I don't know. I was watching the F1 last night.
I did switch over to SBS briefly, and saw him do a bike change. He then chased back onto the peloton while drafting behind his own team car. Possibly he got pinged for that.
La Vuelta Ciclista a Espana 2024
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I did switch over to SBS briefly, and saw him do a bike change. He then chased back onto the peloton while drafting behind his own team car. Possibly he got pinged for that.
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They did a tactical bike change, he went to a 1X chainring set up with lighter weight wheels with about 20 ks to go. Him, Martinez and I think Aleotti was the other paced behind the car for ages before getting back to the bunch. I reckon if it was a mechanical, they probably overlook it as usual.
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He's looking good for a podium. It's up to EF or Quickstep to go for a raid to move up enough to make up for the losses they will have in the TT. Picon Blanco looks the stage for it. Carapaz will have a go no doubt.
eth-dog
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Mas really needs to be at least a minute ahead of Rogliç heading into the final ITT, Rogla regularly puts 3 s/km into him in 20+ km ITT's. I honestly can't see him doing it. He'll finish second again I think, Rogla will probably attack him on Friday to make sure of it though.
So... there are only 3 significant stages remaining - 2 short but steep mountain finishes, and a 24 km ITT.
Roglic has closed the gap to just 5 seconds, and has a huge advantage in the TT over all of his rivals. The race is his to lose. Stages 17 & 18 suit the sprinter (note the singular), but he should be in red at the end of Stage 19.
Mas & Carapaz are now both within 2 min of BOC, and are a realistic chance of being in front of him by the start of the TT. There's not a lot separating Mas, Carapaz & BOC when it comes to TT ability, so these results could go anyway.
Landa remains at 2:18 behind BOC, and is the worst TT rider of those in the top-5, by a wide margin. His chances of getting onto the podium appear to be slipping away.
In other news, WVA crashed out of the race last night, coming down on a slippery bend, just over 50 km from the finish line. This puts Kaden Groves into the lead in the Points Classification (green jersey). If Groves comes away with Green, and BOC spends 10+ days in Red, it will have been a great race for Australians in general.
Roglic has closed the gap to just 5 seconds, and has a huge advantage in the TT over all of his rivals. The race is his to lose. Stages 17 & 18 suit the sprinter (note the singular), but he should be in red at the end of Stage 19.
Mas & Carapaz are now both within 2 min of BOC, and are a realistic chance of being in front of him by the start of the TT. There's not a lot separating Mas, Carapaz & BOC when it comes to TT ability, so these results could go anyway.
Landa remains at 2:18 behind BOC, and is the worst TT rider of those in the top-5, by a wide margin. His chances of getting onto the podium appear to be slipping away.
In other news, WVA crashed out of the race last night, coming down on a slippery bend, just over 50 km from the finish line. This puts Kaden Groves into the lead in the Points Classification (green jersey). If Groves comes away with Green, and BOC spends 10+ days in Red, it will have been a great race for Australians in general.
BOC's run in red is beginning to remind me of Tommy Voeckler in the 2011 Tour de France (eventually won by Cadel Evans). Voeckler took yellow early, after gaining significant time in an early breakaway. He then stubbornly refused to give up time in the mountains, despite not being a world-class climber. In the end, he didn't surrender the lead until stage 19, on the slopes of Alpe d'Huez.
Similarly, BOC took the lead early with a big breakaway ride. He's not in the race's top 10 climbers, but he's pushed himself hard enough to maintain the lead, potentially all the way to Stage 19.
Similarly, BOC took the lead early with a big breakaway ride. He's not in the race's top 10 climbers, but he's pushed himself hard enough to maintain the lead, potentially all the way to Stage 19.
eth-dog
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Eh. Rogla, Mas and Carapaz are better. Landa 50/50. Gaudu is in no way better, BOC consistently outperforms him. Skjelmose, Rodriguez and Lipowitz probably pass him in the coming years but are probably still behind. Only other bloke that you could put ahead in this race is Yates, and it quite simply hasn't been his Vuelta. Gall is also 50/50 when both are at their best.
Ben is within that 4-12 range in this race as a climber. He's the second best GC rider in Australia behind Hindley.
You also forgot to put Jay Vine winning polka dots would be huge for Aussie cycling
Based on their performances in this Vuelta, I'd have BOC behind Roglic, Mas, Carapaz, Landa, Gaudu, Skjelmose, Rodriguez, Kuss, Lipowitz and Yates on the climbs. Gall would also be ahead of him on most climbs. That makes him the 12th best climber in this year's race, and I feel fairly comfortable with that ranking.
Without the 5:12 he gained from his Stage 6 breakaway, BOC would now be sitting 10th on GC.
Happy to agree that he's currently Australia's 2nd best GC rider (with Hindley a clear #1).
I wasn't actually aware that Vine had inherited the lead in the KotM, until you pointed it out to me (I haven't watched last night's stage yet). Vine winning it would be poetic justice, after he was so cruelly denied the prize back in 2022, when he crashed out while holding an almost unassailable lead (his points total was only surpassed on the final climb of the race).
As you say, Australians winning the Points & KotM, and spending 10+ days in Red, is a remarkable outcome for Australian cycling.
... and that's not counting riders like Almeida & Tiberi, who are no longer in the race.
LOL... the race jury giveth, and the race jury taketh away.
BOC finished stage 16 with a narrow 5 second lead over Roglic. Roglic copped a 20 second penalty (for drafting) on Stage 15, without which BOC would have lost the red jersey on the slopes of Lagos de Covadonga. The race jury giveth...
BOC has been fined 1000 CHF and docked 20 UCI points for not turning up to the podium on time, having initially been told that the ceremony would be conducted at the bottom of the mountain (where the buses were waiting). BOC rode back down the mountain, only to have to jump into a car to be driven back up with a police escort. The race jury taketh away...
BOC finished stage 16 with a narrow 5 second lead over Roglic. Roglic copped a 20 second penalty (for drafting) on Stage 15, without which BOC would have lost the red jersey on the slopes of Lagos de Covadonga. The race jury giveth...
BOC has been fined 1000 CHF and docked 20 UCI points for not turning up to the podium on time, having initially been told that the ceremony would be conducted at the bottom of the mountain (where the buses were waiting). BOC rode back down the mountain, only to have to jump into a car to be driven back up with a police escort. The race jury taketh away...
BOC hasn't been given a time penalty, and is still wearing red tonight. It's only a fine & UCI points penalty.
Roglic was the one who copped the time penalty, the result of which was BOC retaining red last night.
I'm not sure who told BOC that he needed to descend the mountain to attend the podium. The news articles I've read don't make that clear. If the misinformation came from his own team, then they'd be protesting against themselves!
20 points shouldn't hurt them too much. They're currently 6th on the list, with 12025 points. Red Bull are 531 points behind them, though Roglic will be adding significantly to that total if/when he wins the Vuelta. They're nowhere near the relegation zone.
https://www.uci.org/discipline/road/6TBjsDD8902tud440iv1Cu?tab=rankings
They're 1550 points behind LIDL-Trek in 5th, and 530 points ahead of Bora Red Bull in 7th.
I'm not sure if the Vuelta stage winner points have been added yet. The Vuelta overall winner points definitely haven't.
20 points doesn't seem a lot, when we're talking about differences of 500+ to the nearest competitor.
There are definitely some teams for which a 20 UCI point penalty would be significant - particularly Movistar, Jayco, Arkea, Intermarche and DSM, who are all separated by just 460 points, fighting over positions 15-19.
... it's just less important for AG2R, given the points separation they have with the teams above & below them on the ladder.
... it's just less important for AG2R, given the points separation they have with the teams above & below them on the ladder.
I thought that might have been the case, so it's just the points for the overall finish positions which have yet to be added.
Agree about Movistar & Jayco being clear of relegation. I was thinking more in terms of the sponsors & bonuses you mentioned earlier.
Movistar should get a decent haul on Sunday if/when Mas finishes 2nd in the Vuelta, which would jump them well clear of the following pack. But as things stand today, they're less than 400 points ahead of DSM in 19th.
