2016 Vuelta a España

[Gen]

Back of the peloton looks painful!

I would develop a stomach bug today[emoji6]

[Bonus]

Jacobus Venter from SA cranking his way up the hill for DDD.

['Dale]

89km remaining from 196km

 

3:45 is the gap now as Sky make some inroads on this climb. Just a few kilometres to the top for the breakaway men.

['Dale]

⚠️⚠️⚠️

 

This climb is beginning to take its toll, with riders getting dropped from both groups.

['Dale]

Fraile moves to front of the breakaway - breaking Orica's control - towards the top of the Soudet. He'll be looking to increase his lead in the mountains classification standings.

['Dale]

Fraile does indeed strike out for it, and Elissonde is quickly onto his wheel. It's those two with a clear gap.

['Dale]

Just over 5000 meters ascent today ????

['Dale]

Another 10 smarties for Fraile

 

Now developing a buffer in the KOM comp

['Dale]

And the Skyborgs continue to set the pace in the chasing peloton

 

Faces grimacing ????

[Bonus]

Break has 6.20 now with 45km to go. My money's on a winner from the peloton though.

:-)

[Bonus]

Ha - the peloton have just turned into a road where my son and I watched he Tour de France in 2005! I recognize it :-) happy days.

['Dale]

46km remaining from 196km

 

The breakaway hit the penultimate climb of the day.

 

Lactic acid ????????????

['Dale]

It's the Col de Marie-Blanque (Cat 1): 9.2km at an average of 7.5%

['Dale]

Eiking and Campenaerts are dropped from the breakaway ahead of the penultimate climb. Orica's work is taking its toll, and it's also causing the gap to the peloton to grow back out to 6:15.

['Dale]

It's still all-Orica at the front of the breakaway. The Australian team has been doing all the work up there for some time now.

What has team leader Esteban Chaves got up his sleeve?

['Dale]

The gap makes Dani Moreno the virtual leader of the Vuelta. He started the day 5:38 down on teammate Quintana. Still no sign of panic from Sky, who continue to calmly go about their business.