kyle21121 Posted September 4, 2017 Share Posted September 4, 2017 25 minutes ago, kempus said: Yeah, it's pretty incredible how they do it in all of the GTs. With the lack of sprint stages, I expect Froome to take the points and combine at the end. I doubt he will take the mountains, because hes not going to be racing for it. Yeah, I think Nibali is going to lose major time in the TT, though. Zakarin could end up as the closest guy to Froome. Pretty much ideally any major contender would want at least a minute on Froome heading into the TT with a few guys wanting two minutes. No one being even within a minute hurts but at least this isn't the second to last stage and there is still opportunities. Yea Froome won't win the mountains jersey most likely but he is probably a lock for the combination jersey and has a real good shot at points. I'd say he's less likely to win the red but I mean I'm pretty confident he does it's not looking like he can be challenged. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kempus Posted September 4, 2017 Author Share Posted September 4, 2017 1 hour ago, kyle21121 said: Pretty much ideally any major contender would want at least a minute on Froome heading into the TT with a few guys wanting two minutes. No one being even within a minute hurts but at least this isn't the second to last stage and there is still opportunities. Yea Froome won't win the mountains jersey most likely but he is probably a lock for the combination jersey and has a real good shot at points. I'd say he's less likely to win the red but I mean I'm pretty confident he does it's not looking like he can be challenged. I would be seriously interested to see Froome have to race a GT on a weaker team. On Trek, for example. He would have to ride a completely different race, but I imagine he would still be fairly dominant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mse326 Posted September 4, 2017 Share Posted September 4, 2017 Rohan Dennis abandoned. Is there anyone else that even has a chance at beating Froome in a TT left in the field? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kempus Posted September 5, 2017 Author Share Posted September 5, 2017 6 hours ago, mse326 said: Rohan Dennis abandoned. Is there anyone else that even has a chance at beating Froome in a TT left in the field? I can't remember all of the TT specialists who are in the race. There's bound to be one or two still in there. However, Froome must be considered the favourite. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kyle21121 Posted September 5, 2017 Share Posted September 5, 2017 30 minutes ago, kempus said: I can't remember all of the TT specialists who are in the race. There's bound to be one or two still in there. However, Froome must be considered the favourite. There is probably someone somewhere that could but out of the main GC guys (top 10-15) I doubt anyone could beat him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kempus Posted September 5, 2017 Author Share Posted September 5, 2017 3 hours ago, kyle21121 said: There is probably someone somewhere that could but out of the main GC guys (top 10-15) I doubt anyone could beat him. I would imagine most of the elite TT guys are preparing for the World Championships, which are in a few weeks. Doubt they're riding the Vuelta to prepare. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kyle21121 Posted September 5, 2017 Share Posted September 5, 2017 53 minutes ago, kempus said: I would imagine most of the elite TT guys are preparing for the World Championships, which are in a few weeks. Doubt they're riding the Vuelta to prepare. That's very true I guess I didn't think of that I did glance at the list of riders and no elite TT guy seemed to be there or at least no one who stood out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kempus Posted September 5, 2017 Author Share Posted September 5, 2017 Froome obliterated the field, as expected. Winning by 29 seconds ahead of Kelderman. I'm impressed by Nibalis TT, he could have easily lost more than that. Still, Froomes advantage is now up to 1 minute 58 seconds, I believe. It's going to take something crazy for Nibali to overcome that. Very tough stage tomorrow, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mse326 Posted September 5, 2017 Share Posted September 5, 2017 10 minutes ago, kempus said: Froome obliterated the field, as expected. Winning by 29 seconds ahead of Kelderman. I'm impressed by Nibalis TT, he could have easily lost more than that. Still, Froomes advantage is now up to 1 minute 58 seconds, I believe. It's going to take something crazy for Nibali to overcome that. Very tough stage tomorrow, though. Ultimately it is tomorrow, especially the final climb and then Angliru in the penultimate stage. The problem for Nibali is tomorrows climb is short, so unless he enters the climb with a big lead or Froome just absolutely breaks he probably won't be able to pick up too much time if any. And at least to the extent you can project stuff from several years ago, both Froome and Nibali were in the field in 2011 and Froome gained about 2 minutes on Nibali in the Angliru stage. And that was with Froome technically still riding for Wiggins in that stage (at least I assume as Wiggins was in the Red Jersey even though Froome was just behind him by 7 seconds). Although Nibali was out of the race for the podium by then so I don't know how hard he rode it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mse326 Posted September 5, 2017 Share Posted September 5, 2017 On another note is there a reason why the final stages of the grand tours aren't supposed to be challenged by GC guys? Like why have a stage as part of the race but then tell the best you should actually race. Just let the guy in first remain in first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kempus Posted September 5, 2017 Author Share Posted September 5, 2017 17 minutes ago, mse326 said: Ultimately it is tomorrow, especially the final climb and then Angliru in the penultimate stage. The problem for Nibali is tomorrows climb is short, so unless he enters the climb with a big lead or Froome just absolutely breaks he probably won't be able to pick up too much time if any. And at least to the extent you can project stuff from several years ago, both Froome and Nibali were in the field in 2011 and Froome gained about 2 minutes on Nibali in the Angliru stage. And that was with Froome technically still riding for Wiggins in that stage (at least I assume as Wiggins was in the Red Jersey even though Froome was just behind him by 7 seconds). Although Nibali was out of the race for the podium by then so I don't know how hard he rode it. Tomorrows stage is absolutely mental. Gradients of 31% at the bottom of the last climb. I actually expect Froome to pick up more time tomorrow. The Angliru is the only place it can really go wrong for Froome. Very long climb where you can easily lose minutes if you crack. Can't read anything into the 2011 Vuelta. Couldn't even read much if they had completed the climb at the start of the season. It's just a tradition that the final stage is a GC procession. I don't know why or when it started. The final stage is always a circuit sprint stage anyway, so unlikely to affect GC, even if they raced full out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kempus Posted September 5, 2017 Author Share Posted September 5, 2017 http://www.cyclingnews.com/vuelta-a-espana/stage-16/results/ After the article, the full race standings are posted. GC, points, combined, mountains and team. Its looking liie Froome will get GC, points and combined. I expect Lopez will win the mountains ans Astana the team. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mse326 Posted September 5, 2017 Share Posted September 5, 2017 27 minutes ago, kempus said: http://www.cyclingnews.com/vuelta-a-espana/stage-16/results/ After the article, the full race standings are posted. GC, points, combined, mountains and team. Its looking liie Froome will get GC, points and combined. I expect Lopez will win the mountains ans Astana the team. How is team calculated. I was wondering before when this whole race Sky has been in control and raced great but were only like 5th. i see they are at 2 now, but it still seemed/s weird. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kempus Posted September 6, 2017 Author Share Posted September 6, 2017 7 hours ago, mse326 said: How is team calculated. I was wondering before when this whole race Sky has been in control and raced great but were only like 5th. i see they are at 2 now, but it still seemed/s weird. It's the times of your top 4 or 5 riders combined. I can't remember the exact number. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kempus Posted September 6, 2017 Author Share Posted September 6, 2017 I don't think Froome was actually going full gas at any point during the TT. He just rode a consistent pace. I think he actually kept some enegy back because of how tough the stage is today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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