La Vuelta Espana Stage 17 Villadiego - Los Machucos. Monumento Vaca Pasiega (180.5km)

Daroxtar

Another huge day for the GC. The Vuelta has become synonymous with finding obscure and brutal climbs and this year is the turn of Los Machucos or as it is known locally, Collado de la Espina.
This is utterly savage. I love this kind of stuff. I love to see the pros pulling the same kind of faces I pull when climbing

Strava: https://www.strava.com/segments/13164518 — Collado Espina (Versión. Vuelta2017)
The first km kicks off in true leg breaker fashion with ramps hitting 17%. Then around 2.5km it goes to an almost impossible 26%, some sources claim 28%. Following a short downhill section comes 2km@10% then more ramps of 22%, 17%, 16%and a final kick of 11%just before the finish line.
If all that wasn't enough, the road has concrete sections barely wide enough to get two bikes side by side



Apart from that there's 2 other categorised climbs, the Portillo Lunada, 8.3@5.7% and the Puerto Alisas, 10km@6%.

Lopez is far enough back to be let off and his form suggests that he will be very hard to beat on this. Majka is even farther back and can tackle these kinds of slopes too. It's going to be very hard for Sky to keep the train going on that road but Froome looks strong enough to mark any of the other GC boys himself.

retalivity

The whole of the final climb is on google map street view...it is absolutely hilarious. It looks like the worst road youd find the backarse of Donegal or Mayo.

A team could actually block the road and slow everyone down behind them, and let someone escape up the road

robyntmorton

*keels over and throws up*

That's how I feel just looking at this climb!

dastardly00

A few videos of the Los Machucos climb are on this Sporza link:
http://sporza.be/cm/sporza/wielrennen/Vuelta/1.3060824#

2011 Vuelta winner Juan Jose Cobo ('I've never heard of him' I hear you ask :pac:) tackles Los Machucos in the first video

dastardly00

Daniel Oss (BMC) and Lennard Kamna (Sunweb) are DNS

dastardly00

Live coverage has started on Eurosport2

neris

If the only purpose herds of goats have ever served its to find tracks and paths that can be turned in to "roads" for bike race organisers to use, their purpose has been served. Should be fun watching this though I imagine if your Connor Dunne this is torture

TheBlaaMan

dastardly00 wrote: »

A few videos of the Los Machucos climb are on this Sporza link:
http://sporza.be/cm/sporza/wielrennen/Vuelta/1.3060824#

2011 Vuelta winner Juan Jose Cobo ('I've never heard of him' I hear you ask :pac:) tackles Los Machucos in the first video

I cant see that link at work, but if its the one I'm thinking of, I watched it a few days back. Ignoring Juanjo Cobo for a minute, that is Pedro Delgado he is riding with (he still looks fit...) and while my Castillian is nearly zero, I can hear words like, dangeous, horrible, catastrophe etc from the pair of them.....it should be brutal, but as is the case in some of these extreme days, perhaps it could all become a bit neutralised simply by the level of difficulty and all be a bit, meh, at the end.

I'll still be watching if I can..

dastardly00

140 km remaining from 180 km.

Breakaway have 7'15" lead.

Alessandro De Marchi (BMC), Stefan Denifl (Aqua Blue), Magnus Cort (Orica-Scott), Dani Moreno (Movistar), Julian Alaphilippe (Quick-Step) and Davide Villella (Cannondale-Drapac).

oflahero

Lolzers! https://goo.gl/maps/ZWpwHCXPZmE2

I'm so tuning in for the last half hour or so.

rtmie

I wonder if the fascination with finding ever more outrageous mountain sections in GTs, esp Vuelta is positive in the long term. They can be spectacular but in ultimately trying to outdo the last one, will we head towards a cycling equivalent of crazy golf?

Also applies to some of the off road surfaces being rumoured for TdF.

Daroxtar

TheBlaaMan wrote: »

I cant see that link at work, but if its the one I'm thinking of, I watched it a few days back. Ignoring Juanjo Cobo for a minute, that is Pedro Delgado he is riding with (he still looks fit...) and while my Castillian is nearly zero, I can hear words like, dangeous, horrible, catastrophe etc from the pair of them.....it should be brutal, but as is the case in some of these extreme days, perhaps it could all become a bit neutralised simply by the level of difficulty and all be a bit, meh, at the end.

I'll still be watching if I can..

It's this one from Pedro's "Perico Puerto" channel.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8i41CoMNLVM

Can't get it to work on my phone but on the laptop go into the YouTube options, turn on CC and select English. Should give you some kind of subtitles to get the gist of things

MPFGLB

rtmie wrote: »

I wonder if the fascination with finding ever more outrageous mountain sections in GTs, esp Vuelta is positive in the long term. They can be spectacular but in ultimately trying to outdo the last one, will we head towards a cycling equivalent of crazy golf?

Also applies to some of the off road surfaces being rumoured for TdF.

I agree ....though I do like todays finale ...but Sunday's stage was too long for me and was boring for it

I do like the Angliru though and the Zoncolon

What I would suggets is keeps some spectacular climbs but temper the racing with more rouler stages & sprint stages ....there a more than one type of rider in a GT

neris

rtmie wrote: »

I wonder if the fascination with finding ever more outrageous mountain sections in GTs, esp Vuelta is positive in the long term. They can be spectacular but in ultimately trying to outdo the last one, will we head towards a cycling equivalent of crazy golf?

Also applies to some of the off road surfaces being rumoured for TdF.

I think its better they use roads and surfaces normal people use and try to challenge themselves on. They've gotten rid of a few climbs in the TDF from years ago because the caravan & entourage has gotten to big. Nothing to do with the riders or road surface. These guys are the elite of cyclists with access to the best bikes and equipment and should be well able to cope with tough gradients and surafces.

the routes been talked about for the TDF are already used for pro racing, the tro bro leon race is probably the best known that uses them

Eamonnator

How many kilometres to the finish?

gordongekko

Eamonnator wrote: »

How many kilometres to the finish?

83

Scary stuff here on the descent :eek:

average_runner

Will have to record this!!

Visibility must have been about 10m at the worst of it, maybe looked worse on TV than it was?

Chips Lovell

rtmie wrote: »

I wonder if the fascination with finding ever more outrageous mountain sections in GTs, esp Vuelta is positive in the long term. They can be spectacular but in ultimately trying to outdo the last one, will we head towards a cycling equivalent of crazy golf?

Also applies to some of the off road surfaces being rumoured for TdF.

The first Tour de France to visit the high mountains was the 1910 tour, which took in the Pyrenees. Octave Lapize, who went on to win it, condemned the organisers, saying you couldn't ask human beings to do a thing like ride up the Tourmalet. When he met them at the top, he shouted at them that they were murderers.

Itziger

Jep Gambardella wrote: »

The first Tour de France to visit the high mountains was the 1910 tour, which took in the Pyrenees. Octave Lapize, who went on to win it, condemned the organisers, saying you couldn't ask human beings to do a thing like ride up the Tourmalet. When he met them at the top, he shouted at them that they were murderers.

Given that the riders had to do all their own repairs and that the stages were about 320kms in length and had 1910 type surfaces on the mountains, he was right.

retalivity

Yates and chavez attack on the penultimate climb

neris

Jep Gambardella wrote: »

The first Tour de France to visit the high mountains was the 1910 tour, which took in the Pyrenees. Octave Lapize, who went on to win it, condemned the organisers, saying you couldn't ask human beings to do a thing like ride up the Tourmalet. When he met them at the top, he shouted at them that they were murderers.

some team director said the race organisers wanted blood the 1st time they sent them up the angliru

thekooman

neris wrote: »

some team director said the race organisers wanted blood the 1st time they sent them up the angliru

http://www.velonews.com/2002/09/news/road/millar-protests-brutal-angliru_3067

robyntmorton

Denifl for Aqua Blue is on fire at the moment getting up that climb

(sorry :pac:)

I'm willing him up this climb here, come on Stefan!!!!!!!

retalivity

Froome in trouble?

robyntmorton

Aqua Blue taking a win in the Vuelta will be an amazing result! Come on Stefan!

neris

robyntmorton wrote: »

Aqua Blue taking a win on one of the hardest stages in the Vuelta will be an amazing result! Come on Stefan!

;)

robyntmorton

Point taken! I agree with Neris!

robyntmorton

Come on Stefan! Keep it going!

(watching that gap is torture)

Mint Sauce

This is obscene!

:eek:

Froome is lucky he has a man left here I think.

neris

cmon Nibali aswell

neris

fcuk off contador 2nd will be good enough for u today

check_six

From the Cyclingnews site: "Froome's eyes are glued to his stem, but his battery seems flat."

:eek::eek:

dastardly00

1 km to go!

robyntmorton

Stefan has this!!

neris

ffs eurospoirt

neris

yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeessssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

scott1974

Great for Aqua Blue, historic...

neris

even if Nico doesnt win a stage we have a stage win

dastardly00

Hunterbiker

Froome with 1min 16s cushion on Nibs in the GC.

mcgratheoin

Hunterbiker wrote: »

Froome with 1min 16s cushion on Nibs in the GC.

Question now is will other teams have the guts to attack him consistently or will everyone ride to preserve their top 10?

Awesome performance from Denifl - great result for Aquablue - should see them pick up at least one GT next year again.

rtmie

neris wrote: »

rtmie wrote: »

I wonder if the fascination with finding ever more outrageous mountain sections in GTs, esp Vuelta is positive in the long term. They can be spectacular but in ultimately trying to outdo the last one, will we head towards a cycling equivalent of crazy golf?

Also applies to some of the off road surfaces being rumoured for TdF.

I think its better they use roads and surfaces normal people use and try to challenge themselves on. They've gotten rid of a few climbs in the TDF from years ago because the caravan & entourage has gotten to big. Nothing to do with the riders or road surface. These guys are the elite of cyclists with access to the best bikes and equipment and should be well able to cope with tough gradients and surafces.

the routes been talked about for the TDF are already used for pro racing, the tro bro leon race is probably the best known that uses them

Just for me I don't enjoy watching long sections that are basically closed off motorway, but neither do I want it to go to extremes. Haven't seen today's stage, waiting for highlights but from photos it looks like some of it was across what looked like concrete beams laid on the ground. So it is about a happy medium that gives variety of test without making it a lottery of mechanicals. 
WRT proposed TdF Routes I was thinking about some different suggestions I saw that looked pretty much like gravel trails, rather than the To Bro Leon sections, which I know are raced.
Little known fact - that race gets its name from the similarity of the racing surfaces to a well known Swiss confectionery product. (I'll get my coat!)

Hunterbiker

You wonder how much this stage will take out of all of the GC contenders.
Froome has faded before and he came back strongly will he do it again

robyntmorton

I was just thinking that after making the most of everything thrown at them that ABS will be high up the list of wildcard teams picking up interest from the grand tour organisers.

It would be thoroughly deserved too!

Inquitus

Hunterbiker wrote: »

You wonder how much this stage will take out of all of the GC contenders.
Froome has faded before and he came back strongly will he do it again

He's been on a slow downward trend all race, attacking in week 1, defending in week 2 and losing time now in week 3. I think it is touch and go that he can hang on on Angliru based on today.

Hunterbiker

Inquitus wrote: »

He's been on a slow downward trend all race, attacking in week 1, defending in week 2 and losing time now in week 3. I think it is touch and go that he can hang on on Angliru based on today.

Well he attacked on the ITT, you wonder if he realised he would (and his support) would fade on todays finish and put gas into the ITT to bump up his lead.

Was it enough?

velo.2010

Was Froome suffering or was it just for the camera's and he is content to lose 30-40 seconds on Nibali? Hmm, I don't know but if he is tiring then he could lose it on the Angliru. A bit of irony there considering 2011.

You can see why Contador has done so well at the Giro and Vuelta. 10% plus gradients for several kilometres suit his out of the saddle style. He'd be right on Froome's tail on GC if not for the bad day. He could win on the Angliru.

Again, one or two eye opening performances on that last climb.