2013 Vuelta

alfy!

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Moreno cracks early on the final climb!

Good to see Nibali punishing the peloton, setting the pace on the front of the pack. The 'peloton' is blown apart with 4.8km to go, only 4 remaining. Nibali, Horner, Purito, Basso.

Horner goes, eeks out distance from the rest. Roche, Valverde, Pinot back with the other 3 now.

41 seconds with 2.7km to go, Horner has this surely.

Nibali accelerates! No one can go with him from the second group. Horner increasing his lead over even Nibali now. A supreme ride from him today.

Take a bow Chris Horner.
 

alfy!

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Edit: Stage by stage look at OGE's strategy for the Vuelta, including upcoming stages:

http://greenedgecycling.com/node/in-his-own-words--sport-director-matt-wilson-previews-la-vuelta

I tell ya, I've definitely underrated Moreno for this parcours.

I think he's in with an alright shot at keeping it.
One day on and he's cracked big time on the a big, testing mountain stage. That's cycling for you.

I still think Nibali will be to strong for Horner in the end.
That's the general consensus. Nibali is in another league when on form.

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.
steephill.tv is your friend.

profile-11.jpg
 
May 19, 2009
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(for the record the answer is 1) on time trials where he was good as always and the other contenders were absolutely gash save for Hesjedal and 2) on a long breakaway where he was the best climber and gained 4-5 minutes. If he TT'd like Purito and didn't win that breakaway stage he'd have finished 9-12th which is good but certainly doesn't indicate 'potential GT winner' like people thought of him as a result of it)
 
(for the record the answer is 1) on time trials where he was good as always and the other contenders were absolutely gash save for Hesjedal and 2) on a long breakaway where he was the best climber and gained 4-5 minutes. If he TT'd like Purito and didn't win that breakaway stage he'd have finished 9-12th which is good but certainly doesn't indicate 'potential GT winner' like people thought of him as a result of it)
While this is all true, he hasn't even showed form that would have him in the top 10 of a GT. Since last year's Giro his GT results have been 62nd (Vuelta 2012) 96th (Tdf 2013) and DQ (Vuelta 2013). That is a huge fall from grace.
 
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Oh yeah, I'm with you.

I really like him - and I like Belgian cycling in general so I really do hope he turns into the GT contender they've hoped for for ages but really, it seems as if it was a random, good form outlier.

Voeckler-esque, really.
 

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Really hope Nibali wins, second best GC rider in the world IMO. I reckon he could hurt Froome in a TDF.
 

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Not sure what happened with OGE at the sprint finish last night. They seemed to have a good train going into the finish but then had no one to contest the sprint.

Good win by Gilbert.
 
May 19, 2009
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The pace on that ramp burnt Howard and Matthews, I'd say. Was more of a punchers finish than a raw sprinters anyway as seen by Gilbert and EBH being the top two comfortably; their legs were less tired from the ramp. Paolini/Meersman being top 5 too kind of highlights it.
 
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Actually Howard/Matthews finished over 4 minutes down which explains it. Must have been burnt before that.

Twas Docker who was up front towards the end and the comms were calling him Matthews. He ended up 12th.
 

alfy!

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Actually Howard/Matthews finished over 4 minutes down which explains it. Must have been burnt before that.

Twas Docker who was up front towards the end and the comms were calling him Matthews. He ended up 12th.

Michael Matthews punctured with 5 km to go on stage 12 and didn’t get a chance to take part in the sprint. The uphill finish on stage 12 probably suited Matthews more than the one on stage 13 will do but the former U23 World Champion seems to be in great shape. Matthews has been killing the competition on the steep finish in Stirling, in Tour Down Under, two years in a row (2011 & 2012) and on a good day, he’s up there fighting with Gilbert and Moreno for the stage win.

Puncture, that's a bit of a bummer then. Hope he can do well tonight.
 

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Brutal conditions. Huge climbs, very wet and freezing cold conditions. This is the Vuelta everyone.

Oh dear, oh no, Basso has abandoned. He was having such a good Vuelta too, that's pretty shattering news. Hypothermia, wow!

Valverde has been dropped, his group is behind the main peloton. This weather and climbing is causing chaos with the big names.

Ratto is 9 minutes up with 4.5km to go, what a ride this is.

Horner and Nibali accelerate with a few kilometres to go, just as Valverde had almost caught back up. All other contenders gone, what a crazy day.

Well done Daniele Ratto, that's a brutally fought out victory.

Niabli second, Horner third (~3.50 behind Ratto). Rodriguez 4.11, Sanchez 4.19, Valverde 4.42.
 

alfy!

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What a finish last night, that close. Barguil took another stage victory, edging out Uran in an epic finish.

Nibali did it tough last night. Last day in the Pyrenees, the day before a rest day and the contenders were split in the final climb.

Rodriguez made a move with a couple of kilometres to go after previous attacks from Valverde. This broke everyone up and Nibali was cracked in the last kilometre.

Rodriguez, Valverde, Pinot, Horner, Sanchez, Roche, Pozzovivo all made some time (albeit small) on Nibali.

Horner only 28 seconds behind Nibali now.
 
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