Vuelta stage 17

I gambled on gilbery today...dropping contador. Not wise. #crying

Oh crap. I was out all day and missed what seems to be the best stage of the race

Managed only 1,2,10,15 after making a couple of transfers for tomorrow and leaving 4 tonight

My team did me proud today,
1, 2, 3, 5, 10, 12, 18
should make up for forgetting to make some transfers at the beginning of the race!!

Hats off Mr.Contador......Best ride of anyone all year.....That took real guts.....

1, 2, 10, 12, 18 & 19.

Happy that it was a GC win though fantasy-wise as I'd already starting setting my team out for tomorrow's flat stage and had pretty much ignored the KoM race or breakaway riders.

EDIT: Froome 5 minutes down in 32nd and now 9'40 down in the GC, if he loses another 2 minutes he could drop down to 5th overall behind Moreno.

Fail, 1,2,10,15 for me

Obv this GC is not the final one, just out of those who had already finished...

GC :- Edited
1 201 CONTADOR, Alberto STB 68h 07' 54''
2 9 VALVERDE, Alejandro MOV + 1' 52''
3 101 RODRIGUEZ, Joaquin KAT + 2' 28''
4 181 FROOME, Christopher SKY + 9' 40''
5 107 MORENO, Daniel KAT + 11' 36''
6 161 GESINK, Robert RAB + 12' 06''
7 168 TEN DAM, Laurens RAB + 12' 55''
8 91 TALANSKY, Andrew GRS + 13' 06''
9 71 ANTON, Igor EUS + 13' 49''
10 4 INTXAUSTI, Beñat MOV + 14' 10''

1 201 CONTADOR, Alberto STB 4h 29' 20''
2 9 VALVERDE, Alejandro MOV + 6''
3 183 HENAO, Sergio Luis SKY + 6''
4 79 VERDUGO, Gorka EUS + 6''
5 17 NOCENTINI, Rinaldo ALM + 19''
6 172 BAKELANTS, Jan RNT + 55''
7 4 INTXAUSTI, Beñat MOV + 1' 13''
8 196 GENIEZ, Alexandre ARG + 1' 40''
9 38 TIRALONGO, Paolo AST + 2' 13''
10 101 RODRIGUEZ, Joaquin KAT + 2' 38''
11 202 HERNÁNDEZ, Jesús STB + 2' 38''
12 7 QUINTANA, Nairo Alexander MOV + 2' 38''
13 81 JEANNESSON, Arnold FDJ + 3' 03''
14 111 CUNEGO, Damiano LAM + 3' 18''
15 168 TEN DAM, Laurens RAB + 4' 05''
16 73 LANDA, Mikel EUS + 4' 17''
17 117 NIEMIEC, Przemyslaw LAM + 4' 48''
18 91 TALANSKY, Andrew GRS + 4' 48''
19 136 MEERSMAN, Gianni LTB + 4' 48''
20 161 GESINK, Robert RAB + 4' 48''

Well that was fairly predictable

1,2,3 for me - not a clue what's going on apart from that tho - crazy day! Where were Katusha?

Valverde's been on the steaks as well by the looks of things

Quintana has sat up now so he won't be featuring at the end, Valverde now being helped by Intxausti. Potential for Valverde to move up to second overall and Rodriguez might not get many finish line points as there's a multitude of breaks scattered across the gaps. No idea who is where other than that Henao is up near the front somewhere and so is Mollema... probably.

It maybe that they use the same butcher!?

This is not going so well for me

Yeah, not the best transfers ever

You never know though, with any luck they'll both test positive before the end of the race their points will be removed from the game

On a serious note, I'm not sure how I feel about Contador being helped to the win by members of other teams... I know they're friends/ex-teammates and surely if the gap is large enough Tiralongo will take the win (assuming he can keep up on the final climb) but it doesn't seem fair for him to be getting help from other teams.

Contador through the in sprint for bonus seconds!!

Hmmm, Contador 20 seconds up on Rodriguez/Valverde/Losada
and a full 1 minute 22 seconds up on a group with Froome and Gesink in it.

Froome really is completely shot isn't he?

EDIT: Contador now 40 seconds up and in virtual red.

EDIT: 26km to go, gap up to 1:10. Contador looks like he might riding into the lead tonight. Not entirely happy about it to be honest but you've got to hand it to him, he's really gone after this rather than riding defensively. Froome in the main peloton now 2:42 down.

Or a nice Filet-Mignon

Contador on the attack early!

Good move if he can make it stick, Rodriguez is good at the punchy quick attacks, not sure he'd be able to keep up with the pace if Contador can keep this up all the way to the line.

Does beg the question though, what was Contador eating on his day off? Must have been Weetabix...

Collado de Ozalba

1. Arnold JEANNESSON (081)
2. Niki TERPSTRA (148)
3. Alessandro BALLAN (042)

Lead of 1'14'' for:

Mikel LANDA MEANA (073),
Alessandro BALLAN (042),
Sergio Luis HENAO MONTOYA (183),
Rinaldo NOCENTINI (017),
Leonardo Fabio DUQUE (065),
Bauke MOLLEMA (166),
Paolo TIRALONGO (038),
Lloyd MONDORY (015),
Danny PATE (184),
Gorka VERDUGO MARCOTEGUI (079),
Nairo Alexander QUINTANA ROJAS (007),
Damiano CUNEGO (111),
Bruno PIRES (207),
Benat INTXAUSTI ELORRIAGA (004),
Pim LIGTHART (214),
Niki TERPSTRA (148),
Jan BAKELANTS (172),
Pablo LASTRAS GARCIA (005),
Sergio Miguel Moreira PAULINHO (206),
Jesus HERNANDEZ BLAZQUEZ (202),
Javier RAMIREZ ABEJA (027),
Alexandre GENIEZ (196),
Arnold JEANNESSON (081),
Imanol ERVITI OLLO (003),
David MONCOUTIE (061)
Mikel ASTARLOZA CHAURREAU (072).

Break falling again with Garmin and RadioShack on the front of the peloton. Doesn't look like this one is going to be allowed to stay out for too long at this rate.

First intermediate sprint

1. Lloyd MONDORY (015)
2. Bruno PIRES (207)
3. Leonardo Fabio DUQUE (065)

I was considering bringing in Mondoroy and Duque for tomorrow but won't bother now, can't see either contesting the stage win tomorrow if they're in the break today.

Damn i was waiting for tomorrow to bring in mondory, know i should have done it today and axed ten dam

The invisible man(Lars Boom) is in the break

consists of:Duque, Ligthart, Pate, Erviti, Mondory, Ballan, Astarloza, Boom, Pires, Terpstra & Ramirez @2.38

Henao(for Capecchi)
Contador
Rodriguez
Valverde
Marczynski
Talansky
Clarke
Terpstra(for Anacona) and he's in the break
Molard(for Landa) completely random

I'll have 4 transfers for sprinters tomorrow

Hmmm thought there'd be more people starting to go 'sprint based' today, hope that a random breakaway wins and I don't lose out too heavily.

JRod
Contador
Moncoutie
DeGendt (for ten dam)

Quintana (for Marczynski)
Talansky (for j moreno)
Clarke
Astraloza
Florencio

1 Transfer in the bank.

Wasn't sure what to expect today so taking guaranteed GC points and taking a chance on some random cheap breakaway guys that can stay in til the weekend. 4 transfers for tomorrow...

J-Rod, Contador, Valverde, Henao
Machado, De La Fuente, M Garcia, Meersman, E Garcia