For a race that was stacked with some of the best stage racers riding currently, it has completely fallen apart.

Only Quintana remains in the race from the big pre-race faves and he is over 3 minutes down. Everyone else is out.

Weird race.....

---

Chicago Cubs - 2016 WORLD SERIES Champions!!!!

"If ever the time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in government, our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin." - Samuel Adams

I think that just shows that the double isn't as feasible in this "hopefully clean" age, even the Tour/Vuelta.

Who is performing? Those who didn't race the tour: Aru primarily, but also Majka and Purito didn't compete on GC (Even Purito didn't look 100% - Moreno looked better yesterday). Dumoulin and Chavez, while not at the same level as everyone else, are fresh as well.
Who is underperforming? Those who raced the tour for GC: Valverde, Quintana, Froome,

Aru doesn't have this sewn up yet. He probably needs to put another minute on Dumoulin. He's certainly in the driver's seat though.

The ITT should be a fun watch with the GC potentially on the line, see what all these natural climbers have in their legs. Minus the crashes that took place in week 1 of TdF, i've very much enjoyed this route so far and the different finishes, winners etc. Wish it would get more love here on 'twitch.

today should be fun...nice and lumpy....our boy Joe D looked solid yesterday after a big day in stage 11 complete with crash and a banged up knee...wonder if he's gonna try and get some today?

In other news.....

How are these guys doing in Spain?

http://www.cyclingnews.com/...-the-tour-de-france/

I'm no fan of Astana either, but come on, a full half of the world tour teams are not in the MPCC, how are they doing?.

Fair enough. But I never miss an opportunity to bash Astana. :)

Stage 16 looks fairly mental. No real altitude but 7 categorized climbs. Looks like a fun day in the saddle!

---

-------------------------------
´Get the most aero and light bike you can get. With the aero advantage you can be saving minutes and with the weight advantage you can be saving seconds. In a race against the clock both matter.´

BMANX

Yeah they weren't shy with the categorized climbs on the stage!

I've enjoyed watching the Vuelta more than either the giro or the tour this year. Looking forward to the ITT.

---

---------------------------------------------------------
All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us. ~Gandalf

Wow, that was an amazing stage!
Rodrigues rides into the red jersey by 1 second, Dumoulin hangs in despite a brutal climb and is a 1:51 back.
The ITT will decide the winner after the restday; I'm hoping Dumoulin can put in the ride of his life

Totally stoked to see Rodriguez take the red jersey. He's one of my favourite riders in the peloton, he's an exciting rider to watch, always willing to animate and race and seems to enjoy himself whenever he's out there.

What's the prediction of the Slowtwitch brain trust then? Can Tom Dumoulin take 2 minutes from Rodriguez AND Aru to give himself a small lead to protect until Madrid? It seems like a lot for a 40km ITT, just how good a TTer is Tommy D?

I'd much rather see either of those guys win than Aru, even though his crazy climbing style is somewhat interesting to watch!

Re Tom Dumoulin's TT capabilities I'm not sure if you were being facetious or not but he's world class, good chance of a podium at worlds again this year. Won flat and hilly TT's (Basque country) this year so terrain is really a non factor as we've seen this Vuelta he can climb. Rodriguez is the worst of the GC guys along with Quintana. Aru and Valverder are actually not bad. Two mins is alot but I think on Rodriguez he might get it, not sure about the same margin on Aru though. Chavez probably on the same terms as Rodriguez and Quintana but it's the first time he's really defending a good position on GC so maybe that will give him some wings, but would still put him on the 3rd tier category.

Dumoulin was third at the 2014 world TT, 14 seconds off Tony and 40 back from Wiggins. He's an unbelievably good TTer. 47km Course that day, 38km tomorrow I think.

Obviously he didn't have 2 weeks of the Vuelta in his legs that day, but it shows his pedigree. The question is how well he rides post rest day today, and how much the climbing has taken out of him over the past 10 stages. Obviously I'd like to see him smash them all, as he's been riding against the specialist climbers basically on his own, but there are too many variables in play to make a solid prediction.

---

-------------------------------
´Get the most aero and light bike you can get. With the aero advantage you can be saving minutes and with the weight advantage you can be saving seconds. In a race against the clock both matter.´

BMANX

Dumoulin will put at least 2 minutes into Rodriguez but not enough time into Aru to take the red jersey. Throw in Stage 20, and it's going to be tough for Dumoulin to eventually win the race, although Aru isn't a sure bet.

---

"Human existence is based upon two pillars: Compassion and knowledge. Compassion without knowledge is ineffective; Knowledge without compassion is inhuman." Victor Weisskopf.

The Vuelta has been amazing!!!

Dumoulin will win the stage tomorrow, he will beat Purito by at least 3 minutes.

Its going to be so close, but I think he can pull off the GC.

Purito has come so close so many times, I want to see him win one Grand Tour. Maybe he will pull out something special tomorrow.

Aru & Majka will battle for 3rd place.

Well that ITT was fantastic!
Dumoulin wins in commanding fashion, Aru was surprisingly quick, Purito faded like we knew he would
Now the red jersey goes back to Dumoulin by 3 seconds!
Should be dramatic in Madrid.
GO tom GO

---

res, non verba

There's been speculation that if it's this close even the final stage will be raced, for the intermediate time bonuses at least....

---

-------------------------------
´Get the most aero and light bike you can get. With the aero advantage you can be saving minutes and with the weight advantage you can be saving seconds. In a race against the clock both matter.´

BMANX

Great racing again today, a fantastic stage! The racing has been absolutely top-class this year.

Did anyone else see Aru get a hand-sling from one of his team mates on the final climb?! The British TV highlights show picked up on it, but nowhere else seems to have reported it. It'll be interesting to see if the commissaires decide to take any action before tomorrow.

ITV showed two video angles, a helicopter shot that was slightly obscured by a massive tree and a motorbike shot that was slightly obscured by the other riders, but together it was pretty clear what was going on. Especially seeing as Aru suddenly launched 50m up the road.

I don't think it's clear enough to punish him, but you've got to wonder just how stupid Astana can be given what happened to Nibali just two weeks ago.

Not looking good for dumoulin at this point.....too bad. He fought hard and had a unique opportunity for a guy with his capabilities. The heavy-hitters had gone home, giving him a shot at a GT win.

Could do w/o another Astana win, as well....

---

Chicago Cubs - 2016 WORLD SERIES Champions!!!!

"If ever the time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in government, our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin." - Samuel Adams

Yeah not a fan of that finish... Just don't like Astana. Makes me a bit sour on a pretty good grand tour.

Agreed. I don't think anyone wants to see Astana win anything at this point. I will say though, had this not happened, it would have raised an eyebrow for me at least. Dumoulin staying with these great climbers day after day seemed...odd. I'm not saying, I'm just saying. In retrospect, if he's clean, today seemed bound to happen.

I am happy with it. I don't see Tom D as any less suspicious than Astana. It would have been an shitty end of the Vuelta if after the time trial, three consecutive mountain stages without a single finishing climb resulted in nothing happening to the GC.