La Vuelta 2017 **SPOILERS**

[themosquitoking]

Does he need help?

Yep!!!

In fact i'm pretty sure his team have made a point of employing the best help they can.

 

[brommers]

I've done my picks for Tuesday: sprinters - but I know it's going to be a breakaway

 

[brommers]

Sky must have been impressed with their 'new boy' David de la Cruz. If he falls out of contention, perhaps he'll do some work for Froome later on in the race.
Seriously though, what a great start to the race - so much better than the bore-fest of the opening week of the TdF.

 

[rich p]

FWIW, I think this Sky team isn't up to the usual standard.
Poels was out the back pretty quickly which wasn't the case last year when he was flying and Froome's last man.
Nieve too and he's getting on a bit and bust a gut in the TdF.
Rosa similarly and he seems to be exhibiting the, not uncommon, trait of not seeming as good after leaving Astana. A more suspicious person might be stroking his chin thoughtfully.
Puccio is average at best and Moscon is a great prospect but not the bloke you'd expect to be last man standing, as he was yesterday.
That's not to say that Froome won't win though as he's possibly already shown up weaknesses in the Yates, Zakkarin and Bertie.
I'm not sure that Sky would want to protect the jersey all the way from here.

 

[smutchin]

Poels was out the back pretty quickly which wasn't the case last year when he was flying and Froome's last man.

Apparently, Nicolas Portal said before the race that he thought Poels might finish on the podium. Maybe he wasn't talking about this year... He's clearly not back to his best yet.

On the subject of Rosa, don't forget that Kwiatkowski looked decidedly average in his first season at Sky. It takes some riders time to settle in a new team, and some never do. I read an old Kwiatkowski interview yesterday in which he said that one of the reasons for him rediscovering his form is that Sky allowed him to go back to some of his old training methods. Read into that what you will!

 

[400bhp]

FWIW, I think this Sky team isn't up to the usual standard.
Poels was out the back pretty quickly which wasn't the case last year when he was flying and Froome's last man.
Nieve too and he's getting on a bit and bust a gut in the TdF.
Rosa similarly and he seems to be exhibiting the, not uncommon, trait of not seeming as good after leaving Astana. A more suspicious person might be stroking his chin thoughtfully.
Puccio is average at best and Moscon is a great prospect but not the bloke you'd expect to be last man standing, as he was yesterday.
That's not to say that Froome won't win though as he's possibly already shown up weaknesses in the Yates, Zakkarin and Bertie.
I'm not sure that Sky would want to protect the jersey all the way from here.

Agree, reckon they will last a week.

It's over anyway in my view.

 

[rich p]

Agree, reckon they will last a week.

It's over anyway in my view.

Are you over there this year 400?

 

[roadrash]

FWIW, I think this Sky team isn't up to the usual standard.
Poels was out the back pretty quickly which wasn't the case last year when he was flying and Froome's last man.
Nieve too and he's getting on a bit and bust a gut in the TdF.
Rosa similarly and he seems to be exhibiting the, not uncommon, trait of not seeming as good after leaving Astana. A more suspicious person might be stroking his chin thoughtfully.
Puccio is average at best and Moscon is a great prospect but not the bloke you'd expect to be last man standing, as he was yesterday.
That's not to say that Froome won't win though as he's possibly already shown up weaknesses in the Yates, Zakkarin and Bertie.
I'm not sure that Sky would want to protect the jersey all the way from here.

And here I sit stroking my chin thoughtfuly

 

[mjr]

And here I sit stroking my chin thoughtfuly

Yeah, did classics rider Moscon leading a grand tour up mountains make anyone else think of Frankie Andreu's sudden conversion to a climbing domestique and get slightly nervous? I hope it's not that - as I think Millar said afterwards, he's not really targetted stage races before and he may be trying to make amends for his suspension offence - but it did come to my mind. Such is the damage still done by Lance, Landis and company

 

[smutchin]

If you're a decent time-triallist like Moscon, a climb like that one yesterday is perfect for riding a sustained hard tempo - the power numbers are more significant than the gradient.

And having done his bit, he then went pop and finished the stage five minutes down.

 

[400bhp]

Are you over there this year 400?

Unfortunately not, and I had the opportunity of free accom near the Cumbre Del Sol

 

[400bhp]

If you're a decent time-triallist like Moscon, a climb like that one yesterday is perfect for riding a sustained hard tempo - the power numbers are more significant than the gradient.

And having done his bit, he then went pop and finished the stage five minutes down.

Spot on.

 

[brommers]

Yeah, did classics rider Moscon leading a grand tour up mountains make anyone else think of Frankie Andreu's sudden conversion to a climbing domestique and get slightly nervous? I hope it's not that - as I think Millar said afterwards, he's not really targetted stage races before and he may be trying to make amends for his suspension offence - but it did come to my mind. Such is the damage still done by Lance, Landis and company

Moscon won the Arctic Race of Norway last year, including soloing to victory on one of the stages.

 

[mjr]

Moscon won the Arctic Race of Norway last year, including soloing to victory on one of the stages.

Nice picture but if you do the maths, that's what, 11km averaging less than 5%? Yesterday's penultimate climb was over 13km at nearly 7%. Is it really comparable?

Also, the Arctic Race is second-division and held just after the Tour, San Sebastian, RideLondon-Surrey and the Tour of Poland IIRC, so I don't feel too bad for not noticing him there - it looks like he beat Stef Clement and Oscar Gatto in the GC, while Tom Van Asbroeck took the mountains prize - not climbers who will feature in the Vuelta.

 

[rich p]

Nice picture but if you do the maths, that's what, 11km averaging less than 5%? Yesterday's penultimate climb was over 13km at nearly 7%. Is it really comparable?

Also, the Arctic Race is second-division and held just after the Tour, San Sebastian, RideLondon-Surrey and the Tour of Poland IIRC, so I don't feel too bad for not noticing him there - it looks like he beat Stef Clement and Oscar Gatto in the GC, while Tom Van Asbroeck took the mountains prize - not climbers who will feature in the Vuelta.

I'd never say never but I haven't seen anything in Moscon's performances that suggest he's on the juice and taht includes yesterday's lung-bursting effort and subsequent blow up..