Sorry late with the posting for today's stage already in progress. Really only 2 days to go for any GC changes. Sky should be keeping the powder dry to save it for Angliru tomorrow. Bummer I am in the US next few days and my cycling.tv subscription that I paid for is blacked out in the US....where can I stream ideally for free in US? I see I can see the previous days' stages on tiz cyling though, so I I guess I will watch tonite!

Today the breakway has 15 minutes and the Nicolas Roche is in it 27 min down on GC. In theory he could ride himself back to top 10 in GC unless UAE and Lotto Jumbo chase to keep their guys in top 10.

I've been tuning into the Australian feed (the one linked in Steephill - no weird "x" clicking or any of that junk - straight network feed) using a VPN for all the stages - doesn't matter if you are in the US or Canada. Just set your VPN to an Aussie city and you're good to go.

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Every day, AC makes me more of a fan. He is the one guy out there, that is willing to take any and all risks to win (in the GC group) and is so entertaining to watch. I sure hope he has not burned a match too many today, so we can get one final day of his beautiful aggression tomorrow. He deserves to be on the podium.

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"Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go." T.S. Elliot | Cycle2Tri.com
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Yeah, I am hoping that the final dig was not one dig too much with Angliru on deck tomorrow.....here is tomorrow's sawtooth profile, ending with perhaps the hardest climb in Europe:


Do you think that Sky will keep this full gas on the first 2 climbs to limit any chance of GC breakaways and then get Froome halfway up Angliru and leave him to fend for himself? He has plenty of buffer on Nibali. Froome can just make a deal with Contador to use him as a super domestique to gap Nibali????

Anyone watching? What a stage so far. Contador attacks at base of the Angliru

Between this and watching where Iram is going to hit, it is a pretty exciting Saturday.

I bet Contador is wishing he didn't put in that pointless attack yesterday.

Naaaah. Great way to go out for AC.

I want to see Wilco edge out Zakarin.

Woods continues to hang in. Amazing.

this is going to be so close

wow, what a stage. Well done Froome and what a way to go out for Contador

Wow, unreal, what a way for Contador to go to retirement, attacking Angliru and taking the stage....finishes 20 seconds off the podium too!

Great sport once again. A real sufferfest.

Contador is really impressive, even if I am not a real fan.

And Poels and Fromme were also very strong. They didn't need to do anything but still left everyone not called Contador behind. And even that gap got really small. It just shows that noone had a real chance to break those guys.

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10k - 30:48 / half - 1:06:40

You have to wonder what this race would have looked like if Contador had not lost all that time on Day 3 into Andorra. Sky would have had to attack a lot more with both Contador and Nibali on them. Contador would have not been 'allowed' as much latitude, however, if Sky had to attack more then they are rolling the dice on a blowup. As it stands, Sky was able to win both the TdF and Vuelta playing defence pretty well the entire time. It's like the strategy of playing through 120 minutes of football/soccer trying to get to the penalty shootout (Time Trial) knowing your goalie can 100% close the deal on that single moment....maybe not that extreme, but not that far off. I just can't watch 120 minutes of soccer knowing the team's plan is to get it to that point in the competition. That's not to say that Froome did not attack....I suppose he attacked more than in the TdF which was awesome. His TdF strategy was a real snoozer.

Really happy for my local man Woods. Zakarin must have been the absolutely most boring rider to get on the podium. Talk about playing defence....the guy just followed wheels for 21 days. I guess kudos to him for preserving his energy and lighting his matches in a smart way. Still boring to watch.

CPTChaos almost got his dream podium of Froome, Nibali and Contador....Contador 20 seconds off.

You're right. And if Contador didn't have that much room to unleash, he might have saved some if his kicks and energy and used it in fewer more decisive moments.

However, the Sky train was really freaking strong and today we saw that Fromme had enough left to not only ride with the peers but casually drop them at the end. And he still had a domestique.
But yeah, Contador could have made it a real battle for the GC. And I didn't expect it at the Start of the Vuelta.

Zakarin was indeed invisible during the three weeks. I remember him to have ridden with more balls in the past and attacked quite hard. And with his riding style it always looked cool.

I thank you for doing the Vuelta threads. Unfortunately my summer holidays are over so I didn't have the time to contribute too much to it. Especially with my own running and riding.

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10k - 30:48 / half - 1:06:40

That's bike racing. You have to manage not only your fitness but also your health. That's why it's so impressive that these guys go three weeks so hard and relatively soon after the Tour.

In fairness to Zakarin, on other Grand Tour's he's attacked hard and it has been fun to watch, but largely he was stage hunting while vying for lower GC. Fighting for the podium is another story. The invisible man who is always there but never gets really dropped badly and not lighting any matches is a great way to finish top 5. Zakarin also does a good TT with a good position.

Thanks for the note of thanks on starting the Vuelta threads, but unlike you, I am neither biking nor running due to some disc/nerve issues and in my professional life I started working for a startup at the start of the year which is between rounds of financing and I've basically not done my actual day job for over 2 months and been exclusively working on proposals and financing tasks with investors and partners which has been quite trying as things are in a life of death mode, so following some pro sport has been the diversion I needed. Normally, I could get on the bike myself and bang out some hard intervals and get things out of my system, but I need to do that through Contador for now. I am swimming a ton for me (20-35K per week), but that is barely 1-1.5 hours per day. You just can't do the 4 hour hammerfest rides on weekends to really disconnect from the world (my longest swim was 8+K in 2:12).

In any case does Contador try to get 20 seconds on Zakarin in Madrid, or is the game over.....I think it is over. Going out of the sport on top of the world at Angliru seems pretty awesome. It seems like the stats put Angliru or Zocolon in the "hardest Grand Tour Climb" category and he took the one in his home country.

So will Contador attack Zakarin today?

No. He had his day, his career, nothing but smiles today, then a sprint.

I don't care....hammer Zakarin, make him show some fight for that podium vs being invisible man!

Froome doesn't come across as being nearly as exciting as Contador. Then there's the Sky train and how it seems he's always staring at his power meter. However, five GT wins in five years is pretty impressive.

And I'm always really impressed at the way he conducts himself with his comments for the press. He always seems to say the right things. Thanks his team, praises his rivals, and never seems to complain about the stage profiles or the weather. Such a nice guy.

Someday, I'm going to really like him.

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

Hypothetical scenario. Put Nibali on Sky and Froome on Bahrain. What does the GC look like?

All I can say is that Froomie, Zakarin, and many, many others transformed themselves physically and subsequently began winning at the highest level and the team guys who follow them around with the body fat pincers were satisfied. I don't think it was through Jenny Craig or Weight Watchers but I'm willing to learn.
So, whatever. It's big business.
Great race.

I know where you're coming from. Lots of riders could do well (or at least better) if they were the designated GC rider at Sky (assuming Sky would have an Italian as their GC rider vs. a Brit). The fact remains that Froome has been successful, and unlike Wiggins (and Armstrong with Postal/Disco/Astana/Shack), he seems like a pretty pleasant person.

The bit about Sky (and possibly Froome) appearing to be dodgy/beyond belief can't be ignored. But that's an issue with all of the riders in pro cycling, and it's probably beyond the intent of this thread.

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

Assuming their current levels of form/fitness (Sky as a team seem to be the best at planning their season to have their riders peak when needed), then I think Froome still beats Nibali comfortably in any single GT, but would struggle to do the double. I think he's a dominant enough rider with no obvious weaknesses that he could win without the Sky train. I think what the Sky train has enabled him to do this season is win while conserving enough energy to stretch his form out over both TdF and Vuelta. Without the backup of guys like Kwiatkowski and Landa I think Froome would have had to dig quite a bit deeper at the Tour and would have struggled at the Vuelta.