kyle21121 Posted September 6, 2017 Share Posted September 6, 2017 11 hours 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. I can't disagree with that it certainly seems like that's how it'll go. Froome looked very impressive. Zakrin, Kelderman, Nibali and Contador all had great rides though but still all 29-59 seconds behind Froome. Aru, Chavez and my boy Woods all losing over 3 minutes was pretty bad. None are considered good TT but it would have been nice to see them stay within 2 mins of Froome. Contador back in the top 5 which would be a fantastic result for him in his final race but I know he wants more. I don't think he can get any higher though. Something big needs to happen today someone from the top 4 needs to take somewhat significant time off Froome or it's over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kempus Posted September 6, 2017 Author Share Posted September 6, 2017 2 hours ago, kyle21121 said: I can't disagree with that it certainly seems like that's how it'll go. Froome looked very impressive. Zakrin, Kelderman, Nibali and Contador all had great rides though but still all 29-59 seconds behind Froome. Aru, Chavez and my boy Woods all losing over 3 minutes was pretty bad. None are considered good TT but it would have been nice to see them stay within 2 mins of Froome. Contador back in the top 5 which would be a fantastic result for him in his final race but I know he wants more. I don't think he can get any higher though. Something big needs to happen today someone from the top 4 needs to take somewhat significant time off Froome or it's over. The only rider who Froome really needs to cover is Nibali. I can't see Kelderman or Zakarin riding away in the mountains. Lopez is someone Froome needs to be wary of. If he picks up a couple of minutes on todays stage, he could come into play as a legitimate threat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kyle21121 Posted September 6, 2017 Share Posted September 6, 2017 1 hour ago, kempus said: The only rider who Froome really needs to cover is Nibali. I can't see Kelderman or Zakarin riding away in the mountains. Lopez is someone Froome needs to be wary of. If he picks up a couple of minutes on todays stage, he could come into play as a legitimate threat. Probably true I don't want to count everyone else out completely even if in my mind I can't see Froome losing. Lopez is definitely looking like that dark horse who could make a move today and a move on Saturday and be right in contention. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kempus Posted September 6, 2017 Author Share Posted September 6, 2017 That final climb was absolutely obscene. I'm not sure I've ever seen anything like that. Froome lost 42 seconds to Nibali and Zakarin. I was wrong, he clearly put too much into the TT yesterday. However, the lead is still 1 minute 16. There's potentially some time to take tomorrow and of course the Angliru. If Froome cracks like he did today on the Angliru, he could lose the Vuelta. I think Froome is much better suited to the longer climbs because of his tempo riding. Todays gradients were just ridiculous. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kyle21121 Posted September 7, 2017 Share Posted September 7, 2017 13 hours ago, kempus said: That final climb was absolutely obscene. I'm not sure I've ever seen anything like that. Froome lost 42 seconds to Nibali and Zakarin. I was wrong, he clearly put too much into the TT yesterday. However, the lead is still 1 minute 16. There's potentially some time to take tomorrow and of course the Angliru. If Froome cracks like he did today on the Angliru, he could lose the Vuelta. I think Froome is much better suited to the longer climbs because of his tempo riding. Todays gradients were just ridiculous. It was an insane climb and pretty exciting stage overall. This definitely didn't quite suite Froome. Contador was just dancing on his pedals climbing that. He looked great. Froome is still in good position but there are 1-2 more days that could decide this race and he basically lost most of what he gained at the TT on the true contenders I think Nibali was 1'03" down before the TT and is 1'16" now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kempus Posted September 7, 2017 Author Share Posted September 7, 2017 18 minutes ago, kyle21121 said: It was an insane climb and pretty exciting stage overall. This definitely didn't quite suite Froome. Contador was just dancing on his pedals climbing that. He looked great. Froome is still in good position but there are 1-2 more days that could decide this race and he basically lost most of what he gained at the TT on the true contenders I think Nibali was 1'03" down before the TT and is 1'16" now. I think if he takes the TT and yesterdays stage as a double and sees he is still 1'16" up, he will be happy. Everyone has at least one bad day on a Grand Tour. Todays stage has another sharp 3.2km ascent to the finish. So, there's potential for seconds there. Friday has a long descent to the finish, which will certainly suit Nibali. Saturday is of course the big one. I think time can be lost on any of the 3 remaining days, but Saturday is where is will be decided. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kyle21121 Posted September 7, 2017 Share Posted September 7, 2017 2 minutes ago, kempus said: I think if he takes the TT and yesterdays stage as a double and sees he is still 1'16" up, he will be happy. Everyone has at least one bad day on a Grand Tour. Todays stage has another sharp 3.2km ascent to the finish. So, there's potential for seconds there. Friday has a long descent to the finish, which will certainly suit Nibali. Saturday is of course the big one. I think time can be lost on any of the 3 remaining days, but Saturday is where is will be decided. Most definitely. If he can gain something today and be a little less than a minute back on Saturday there could be a show. Froome should be a little worried but I think he has it in hand. But I sure am excited to see if something can happen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kempus Posted September 7, 2017 Author Share Posted September 7, 2017 50 minutes ago, kyle21121 said: Most definitely. If he can gain something today and be a little less than a minute back on Saturday there could be a show. Froome should be a little worried but I think he has it in hand. But I sure am excited to see if something can happen. Yeah, Nibali has to attack the next two days. Making up more than a minute will be tough on the final stage. If Froome can maintain the 1.16 gap, he should be able to hold on on the Angliru. It's going to be a battle all the way to the end, though. Very exciting race. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kyle21121 Posted September 7, 2017 Share Posted September 7, 2017 35 minutes ago, kempus said: Yeah, Nibali has to attack the next two days. Making up more than a minute will be tough on the final stage. If Froome can maintain the 1.16 gap, he should be able to hold on on the Angliru. It's going to be a battle all the way to the end, though. Very exciting race. I think 35-40 seconds is the magic number he'd want to be down Saturday morning at most in order to have a shot if he can chip away the next two days it could set up a dramatic ending. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kempus Posted September 7, 2017 Author Share Posted September 7, 2017 26 minutes ago, kyle21121 said: I think 35-40 seconds is the magic number he'd want to be down Saturday morning at most in order to have a shot if he can chip away the next two days it could set up a dramatic ending. I think it basically comes down to how Froome is feeling on the Angliru. If he's having a bad day, like yesterday, he will lose the Vuelta. If he's feeling ok, I don't see anyone important gaining any time on him. If he's feeling good, he could easily win the stage. Doesn't matter so much what the other guys do. It's on Froome, imo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kyle21121 Posted September 7, 2017 Share Posted September 7, 2017 2 hours ago, kempus said: I think it basically comes down to how Froome is feeling on the Angliru. If he's having a bad day, like yesterday, he will lose the Vuelta. If he's feeling ok, I don't see anyone important gaining any time on him. If he's feeling good, he could easily win the stage. Doesn't matter so much what the other guys do. It's on Froome, imo. From the first week it was basically his tour to lose he never seems to lose much time anyways even when he's in trouble at the TDF on his only real bad day he lost about 20 seconds on the final 350m of a very steep finish. You have to hope he has a bad day and that Nibali (Zakarin or Kelderman?) have a good-great day and are able to make the move. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kempus Posted September 7, 2017 Author Share Posted September 7, 2017 32 minutes ago, kyle21121 said: From the first week it was basically his tour to lose he never seems to lose much time anyways even when he's in trouble at the TDF on his only real bad day he lost about 20 seconds on the final 350m of a very steep finish. You have to hope he has a bad day and that Nibali (Zakarin or Kelderman?) have a good-great day and are able to make the move. True, but you have to wonder how much the TDF has taken out of him. How fatigued is he from two 3 week races? Thats the unknown at this point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kyle21121 Posted September 7, 2017 Share Posted September 7, 2017 26 minutes ago, kempus said: True, but you have to wonder how much the TDF has taken out of him. How fatigued is he from two 3 week races? Thats the unknown at this point. That's the unknown factor. Aside from yesterday he looks as good as ever but maybe he is running on empty and just pushing through. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kempus Posted September 7, 2017 Author Share Posted September 7, 2017 Froome smashed it again. Gaining 20 seconds back on Nibali. Looks like he got yesterdays bad day out of his system. Lead back up to 1'37". What a great stage, with attacks throughout. Looks like it's going to be down to the Angliru, as expected. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kyle21121 Posted September 8, 2017 Share Posted September 8, 2017 11 hours ago, kempus said: Froome smashed it again. Gaining 20 seconds back on Nibali. Looks like he got yesterdays bad day out of his system. Lead back up to 1'37". What a great stage, with attacks throughout. Looks like it's going to be down to the Angliru, as expected. He looked fantastic but Saturday could still be a huge day. I can't wait. Wonder who attacks on today's stage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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