2011-08-20 - Vuelta a Espana: dates / route

He's not won yet; a bad day tomorrow and he could lose 5 minutes.

That was a teensy bit too easy.

I agree about it making his TdF exit all the more frustrating. Hausler is calling this the hardest Grand Tour he has ever ridden too. Certainly some unexpectedly weak performances and unexpected names in the top 10.

Why do people on these Blogs get so agitated.

Actually Woodie I never criticised him at all. That would be daft of me because I don't know much about Paul Watson. I was referencing a book which say he was taken to the Tour as a climber based on his showing in England. If this were the true reason for having him as a climber then if anything I am criticising this decision.

As for being a class rider, I am sure he was but in the context of the Tour, he was out of his depth, and Connor's take on his part in that British Team (which was the first British Based pro to take on the Tour) was not exactly filled with evidence of class.

http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/latest/348110/anc-halfords-paul-watson.html

This is a good interview with Paul, who comes across as a thoroughly decent chap, but hardly passionate about cycling. His race card shows he was towards the top in England, but couldn't/wouldn't compete in Europe to the same high levels.

I hope this goes some way to calming you down.

i'll be in LMNH later (for the live, not the highlights). hope Wiggo/Froomster can back up yesterday's performance

Onelesscardigan, where can I watch it live?

What is a LMNH?

cyclingfans.com

Onelesscardigan, where can I watch it live?

What is a LMNH?

'Look Mum, No Hands'--a/the cycling café on Old Street.

http://www.lookmumnohands.com/

Willy Voet (the first dodgy soigneur - Festina 1998).

Somehow I don't think he was the first...

Oliver, Thanks very much for that.

Carson, thanks for the link.

I can't find any footage at the minute on the inter web, but it would appear the Eurosport (not BritishEurosport that is showing motoGP) is on air from 4pm.

ITV4 claim to show coverage but they have British Touring Cars on today, and online their coverage has not yet started - with no indication when it will!

Big hairy balls.

eurosport -english commentary here http://sports-livez.com/channel/ch-6.php

Thanks

fuck me that looks painfull

camera bike fail

so surely Sky have to go with Froome as team leader now. Fight for those intermediate seconds and try and get Wiggins in breaks to tire out Geox who will have to chase. Could happen but Cobo looked so strong today. Supiciously strong?

Wiggins looked in agony before the camera bike went down, that stage was bloody brutal! It'll be interesting to see how much that took out of Cobo (if anything?).

What happened?

Oh wait, it's only 46 seconds...

Cobo soloed to a win about 1.20+20bonus seconds in front of froome who is 20down on GC and wiggo who blew on the steepest bit and is 48 secs down on GC

Geraint Thomas says on his twitter that in the next week they are going to crush Cobo

Wiggins looked in agony before the camera bike went down, that stage was bloody brutal!.

wiggins maybe saved some pride by not being filmed when he was dropped - in the few seconds before the camera was lost he was all over the road - literally looked like he was about to fall off his bike - cobo didnt even look too troubled

The remaining Sky riders should come into play for the last week. They have been next to useless on the climbs.

I think they will regroup tomorrow and go for broke next week.

My money is still on a British rider.

Could make things easier for Sky not having to defend?

Not happy about having Cobo up there; the Saunier Duval rider who got away with it.

Horatio, completely agree. The pressure is off now, Wiggins is not such a target anymore, on top of that, Froome is in there too. The others are going to have to mark each rider which complicates matters. That said, I hope SKY don't just settle for a place on the podium and pick a couple of days to really lay into Cobo.

Wednesday's stage looks like the toughest left, nowt compared to today, but could be an opportunity to lay in a sustained attack.

On top of that Rabobank may even think about taking some risks for Molema and will look to hunt down Cobo too. He will have to be very wary of the attacks.