2013 Vuelta

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alfy! said:
Michael Matthews take a bow! That was brilliant! Yes yes yes!
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Great result for Matthews he was touted a few years ago as being a star. I remember asking you Alfy after Mathews was leading the Tour of Utah if he was ever a chance to win a stage at a GT, evidently he is! He is a pretty good climber too, and not a shocking time trialist he's certainly a chance to challenge for points classification jerseys in the future.
Great year so far for OGE, great year for Matthews and a great year for Australian cycling.
 


chargers 09 said:
Great result for Matthews he was touted a few years ago as being a star. I remember asking you Alfy after Mathews was leading the Tour of Utah if he was ever a chance to win a stage at a GT, evidently he is! He is a pretty good climber too, and not a shocking time trialist he's certainly a chance to challenge for points classification jerseys in the future.
Great year so far for OGE, great year for Matthews and a great year for Australian cycling.
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Indeed, some great results in under 23 races I believe and he's stepped up this season superbly.

Indeed, very much like Sagan in that they can get over medium climbs and contest sprints without the out and out pure sprinters.
 
alfy! said:



Indeed, some great results in under 23 races I believe and he's stepped up this season superbly.

Indeed, very much like Sagan in that they can get over medium climbs and contest sprints without the out and out pure sprinters.
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Great to see Nibali in the red jersey, I hope he wins the Vuelta. I reckon he could seriously give Le tour a shake, or at least make things more interesting. No reason OGE can't go back to back tonight IMO. WHat do you think?
 
chargers 09 said:
Great to see Nibali in the red jersey, I hope he wins the Vuelta. I reckon he could seriously give Le tour a shake, or at least make things more interesting. No reason OGE can't go back to back tonight IMO. WHat do you think?
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Nibali in his best form (like at the Giro) would at least be top 3 at a TdF and he indeed is a potential winner. He's good enough for sure.

Nibali vs. Froome vs. Quintana could be very fun in the upcoming years.

Tonight is another great chance for Matthews.
 
Matthews :D

Decided to play with my TDF winnings and put a very large bet on him last night. What a gun. Gone with it again tonight as well even though I feel a break/late attack will win this stage; someone like Gilbert even.

He really is a very good rider, Matthews. The perfect sprinter for GTs, really. He'll compete in sprint finishes, be of use to GC contenders in the TTT and be a good chance at moderate hill stages. Can also attack as well so he'll be able to do the whole Sagan-esque slip into the break on the climbing stages for the points jersey thing and stick around.
 
Flicking on TV and caught the Vuelta live on SBS tonight. Missed the first 20 minutes but Tanny is on with Tomo. We might get wall to wall coverage from Tanny on the 9 live stages SBS are taking this year.

Tomo and Tanny had an interest chat with Orica GreenEdge direct Matt Wilson live from the team car.

* 13 mountain stages with 11 mountain finishes. That's a few more than normal isn't it?
 
How many times does the breakaway have to get the stage win before the peloton wakes up and helps the team (OGE in this case) on the front? Frustrating, but exciting, stuff.

Stybar gets the latest stage win, by a bee's dick over Gilbert.

Tonight:

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RussellEbertHandball said:
**** 13 mountain stages with 11 mountain finishes. That's a few more than normal isn't it?
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Yeah it's a lot. A bit more normal for the Vuelta though.
 

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And the casualties/time losses start building.

Dan Martin is gone after his crash in stage 7. Kreuziger struggling and losing time early on the climb.

Konig makes his move with 2km to go and makes it home after another later attack. Moreno in second. Roche third. Gaps everywhere, cyclists all over the road.

Nibali battled at the end, lost 27 seconds to the victor. Good days for Konig, Roche, Moreno and Basso. Most GC guys got seconds over Nibali.

Roche into red.
 
I tell ya, I've definitely underrated Moreno for this parcours. The only ITT is one with a category two & descent in it so it doesn't test out the genuine TT ability as much as the climbing/descending ability (Moreno's Rolland-esque in the TT) and there are heaps of punchy climbs where he excels.

The real test for him will be the Katusha strategy; will he be cast aside as a domestique in the real mountains for Purito or will they give him some free reign. I guess another problem is that Katusha will be hesitant to really try and rip apart the peloton on the Hors categorie climbs as with it could see Moreno go - and really when the bloke's in red you're not going to want to cast him aside just to advance the 10th overall bloke.

I think he's in with an alright shot at keeping it. Valverde doesn't have the manpower to rip apart the pack with Intxausti well out of forme and Capecchi being well, an average rider and it wouldn't be in Roche's best interests to have that happen so blokes like Chris Anker, Majka and Kreuziger won't be doing it either. With that in mind I reckon Moreno's going to hang on for awhile through these climbs - until Nibali takes red during the time trial.
 
Dont think Moreno was ever underrated really. He's always been a good rider, its just that he was always seen as Rodriguez's lieutenant. Similar situation with Szmyd really. He is a good rider in his own right, but he had been Basso's lieutenant for so long he became almost a forgotten rider.
 
Yeah. Probably for the best anyway given he can now support Purito. Those real HC climbs are too much for him.

Nibali looked clinical last night. Disappointing really as I've been calling all along that he won't finish above Valverde/Purito.

And amazing regarding Horner. He looks arthritic when he rides and yet he can do that. Incredible.
 
Skippos said:
Yeah. Probably for the best anyway given he can now support Purito. Those real HC climbs are too much for him.

Nibali looked clinical last night. Disappointing really as I've been calling all along that he won't finish above Valverde/Purito.

And amazing regarding Horner. He looks arthritic when he rides and yet he can do that. Incredible.
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I still think Nibali will be to strong for Horner in the end.
 
alfy! is there a profile of this stage around anywhere? I've got the the day off tommorow so I can sit and watch the whole stage.
 
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