It is so stressful to be a Roglic fan. Unlike Pogi who always dominates when he is winning, Roglic always has to go through thrillers before he wins something. I still believe he can do it and put an exclamation point on his career
With no TdF win there’s no exclamation point for his career, sorry. He won the other GTs and plenty of other races. This Vuelta is for Red Bull Bora, not for an exclamation for Roger’s career.
Mas is riding amazingly! I can't remember the last time he rode this well! His bike save was incredible and then his chain grab while riding? WOW! Impressive! I hope he gets somewhere because his form is terrific!
@@JosesAmazingWorlds My goal is to purchase a classical guitar made in Granada. There are a number of very talented luthiers that were either born in your city or moved there to study guitar making.
I think Rogla's back is hurting him and I really don't want him to crash. Was originally rooting for Sepp to win - but now I have no idea. I don't really have a favorite - I think they're all amazing and it's nice to see some of the "2nd page" guys get to shine. The race seems incredibly brutal this year but the lack of the "aliens" is making it very enjoyable.
@@ChrisHornerCycling Carapaz is the best signing EF has ever made. The team is so much more organized on the road, and Carapaz has been putting on a show.
This Vuelta has been so grueling that if your not on your best form things could head downhill quick. I hope that Ben can keep his head and his team supports him until the end of the race. He may win but there are so many crazy stages left in this Vuelta you just never know. I also hope you are doing well since your incident with the car. At the end of the Vuelta you deserve a well earned break😁 Thanks for your insight into the race.
the stages coming up are brutal and numerous - day after day of climbing. The winner will have to be consistent, and maintain a solid team. Roglic is still the favourite but there is so much that can happen.
Hi Chris, it would be fun to know from how many countries your Chesterfieldians wait patiently every day for your videos. Thanks to you and Garrett for all your work!
One factor I have yet to see mentioned is the heat. Now that they've left southern Spain, the temperature will drop considerably (from the mid-90s F to the mid-70s F). On stage 10, two riders, Tarling and Tiberi, left the race due to heat exhaustion and potential heatstroke. Yates talked about it in his interview. Riders who were deeply affected may be stronger in the upcoming stages. Note: As I recall, the 2023 race was entirely in northern Spain and southern France, with the southmost point being Madrid. They didn't need to face the head of Andalusia
Yes. That will probably mean that we do t get to see the real Camp out there racing because he will have other tactics to do for Visma like riding tempo all day 🥲. But maybe our man camp can get away up the road during the classics and win something big. 🤞🦋👊
Ben O'Conner just needs to manage losses and not panic. Can he have 2 more great days like he did in the dominant one? That was not by accident. He has it in him.
It's quite sad when nobody's questioning your abilities to win a stage race, but they're afraid of the simple fact that you might not be able to stay upright in order to finish the race
I don’t think we will see Primoz at his 100% this Vuelta. Even minor discomfort can become a major hindrance when you are pushing yourself to the max every day. That said, I don’t think Primoz needs to be at 100% to win this Vuelta, but his team needs to be on form for more aggressive tactics. Regarding Ben, I think he and his team really turned things around after the major time loss in Stage 8. He and his team will need to continue to stay calm and employ smart tactics, and they will need to keep focused on tougher days where Ben loses time. I think it is very doable, but certainly challenging for a squad that does not have much experience in this position.
It’s still too early to tell, Chris, but I agree that his back issue is an enigma. We will to have to wait and see but would not count him out. As for me, I’m hoping my EF Team achieves a podium finish, preferably first place, with the Ecuadorian Eggle named Carapaz.
According to a couple of Roglic interviews he still has back pain from his TdF accident. This may affect him most doing sustained uphill or headwind (& time trial) efforts.
Or maybe he's just full of BS, it wouldn't be the first time a writer played possum in order to get the rest of the peloton to think something far different than what Truly is
Apropos the bike lights you advertize, you said you chose low medium high and it works by varying the voltage from the app. As far as i know, most dimmable LED lights works by varying the amount of time they are on and off. They cycle between on and off at such a high frequency , it is not noticeable for the human eye or rather brain. TV pixles refresh at some 60 hz, without us noticing and led lights operate with even higher frequencies.
I suppose that equally Bora and Roglic can say to O’Connor and his team:”you have a 4 minute lead on me and everyone else, you ride” it’s not up to anyone but Decathlon to control the peloton, going on the GC as it stands?
The Dark Horse in the GC group is Carlos Rodriguez of Ineos. It's very evident that he has consistency. By the end of second week he could leapfrog up to top 5, and by the third week when everyone will be suffering with tired legs, he could be fighting for the podium. Among the 23 years old, he and Lipowitz remain in top 10. He is a local boy and he has the familiarity of the Castillan roads. Tiberi, out already, Skjelmose and Eetvelt are not doing well. Adam Yates, Sivakov and Carapaz have their shares of brillant today but fade out the following day. The more consistent ones are Mas, Landa and Roglic. But lately, Roglic some glimpse of weakening while the hard race progresses.
The relentless heat during the last stages certainly plays a role in the fluctuating performances of a lot of riders, as the temperature should be a bit more agreeable the coming stages hopefully more riders will find their form and try to get back to the top of the classification.
Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday and after the next rest day on Tuesday are all super hard stages. As much as I like Ben, I don't believe he gets through those without a major time loss. I hope Ben can do it though, I like the underdog, but what's coming is going to be tough. I think we'll see Primoz do well even if he's not 100% and has to fight to hold on @ Negru. Let's see, some exciting racing is coming up.
Personally i think Carapas will be the dark horse in this Vuelta, hes known for the polka dot, and they may think hes going for that, then goes further, it sounds far fetched but it wouldn't surprise me at all, you can get 16/1 on Carapas winning today's stage, and 8/1 to win tge vuelta outright
Whats more interesting in this tour, that GC is not decided, many teams will be interested to get spot in GC, wich means more teams will be involved / obligated to pull their leaders.
My thoughts exactly. Mas is consistent and will continue to be consistent (in the GC). Yates will continue his upward trajectory as he is coming off a hot top ten finish at Tour de France (6th). How long can O'Connor hold on is anyone's guess. But, we're almost at the half way mark so let's hope no one else gets baked or cooked.
UAE and Movistar motivated helps Primoz. It's not just Bora vs the field. It's also risk vs reward. 25k descent is no gimme, Mas. Strategies will play out.
It was interesting with the interviews of the morning of stage 7 the amount of riders said that stage 6 was harder than it looked on TV I forget who it was that said they tried to bring back O'Connor but they just couldn't make any time. Maybe O'Connor needs to go long again in another stage if his legs are that good considering the stages he's won in grand tours have all been long range ??
@@monicahernandez485 yeah no way they'll let him go . Best thing now is everyone has to watch everyone and Carapaz is just there I feel he's the biggest threat?? But it all makes for good viewing
He won't be able to get a away again and it won't be in his mind to burn up energy in trying to do so. He is now trying to maintain his lead and covering his main rivals. A significant contributing factor for him in the stage he won was that as an excellent descenter he was able to gain time on the technical descents when he was able to negotiate bends and corners as fast as he could without having to consider other riders.
They won’t let him go. It sounds hard but it’s true. Each time he was allowed to go away no one thought he would be this good. If Ben can stay on top form every day we are all going to be very entertained every day. Go Ben 🤞🦋👊
Somebody mentioned that Bora is riding this Vuelta like JVT road Giro19 with Primoz.It was a mess.Years later they become one of the best teams. Obviously Roglic likes challenges:) .Sepp once said that he knew how Primoz was feeling by just looking at his position on the bike.Bora guys need a lot of km racing together to get at that point.
It's hard when the team is so inconsistent and you've got the target on your back. Dani martinez is not with it at all and neither is vlasov. The thing is no one will ride with him. Still along way to go and primoz still has good stages to get back time if the legs hold out.
Chris, great analysis as usual. I do have some questions though: Firstly would it be such a great race if Ben O'Connor hadn't been partly gifted the time he was (it was a great ride but he should never have been allowed to get so far up the road)? Secondly we've all seen how good Roglic has been on stages with short, steep punchy finishes, but has this come at a cost this early in the race? Thirdly, when I look at the likes of Carlos Rodriguez and Sepp Kuss, maybe Van Eetvelt was well could they have a good day and claw back some time? I think if they were going to do this yesterday's stage would have been when they showed the form needed to do this but cycling is a funny sport and even though it hasn't happened that much recently riders can have bad days early in races and come strong later on. I do think the Vuelta, unlike the Tour and Giro does generally seem to suit those who aren't so good on the long, hard, high altitude climbs, mainly because there aren't as many of them, and maybe to suit the Spanish stars who on the whole world be beaten most times if there parcourt want designed in the way it was, I'm thinking of Valverde here. I wonder if you could give your thoughts on Sepp Kuss. Coming into the race he seemed to be in decent form but seemed to be dropped very early on the final climb yesterday, a climb I thought would suit him more than those on many of the other stages and he was nowhere to be seen. This seemed odd to me. He's not had the season he would have hoped for, maybe the preparation wasn't good enough, I thought him winning the Tour re Burgos, albeit against weaker opposition, looked promising. He doesn't have the team support, Uijdtebrooks and Kruisjswuijk don't seem of any help so has he resigned himself to riding for Wout already? What's going on? 🦋🦋🦋
One other thing I forgot to mention was that even if Mas had brought back 2 minutes on Yates going up the final climb he got caught by the GC group on the way into the finish (partly due to the crazy moment he had and the off-road adventure he had) so even if he'd just in that group, the group brought back 2 minutes after the climb on Yates so was he a knucklehead for trying this move without someone ahead of him to bridge across to be could work with? I'm not sure he'd have stayed away even with the time lost due to his mishap on the descent so was it worth it?
No idea about Kuss, my absolute favorite rider. Maybe that long covid is the problem, he is just not in that form we know him to be . This time last year he was flying. But it is not too late. Two weeks left. He could come back. Roglic doesn't look that strong after all.
@@gerthenriksen8818 What confuses me most is that he looked decent in the Tour de Burgos. I know that's against lesser opposition, no offence to them, but I'd still expect him to be able to be in the group with a struggling Roglic on the longer high altitude climbs. If I were to stick my neck out I just think it's that for any athlete that gets injured it is very difficult and takes more time these days to get back to the top because the very top athletes are so well trained and have unbelievable fitness that you can't just regain in a few months. I doubt it's long COVID, he may have picked up COVID from other riders in this race, who knows. The other suspicion I have is that even before Sunday's stage he'd kind of resigned himself to riding for Wout, something he always seemed more comfortable with being, a super domestique that is. Before last year's Vuelta he always seemed to have an off day or two when given a team leaders job, which is why I was so happy when he just chanced upon it in last year's race. Finally, to do something like Yates did, and I know Sepp isn't that kind of explosive rider, and want so far behind he'd have been allowed up the road, he would need a team mate or two to launch him or to be up the road to bridge across to and the climbers on Visma in this race, and you could argue in the Tour as well to a certain extent, aren't good enough to do this so he's in an impossible situation. I do hope he gets better and maybe can get a stage win on another big mountain stage later in the race, but I don't see that many stages that suit his style of climbing.
I was wondering if Primoz would be able to rebound for stage 9 after his effort on stage 8. He is lacking fitness or his back really is giving him a hard time?
@@davidfrye7713 there's always an excuse for this guy not performing well, hopefully it'll change in the future, but the guy can't keep it up right to last through an entire stage race
@@ChrisHornerCycling so when he wins stages that's because he's just awesome, but when he loses stages well that's because he doesn't have the form due to all the crashing he has done at the tour, OK now I understand
Is Roglic's back pain real or something to try to fool the peloton. Roglic is either not in top form right now or the pain is severe enough to keep him from racing as best as he could.
primoz has form but low back pain will cause inability to be consistent. as a side, where are the accolades for Kuss? yep domestique par excellance but not a threat on GC
Kuss has nobody to be a domestique FOR this year (except Wout on that sprint stage, and wasn't that a trip!). Cian was supposed to be their other GC threat, but he's complained of bad / sore legs and hasn't done anything.
Ben is smart enough to play defensively. He just doesn’t quite have the protection if it goes south. However Primoz is going to need a few days where he’s seriously above Ben, and one absolutely legendary performance to pull it off. He can’t just chip and hope, the gap is just too far. He’s gotta take a big swing, and this tour is just so insane profile wise that’s incredibly risky.
I think this was mistake from Mass to attack on his own on stage 9. Even without the big save he would not gain much time. Huge effort for nothing, with Roglic it would make sense other wise might as well roll with the pack and save energy.
Interesting perspective. Was stage 6 a disaster because of the Bora DS and team tactics... or was Primoz just not fit for the task. It's disappointing. I was hoping for more from Primoz this season.
Based on thoughts from another Comment: Roglic has to have two or three Stages (TT or summits) that are at least 1m30 to 2min better than O'Connor. O'Connor only has to have two best days, and that means staying with(!) Roglic (I'll concede 2minutes in the TTs? ). So the psychological aspect (combined with renewed back pain?) can't be good for Primoz ~ and Ben has the stress Kuss had in 2023: "I'm not used to this!" 😂 I think "head games" will be better for Ben, worse for PR, and we'll see by September 9th.
I got to say I was bit happy when it was clear Roglic was hurting a bit yesterday. I absolutely have no problem with him winning and would even like to see it happen but please make it a fight. 😳🦋👊🔥🇪🇸
I still kind of feel like O' Connor let Roglic go a little in stage 8 in order to let Roglic use up some more energy and not be able to crush everyone on stage 9. It looked like O' Connor had chosen his fight.
Chris, hasn't Landa been a bit consistent too? He popped into my head when you asked that Q at the end of your comments about Mas. We shall see how the next 2 weeks pan out. I know Landa's team is not that strong tho.
IF! or When E mas ... hit the wall... again ... don't surprise Chris if now he seems 'strong' and constant, solid, is because he has no obligation or feel he has no oportunity ... as always he stay and does not generate any offensive he does noy have a move ... at the end E mas will be fine on a top 5 or 10 as always
Ignoring the context of the race as it stands: if I told you there were bonus seconds at the end of a stage with a flat sprint of 50 metres, (ie stage 9) and Primoz could not be bothered sprinting but O'connor could AND O'connor took those bonus seconds, I think you'd agree Primoz is / was tired. I would never have expected that outcome (Ben sprinting and Primoz just watching him do so) in a quick sprint finish worth bonus seconds. Ben's morale must be way up to have even contemplated doing that. A good sign IMO. You can tell I am an Aussie hahahaa
So looking forward to those guys ranked 12th to 20th bar Vlasov go in up in the breakaway and trying to get their stage win. No point in any of them just following the Top G. C guys as no one cares about who finished 12th.
Roglic's 4th is definitely in jeopardy. O' Connor is way more hungry to add a grand tour to his parlmares vs. Roglic who thinks this is going to be a walk in the park since he won it 3x already and the 3 other hard hitters are not in the Vuelta. This was proven on stage 6 when they allowed O' Conner to walk off the front and take the leaders jersey with a nice time cushion.
I still want Bora to answer one question about stage 6. When was the time going to be so far out there that Bora started riding with everyone on their team 100%. I mean really, 6:30 mins and bora still looked relaxed each time they went to the front. Was 7 or 8 mins going to get the alarm bells ringing or was it going to be 10mins. 🤔😱🦋🙏
@@ChrisHornerCycling I can understand if this was the Olympic road race where no radios are allowed, however, this is not the case. Even the DS on Bora fell asleep behind the wheel....literally. Unless O' Conner has very bad luck, or does not manage his efforts, I see the red jersey staying on his shoulders. Keep an eye on Carapaz,
You cannot be super good at every motion stage, no way.Who had a certainty he was going to win? Thats not his Vuelta, he has been mediocre this year plus the nature of this historical Vuelta makes every top ten a favorite. Mountains and Hills everyone can have 1 or 2 or 3 bad days. Many other stars out there
No one knows the answer to that question, even my self. I grew up in SoCal (San Diego) but the family moved to Connecticut for two years when I was 9-11 and then we spent a year in Virginia before going back to San Diego. Those years on the east coast must have had a partial effect on my accent and blended it a little with the west coast accent and now no one can tell where I’m from. 😜😂🦋👊
It was the Giro he was 4th in , NOT tge Tour, Almeida came 4th in the Tour, did O'connor even ride the Tour, and if so he came nowhere, I think O'connor will pop in the last week, he popped on the last day if the UAE Tour and that was only a week long
Primoz doesn't have the confidence of visma backing him. Also none of the other big guns are here? So he is the guy if he wants to be? He has time to make up and how much can he in the time remaining ?
If Ben O'Connor had teammates equivalent to two prior GT winners, would Ben be "gifted" this victory? Or would people argue "Basta! No more 'gifting'! Take the Red Jersey away!" 😮
Interesting hypothetical. But remember, last year Visma was looking for sponsors (and even considering that odd merger with QuickStep). There were American sponsors rumored to be interested. Having an American winner might have looked like a good business move. Not saying that was anywhere near the only reason, but sponsorships are always an issue for cycling teams.
Ben O’Connor has as good of a chance of winning as any rider in the top 8, especially with a lead. Roglic cracked vertebrae and RBH as a team is still a question mark. I going to make a bold prediction and this is not against Enric Mas and his descending or Roglic questionable at times bike handling skills. A major crash will decide this Vuelta.
It looks like Primos is cooked.....with a knucklehead as a DS and a weak team....his odds are about 2in10 to pull it out......i think the falls this year have taken their toll....☹️
Roglic's 4th was in jeopardy the first day he put his leg over the saddle at the TDF or at his first race this year. The Crash Magnet doesn't disappoint (except for his sponsors).
He got 2 stage wins in the first week. This is elite. Yes bora is not racing smart but what you wrote is simply hating. People need to realise how much effort it takes to prepare for any pro competition, Ben wasn't just sitting he was preparing, everyone did. We will see who is stronger legs don't lie but hating is useless. Enjoy the race.
@@gaspi91 Yes, I hate riders who don't pay attention to what is going on in front of them. He destroys all that preparation by his lack of attention and not reacting! I've raced and trained with pros particularly pro triathletes who trained up to 56 hrs per week, but they actually paid attention to what was going on around them. Therefore, they didn't destroy the benefits of all of their preparation.
Roglic chances to win his 4th tile, was getting harder because of the stupid mistake Bora did, by letting O'Connor to gain 5 minutes. That's just an idiot strategy. I don't get this poker play.. you chase. No. You chase. And Bora team as a team isn't really a strong team to support Roglic either. oglic himself, he isn't heathy with his fracture that's not completely heal. (if someone says you still got lingering pain, that means, you haven healed yet). Plus he only train 2.5 weeks altitude training. So his base fitness most likely won't take him all the way to 3rd week. (see Jonas and Pogi 2 years ago) Stage 9, first long climb, Roglic already got dropped by Mas. That's not a good sign. Roglic doesn't typically wobbled on the first long climb on the first week. His issue is usually fading on the 3rd week. Yeah, at this point, it's hard to see him winning it. On the other one, Mas emerged as the strongest rider now. He has 75% to win Vuelta. He looks reall "GOOD" on stage 9. And Mas doesn''t collapse either. Good news is now UAE and EF are on back on the GC. So Bora doesn't have to chase breakaway alone, since now 3 team (including Movistar who are buoyed by Mas performance on stage 9) will have a lot of stake also to not letting anyone back to the GC and putting pressure on Decathlon.
Bora DS certainly have not helped Roglic have any buffer for something to way wrong and still come back and win this. Impressive of Roglic not to lose any time yesterday to Ben. 🤔🦋💪
@@ChrisHornerCycling more likely than a PR's gonna win it, but then again he hast to stay up Right to win it and if he doesn't there will be those that will say the only reason he didn't win it is due to him not having the form due to all the crashing he did during the tour.
It is so stressful to be a Roglic fan. Unlike Pogi who always dominates when he is winning, Roglic always has to go through thrillers before he wins something. I still believe he can do it and put an exclamation point on his career
In the same boat as you. He makes it hard
Wide World of Sports opening with the ski jumper crashing off the ramp reminds me over and over again on Primoz
You are so right let's go primoz!!!!!
Yup. At the edge of our seats always. Plus he has a tendency to crash. 😅😢
With no TdF win there’s no exclamation point for his career, sorry. He won the other GTs and plenty of other races. This Vuelta is for Red Bull Bora, not for an exclamation for Roger’s career.
Mas is riding amazingly! I can't remember the last time he rode this well! His bike save was incredible and then his chain grab while riding? WOW! Impressive! I hope he gets somewhere because his form is terrific!
Just saw our man Victor is going to Visma!
Incidentally, Yates was extra motivated as he got married in Granada last year. My home town has that magic
Sweet love always wins. ❤️😘🥰💕♥️💙👊
@@JosesAmazingWorlds My goal is to purchase a classical guitar made in Granada. There are a number of very talented luthiers that were either born in your city or moved there to study guitar making.
I think Rogla's back is hurting him and I really don't want him to crash. Was originally rooting for Sepp to win - but now I have no idea. I don't really have a favorite - I think they're all amazing and it's nice to see some of the "2nd page" guys get to shine. The race seems incredibly brutal this year but the lack of the "aliens" is making it very enjoyable.
Come on Chris, say it, by far the most exciting race of the year!
Women’s Tour de France was the most exciting race so far. A four second difference decided on the last day on an iconic climb. Pretty special.
@@Chiller11meh, I’m still dwelling on pogacar dropping Jonas 🎉🎉
I’m not ready to go there yet buts it’s very early in the Vuelta 😜👊🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋
@@cassidyarrington4572 it would've been even sweeter if Jonas didn't spend 13 days in a hospital bed prior to the tour
Seeing Yates and later Mas go without a Roglic´s response was suprising. This stage was out for grabs and even Ben sprinted for 3rd!
And Carapaz. He almost passed Roglic. 😱🦋👊
@@ChrisHornerCycling Carapaz is the best signing EF has ever made. The team is so much more organized on the road, and Carapaz has been putting on a show.
This Vuelta has been so grueling that if your not on your best form things could head downhill quick. I hope that Ben can keep his head and his team supports him until the end of the race. He may win but there are so many crazy stages left in this Vuelta you just never know. I also hope you are doing well since your incident with the car. At the end of the Vuelta you deserve a well earned break😁 Thanks for your insight into the race.
Agreed. Anything can happen. Thanks 👊🦋❤️
the stages coming up are brutal and numerous - day after day of climbing. The winner will have to be consistent, and maintain a solid team. Roglic is still the favourite but there is so much that can happen.
Everyone on their own in this historical Vuelta
Yep. 👊🦋
Hi Chris, it would be fun to know from how many countries your Chesterfieldians wait patiently every day for your videos. Thanks to you and Garrett for all your work!
Canada here
USA here
California, USA here!
Perth, Australia
Ecuador here !
One factor I have yet to see mentioned is the heat. Now that they've left southern Spain, the temperature will drop considerably (from the mid-90s F to the mid-70s F). On stage 10, two riders, Tarling and Tiberi, left the race due to heat exhaustion and potential heatstroke. Yates talked about it in his interview. Riders who were deeply affected may be stronger in the upcoming stages. Note: As I recall, the 2023 race was entirely in northern Spain and southern France, with the southmost point being Madrid. They didn't need to face the head of Andalusia
Totally agree. Climate will make a difference in the race. I believe in favor of Ben O'Connor. We will see. This is very exciting! 🎉
Chris…did you see the report today that your man Victor Campenaerts is going to ride for Visma Lease a Bike next year?
Wow, Visma will be a tough team to beat. They will have all the fire power.
That has been in the works for months now.that and Adam Yates twin.
@@donquique1 I only mentioned Campenaerts because his Chris’ man. I knew about Simon.
@@monicahernandez485😂no chance
Yes. That will probably mean that we do t get to see the real Camp out there racing because he will have other tactics to do for Visma like riding tempo all day 🥲. But maybe our man camp can get away up the road during the classics and win something big. 🤞🦋👊
Ben O'Conner just needs to manage losses and not panic. Can he have 2 more great days like he did in the dominant one? That was not by accident. He has it in him.
And for Roglic not to reach 100% anytime soon. 😳🤔🦋
It's quite sad when nobody's questioning your abilities to win a stage race, but they're afraid of the simple fact that you might not be able to stay upright in order to finish the race
No knuckleheads today! Your insight and knowledge of these stage races are always a treat.
What~no mention of Carapaz, Chris?🤔 He looked like a man on a mission yesterday!!!🔥
Much effort for little gain in the end…
@@st14 2 minutes, yea little gain 😳
I don’t think we will see Primoz at his 100% this Vuelta. Even minor discomfort can become a major hindrance when you are pushing yourself to the max every day. That said, I don’t think Primoz needs to be at 100% to win this Vuelta, but his team needs to be on form for more aggressive tactics.
Regarding Ben, I think he and his team really turned things around after the major time loss in Stage 8. He and his team will need to continue to stay calm and employ smart tactics, and they will need to keep focused on tougher days where Ben loses time. I think it is very doable, but certainly challenging for a squad that does not have much experience in this position.
It’s still too early to tell, Chris, but I agree that his back issue is an enigma. We will to have to wait and see but would not count him out. As for me, I’m hoping my EF Team achieves a podium finish, preferably first place, with the Ecuadorian Eggle named Carapaz.
Come on Carapaz 💪🏽💪🏽💪🏽
👊🦋
Ben O looked like he had just done a 5 mile tricycle ride with me and my wife in KW. The rest of the peleton looked destroyed!
I agree. He did sprint for third to gain time on gc and podium. What a stud!
He’s showing his best form, I think ever currently.
Very nice, sophisticated analysis. Heads & shoulders above the rest!
According to a couple of Roglic interviews he still has back pain from his TdF accident. This may affect him most doing sustained uphill or headwind (& time trial) efforts.
Or maybe he's just full of BS, it wouldn't be the first time a writer played possum in order to get the rest of the peloton to think something far different than what Truly is
Its refreshing and exciting when a tour is not dominated from day 1… lady TdF was the best this year and this one is a close 2nd!
Carapaz can blow this whole tour open...He would be the one to watch...hope Rogla is just pacing himself!
Thanks Chris you my man!
Movistar will ride for Roglic if Carapaz goes up the road 😅
Hehehe. We saw that video already. And ouch that must have hurt Carapaz being so close. 😂🦋👊
Thank you!
👊🦋
Apropos the bike lights you advertize, you said you chose low medium high and it works by varying the voltage from the app. As far as i know, most dimmable LED lights works by varying the amount of time they are on and off. They cycle between on and off at such a high frequency , it is not noticeable for the human eye or rather brain. TV pixles refresh at some 60 hz, without us noticing and led lights operate with even higher frequencies.
BOOYA!!
Booya again 👊🏆🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋
I suppose that equally Bora and Roglic can say to O’Connor and his team:”you have a 4 minute lead on me and everyone else, you ride” it’s not up to anyone but Decathlon to control the peloton, going on the GC as it stands?
It’s 21 stages and ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN until the very end.
👊🦋
Game on!
👊🦋🔥🇪🇸
Hopefully the rest day is good for Roglic.
And the temperature drop going to the north of spain
@@Eirikkinserdal Both issues are also beneficial for O'Connor.
🤞🦋
I think Roglic win on Saturday did cost him good legs on Sunday, and that the restday can bring him back good legs again.
The Dark Horse in the GC group is Carlos Rodriguez of Ineos. It's very evident that he has consistency. By the end of second week he could leapfrog up to top 5, and by the third week when everyone will be suffering with tired legs, he could be fighting for the podium. Among the 23 years old, he and Lipowitz remain in top 10. He is a local boy and he has the familiarity of the Castillan roads. Tiberi, out already, Skjelmose and Eetvelt are not doing well. Adam Yates, Sivakov and Carapaz have their shares of brillant today but fade out the following day. The more consistent ones are Mas, Landa and Roglic. But lately, Roglic some glimpse of weakening while the hard race progresses.
The relentless heat during the last stages certainly plays a role in the fluctuating performances of a lot of riders, as the temperature should be a bit more agreeable the coming stages hopefully more riders will find their form and try to get back to the top of the classification.
And for some reason Adam Yates- native son of the cold,dark north - seems to thrive in the heat.
Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday and after the next rest day on Tuesday are all super hard stages. As much as I like Ben, I don't believe he gets through those without a major time loss. I hope Ben can do it though, I like the underdog, but what's coming is going to be tough. I think we'll see Primoz do well even if he's not 100% and has to fight to hold on @ Negru. Let's see, some exciting racing is coming up.
Personally i think Carapas will be the dark horse in this Vuelta, hes known for the polka dot, and they may think hes going for that, then goes further, it sounds far fetched but it wouldn't surprise me at all, you can get 16/1 on Carapas winning today's stage, and 8/1 to win tge vuelta outright
Whats more interesting in this tour, that GC is not decided, many teams will be interested to get spot in GC, wich means more teams will be involved / obligated to pull their leaders.
My thoughts exactly. Mas is consistent and will continue to be consistent (in the GC). Yates will continue his upward trajectory as he is coming off a hot top ten finish at Tour de France (6th). How long can O'Connor hold on is anyone's guess. But, we're almost at the half way mark so let's hope no one else gets baked or cooked.
UAE and Movistar motivated helps Primoz. It's not just Bora vs the field. It's also risk vs reward. 25k descent is no gimme, Mas. Strategies will play out.
Yep. We saw that yesterday a little. 🤔🦋🔥🇪🇸
It was interesting with the interviews of the morning of stage 7 the amount of riders said that stage 6 was harder than it looked on TV I forget who it was that said they tried to bring back O'Connor but they just couldn't make any time. Maybe O'Connor needs to go long again in another stage if his legs are that good considering the stages he's won in grand tours have all been long range ??
I don't think they will let him go since he is in red. We will see. 🤔
@@monicahernandez485 yeah no way they'll let him go . Best thing now is everyone has to watch everyone and Carapaz is just there I feel he's the biggest threat?? But it all makes for good viewing
He won't be able to get a away again and it won't be in his mind to burn up energy in trying to do so. He is now trying to maintain his lead and covering his main rivals. A significant contributing factor for him in the stage he won was that as an excellent descenter he was able to gain time on the technical descents when he was able to negotiate bends and corners as fast as he could without having to consider other riders.
They won’t let him go. It sounds hard but it’s true. Each time he was allowed to go away no one thought he would be this good. If Ben can stay on top form every day we are all going to be very entertained every day. Go Ben 🤞🦋👊
@@ChrisHornerCycling yeah what ever happens he's certainly made it interesting for all.
Somebody mentioned that Bora is riding this Vuelta like JVT road Giro19 with Primoz.It was a mess.Years later they become one of the best teams. Obviously Roglic likes challenges:) .Sepp once said that he knew how Primoz was feeling by just looking at his position on the bike.Bora guys need a lot of km racing together to get at that point.
My man Victor Campanaerts to Visma | Lease a Bike!
True that. I don’t know whether to be happy or sad yet. 🤔🦋👊
Naahhh Chris we're happy😅
thank you
👊🦋
It's always shocking to hear Chris mention some participant in an athletic contest might lose. Wow. What insight!!
It's hard when the team is so inconsistent and you've got the target on your back. Dani martinez is not with it at all and neither is vlasov. The thing is no one will ride with him. Still along way to go and primoz still has good stages to get back time if the legs hold out.
Roglic will need some form to return and possibly a lot of it because Mas may get better. 🤔🦋👊🇪🇸💪
👍 It is tough enough now to be a Roclic fan. I am just glad I was not following him as a ski jumper...
Chris, great analysis as usual. I do have some questions though:
Firstly would it be such a great race if Ben O'Connor hadn't been partly gifted the time he was (it was a great ride but he should never have been allowed to get so far up the road)?
Secondly we've all seen how good Roglic has been on stages with short, steep punchy finishes, but has this come at a cost this early in the race?
Thirdly, when I look at the likes of Carlos Rodriguez and Sepp Kuss, maybe Van Eetvelt was well could they have a good day and claw back some time? I think if they were going to do this yesterday's stage would have been when they showed the form needed to do this but cycling is a funny sport and even though it hasn't happened that much recently riders can have bad days early in races and come strong later on.
I do think the Vuelta, unlike the Tour and Giro does generally seem to suit those who aren't so good on the long, hard, high altitude climbs, mainly because there aren't as many of them, and maybe to suit the Spanish stars who on the whole world be beaten most times if there parcourt want designed in the way it was, I'm thinking of Valverde here.
I wonder if you could give your thoughts on Sepp Kuss. Coming into the race he seemed to be in decent form but seemed to be dropped very early on the final climb yesterday, a climb I thought would suit him more than those on many of the other stages and he was nowhere to be seen. This seemed odd to me. He's not had the season he would have hoped for, maybe the preparation wasn't good enough, I thought him winning the Tour re Burgos, albeit against weaker opposition, looked promising. He doesn't have the team support, Uijdtebrooks and Kruisjswuijk don't seem of any help so has he resigned himself to riding for Wout already? What's going on? 🦋🦋🦋
One other thing I forgot to mention was that even if Mas had brought back 2 minutes on Yates going up the final climb he got caught by the GC group on the way into the finish (partly due to the crazy moment he had and the off-road adventure he had) so even if he'd just in that group, the group brought back 2 minutes after the climb on Yates so was he a knucklehead for trying this move without someone ahead of him to bridge across to be could work with? I'm not sure he'd have stayed away even with the time lost due to his mishap on the descent so was it worth it?
No idea about Kuss, my absolute favorite rider. Maybe that long covid is the problem, he is just not in that form we know him to be . This time last year he was flying. But it is not too late. Two weeks left. He could come back. Roglic doesn't look that strong after all.
@@gerthenriksen8818 What confuses me most is that he looked decent in the Tour de Burgos. I know that's against lesser opposition, no offence to them, but I'd still expect him to be able to be in the group with a struggling Roglic on the longer high altitude climbs.
If I were to stick my neck out I just think it's that for any athlete that gets injured it is very difficult and takes more time these days to get back to the top because the very top athletes are so well trained and have unbelievable fitness that you can't just regain in a few months. I doubt it's long COVID, he may have picked up COVID from other riders in this race, who knows.
The other suspicion I have is that even before Sunday's stage he'd kind of resigned himself to riding for Wout, something he always seemed more comfortable with being, a super domestique that is. Before last year's Vuelta he always seemed to have an off day or two when given a team leaders job, which is why I was so happy when he just chanced upon it in last year's race.
Finally, to do something like Yates did, and I know Sepp isn't that kind of explosive rider, and want so far behind he'd have been allowed up the road, he would need a team mate or two to launch him or to be up the road to bridge across to and the climbers on Visma in this race, and you could argue in the Tour as well to a certain extent, aren't good enough to do this so he's in an impossible situation. I do hope he gets better and maybe can get a stage win on another big mountain stage later in the race, but I don't see that many stages that suit his style of climbing.
Chris we need your reaction on your man Victor Campenaerts to Visma Lease a Bike
I was wondering if Primoz would be able to rebound for stage 9 after his effort on stage 8. He is lacking fitness or his back really is giving him a hard time?
No rest day for you, eh Chris?!
He always leaves us wondering when he says he'll see us again 'real soon.' 😀
Not yet. 😜🦋👊
I love to say real soon because then I’m not committed to anything. But I am coming back. 😂🦋😜
Yep
Yepper 😜🦋👊🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋
As much as PR has been sitting on the Chesterfield this season, there's no reason for him to be tired
Tired, no. Not in good form & not recovered from his TDF crash fest, yes!
@@davidfrye7713 there's always an excuse for this guy not performing well, hopefully it'll change in the future, but the guy can't keep it up right to last through an entire stage race
I agree with Davide. 🤔🦋👊
@@ChrisHornerCycling so when he wins stages that's because he's just awesome, but when he loses stages well that's because he doesn't have the form due to all the crashing he has done at the tour, OK now I understand
Roglicccccccc..!!!!! 🚲
Angela se Italiana o Spagnola?...., comunque forza Rogla🎉🎉🎉🎉.... saluti da Portorose ❤❤❤❤
👊🦋❤️
@@GaiusPrimusMatius italo- Peruviana
Is Roglic's back pain real or something to try to fool the peloton. Roglic is either not in top form right now or the pain is severe enough to keep him from racing as best as he could.
Good question. And the only thing we really know is that Roglic is never going to tell us what’s really going on unless it was obvious. 🤔🦋👍
primoz has form but low back pain will cause inability to be consistent. as a side, where are the accolades for Kuss? yep domestique par excellance but not a threat on GC
Kuss has nobody to be a domestique FOR this year (except Wout on that sprint stage, and wasn't that a trip!). Cian was supposed to be their other GC threat, but he's complained of bad / sore legs and hasn't done anything.
Sepp will be going for stages. 🤞🦋👊
Yes that was my assessment when he was being hyped up as gc contender which went out the window ieven before stage 6
@ChrisHornerCycling
Chris, it’s ride WELL, not good. Please set a good example and save our language.
Love your channel. 🚵🏿♀️
What happened to Sepp Kuss? Is he trying to win La Vuelta 24? It seems like his team is focused on stage wins for Wout van Aert.
I think Roglic will come very good as the vuelta moves to the cooler stages.
Massive climbs yet to come. The race is wide open. Very exciting.
👊🦋⛰️
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Ben is smart enough to play defensively. He just doesn’t quite have the protection if it goes south. However Primoz is going to need a few days where he’s seriously above Ben, and one absolutely legendary performance to pull it off. He can’t just chip and hope, the gap is just too far. He’s gotta take a big swing, and this tour is just so insane profile wise that’s incredibly risky.
I think this was mistake from Mass to attack on his own on stage 9. Even without the big save he would not gain much time. Huge effort for nothing, with Roglic it would make sense other wise might as well roll with the pack and save energy.
That's not a high side, that's a near one (he didn't hit the deck!)😉
Interesting perspective. Was stage 6 a disaster because of the Bora DS and team tactics... or was Primoz just not fit for the task. It's disappointing. I was hoping for more from Primoz this season.
Got me a Lupine light with your code. Thanks Chris
Based on thoughts from another Comment:
Roglic has to have two or three Stages (TT or summits) that are at least 1m30 to 2min better than O'Connor.
O'Connor only has to have two best days, and that means staying with(!) Roglic (I'll concede 2minutes in the TTs? ).
So the psychological aspect (combined with renewed back pain?) can't be good for Primoz ~ and Ben has the stress Kuss had in 2023: "I'm not used to this!"
😂
I think "head games" will be better for Ben, worse for PR, and we'll see by September 9th.
Took back 30 seconds today
It's the more exciting GT this year when there is no clear favorite and no Jonas and Pogacar.
I got to say I was bit happy when it was clear Roglic was hurting a bit yesterday. I absolutely have no problem with him winning and would even like to see it happen but please make it a fight. 😳🦋👊🔥🇪🇸
I still kind of feel like O' Connor let Roglic go a little in stage 8 in order to let Roglic use up some more energy and not be able to crush everyone on stage 9. It looked like O' Connor had chosen his fight.
Chris, hasn't Landa been a bit consistent too? He popped into my head when you asked that Q at the end of your comments about Mas. We shall see how the next 2 weeks pan out. I know Landa's team is not that strong tho.
IF! or When E mas ... hit the wall... again ... don't surprise Chris if now he seems 'strong' and constant, solid, is because he has no obligation or feel he has no oportunity ... as always he stay and does not generate any offensive he does noy have a move ... at the end E mas will be fine on a top 5 or 10 as always
Ignoring the context of the race as it stands: if I told you there were bonus seconds at the end of a stage with a flat sprint of 50 metres, (ie stage 9) and Primoz could not be bothered sprinting but O'connor could AND O'connor took those bonus seconds, I think you'd agree Primoz is / was tired.
I would never have expected that outcome (Ben sprinting and Primoz just watching him do so) in a quick sprint finish worth bonus seconds. Ben's morale must be way up to have even contemplated doing that. A good sign IMO. You can tell I am an Aussie hahahaa
So looking forward to those guys ranked 12th to 20th bar Vlasov go in up in the breakaway and trying to get their stage win.
No point in any of them just following the Top G. C guys as no one cares about who finished 12th.
Roglic's 4th is definitely in jeopardy. O' Connor is way more hungry to add a grand tour to his parlmares vs. Roglic who thinks this is going to be a walk in the park since he won it 3x already and the 3 other hard hitters are not in the Vuelta. This was proven on stage 6 when they allowed O' Conner to walk off the front and take the leaders jersey with a nice time cushion.
I still want Bora to answer one question about stage 6. When was the time going to be so far out there that Bora started riding with everyone on their team 100%. I mean really, 6:30 mins and bora still looked relaxed each time they went to the front. Was 7 or 8 mins going to get the alarm bells ringing or was it going to be 10mins. 🤔😱🦋🙏
@@ChrisHornerCycling I can understand if this was the Olympic road race where no radios are allowed, however, this is not the case. Even the DS on Bora fell asleep behind the wheel....literally. Unless O' Conner has very bad luck, or does not manage his efforts, I see the red jersey staying on his shoulders. Keep an eye on Carapaz,
Never rule out Adam Yates and UAE
Did anyone think that Sepp Kuss wouldn't be so far out of the top 10? I sure didn't. I wonder if he's got lingering problems from his bout with Covid?
You cannot be super good at every motion stage, no way.Who had a certainty he was going to win? Thats not his Vuelta, he has been mediocre this year plus the nature of this historical Vuelta makes every top ten a favorite. Mountains and Hills everyone can have 1 or 2 or 3 bad days. Many other stars out there
Basque Country Roglic was not mediocre. Not even close to that. But agree also that no one was certain of anything when this race started. 🤔🦋👍
I wonder if Primoz and Wout are having a chat about things over a couple of Red Bulls. 😀
Hehehe. That was funny. 😂🦋👊
Felix Gall has looked consistently good too. That’s a big positive for Decathlon and a problem for Bora.
Yep. Gall is looking pretty good. But now Gall has to do some work for Ben and that may hurt his chances. 🤔🦋
Roglic couldnt connect to Mas, its not a good sign for him
Roglic has days like these almost every GT. I would bet it’s safe to say every one actually. 🤔🦋👍
Would Primos be 3:43 behind if he had stayed at Visma? I highly doubt it!
This vuelta bora probably better than this visma team they don't have anybody in gc
Hey Chris, I'm an Aussie. Would you mind telling me what part of America your accent hails from? :)
No one knows the answer to that question, even my self. I grew up in SoCal (San Diego) but the family moved to Connecticut for two years when I was 9-11 and then we spent a year in Virginia before going back to San Diego. Those years on the east coast must have had a partial effect on my accent and blended it a little with the west coast accent and now no one can tell where I’m from. 😜😂🦋👊
Sepp Kuss free to fly now? Interesting.
Roglic always seems to be a question mark. He hasn’t had great support. Things are definitely interesting in this years race.
Very 👊🦋🔥🇪🇸
It was the Giro he was 4th in , NOT tge Tour, Almeida came 4th in the Tour, did O'connor even ride the Tour, and if so he came nowhere, I think O'connor will pop in the last week, he popped on the last day if the UAE Tour and that was only a week long
2021 🤔🦋
He was 10 mins behind in that, and that was 3 years ago, hes not done much since then@@ChrisHornerCycling
Primoz doesn't have the confidence of visma backing him. Also none of the other big guns are here? So he is the guy if he wants to be? He has time to make up and how much can he in the time remaining ?
The million dollar question. 🤔🦋👊💸
UAE... McNulty.... from breakaway tomorrow.
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Matt 👍🦋🦋🦋👍
If Ben O'Connor had teammates equivalent to two prior GT winners, would Ben be "gifted" this victory?
Or would people argue "Basta! No more 'gifting'! Take the Red Jersey away!"
😮
Interesting hypothetical. But remember, last year Visma was looking for sponsors (and even considering that odd merger with QuickStep). There were American sponsors rumored to be interested. Having an American winner might have looked like a good business move. Not saying that was anywhere near the only reason, but sponsorships are always an issue for cycling teams.
Ben O’Connor has as good of a chance of winning as any rider in the top 8, especially with a lead.
Roglic cracked vertebrae and RBH as a team is still a question mark. I going to make a bold prediction and this is not against Enric Mas and his descending or Roglic questionable at times bike handling skills. A major crash will decide this Vuelta.
And no one would argue with you. Let’s just hope you are wrong. 😱🦋🇪🇸🤞
I don't trust BORA's team. Adam Yates might win it all.
I agree with you. We don’t know who is going to win this right now. 🤔🦋👊🔥🇪🇸
Doesn't it make for an interesting race when the top three on the podium from the tour aren't in the race, lol
It looks like Primos is cooked.....with a knucklehead as a DS and a weak team....his odds are about 2in10 to pull it out......i think the falls this year have taken their toll....☹️
Is Vuelta having more mountains than TDF?
By elevation meters it's the most mountainous GT of the year - roughly 62km vs 56 at Tour & a couple km left at Giro iirc
i think yates is gonna win
Going with Yates. He’s top eight so there is a chance 🤞🦋👊
Roglic's 4th was in jeopardy the first day he put his leg over the saddle at the TDF or at his first race this year. The Crash Magnet doesn't disappoint (except for his sponsors).
He got 2 stage wins in the first week. This is elite. Yes bora is not racing smart but what you wrote is simply hating. People need to realise how much effort it takes to prepare for any pro competition, Ben wasn't just sitting he was preparing, everyone did. We will see who is stronger legs don't lie but hating is useless. Enjoy the race.
@@gaspi91 Yes, I hate riders who don't pay attention to what is going on in front of them. He destroys all that preparation by his lack of attention and not reacting! I've raced and trained with pros particularly pro triathletes who trained up to 56 hrs per week, but they actually paid attention to what was going on around them. Therefore, they didn't destroy the benefits of all of their preparation.
Roglic is the best cyclist at the 2024 vuelta.... The problem is his mediocre team....
Roglic chances to win his 4th tile, was getting harder because of the stupid mistake Bora did, by letting O'Connor to gain 5 minutes. That's just an idiot strategy. I don't get this poker play.. you chase. No. You chase. And Bora team as a team isn't really a strong team to support Roglic either. oglic himself, he isn't heathy with his fracture that's not completely heal. (if someone says you still got lingering pain, that means, you haven healed yet). Plus he only train 2.5 weeks altitude training. So his base fitness most likely won't take him all the way to 3rd week. (see Jonas and Pogi 2 years ago)
Stage 9, first long climb, Roglic already got dropped by Mas. That's not a good sign. Roglic doesn't typically wobbled on the first long climb on the first week. His issue is usually fading on the 3rd week. Yeah, at this point, it's hard to see him winning it. On the other one, Mas emerged as the strongest rider now. He has 75% to win Vuelta. He looks reall "GOOD" on stage 9. And Mas doesn''t collapse either.
Good news is now UAE and EF are on back on the GC. So Bora doesn't have to chase breakaway alone, since now 3 team (including Movistar who are buoyed by Mas performance on stage 9) will have a lot of stake also to not letting anyone back to the GC and putting pressure on Decathlon.
Mas so far looked the best. But his team has looked the weakest. I forgot to add that part into the video. My bad😱🦋👊
Ben O'Connor will eventually crack and Primoz will take the win. If he can stay upright that is.
If anyone appears to be crackable, it would be Roglic.
Primoz staying upright is about as unlikely as the sun not rising tomorrow.
Primoz has stabilisers fitted. These could be slowing him down a tad. Greetings to all fans.
Bora DS certainly have not helped Roglic have any buffer for something to way wrong and still come back and win this. Impressive of Roglic not to lose any time yesterday to Ben. 🤔🦋💪
he's not winning it chris. 4 minutes is hard to get.
So you are all in on Ben. Tell me, did you bet the house. 🏠 😜🦋👊💵
@@ChrisHornerCycling more likely than a PR's gonna win it, but then again he hast to stay up Right to win it and if he doesn't there will be those that will say the only reason he didn't win it is due to him not having the form due to all the crashing he did during the tour.