Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Vuelta stage 11

Euskaltel went all out to secure a stage-win in today's 11th stage between Verín and the mighty Manzaneda but ended up empty-handed. On the long road to the Manzaneda's steep and unforgiving ramps, Euskaltel placed both JJ Oroz and Ametz Txurruka in the break of the day. It turned out to be a good move as Sky weren't overly interested in chasing down the break, and it soon became apparent that the 19 riders in the break would duke it out between them for the win. Oroz couldn't withstand the pace though and went out the back pretty early on. Txurruka stayed in there a little longer but couldn't find a response to Moncoutié, Intxausti and co. when they attacked. Txurruka had to settle for seventh in the end, 2:29 down on the Frenchman. Nieve tried his hand several times inside the last 10k but never really got a gap and eventually crossed the line with the main group of favourites. Impressive ride no doubt by the GT specialist, but he's still ranked 24th overall. Antón had another day to forget and came home 70th. Stage results:

  • 7, Txuruka, 2:29
  • 21, Nieve, 3:08
  • 50, Oroz, 5:14
  • 60, Martínez, 8:36
  • 61, Verdugo, s.t.
  • 70, Antón, 11:41
  • 105, Azanza, 17:14
  • 108, Isasi, s.t.
  • 169, Cazaux, 26:04

6 comments:

mceuskadi said...

Let's hope Fuji is saving forces for the mighty Angrilu.
Nieve with a good ride today. If he keeps it up, he might enter the TOP15 or so if the pace on the Angrilu is high thus gaps can create.

But again, isn't it crazy that favorites like Scarponi, Fuji, Roche, even Rodriguez lack of form compared to guys like Froome and Monfort?

It would have been interested to see Wiggins on the Tour without crash, with a form like that he would have taken the win. For me he's now the main favorite - not Nibali. Let's what happens on the upcoming weekend.

Kristof said...

Pfff the whole team is not in their usual shape. Strange.

Magnus said...

Personally I can't really see Wiggins ever winning a GT. To me Nibali is the main guy to beat. He's easily the most consistent I reckon.

azanca02 said...

I agree with Magnus. With no more TT's and several more grueling uphills I don't see Wiggins taking it to the end. But honestly, anyone in the top 11 can take. It just depends on how it all pans out. Should be a good 2nd half

Stephen said...

I think Wiggins can use his TT power on climbs like yesterdays but when it gets really steep and high he will suffer.

Nibali is more of a pure climber and will, I think, have a stronger team for the next week.

Great to see a Brit in the lead of a GT though, it has only happened after the prologue recently so this is very exciting. I'm really hoping I'm wrong about Wiggins and that he wins but my head says it's Nibali again.

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