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

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

that camera fail was so annoying! just after seeing wiggins blowing up there was no coverage of him until the finishing 100 metres

tinoflyer - didn't see your question before i headed out.

If I were Wiggins, and knew that next year will be very different with Cav, and after a disappointing tour, I wouldn't be happy to settle with just a place on the podium. Hopefully it works out for him.

...and everyone knows just how much you love Cav Mrak

gives punkture the v sign

waits for troll points from Bill

watch the mental climb up el l'angliru here
http://www.steephill.tv/players/720/dailymotion/?title=Anglir%C3%BA+Climb/Last+10+Km+of+Stage+15&dashboard=vuelta-a-espana&id=xkvexh&yr=2011

wiggins cracks at 32 mins in

Froome would be leading now if he had finished in the lead group on stage 11 and the only reason that he was distanced was because despite being in the overall lead he worked as a domestique for Wiggins who he had just beaten in the TT. I struggle with SKY, sometimes they appear to be as tactically usless as the Schlecks.

But Wiggins has confirmed himself as GT contender with this ride, the dauphine win and his 2009 Tour, so god knows what is going to happen with Cav on board. No team can push for bothoverall and green and did they ever fully kiss and make up after the Bejing madison?

I worry about the leadership at Sky

Clearly they felt they had to backing Wiggins over Froome despite him clearly being a far weaker rider at the moment.

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.

Can all the Sky naysayers show me Froome's excellent track record in stage races please?

Thought not.

I wouldn't say Wiggins is a far weaker rider than Froome. And as for Sky leadership, I think it is fair to say that Froome is showing a new side to his abilities that not many could have seen coming to this extent.

I don't think the leadership is that bad - although they have a massive dilemma now. Wiggins or Froome - or use both in a cunning way to catch Cobo.

I wouldn't worry about Cobo, the dope testers should see to him.

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.

Sky should forget about Wiggans now, he should be helping Froome. Geox and the rest can sit pretty for the last week while Sky are going to bust their asses chasing down every breakaway. Cobo has a very strong team (Duarte, Sastre, Menchov and de la Fuente) for protection. That said anything could happen and bit of bad luck for Cobo (crosswinds, mechanicals etc) and it's game back on.

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

I wouldn't worry about Cobo, the dope testers should see to him.

agreed: Saunier Duval and Caisse D'Epargne were hardly the cleanest teams, but surely Froome's performance has got to be suspicious as well as Cobo's, performing so consistently well against the norm. This Vuelta is exciting but its not real

agreed:, but surely Froome's performance has got to be suspicious as well as Cobo's, performing so consistently well against the norm. This Vuelta is exciting but its not real

But Froome looked pretty fucked after pulling on the earlier bit of the climb, whereas Cobo looked fluid and relatively effortless all the way to the top (not for the first time).

Froome has come from nowhere to be thrashing Cancellara in the TT, riders like Rodriguez, Nibali and even his own team leader on the climbs....The domestique who suddenly comes good? Its like Mosquera all over again.

and as for Cobo...

from post #118: http://forum.cyclingnews.com/showthread.php?t=15163&page=12

Vuelta a Espana 2011, Stage 15, Final climb, Angliru

From 12.0 Km remaining to mountain points banner 0.5 Km remaining = Distance 11.5 Km

Juan Jose Cobo

Elevation / Höhenmeter [m] : 1194 m
Distance / Streckenlänge [Km] : 11.5 Km
Time in seconds / Fahrzeit in Sekunden [sec] : 2353 = 39 min 13 sec = 39:13
Weight rider / Gewicht Fahrer [kg] : 69 kg
Weight bicycle, clothes etc. / Gewicht Fahrrad [kg] : 8 kg

Grade / mittlere Seigung : 10.3 %
Average speed / mittlere Geschwindigkeit : 17.5 Km/h
Total weight / Gesamtgewicht : 77.0 kg

Power : 430.6 Watt
Power / kg : 6.2 Watt / kg

Its like Mosquera all over again.

I don't see the similarity. But we agree about Cobo!

Sky should forget about Wiggans now, he should be helping Froome. Geox and the rest can sit pretty for the last week while Sky are going to bust their asses chasing down every breakaway. Cobo has a very strong team (Duarte, Sastre, Menchov and de la Fuente) for protection. That said anything could happen and bit of bad luck for Cobo (crosswinds, mechanicals etc) and it's game back on.

Are you on crack?

I wouldn't worry about Cobo, the dope testers should see to him.

It was too easy eh.. Everybody suffered like dogs and he looked like he was on a club run..

430 watts (ave?) for 40 minutes up that route.........?

If Sky win the Vuelta then i'll admit I'm wrong.

However that now looks unlikely and I will be vindicated.

Wiggins must have known his own condition, must have known his team mates.
He should have been riding for Froome from the start.

This is the 2nd Jersey Sky have lost by trying to protect their big money investment.

Can all the Sky naysayers show me Froome's excellent track record in stage races please?

Thought not.

Can all the Sky naysayers show me Froome's excellent track record in stage races please?

Thought not.

Fair point, but are you denying that his form is at least on a par with Wiggins? So is sacrificing him for Wiggins really a great move? I still believe either could win and would love to see it, but tactically once again SKY are questionable.

Are you on crack?

Nope. This is what will probably happen (re Sky having to work to stop break mopping up the bonifications)

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

I wouldn't worry about Cobo, the dope testers should see to him.

But Froome looked pretty fucked after pulling on the earlier bit of the climb, whereas Cobo looked fluid and relatively effortless all the way to the top (not for the first time).

It was too easy eh.. Everybody suffered like dogs and he looked like he was on a club run..

430 watts (ave?) for 40 minutes up that route.........?

Saunier Duval morphed into several other teams after the doping scandals of Ricco and Piepoli at the 2008 Tour, but essentially kept the same infrastructure and many of it's riders, and simply indulged in a bit of crafty re-branding.

Cobo's only results of any worth were won under the umbrella of this team infrastructure, which is organized by Joxean “Matxin” Fernández (a manager who has 'looked after' Piepoli, Iban Mayo, Ricco, etc in the past)and Mauro Gianetti (a rider who nearly died of doping in the 1998 Tour of Romandie.

Cobo left this team set up to join Caisse d’Epagne (now Movistar) for the 2010 season, but in this new team he couldn't even finish a stage race, never mind being even remotely competitive. He wasn't ill or injured - he just couldn't compete.

Geox picked Cobo up for this season. Geox is that same core team of Saunier Duval, run by Fernández and Gianetti.

The start of this season Cobo was fairing so badly that he quit training in April, put on weight and decided to become an electrician.

Fernández persuaded him to have another go, and strangely enough the results started to appear.

It's funny how riders like Cobo and Menchov can hardly turn a pedal in anger outside the confines of Spain, but here we are on the climb of the Angliru and Cob and Menchov (both Geox) come first and third respectively.

It fucking stinks.

Nice post. Lucy has spoken the truth, even if it is all speculation. It is the truth.

Burn Cobo the clown.

Lucy's point is valid, but you could make many of the same claims about Froome.

Lucy's point is valid, but you could make many of the same claims about Froome.

Equally, if you look at teams morphing, BMC's history is just as dodgy as Geox.