I never ever thought that it was off. 
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Primoz was stronger than Remco today and the biggest challenge is tomorrow. Should be exciting. I would not be surprised to see the gap drop to less than a minute tomorrow. Anything can happen then.
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it’s fuckin on!!
DIdn’t anyone learn anything from Le Tour?
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After the great excitement of the TTT I’ve not managed to watch any of the Vuelta at all due to battling sickness and not spending any time on the trainer. Catching up on this thread and all the comments in one hit is a real roller coaster ride 
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Great finish today - I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s stage, but am worried that the GC will be set in place after Sunday with a somewhat softer than normal third week.
Could tell just by looking at Roglic that he was on a good day - I was thinking maybe 1-2 km before he attacked that he didn’t look like the same rider from earlier in the race. He definitely loves the heat. Given his history of strong performances at altitude, tomorrow should be a real showdown
Equally impressed by Remco not totally imploding and running a reasonable pace to limit his losses - super savvy ride from him, even though he was clearly on a jour sans
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I’m bummed Roglic and Mas didn’t manage to take more time yesterday. There was the perfect opportunity for Roglic to follow and work with Angel Lopez but it was clear he just didn’t have the legs. I think the only reason Roglic was able to take time at all was because he got to recover some in Remco’s draft.
This 3rd week doesn’t have any really tough or exciting stages left on paper so a 1:34 gap is all but impossible to make up unless Remco truly implodes, gets sick, or has some other misfortune. I like Remco just fine and he’s a deserving winner but for the sake of entertainment this last week would have been way more exciting if it were less than a 30 second gap.
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Remco’s what? No such thing exists, according to his teammates when he is leading them out. 
Since we were all pretty much convinced it was gonna be a Roglic ceremonial parade, just the fact that someone else is in red and the race is close has made it pretty entertaining.
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Ha well technically Roglic was on Ben O’Connors wheel for most of Sierra Nevada. Ben’s not exactly a rouleur but better than Remco.
In terms of GC picture I didn’t want to see a Roglic procession but I wouldn’t be disappointed if he won again. Despite having won the last 3 I still think he came into this one as an underdog. The dude broke 2 vertebrae in July and couldn’t ride until 2 weeks before the start.
For folks with access to Peacock, Bob Roll just had an interesting conversation with Jonathan Vaughters. Worth a listen for those of you who enjoy all things World Tour.
Or the Olympic Channel
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Ouch - that final today.
Edit for GC:
1:26 to Roglic
2:01 to Mas
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Oof
B: Any chance you caught the timestamp on the Vaughters interview? I jotted down 1:28. Want to go back when the replay is available and listen to the whole piece.
Edit: Vaughters interview is at 68km to go and 1:02 into the replay (watching on Peacock). For folks without access to the USA feed, here are some quick notes:
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EF needed a “blue chip” rider with Uran getting older. Carapaz being brought into team. Talked about finances and budgets and “fit” and riders coming with Carapaz. Will be sole leader and “lynchpin” for GT objectives. One GT for GC and one for stages.
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Dynamics of team budgets and existence of EF as a smaller team with a smaller budget. Top 5-6 teams have huge budget compared to the bottom 5-6 teams. Looking for “second shot” riders or young riders not yet on the radar or riders where EF is the right fit.
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Thinks team budget caps are a good idea to level the playing field. Instead of 3-4 teams who could win, might have 20 teams that could win. Thinks it would increase fan appeal to have more teams in the mix. (He doesn’t explain where the money would come from or other details but it was an interview not a white paper…)
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Revenue share question from television rights, etc. No progress, no great recommendations on how to implement. Discussion went back to budget caps and where the money would go if shared.
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Bob asked about traction on new ideas with ASO and UCI on money issues. Answer - no real traction. ASO is happy with TdF and general success promoting (assumes profit being made for ASO). UCI lacks expertise and ability to regulate teams and make things better from financial perspective He was diplomatic here as one would expect and stopped short of saying the UCI is useless (my impression).
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The World Tour Points System / UCI team ratings and lowest teams being relegated. Confusing to teams as to what exactly the UCI is doing. System not well designed. Races not ranked well. Some small races being worth more than some GT stages. EF has limited number of 1.1 and 2.1 races. With covid, medical staff wanted to limit travel so focused on GTs and avoided going to smaller races. Didn’t chase points. Worked well for health but not optimal for points. Now chasing points at smaller events. “Decision came back to bite us but will be OK”.
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Whatever team gets relegated is at risk. Sponsors will leave, contracts will be nullified, etc. Likely death to the relegated team.
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Example: Israel Start-up nation may not make the top 18 teams but has a sponsor putting in big money and who is passionate. To me, goes back to pro cycling still being more of a patron driven sport than a viable enterprise.
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Youth riders, big contracts, success of under 25 riders. What’s going on?? Evenepol has one of biggest contracts in World Tour. Young riders are training “professionally” at a young age. 14-15 years old with power and nutrition. That used to happen to 25+ year olds. Seeing riders at 19-20-21 years old being at their peak riding potential. Used to be riders started at 21-22 at pro levels and peaked at 26-27-28. Now guys are as good as they can be at 21-22 years old. How long will their careers go? Nobody knows.
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Identifying and recruiting new talent. Young guys and guys from other sports. Mike Woods, J Vine, Ashton Berry (SP?), Enzo Hincapie all mentioned. Sometimes seeing riders with huge power but no skills. Kids need mentors. High School to World Tour.
Am sure to have missed somethings. Generally not a huge JV fan but this was a good interview IMO.
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At 68km to go
Not sure about the timestamp, but here is a screenshot from Fubo TV of the Olympic Channel:
seconds before they break to the Vaughters interview
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Is Primoz Roglic the new Geraint Thomas?
He hits the deck A LOT 
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Unexpected drama today… first Remco mechanical and then Primoz. He looked bad after that crash. He may be more likely to go backwards in the standings than catch Remco now. Great racing though. Primoz has no interest in just a podium so attack and gain time or go down fighting.
If the happened 2kms earlier we’d have a new leader.
800m earlier actually and Remco would have lost about 3 minutes according to the timings but it wouldn’t have worked out like that. I am sure he would have raced the last 2.2km instead of knowing he was safe so probably not a new leader when you think about it, maybe seconds in it but this is all make believe and didn’t happen.
i actually will be surprised if Roglic continues. He looked like he had a concussion after that crash. He was totally out of it. Rode the final meters with his glasses on sideways.
Remco got LUCKY! He probably flatted outside of 3km and then pulled up within 3km to leverage the rule. And then coasted in 3 minutes later.
Roglic did all that and then crashed for 8 seconds!
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