diphthong

there are a few mountain goats waay down on the gc like landa, ll sanchez and schleck that will likely have a early go on this next
sufferfest stage and really stretch out the field. hoping that none of the boys go over the side or crash badly due to the sheer
physical/mental exhaustion bound to unfold.

68venable

Its gonna be awesome. I just hope whats left of my fantasy team does not let me down. I have a bad feeling Rodriguez and Aru are about to come alive.

diphthong

^and they did but landa regained his legs and dumoulin got shaken but not stirred. i honestly expected more gc detonation and bigger gaps between the
still contending. knew a few would fall out of contention, one or two would climb into contention but still thought the gaps between the top 10 riders would be larger
after today. great rides by moreno and boswell.

68venable

Wow! Some of you guys got some points today! Me? Not so much. I can see myself losing my jersey in the next day or two. I guess we will see. It has been fun so far but my fingers have not recovered since winning the TdF! haha

88prelude

Today was the day I'd been dreaming of for a while. Ended up with 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th and 12th. Boswell was the biggest surprise for me today. I had high hopes for him but I think Sky has been holding him back in favor of Froome. But with Froome out of it today I wonder if he was finally given some freedom to ride. Landa finally showed up, Aru creamed those last kms to take the red jersey. I was expecting just a little more out of Rodriquez today but he's definitely been holding his own throughout the Vuelta. Valverde, although riding well, doesn't seem to have fully recovered from the TdF.

The greatest ride today, after everyone on my team of course , IMO goes to Dumoulin. He's been killing it and killed it again today in one of the hardest stages. I'd love to see him continue riding so well throughout the rest of the Vuelta.

68venable

Yeah Boswell was a real bad arse yesterday. I hate to see Froome lose time like that but it's good to know that he IS human. Dumoulin has been doing a great job. He needs to get me more points lol.

Giacomo 1 

Yikes, I'm down to 4 riders with Froome going out.

Yeah, Danny Van Poppel won today, but it didn't do anything for my bottom line. I also have Howes, Dombrowski and Pozzovivo left, so it's all over but the crying for American Express...

Goodness, I hate the Vuelta. There's no way to figure it out. Nobody is in shape or in good form if they rode the Tour. It's just a letdown for those riders and it leaves it wide open for the likes of a Doumilon, Chaves or Aru to win it all, when there is no way they could do that in the Tour. No sour grapes, I just cannot get this race figured out. I guarantee that next year, no Tour riders will be on my Vuelta team!

68venable

88prelude is on his way to the #1 spot!!!

88prelude

It's quite the luck, and I'm not sure it will hold out after these next few stages. Astana (and Aru) had to burn themselves hard and fast today to barely stretch Aru's lead. This whole Vuelta has been a doozy and I completely agree with @Giacomo 1 that there's no way of predicting this race.

68venable

I knew it! Congrats to 88prelude!! Its all you from now on. Ill try for a podium finish but i dont see that either anymore. Good luck!!

88prelude

Thanks! 4 points ain't much and Dumoulin, Roche, and Majka can still bring it back for you easily. They've been riding well even in these climber stages. I'm not sure how much Aru has left in him. He barely held on again today. Rodriguez is now looking like the man to beat.

Too many stages left though and only one more real climbing day (and baring any other bans and crashes) my climbers might not be able to hold off the pack. This would be a whole other race if Sagan, Froome, Nibali, Cancellara etc were still in the race.

EDIT: Ok two more perfect days for climbers - Stage 20 looks brutal too.

68venable

Well todays performance should throw me into about 4th place. These guys are beasts!

diphthong

dumoulin should place the best out of the top 4 gt contenders on this upcoming tt. i would think majka would fare next best. there is a chance the top 4 guys could all be
within 30 seconds of each other on the gc after the tt and stage 20 should be another barnburner.

i thought degenkolb (and sagan were he still in the race) woulda bounced by now for the worlds.

Giacomo 1 

My last 4 riders did very well in the TT today - 20 whole pts!

Is there a mercy rule here? You know, you get so far behind, they end the game for you...

68venable

Dang its getting good now!

88prelude

I didn't see the race today; just caught some bits in the news feeds here and there. Poor Aru - just 3 seconds off!

These next days are going to get really interesting: there has to be a lot more aggressive riding from Astana, Katusha, Movistar in order wear out Dumoulin and Team Giant actually needs to show up for the race to keep Dumoulin in front before stage 20. I'm not giving up my red jersey willingly but tomorrow might be the day I lose it.

68venable

You got this in the bag 88.

88prelude

Great race today. I think Aru might burn himself out on the next stages leading up to 20, leaving an opening for Dumoulin to open that gap even wider. Another day with Roche and Majka out front and Ooga and 68 are flying by me as race leaders. Luckily Valverde and Rodriguez just eeked out enough points for me today.

diphthong

i'm in a spot of bother, on the rivet, pedalling squares and about to be shelled...

diphthong

been a hell of a race. gc contenders#2-9 separated by 8 seconds at the end of stage 20. wow.

88prelude

Astana's strategy today was fantastic and finally pitted the whole team (and the rest of the pelotón) against Dumoulin instead of just Aru. Intense rides today. I was crossing my fingers that Majka didn't finish any better as a few more spots would've bumped me.

88prelude

Ooga-booga takes the Red Jersey home! Congrats!

dstrong 

Happy to get a 2 place bounce today thanks to Degenkolb. While it may have been a Total Guess, it was a pretty good guess!

diphthong

majka came through in the final week for me as i hoped he would. still needed to draft all 3 podium riders tho (+ valverde in 7th)
to win. desperately wanted dumoulin on my team as he was my 6th most desired rider behind aru, purito, majka, valverde and
sagan. degenkolb was my 7th most desired rider. just couldn't figure out a way to include dumoulin (or degenkolb) without
losing one of my other must-have's. was grudgingly forced to take talansky. expected a little more out of monfort.

gonna miss valverde and purito when they retire. they've both been uber-consistent in the vuelta and a joy to watch.

wasn't expecting much out of roche since he raced the tour (and that's the reason i avoided him) but damn, he brought it!

thanks to everyone that played! maan...it's a loooong time till the giro.

68venable

That was fun. I am happy with my 5th place finish. That was a grueling stage that burnt Dumoulin to the ground. Ouch! Now what are we supposed to do?? Ride our own bikes?