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Quick recap. Lots of tough racing and plenty of summit finishes. Movistar pretty dominant (a 1-2 on GC.) Quintana in red, out of red, then back in red. A real thinning out of GC contenders. This is how it looks...
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Back after a rest day with another tough finish today.
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Much as the [url= http://inrng.com/2016/08/vuelta-stage-11-preview-pena-cabarga/ ]ever reliable inrng preview[/url] suggests, it'll probably be Froome or Quintana or a breakaway. There'll be good memories here for Froome as he had a breakthrough win on this climb back when he rode the Vuelta with Wiggins in 2011. He doesn't quite seem to have the spring in his legs that he had at the Tour though and has been pacing himself up climbs instead of following Quintana's surges. Can he keep in touch till the ITT? Quintana reckons he'll need 3 minutes on Froome (seems overly cautious) but there are a lot of very tough stages still to come. And racing can be unpredictable (remember [url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7DyPCK611Y ]Quintana's crash[/url] in the 2014 Vuelta ITT?) Be interesting to see how Contador and Chaves get on today too, falling back on GC they can't afford another bad day.
21k to go. Break with a minute in hand. Tinkoff driving the pace. 46.1kph (28.5 mph) for the first 3 hours 😯
Bring it!
Almost all together now. Maybe thinking Tinkoff are trying to stretch Quintana before he gets to the climb, seeing as he struggled on the flats a bit during the Tour. Doesn't look to be in trouble though.
And they're on the climb!
Good finish that.
Sean Kelly mispronunciation bingo... just had an Alex Andrew Valverde.
F me that's steep.
Awesome finish.
Just watched highlights - great finish! Hope we get a few more like that!
there was one bit that looked ridiculously steep of the back of the bike looking down/back
Nice end Froome is stronger on a normal climb and Nairo on the brutal ones
Going to be an interesting tour and its definitely a race.
Not sure I quite understand the 'no power meter' thing, just people having a pop at team sky's love of science? It not as if their use is a rarity...
despite looking like a Sioux elder, Quintana is only 26 and perhaps a bit naive to think how he races is better because it's a bit more emotive and instinctive.
maybe if he concentrated less on being the best climber in the world and put more effort into flat racing and TT he might win a GT.
Um, like the Giro.... 🙂
Konig (spl) was excellent today.
Um, like the Giro....
ah. um. yes. well. um. of course I meant [u]the[/u] GT. The Tour.
some finish !
bonkers routes they're picking though - flat, ripple, flat, ripple, flat, WALL
despite looking like a Sioux elder, Quintana is only 26 and perhaps a bit naive to think how he races is better because it's a bit more emotive and instinctive.
He has a point though, in that it could make the race a bit more interesting... I like Froome and his tenacity, but the technology in racing now has the potential to make it quite mundane. Having people racing purely from feeling isn't an absurd idea, and the technology is still there for them to use in training.
did you see today's stage, and Sunday's? and pretty much 90% of the stages of the Tour? far from dull in spite of the technology.
the last two days have hardly been boring
I liked fromes reaction to it as well.
I dont think it would make that much difference tbh as its not that hard to tell your threshold
Nairo - and better who tries these days post beef and luck- is much more exciting in general but the last two days have been amazing. Dont change it.
I dont think it would make that much difference tbh as its not that hard to tell your threshold
Yes don't think it would. Riders are very good at riding on feel. Think people confuse the start of "boring" paced racing with the introduction of power meters rather than the reduction in doping. Also it's pretty much exactly the same as what Induranin and Ulrich were doing when they were winning tours, pacing themselves up climbs behind a strong team of domestiques then killing it on the time trial. Don't know why people think sky invented this stuff!
true the tactic has largely been dont drop time in the mountains to the pure climbers and win it on the TT for decades.
If anything newer technologies (wind tunnels, CFD, new fabrics, etc.) are actually favouring little climbers allowing them to be super aero and a lot more competitive in the time trials. I'd bet Nairo's CdA is tiny.
good stage
first time ive noticed the onboard crash footage - usually just listening
Most riders ride by feel and I suspect that they use the power meter as more of a "I feel shit, am I putting out enough power" evaluation rather than just thinking "The boss says do 500w up this climb". I'm sure most DS have an idea of the average power their key riders need to put out to beat their main rivals but that's not an exact science.
Contador is a great example of someone who should probably know his own limits but keeps blowing up when he's riding against in-form top competition because he gets sucked into riding in the red despite knowing that the men with him can probably keep up with more in reserve.
That said, I think the differing paces you see from Froome (diesel at times, explosive at others) brings some excitement compared to the attack-attack-attack style of Contador. Even Quintana rides within his limits for long periods before launching what he considers to be a decisive attack, often letting riders get away.
TLDR version - nothing wrong with power meters.
If you look weak or you get dropped you might get a whole lot more attacking and your opponent gets a good psychological boost. Often why riders will still follow attacks and mark opponents despite being way over the limit. It's quite a brave move to decide to pace yourself up a climb when your opponents have gone up the road.
it is and I am not sure Froome would have done any different without a meter. He knew his threshold/red line and he knew the climb so he knew what he could do it in and rode it that way
We all know its better to start of slightly slower and have some in the tank at the end than empty it in the first 5 km then die up the last 5 km of the climb
Perhaps it shows Nairo is weak and blaming technology rather than better legs? Maybe he has bought into tall this marginal gains talk as well 😉
Also i guess ban power meters and you just use HR, not as exact but still a good indicator. Or do you ban that too, whereupon as Froome said, you may as well go the whole hog and ban gears.
It is all a bit silly. Most all prompted by a question from a journalist in a press conference then blown up out of proportion, rather than any being an issue Quintana wanted to spcifically raise. People go on about it with Froome because of the looking at the stem thing assuming he's looking at his PM. That's probably just the position his head adopts when he's on the limit (I do very similar!)
Is there a thread for today? I can report live from Bilbao.
It's hot!
End of report.
Or, for our foreign viewers:Is there a thread for today? I can report live from Bilbao.
It's hot!
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And they have beer!
Or for our foreign readers, cerveza.
Is there a thread for today? I can report live from Bilbao.
Not from me yet, I'll get on it now!