• Chronicle.Susto, chaos and controversy for Roglic
  • Controversy: Annoyance and apologies from Movistar after harsh criticism: "They always do the stupid one"
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  • Tour: Know all the stages

«I am not the best person to give advice to anyone and less to Alejandro Valverde and the other runners who want to snatch the victory from Roglic , because I lack variables to know how they are physically on the penultimate day of the Tour, but what I can To say is that the Gredos stage is very complicated, because it does not have a flat meter. The route is hard and includes many areas to maneuver strategically. If I had to win Roglic, I wouldn't wait long, I would attack from afar, with 80 kilometers left for the goal, as people like Hinault, Jalabert, Olano did in their time ... ». Carlos Sastre knows what he says, because he designed the layout of the very hard date that on Saturday decides the Tour.

The Madrid runner, but from Feeling and winner of the 2008 Tour de France, traveled last year hundreds of kilometers through the province of Avila to draw a stage of enormous difficulty. About 200 kilometers with six ports and ending in a high unpublished, in the Platform of Gredos , place of passage for those mountaineers who decide to approach El Almanzor, the iconic highest peak of the Central System.

This Saturday is a tiring roller coaster, which prevents rest and recovery . And everything is complicated because the weather forecasts announce strong storms, a climate in which Roglic and Pogacar do not feel uncomfortable.

Team work

With reservations on the red line, the Madrid podium applicants must pull cunning and strategy. Teamwork will be essential, as Tailor adventure. «I believe that the leaders of the ranks will send people ahead to act as a bridge. The stems are continuous and hard. From the beginning, with the climbs to Pedro Bernardo and Serranillos, there is favorable ground to make an important selection. They will have to be very attentive to the Alto de Navatalgordo, a short port, with only four kilometers, but with slopes of 14% and 15% and concrete sections. Until arriving at the Parador, the race will be very difficult to control. Then you have to climb the Chia, short, and Peña Negra, long and hard, before facing the ascent to the Platform », warns the former corridor based in Ávila, brother-in-law of the missing Chava Jiménez.

The day before the walk through Madrid does not admit truce. An infernal path of sawtooth that can cause a general overturn. “Everything can happen, from the beginning until the end of the day. I do not dare to say who will win or what will happen , because that would be a hesitation on my part, but what I can assure you is that it will be a very complex stage to control, ”emphasizes Carlos Sastre.

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  • Back to Spain
  • Primoz Roglic
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