Bradley W has retained the leader's jersey in the Vuelta after the first serious mountain stage. He's in with a chance of winning the overall, which would make him the first British rider to win a Grand Tour since when?
Perhaps we should be wibbling about it more than we are!
Tomorrow will be interesting.(click to show/hide)
Brad looked a wee bit weary when he crossed the line today.
Brad has not been the strongest on the really steep hills and it is the Angliru tomorrow. Doubt he will still be in red tomorrow night - and shame that Eurosport can't find it in their hearts to provide live coverage....
ITV are streaming live coverage, but that seems the only option.I knew that. Pathetic, isn't it? And even Eurosport isn't showing it live. Idiots. I'm going for a ride instead (unless BBC Weather's promise of liquid Armageddon happens).
Brad has not been the strongest on the really steep hills and it is the Angliru tomorrow. Doubt he will still be in red tomorrow night - and shame that Eurosport can't find it in their hearts to provide live coverage....
I'll bet Sky are rueing that dreadfull TTT
How big a disaster does that TTT performance look now? Intermediate bonuses and one more mountain stage to go - is Cobo beatable?
It's a shame this is such a non-story in the media.
I had to drill three layers deep into the BBC-News website to see any mention of Wiggins. There it was as a small one liner link at the bottom of the page. Just above "Walliams tackles the Thames". Sigh...
And apparently, golf, snooker and darts are sport.
Cobo?
Interesting comment on Twitter from Charlie Wegelius.QuoteCobo?
My feeling about Wiggins is that the TdeF may well be beyond him. Contador, Evans, Schkeck(s) all seem a little stronger, and it only takes one of them to be on form in any given year.
(There's probably some younger riders, too, that I've forgotten about, who will get in the way over the next few years.)
There are officially 3 "mountain stages" this week. 46s doesn't sound a lot in that context <goes off to find detailed profiles ... > Wiggo could do with a nice 50k ITT thrown in :D
Is it me or was Brad slightly overgeared and that contributed to the time loss? He was the heaviest geared (38/32) of the top finishers - Cobo the easiest geared (34/28)
Interesting comment on Twitter from Charlie Wegelius.QuoteCobo?
To be fair, he did win the stage to Hautacam in the TdF a few years ago. OK, so it was only after his team-mate, Piepoli, who actually crossed the line first, was disqualified, but a win's a win. The pair finished 28 seconds ahead of Frank Schleck in third. Bernhard Kohl finished 4th and Riccardo Ricco finished 6th...
Anyway, innuendo aside, it was a fantastic race from the spectator's point of view yesterday, very exciting.
d.
Is it me or was Brad slightly overgeared and that contributed to the time loss? He was the heaviest geared (38/32) of the top finishers - Cobo the easiest geared (34/28)What caught my eye is that they all seemed to be at comfortably high cadences*.
his teammmate ... of the infamous Saunier Duval team
Is it me or was Brad slightly overgeared and that contributed to the time loss? He was the heaviest geared (38/32) of the top finishers - Cobo the easiest geared (34/28)What caught my eye is that they all seemed to be at comfortably high cadences*.
Whereas on Le Tour riders often seem to be labouring, and/or spending many kms out of the saddle. it's as if the officially more extreme gradients in Spain persuade them that an efficient cadence is more important than macho choice of chainset.
Let's wait to see if Cobo gets caught by a doping control. It would be a shame if it happened after next weekend. Brailsford must be fuming.
I was not claiming he had doped, I was pointing out the reasons why some might find his performance to be a little suspicious. AFAIK he has found his best form for this race, and the physiological stats support it not being somthing extraordinary (exceptional, yes but not off the scale).
Alleging doping is not the same as finding a performance anomalous or unexpected.
There are those who work out an atheletes power output over the course of the climb. Knowing the profile of the climb and the time you can get a reasonable estimate.
...
Cobo produced a very high but not off the scale of believability performance. I'm happy to give him the benefit of the doubt.
The spectators were a bit more mental than usual on the steep bits. I think I saw several of the riders get a bit of crowd assistance at times.
@bradwiggins
How do you play it? Conserve 3rd or throw everything at winning at the risk of loosing all? stupid or brave? What would you do?
On Twitter..Quote@bradwiggins
How do you play it? Conserve 3rd or throw everything at winning at the risk of loosing all? stupid or brave? What would you do?
Sorry David, I find your 'guilt by association' argument hard to stomach. Presumably you condemn performances by another Saunier Duval rider (a Mr Millar) equally irredeemable?
Sorry David, I find your 'guilt by association' argument hard to stomach. Presumably you condemn performances by another Saunier Duval rider (a Mr Millar) equally irredeemable?
The guilt by association works especially well for Millar. He rode with dopers and therefore there was suspicion that he doped. Lo and behold - he actually did!
Have you seen his TV interview (http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b013pkwf/HARDtalk_David_Millar_cyclist/#)?
Have you seen his TV interview (http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b013pkwf/HARDtalk_David_Millar_cyclist/#)?
I watched that and I thought it should have been called SOFTtalk.
All he did was blame others for his moral failures (he was angry at other people for allowing him to make a choice to cheat)
At no stage did he accept responsibility for his actions.
Sorry, mattc - my fault for mentioning the Vaughters innuendo. But I'm assuming innuendo is all it is and just enjoying some fantastic bike racing, including some great performances by Cobo that have been a joy to watch.
Let's move on, shall we?
d.
What can anyone do to beat Cobo at this point?
What can anyone do to beat Cobo at this point?
Well, I hope Sky at least try and go on the attack rather than just giving in. Chase down any breaks and keep Froome at the front so he at least has a chance of getting some bonus seconds in the sprints/climbs/stage finishes. It's unlikely, but there are still over a minutes worth of bonus seconds up for grabs!
Watching Cobo & Froome "man it out" on the final 19% ramp to the finish was superb, I was pedalling the sofa at one point.
I thought Froome had broken Cobo but Chapeau to him for grinding his way back to Froome's wheel and double Chapeau to Froome for honking past Cobo in the final 20 metres.
I'm surprised neither of them puked-up.
Shame that Sky haven't managed to get Froome into red but it is fantastic that we have (barring accidents etc. ) two british riders on the podium of a Grand Tour.
Here's a vid so you can watch it again and again and again...I've just watched this. Wow! And oof! for Cobo - he looks absolutely knackered at the end, he can barely crawl over the line.
Vuelta stage 17 video (http://www.metacafe.com/watch/7179624/christopher_froome_wins_vuelta_stage_17_from_universal_sports/)
Love the mental commentary.
d.
Second and third in a grand tour for UK riders. This is a phenomenal achievement and one which would have been beyond belief a few short years ago...Except that a few short years ago Nicole Cooke won the Tour de France Féminin, twice, and the Giro d'Italia Femminile. The UK's best stage and one day racing cyclist ever.
Whilst Nicole Cooke is an excellent cyclist, she has never won a Grand Tour (3 week race).That's akin to saying Martina Navratilova isn't the best tennis player of all time and never won a Major tournament, because women's tennis is played over three sets.