After nine days of racing and several GC stages four contenders have risen to the top. In the red jersey is 2012 Giro runner up Joaquim Rodriguez who leads past Vuelta winners Alejandro Valverde and Alberto Contador but it is the 2011 runner up Chris Froome in second place. On three stages so far the top three has been a combination of these four riders. Once the roads have gone up, these four have come to the front and ridden away from the peloton. Valverde has three stage wins after his Movistar team won the opening TTT in Pamplona before outsprinting Rodríguez to take two individual stages. Of the four, Froome and Contador are the best places due to their time trialling prowess. However with Froome at 53 seconds and Contador at 1 minute to Rodríguez, they will need to put serious time into the Katusha rider on the only ITT of the race. Valverde has been the main protagonist in the opening nine stages followed by Rodríguez who also has a stage win to his name but expect Froome and Contador to take it up a notch in the next few days.
The build up to this year’s Vuelta had been dominated by the return of 2008 champion Alberto Contador. After testing positive on the rest day at the 2010 Tour de France and the prolonged court battles and suspension that ensured, the Vuelta was to witness an angry Contador destroying the peloton on his comeback. However the Spaniard has found it a little tougher than anticipated possibly due to the fact he hasn’t ridden a Grand Tour since the 2011 Tour de France. With his Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank team built around his tilt at the GC, Contador is still on track for a podium finish but has been underwhelming after the hype that surrounded him has failed to materialise so far.
With nine hot and mountainous stages completed, the rest day is now finally here. With a long transfer from Barcelona to Puenteareas in the western province of Pontevedra which sits just north of the Portugal-Spain border to contend with first, the riders may be looking to the second rest day as a real opportunity to recharge and relax. That rest day will occur after Stage 16 and three tough mountain stages. The stages between the rest days include five stages that will be decisive in the battle for the overall. Contador may find his legs and recapture the form that has won him four Grand Tours between the rest days with only one real mountain stage after Stage 16.
Rodriguez and Valverde have been swapping classification jerseys for fun so far but their fun could very well come to an end after the ITT on Stage 11. Rodríguez lost the Giro this year on the final ITT in Milan to concede the Maglia Rosa to Ryder Hesjedal by only 16 seconds. A consolation prize for the Spaniard was the points classification as the ITT proved to be his Achilles heel. Once again it is the Catalans inability to time trial at GC level that could cost him a Grand Tour. Having finished on the podium at the Vuelta in 2010 after Ezequiel Mosquera tested positive for EPO and the Giro this year, Rodríguez has got just about there but the next level looks just out of reach for him. If he can improve his time trialling a Grand Tour win may just be around the corner. The Vuelta has seen a far more relaxed approach to the GC leader so far in comparison to the Tour. Where the maillot jaune is usually heavily marked and given a very short leash, Rodríguez has continued to instigate attacks and ridden off the front of the peloton to gain the precious time bonuses. This has been partly due to Froome and Contador knowing they are the superior time trialist but this strategy may just back fire as Rodríguez has been slowly accumulating these bonuses. The GC may end up being decided by time bonuses with Froome and Contador finishing with egg on the faces for such an oversight.
Time trials in recent Grand Tours have become crucial in the difference between overall and second place. In 2008 Cadel Evans failed to overtake Carlos Sastre in the final ITT as Sastre rode the ITT of his life to hold onto yellow. In 2011 Evans reversed his 2008 disappointment with a stunning ITT to reverse a 57 second deficient to a 1:34’ lead over Andy Schleck and win yellow. This year saw Hesjedal snatch pink off Rodríguez on the final day and Bradley Wiggins cemented yellow at the Tour through his ITT prowess. For the third Grand Tour of the year, the ITT will again be decisive in deciding the overall but with the contenders all very able in the mountains a mountain ITT may result in seconds deciding the GC. At only 40kms the time difference may end up being minor with the real fireworks to come on stages 14 to 16 in the high mountains of western Spain.
Chris Froome was second to Juan Jose Cobo last year by just 13 seconds. Froome also finished second in the tour de France this year behind team captain Bradley Wiggins. At the Vuelta Froome is leading the team and will not have to play a super domestique role as he did at the Tour. For Froome a win at the Vuelta would also justify sole leadership at the 2013 Tour after what would be three consecutive podium finishes at two Vuelta’s and one Tour. Froome has been up there in the final placings so far although he did fade on the final climb of Stage 8 to finish 15 seconds behind the Spanish trio. Froome won't be too concerned with his 53 second deficit having proven he has the legs in the mountains and took bronze at the recent London Olympic Games in the ITT.
The GC appears to be a battle royale between Contador and Froome with Valverde and Rodríguez cats amongst the pigeons. The Katusha and Movistar riders will probably be looking for stage wins and will chase the secondary classifications with the climbing skills of Contador and Froome of a higher pedigree than the two Spaniards can match for three weeks. The other favourites coming into the race have been rather underwhelming so far with Robert Gesink of Rabobank only a slight exception. Gesink had several bad crashes at the Tour from which he appears he hasn’t recovered 100% from which saw him withdraw from the race. The 26 year old who has shown promise and twice finished inside the top ten at the Vuelta has so far shown glimpses of his potential, threatening to challenge for podium places but is yet to reach those peaks. The Vuelta was to be a judge of his progression but Gesink may find that he is only a top five GC Grand Tour rider as he sits already sits over 2 minutes behind Rodríguez. Along with Igor Anton and teammate Bauke Mollema, these three may find themselves inconsequential to podium places and will be allowed to chase stage wins.
Stage 11 will be critical in shaping the overall GC but don’t underestimate the four big mountain stages to come after the ITT. Rodríguez has said he doesn’t think he can win this Vuelta but by slowly accumulating time over his rivals he may just be bluffing. Valverde is a former winner of the Vuelta and multiple stage winner but a tilt at the overall looks beyond him and instead a mountains classification or the combination classification as well as another stage looks to be his focus. The battle for the GC will be more acute after the climb to Pontevedra but with ten stages still to race; the 2012 is shaping up to a very close affair. Froome is the only chance to spoil the Spanish party and he may just find himself on the outer if the country men decide to collaborate and continually attack the Sky rider until he cracks over and over. This could just turn the tables Contador’s way but for now it is Froome’s to lose.
The build up to this year’s Vuelta had been dominated by the return of 2008 champion Alberto Contador. After testing positive on the rest day at the 2010 Tour de France and the prolonged court battles and suspension that ensured, the Vuelta was to witness an angry Contador destroying the peloton on his comeback. However the Spaniard has found it a little tougher than anticipated possibly due to the fact he hasn’t ridden a Grand Tour since the 2011 Tour de France. With his Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank team built around his tilt at the GC, Contador is still on track for a podium finish but has been underwhelming after the hype that surrounded him has failed to materialise so far.
With nine hot and mountainous stages completed, the rest day is now finally here. With a long transfer from Barcelona to Puenteareas in the western province of Pontevedra which sits just north of the Portugal-Spain border to contend with first, the riders may be looking to the second rest day as a real opportunity to recharge and relax. That rest day will occur after Stage 16 and three tough mountain stages. The stages between the rest days include five stages that will be decisive in the battle for the overall. Contador may find his legs and recapture the form that has won him four Grand Tours between the rest days with only one real mountain stage after Stage 16.
Rodriguez and Valverde have been swapping classification jerseys for fun so far but their fun could very well come to an end after the ITT on Stage 11. Rodríguez lost the Giro this year on the final ITT in Milan to concede the Maglia Rosa to Ryder Hesjedal by only 16 seconds. A consolation prize for the Spaniard was the points classification as the ITT proved to be his Achilles heel. Once again it is the Catalans inability to time trial at GC level that could cost him a Grand Tour. Having finished on the podium at the Vuelta in 2010 after Ezequiel Mosquera tested positive for EPO and the Giro this year, Rodríguez has got just about there but the next level looks just out of reach for him. If he can improve his time trialling a Grand Tour win may just be around the corner. The Vuelta has seen a far more relaxed approach to the GC leader so far in comparison to the Tour. Where the maillot jaune is usually heavily marked and given a very short leash, Rodríguez has continued to instigate attacks and ridden off the front of the peloton to gain the precious time bonuses. This has been partly due to Froome and Contador knowing they are the superior time trialist but this strategy may just back fire as Rodríguez has been slowly accumulating these bonuses. The GC may end up being decided by time bonuses with Froome and Contador finishing with egg on the faces for such an oversight.
Time trials in recent Grand Tours have become crucial in the difference between overall and second place. In 2008 Cadel Evans failed to overtake Carlos Sastre in the final ITT as Sastre rode the ITT of his life to hold onto yellow. In 2011 Evans reversed his 2008 disappointment with a stunning ITT to reverse a 57 second deficient to a 1:34’ lead over Andy Schleck and win yellow. This year saw Hesjedal snatch pink off Rodríguez on the final day and Bradley Wiggins cemented yellow at the Tour through his ITT prowess. For the third Grand Tour of the year, the ITT will again be decisive in deciding the overall but with the contenders all very able in the mountains a mountain ITT may result in seconds deciding the GC. At only 40kms the time difference may end up being minor with the real fireworks to come on stages 14 to 16 in the high mountains of western Spain.
Chris Froome was second to Juan Jose Cobo last year by just 13 seconds. Froome also finished second in the tour de France this year behind team captain Bradley Wiggins. At the Vuelta Froome is leading the team and will not have to play a super domestique role as he did at the Tour. For Froome a win at the Vuelta would also justify sole leadership at the 2013 Tour after what would be three consecutive podium finishes at two Vuelta’s and one Tour. Froome has been up there in the final placings so far although he did fade on the final climb of Stage 8 to finish 15 seconds behind the Spanish trio. Froome won't be too concerned with his 53 second deficit having proven he has the legs in the mountains and took bronze at the recent London Olympic Games in the ITT.
The GC appears to be a battle royale between Contador and Froome with Valverde and Rodríguez cats amongst the pigeons. The Katusha and Movistar riders will probably be looking for stage wins and will chase the secondary classifications with the climbing skills of Contador and Froome of a higher pedigree than the two Spaniards can match for three weeks. The other favourites coming into the race have been rather underwhelming so far with Robert Gesink of Rabobank only a slight exception. Gesink had several bad crashes at the Tour from which he appears he hasn’t recovered 100% from which saw him withdraw from the race. The 26 year old who has shown promise and twice finished inside the top ten at the Vuelta has so far shown glimpses of his potential, threatening to challenge for podium places but is yet to reach those peaks. The Vuelta was to be a judge of his progression but Gesink may find that he is only a top five GC Grand Tour rider as he sits already sits over 2 minutes behind Rodríguez. Along with Igor Anton and teammate Bauke Mollema, these three may find themselves inconsequential to podium places and will be allowed to chase stage wins.
Stage 11 will be critical in shaping the overall GC but don’t underestimate the four big mountain stages to come after the ITT. Rodríguez has said he doesn’t think he can win this Vuelta but by slowly accumulating time over his rivals he may just be bluffing. Valverde is a former winner of the Vuelta and multiple stage winner but a tilt at the overall looks beyond him and instead a mountains classification or the combination classification as well as another stage looks to be his focus. The battle for the GC will be more acute after the climb to Pontevedra but with ten stages still to race; the 2012 is shaping up to a very close affair. Froome is the only chance to spoil the Spanish party and he may just find himself on the outer if the country men decide to collaborate and continually attack the Sky rider until he cracks over and over. This could just turn the tables Contador’s way but for now it is Froome’s to lose.
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