[occ2] Thursday - mtns, Friday - sprint, Sat- category 3s Oh My!
From:
"Brian Goetke goetke1@PROTECTED [occ2]" <occ2@PROTECTED>
In-Reply-To:
(no subject)
Date:
September 18th 2023
Thursday - Will Jumbo work for Kuss? Only 8 seconds between Vinge and Kuss. Vinge says he wants Kuss to win. Vinge merely followed Roglic the previous day. Cyborg Roglic trying to establish alpha position on the team? They didn't know how far back Kuss may have been. Roglic and Vinge clearly taking a PR hit on how they handled the Angliru finish.
I had predicted Evenepoel would go out in the break again. Not exactly a long shot. He miscalculated on the Angrilu. He rides with a bit of arrogance and it cost him. He indeed went out in the break. Some strong riders in the break with him, Kron, Caruso and a revitalized Bernal. The route is perfect for Evenepoel who is best on the 20 minute efforts. He will at the very least secure his KOM jersey. He soloed with 20 miles to go and won his 3rd stage of this Vuelta by almost 5 minutes.
Jumbo Visma rode predictably. No fireworks from Roglic or Vingegaard. They marked the other GC guys at the finish, so Kuss is still in the Red Jersey.
Friday - sprint stage - a crash 1km from the finish prevented Kaden Groves from taking part in the final sprint. Standings unchanged.
Saturday - 10 Category 3 climbs !!!
Evenepoel gets in the break (what else is new?) along with Bardet, Soler (looking for a stage win after blowing up days earlier) and a dangerous Wout Poels. A large lead is built up. No one in the break can threaten the top 5 on GC. Poels pulls away the last Km. Evenepoel takes off after him on a long sprint.... and unbelievable sprint.. and misses by a wheel from catching Poels. He miscalculated the start of his sprint. His speed at the line was amazing!
The Jumbo Visma three-headed monster finish with arms interlocked. All is good on Jumbo! Barring a huge crash the Vuelta will finish tomorrow with Kuss in the Red jersey, followed by Vingegaard and Roglic on the podium ! Never has a team filled the 3 spots on the podium.
And never has a team won all 3 Grand Tours!
Final stage - sprint in Madrid
Kaden Grove fought off all comers in a bunch finish. TT guru Ganna came in 2nd... and surprisingly Evenepoel was in the mix as well.
Final placements in Vuelta
I have been talking about how next year's TdF will be exciting with most likely inclusion of 23 yo Evenepoel. With his meltdown on the Tourmalet stage in the Vuelta, there will be questions about his ability to compete. Can he stay with the worlds best on the longer climbs? I'd say Jonus Vingegaard is the top Grand Tour rider at this time. He probably could have won the Vuelta this year. It will be interesting to see how Jumbo will handle the Roglic - Vingegaard co-captain situation. Will Kuss be given opportunity to win another Grand Tour? Maybe the Vuelta again since it is considered by some the 3rd ranked GT.
Til next year!
Brian
On Thursday, September 14, 2023 at 04:58:58 PM CDT, Brian Goetke <goetke1@PROTECTED> wrote:
Well, Evenepoel indeed did save up his energy on Tuesday to attack on Wednesday's stage. He went out in the breakaway and was very frisky. It seemed he passed up water bottles on the penultimate climb and that may have come back to haunt him. He was completely on his own on much of that climb. His descent to the base of the scary Angrilu was very conservative and his lead over the peloton at the bottom of the climb was only just over a minute. Team Bahrain was all in this stage. They kept a hard pace on the penultimate climb on the Cordal, stormed down the descent and lead up the dwindling group on the Angrilu. All of this for their captain Landa. Trying to get him into the top 5. With 3 miles left Team Bahrain passed Evenepoel and the small group disintegrated down to 3 Bahrain riders and the 3 race leaders on Jumbo - Sepp Kuss, Roglic and Vinge. Roglic goes to the front at 2 miles to go. The "goat path" is 18% for a mile ! They are riding into thick fog. And the fans are becoming a factor. 1.2 miles - Roglic, Vinge and Kuss are ahead of all. Kuss (race leader) drifts off the back. Roglic keeps pounding the pedals w no concern for Kuss. Vinge just follows. They extend the their lead to 20 seconds. The Red jersey is slipping through Sepps hands! Landa moves up to Kuss and actual provides some assist. Landa wants top 5 in Vuelta. Fans! Get out of the way! Kuss will need to pass Landa for 3rd to get some time bonus. Roglic wins with Vinge on his wheel, Kuss passes Landa for 3rd! He maintains the Red Jersy by only 8 seconds !!
A lot of riders want Kuss to win. He's such a good sport. He may be the only rider to ride all 3 Grand Tours in recent history. Kuss helped Roglic win the Giro and Vinge win the TdF.... now they seem to be fighting him for the Vuelta. Today's race will reveal if they will attack their teammate Kuss. This harkens back to the Hinault - Lemond controversy. I suspect Vinge will not try to beat Kuss unless Kuss falters today. He and Roglic will want to secure their podium positions. Roglic would need Kuss and Vinge to falter in order to have a chance to win. If he sniffs weakness, he's a cyborg and will go for it.
This year's Vuelta has been unique. Jumbo Visma is displaying domination that has never been seen before. Barring a melt down, Jumbo will take all 3 podium positions. Incredible!
The climb up the Angrilu was the 2nd fastest of all time... one minute slower than Heras did it 20 years ago. Don't know if he was clean.
Can't wait to watch today's stage! 5 categorized climbs. I suspect Evenepoel will be out on the break again. We shall see!
Brian
On Wednesday, September 13, 2023 at 09:24:14 AM CDT, Brian Goetke <goetke1@PROTECTED> wrote:
Well, I sacrificed some sleep to get caught up on the Vuelta last night. Tuesday's stage proved to be significant! Vingegaard the Vindicator did it again! He blasted up the final climb to take a minute back from his "teammate" American Sepp Kuss. Kuss implied at the beginning of the stage that it was set up perfectly for Roglic. But, it was Vinge that took off. Kuss finished a few seconds behind Roglic and didn't seem to have the kick that he had on the Tourmalet.
GC after stage 16
1. Sepp Kuss (usa)
2. Jonas Vingegaard (den) + 0.29
3. Primoz Roglic (slo) + 1.33
4. Juan Ayuso (spa) + 2.33
5. Enric Mas (spa) + 3.02
6. Marc Soler (spa) + 3.28
7. Mikel Landa (spa) + 4.12
8. Aleksandr Vlasov (rus) + 4.58
9. Cian Uijtdebroeks (bel) + 5.38
10. João Almeida (por) + 8.43
2. Jonas Vingegaard (den) + 0.29
3. Primoz Roglic (slo) + 1.33
4. Juan Ayuso (spa) + 2.33
5. Enric Mas (spa) + 3.02
6. Marc Soler (spa) + 3.28
7. Mikel Landa (spa) + 4.12
8. Aleksandr Vlasov (rus) + 4.58
9. Cian Uijtdebroeks (bel) + 5.38
10. João Almeida (por) + 8.43
Is Vinegaard trying to win this over Sepp?
Today's stage finishes in the super steep Angliru 7.4 miles at 9.8% with 20+% ramps. We might see a hand-off of the red jersey to Vinge. I hope not. I'd like to see Sepp Kuss rewarded for his incredible sheparding of the Giro and TdF winners Roglic and Vinge. Are they not going to support Sepp now? Sepp is so nice he probably won't make an issue out this. He may not see himself as a grand Tour winner. Today may see Evenepoel contest on the final climb. He wasn't in the action at the end of yesterday's stage. Perhaps saving himself for the steep finish on the Angrilu? Will 20 yo Ayuso try to make a move on Roglic's 3rd place?
There will definitely be time gaps today on the scary Angrilu.
Enough to see changes in the GC? We shall see.
Brian
On Tuesday, September 12, 2023 at 11:46:47 PM EDT, Brian Goetke goetke1@PROTECTED [occ2] <occ2@PROTECTED> wrote:
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