2012 Vuelta a España - Tour of Spain

Froome will be going backwards for the rest of the Vuelta. He held his form for a surprisingly long time but he is clearly losing it now.

I think Froome has been valiant but daft as brush IMO. The climbs are a couple of notches above the Tour's, and so are the climbers. He has seemed far too gung ho the entire race, using his team badly and attacking at stupid times, and unecessarily getting involved in sprint leadouts.

They strike me as the acts of someone too confident in their own abilities after the Tour, and the whispering of the cycling world and the Cound in his ear. I think he needs to show more maturity and nous to become a serious GT contender against the best. I suppose questions should be asked of the DS as well.

With his weird arms I also think Froome should have a new nickname: The Praying Mantis. Also Ian Stannard should The Hulk

it kind of shows how well the drugs worked back in the day

some one gets a shot in the arm at the start of the day and hey presto they ride like men possesed, gapping all comers

now without the chemical advantages it shows how close the top riders are, more like formula one gaps and fractions of a second rather than minutes

Given some of those involved, saying 'without the chemical advantages' is a big statement of faith.

Indeed. Contador duking it out with J-Rod is reminding me of Contador vs Rasmussen in the TdeF a few years back, but with watered down orange juice.

I hope I'm being overly cynical

I suppose questions should be asked of the DS as well.

Possibly being given enough rope to hang himself, at least for the time being? If he settles back down to being an uber-domestique for Brad, whilst learning the ropes properly that'd be a win-win for sky

This year Froome's job was to help the team win in France. In retrospect maybe it was unrealistic for us to think he'd be able to hold that top condition to the Vuelta.

^
this

Possibly being given enough rope to hang himself, at least for the time being? If he settles back down to being an uber-domestique for Brad, whilst learning the ropes properly that'd be a win-win for sky

It's difficult to gauge his true potential because we've watched him come second in two GTs essentially shackled, and now one as leader when fatigued. What he might have done in those two were he free to ride as he sees fit, and what we might now be seeing if he didn't have the TdF in his legs is anyone's guess.

One thing is clear: he's not riding clever at all, and whether that's down to his calls or the DS' is again up for conjecture. Sky's approach is llmited, perhaps showing what a young team they are. Give them months to prepare and they will execute a race in military like precision, give them an after-thought like the Vuelta and they seem a lot less able to think on their feet. Froome needs more cunning

This year Froome's job was to help the team win in France. In retrospect maybe it was unrealistic for us to think he'd be able to hold that top condition to the Vuelta.

Probably true, although he's had a shorter race programme due to a bout of Bilharzia in March I think, so I was hoping he would be fresh enough

I get the impression from his post stage interviews that he is not overly upset about losing time, that he knows that it is not in his hands and all he can do is try and stay in touch in case there are any calamities ahead of him.

It's been a hard season and he's pretty much achieved what he would have set out to, anything he gets at the Vuelta is a bonus.

it kind of shows how well the drugs worked back in the day

some one gets a shot in the arm at the start of the day and hey presto they ride like men possesed, gapping all comers

now without the chemical advantages it shows how close the top riders are, more like formula one gaps and fractions of a second rather than minutes

This is a view you hear from people who'd like you to think that doping's not really a problem any longer. It seems simplistic to me. Testing that occasionally works now means riders are less likely to completely take the piss with huge amounts of EPO resulting in the dramatic riding. There are still lots of ways to cheat, some simple and some clever and more than can be tested for. To state Contador and Valverde are clean because they're having to race hard to win is probably naive.

Someone knowledgeable in the field of body ink please tell me this isn't a permanent tattoo:

please please be real

Already seen that and it's real, and very permanent, and also done by a very poor tattooist

That said I was thinking of getting a Rapha one on my calf done in reflective ink

whose is it?

Is that written in comic sans?

Oh wow.

They missed a trick. They could have just had The Line. Then spouted the marketing blurb when asked. That's sort the point of graphic representations.

This is a view you hear from people who'd like you to think that doping's not really a problem any longer. It seems simplistic to me. Testing that occasionally works now means riders are less likely to completely take the piss with huge amounts of EPO resulting in the dramatic riding. There are still lots of ways to cheat, some simple and some clever and more than can be tested for. To state Contador and Valverde are clean because they're having to race hard to win is probably naive.

This. It's hard to watch Valverde, Contador and Rodriguez sprint up those climbs and all finish at the sharp end together and be totally convinced by their performance, particularly two of them have form. Vaughters was saying that there is a strong anti-doping sentiment in the peloton these days so users have to be much more subtle about how enhanced the performance actually is.

whose is it?

Not one of their dish fitters because they really don't care.

he should have BOYCOTT SKY tattoed just underneath

I bloody love today's terrain, there's a feeling watching this live that they're riding somewhat into the unknown.

That tattoo...

Possibly on the leg of this guy? http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1794923540

The ability of Saxo to TT up these climbs is quite impressive. Especially given their appalling season to date.

are they as quick as sky were in the pyrenees and alps ?

The ability of Saxo to TT up these climbs is quite impressive. Especially given their appalling season to date.

To be fair to them these last few days in the Mountains is the first time I have seen them on the front all Vuelta. Katusha/Movistar/Sky have done most of the work. Basically they've been lazy bastards and are now trying to hurt peeps in the mountains

Spectacular racing and some immense riding.

Pretty sure Contador, Froome, Roche, De Gendt and countless others put themselves in a dark, dark place at points today. Hardcore.