Vuelta 2024 - Dispara los salchichas!

[Vetplant]

2 hours ago, shova1 said:

What a ride by Ben O'Connor!

How did the GC favourites let him get away in the break?

Anyway, will be interesting to see if he can take red to Madrid.

I think this will set up an interesting narrative over the next two weeks : how will all the other GC teams try to claw back time?! It is a big task ahead. 

[babse]

Kuss lead from the stage 6 last year 😶‍🌫️

[Irvin85]

11 hours ago, Vetplant said:

I think this will set up an interesting narrative over the next two weeks : how will all the other GC teams try to claw back time?! It is a big task ahead. 

Great ride by him but I doubt he will be able to hang onto that lead. He lost more than a minute on stage 4.

I somehow missed that he finished 4th in the Giro this year. So I might be wrong but I do not think he can stay with Roglic in the High mountains and the final TT will heavily favor Roglic as well 

Edited August 23, 2024 by Irvin85

[BuffsVintageBikes]

Either way, he/the team going to make a fist of it, that's for sure. For me it's going to be interesting to see how his temperament holds up to the challenge. He's shown before that he can sometimes be his own worst enemy.

[Irvin85]

13 minutes ago, BuffsVintageBikes said:

Either way, he/the team going to make a fist of it, that's for sure. For me it's going to be interesting to see how his temperament holds up to the challenge. He's shown before that he can sometimes be his own worst enemy.

He came across as a complete tool in the Netflix docu. 

[BuffsVintageBikes]

Well he is Australian

[Jeepdude]

That is ONE mighty lead... but the Peloton took 2 minutes of that lead in the last what 4 km? I will put my money on it... Ben does not win the Vuelta. Not with al the climbing still to come

[Jbr]

yeah, if roglic takes him 3 mins in the upcoming days in the mountain, there is a possibility for him to take 2 mins on O'connor in the final TT you reckon ? how's o'connor's TT ?

[Irvin85]

3 minutes ago, Jbr said:

yeah, if roglic takes him 3 mins in the upcoming days in the mountain, there is a possibility for him to take 2 mins on O'connor in the final TT you reckon ? how's o'connor's TT ?

Not To bad on the TT compared to other GC riders but Roglic is in another class. Time difference on the first stage was about 40sec. 

[Jbr]

40sec on a rider of Roglic caliber is actually way better than I thought ! He might actually have a shot, although after seing him sit up mid climb on a few occasions at TdF I wouldn't really put my money on him. Will be interesting to watch !

 

Edit : was a 12km TT, the final one is double the distance, so can expect over a minute and half difference ?

Edited August 23, 2024 by Jbr

[Shebeen]

They have a decent mountains squad, if he is up for it then he will not be alone

 

15 minutes ago, Jeepdude said:

That is ONE mighty lead... but the Peloton took 2 minutes of that lead in the last what 4 km? I will put my money on it... Ben does not win the Vuelta. Not with al the climbing still to come

not quite.

he held it all the way to the line. Bora admitted they got this one horribly wrong.

 

[Jbr]

7 minutes ago, Shebeen said:

They have a decent mountains squad, if he is up for it then he will not be alone

 

not quite.

he held it all the way to the line. Bora admitted they got this one horribly wrong.

 

they have a very good climber indeed, but he's not ozzie 😅

[peetwindhoek]

I really like this! It's a significant lead, and while it might not be enough on its own, it will certainly make the effort to reclaim time exciting for the viewers.

[Vetplant]

5 minutes ago, peetwindhoek said:

I really like this! It's a significant lead, and while it might not be enough on its own, it will certainly make the effort to reclaim time exciting for the viewers.

Yeah, much more entertaining than the non-contest of the Giro...

[babse]

13 minutes ago, peetwindhoek said:

I really like this! It's a significant lead, and while it might not be enough on its own, it will certainly make the effort to reclaim time exciting for the viewers.

100% 

 

Not only will we see the other GC teams throw it all out there, we will also see a much more resilient BoC trying to hold on to the Red.

[Shebeen]

1 hour ago, peetwindhoek said:

I really like this! It's a significant lead, and while it might not be enough on its own, it will certainly make the effort to reclaim time exciting for the viewers.

I know quite a few are comparing it to Kuss winning it last year, but that was different as Decathlon do not have the top3 riders there.

This could be more like JAP having yellow, and then unexpectedly holding onto it deep into the tour.