Anyway, I don't know what it is," says the first one, sticking it on top of his head, "but all of a sudden I feel like kicking the crap out of someone".

D9Male

The chap who pushed Belkov has Down's Syndrome, apparently. It was his Dad trying to stop him push. A very unfortunate incident.

pelevin

D9Male wrote: »

The chap who pushed Belkov has Down's Syndrome, apparently. It was his Dad trying to stop him push. A very unfortunate incident.

I was thinking later it probably had to be some mental issue involved. An unfortuntate issue all right but at least minor both in its significance in racing terms & injuries to Belkov.

dastardly00

Eros Capecchi

I'm still a bit gobsmacked this morning after watching those videos last night.

Macy0161

pelevin wrote: »

Think it should be noted that Froome's troubles which he pretty much got away with came because of Contador's aggression. We dunno about Froome's first problem but certainly there'd have been little reason to be pushing it and crash the second time only there was pressure to get back on. Bit like the Giro Nibali beat Kruiswijk where the pressure of Nibali brought about Kwk's crash.

Think this was completely overlooked in the (albeit Brit-centric) coverage I saw. They would've been carrying on the easy day only for Bert going off the front.

Sky got out of a hole of their own making - they didn't actually need to chase down Bert at all. Then the rest of the GC guys proved themselves to be losers in my opinion by not going all in. Nibali interupted Friebe on the ITV4 coverage to defend them racing, when I'd say the question was going to be why they hadn't feckin raced.

This sport is really going to miss Contador. Dan Martin might actually be the one to step up as the only one prepared to lose to win!

pelevin

Macy0161 wrote: »

Think this was completely overlooked in the (albeit Brit-centric) coverage I saw. They would've been carrying on the easy day only for Bert going off the front.

Sky got out of a hole of their own making - they didn't actually need to chase down Bert at all. Then the rest of the GC guys proved themselves to be losers in my opinion by not going all in. Nibali interupted Friebe on the ITV4 coverage to defend them racing, when I'd say the question was going to be why they hadn't feckin raced.

This sport is really going to miss Contador. Dan Martin might actually be the one to step up as the only one prepared to lose to win!

Agree with all this. Froome's crashes - he said both incidents were crashes in corners - were part of the dynamic of racing where Sky are pushing a pace to contain or catch Contador who has attacked. Imagine if Formula 1 racers slowed down because of the race leader having a minor crash!

And like you say the question was far more why Nibali's group didn't press on hard rather than the other way round. There's no way Froome could have lost only 20 seconds or so after 2 crashes if they had properly driven on.

Also it brought to mind the 1971 TdF (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1971_Tour_de_France) where it appeared Luis Ocana would beat the invincible Merckx after Merckx lost 8 minutes or so after stomach issues. Ocana eventually retired hurt after a heavy fall during a downpour in a corner where Merckx himself had just crashed. I think Merckx later said he felt that in a sense, rather than getting lucky, through his relentless attacking he had made it very possible Ocana's losing because of the pressure he was applying, & which he felt was wearing Ocana down psychologically.

That's the thing about the way Contador races - the attacks provide kinetic energy where things can happen like Froome's crashes yday or the Vuelta win last year for Quintana. He's asking questions that have to be responded to. If there's no question, there's no need to respond! Great to see Dan Martin have similar spirit in how he races. For people like them there's far more to racing than simply a result. It's life in action vs - to use the obvious counterpoint - the machine of organisation of say Sky.

Macy0161

Meant to also add, that some analysis would suggest formigal was set up in the days leading up to it - Sky were knackered and more susceptible. Bert also added a bit more fatigue to key Sky domestiques, and obviously Froome with how it played out yesterday.