Vuelta 2021 - more of the same of something different ???

[Warnesy]

Should be a cracker of a stage. I plan to get up early and watch.

[DavidS]

It's wet too.

DS

[find_bruce]

Not a stalemate

[Warnesy]

Far from it. Great to see some attacking riding by Bernal so early. Made for a gripping stage. The rain sure added some spice as well.

[stevenaaus]

Shame for Egan he couldn't hang on.

[MichaelB]

Shame for Egan he couldn't hang on.

He gave it a go for sure !

[DavidS]

Nice to see someone having a go from a long way out.

But, Roglic, he just seems to have more.

DS

[MichaelB]

And Storer nabs the KoM jersey !!

Let's see if he can hold it till the end !

[foo on patrol]

Talking about the Tour now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NALMduEz1D0

Foo

[stevenaaus]

It's been a lean year for Bike-Exchange.. I don't know much, but maybe a combination of Matthews losing a bit of his edge, and the competition's also gotten better.

[MichaelB]

...

The real question for me is whether Mas or Lopez are willing to go all in for the win at the risk of losing.

Haig is doing a great job but he looks to be hanging on with the aim of a podium. I'd be real happy to be wrong about that.

Movistar tactics will revert to normal, and assist Haig into gaining that podium spot.

QED

I didn’t expect Haig to ensure the podium spot that way !!!!

Gotta watch the stage replay tonight

[warthog1]

A couple of Bendigonians doing the business!

[warthog1]

I didn’t expect Haig to ensure the podium spot that way !!!!

Gotta watch the stage replay tonight

Haven't seen much either.
Bit of a rundown here;
https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/vuelta ... hts-video/
Pretty brief though.

[stevenaaus]

Great racing stage. I caught the last hour or so Undulating, with super tough ramps.

Watching Haig getting burnt by Yates' attacks but always chugging back on as noone kept the initiative going. Yates didn't think he could put real time into Jack without help from others i guess. After the way he's lit up the race, i hope he can find a minute in the TT.

Shame not to see Roglic prioritize another stage win.. maybe he was getting tired?. And sad and silly for Lopez to throw it in, but must it's a hard come down from winning a stage to dropping off the podium and maybe down ten places.

[warthog1]

Jack can tt if he is fresh enough, so I don't expect him to lose time to Yates and certainly not a minute.
We will see though.
I would like to see Jack on the podium

[find_bruce]

And sad and silly for Lopez to throw it in, but must it's a hard come down from winning a stage to dropping off the podium and maybe down ten places.

According to cyclingnews & his coach/father-in-law the team director told Lopez not to chase & his response ultimately was if Movistar don’t want him on the podium, they don’t want him in the race.

Compare that with Bernal who was content to lose the white jersey so his team mate had a chance at the stage & maybe the podium

Or as Michael said, situation normal for Movistar

[Warnesy]

Cracking stage, with so much going on. Great to see Haigh ride into what is hopefully a podium and Storer secure the polka dots. I was also hoping Roglic would attack, but he didn't really have a lot to gain and I expect he'll go all out for the TT win tomorrow. The racing has been really interesting for most, if not all, of the 20 stages. Having the SBS app certainly made it easy (even if there are a couple of things that drive me nuts about it) to stream onto the TV while stuck at home in lockdown.

[find_bruce]

Jack can tt if he is fresh enough, so I don't expect him to lose time to Yates and certainly not a minute.
We will see though.
I would like to see Jack on the podium

I'm with you - with Mas 2:38 behind Roglic and Haig 2:10 behind Mas you would think that the top 2 are secure & I don't think that Yates will make up a minute on Haig.

But that's what I thought at last years TdF

[warthog1]

I'm with you - with Mas 2:38 behind Roglic and Haig 2:10 behind Mas you would think that the top 2 are secure & I don't think that Yates will make up a minute on Haig.

But that's what I thought at last years TdF

Yeah alot can happen and it doesn't look to be a flat tt.
Hope he gets there anyway.

[MichaelB]

And sad and silly for Lopez to throw it in, but must it's a hard come down from winning a stage to dropping off the podium and maybe down ten places.

According to cyclingnews & his coach/father-in-law the team director told Lopez not to chase & his response ultimately was if Movistar don’t want him on the podium, they don’t want him in the race.

Compare that with Bernal who was content to lose the white jersey so his team mate had a chance at the stage & maybe the podium

Or as Michael said, situation normal for Movistar

Only time will tell what the “truth” is re Lopez, but probably won’t hear the full story. Maybe very similar to the situation that Rohan found himself in with Bahrain ??

Either way, crazy end, but Jack would have probably gotten the podium spot anyway, and he deserves it.

And great for Storer too, 2 x stages and the Polka Dot - FDJ must be over the moon. Hope he doesn’t do a Hirschi and has a great 2022.

The Vuelta & Giro are the best GC’s to watch for sure !

[warthog1]

Well done Jack!

[MichaelB]

Well, that's another exciting 3 weeks over, and in the end we got treated to a bit of the same AND something different !!

The bit of the same stuff :
- Roglic wins - overall and stages and just has "it"
- Breakaways galore and some really exciting and upredictable racing
- Movistar tactics** again revert to type
- Ineos starting a trend of racing differently, but not working well
- Bernal tries and tries again - chapeau
- Some REALLY well deserved stage wins & jersey winners
- Valverde to keep riding ......

The bit of the different stuff :
- Great aussie performances - Storer with 2 stage wins (and almost a 3rd) and the KoM Jersey
- Haig on the Podium with great teamwork and grit
- Great teamwork and riding by Movistar till Stage 20
- No Spanish stage winner (1st time since 1996)
- New really nasty climbs

BRILLIANT



** - based on initial reports, but hoopefully we'll see more actual facts come out soon

[AndrewCowley]

I couldn't get into it. Found it a bit ho-hum. Aside from Bernal having a crack on those couple of stages late into week 3, it was a bit boring. I want to see GC action during a grand tour. It was lacking this year in all 3 of them.

[stevenaaus]

Jack Haig looks an amazing rider... big engine like Cadel.

https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/vuelt ... ideo.shtml