Cosmic Kid
Posts:4209
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| 09/05/2023 10:01 AM |
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I still think J-V's preferred plan is to see Rog win, but they also appear to be ready to let Sepp ride for the win if he can manage it. IOW, they won't necessarily attack him, but also won't kill themselves to protect him if he has a bad day.
My guess is that his legs give way at some point....this is his third GT of the year. Pretty big ask for him to ride for the win now. But man, I hope he pulls it off!!
LET SEPP COOK!!
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| Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!
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79pmooney
Posts:3180
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| 09/05/2023 10:46 AM |
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The TT. Remco pulled off a good ride. Not quite the time over Roglic he'd hoped for but not shabby. So now it's race on! Next couple of weeks should be fun to watch.
And Kuss losing a minute and a half - to Ganna. Quite respectable. I've been saying that I was betting Kuss could put in a decent TT if it mattered. On another forum I pointed out his ride at Utah. I was laughed at and was told that was much lesser competition than the World Tour. Yes. Kuss also had never ridden the World Tour. Now, years later, he is seasoned. And now, for the first time, his TT time matters beyond just making the time cut. No more TTs. Now its a matter of riding smart and seeing if those legs can survive weeks 8 and 9 of his 2023 Grand Tours.
CK, yes, J-V will ride for Roglic and Kuss only as long as he is in red or very close. But Kuss is doing what he has to. Fun to watch! |
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Orange Crush
Posts:4499
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| 09/05/2023 11:55 AM |
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Not looking to be Jonas' Vuelta although JV can still use him for a long-range strategic option later this week when serious grind is on.
Good on Sepp. Its a bit of a now or never moment for him as to going for GC. But third GT of year will likely start wearing once the going gets tough. Roglic may be JV's best bet but they have options. And Roglic is all for Sepp having a serious go at this; I'm sure he'd bury himself to make it happen if that is what it comes down to. Best teammate one could hope for.
Evenepoel may be strongest of them all but UAE also has three in top 10; while Mas always seems to rescue his season on home turf; this could be very interesting. From Thursday to Wednesday there is only hard stages. |
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Orange Crush
Posts:4499
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| 09/08/2023 09:09 AM |
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| End of road for Remco. |
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Cosmic Kid
Posts:4209
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| 09/08/2023 12:07 PM |
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Today bodes well for Kuss' overall win....Remco implodes and J-V has the top 3 GC spots. Ayuso and Mass are so far back that they only require monitoring.
There is zero reason for J-V to let the top 3 "fight it out". Kuss got to his GC position by being the loyal teammate and going up the road to help Rog / JV if they made it across, but the break proved to be strong enough to stay away. Welp, that happens sometimes. *shrug*
J-V should just ride tempo from now on and protect the podium. If Kuss has a bad day, they also shouldn't spend too many resources protecting him, though. If that happenes, Rog and JV need to ride for themselves and leave Kuss to fend for himself.
J-V also has a history of rewarding their team workers with victories.....true, this would be a massive gift, but Sepp has earned it....both through his riding in the Vuelta and his dedication to the team in past races.
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| Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!
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longslowdistance
Posts:2881
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| 09/08/2023 12:08 PM |
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Historic beat down. If they aren't doping, just amazing.
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Orange Crush
Posts:4499
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| 09/08/2023 04:22 PM |
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Yeah I think J-V will gladly let have Sepp have GC win if they can. Both Roglic and Jonas are generous enough to let this happen and it will also make for a really good story. At this point its looking good but at least three more hard mountain stages plus a few semi-mountain stages. A lot can happen.
It looked like a big beat down today but realistically the time gaps were not that massive to Mas, Ayuso, Uytenbroek, Landa etc. Vingo is definitely not the same guy that won the Tour. Only Kuss looked to be playing. Maybe Roglic was holding back too till then end. With Remco gone and Almeida also on an off day suddenly we're missing compelling competition for JV. |
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Cosmic Kid
Posts:4209
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| 09/09/2023 09:30 PM |
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| Nice bounce back ride from Remco today. |
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| Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!
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Orange Crush
Posts:4499
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| 09/09/2023 11:28 PM |
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| If you’re far behind you get a big leash. |
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Cosmic Kid
Posts:4209
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| 09/10/2023 10:18 PM |
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Oh sure…..but that was still a helluva ride. He went from WAY out and then went all but solo for a LONNNNNNNGGGGG time.
And he almost repeated the feat today…. |
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Orange Crush
Posts:4499
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| 09/11/2023 02:44 PM |
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I'm with Bruyneel on this one in that, impressive ride aside, proper redemption would/should come from directly duking it out with top guys.
And as to our reluctant leader
https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/vuelta-a-espana-leader-sepp-kuss-reluctant-to-be-sole-team-contender/ |
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Cosmic Kid
Posts:4209
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| 09/11/2023 03:08 PM |
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proper redemption would/should come from directly duking it out with top guys.
I think that is a fair point, however, you also have to question whether it is the top guys at full battle cry or just holding serve. IOW, they aren't going to be attacking to win the race now and they damn well won't be chasing after Remco if he attacks in the last 5K.
But now that he has his "redemptive" stage win, I agree he should be focusing on staying with the GC guys....going off the front yesterday was kinda silly (although I guess you could argue he was looking for KOM points to secure the jersey)
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| Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!
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Dale
Posts:1767
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| 09/11/2023 08:44 PM |
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| Floyd? 'Zat you Floyd? |
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Cosmic Kid
Posts:4209
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| 09/12/2023 11:58 AM |
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Lame tactics by J-V today....zero reason for JV to attack from that far out.
hell, there was zero reason for them to ride tempo all day and keep the field together. Let someone else do the work or let the break go.
Really disppointed in how they are handling this....they have the podium locked up. They only need to respond to an attack from the enxt 3 riders in GC. If I was Sepp, I'd be pissed. |
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| Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!
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Orange Crush
Posts:4499
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| 09/12/2023 01:02 PM |
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| They wanted the win for van Hooydonk. That’s all. |
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