Red Bull's MASSIVE Blunder

[@ChrisHornerCycling]

Stay tuned tonight becuase we've got a part 2 to this stage coming later 👊👊

[@thart6103]

Whoohoo 👊🦋❤️

[@patrickwong4824]

This is where you name the Knuckleheads. Looking forward to it.👊👊🦋🦋🎉🎉

[@Descartes-cw5mc]

Hi Chris, in part 2, can you touch on why all the teams are not pulling full gas to pull back Ben since he is not an unknown but on the contrary his palmares are impressive at GC level? Also is Lipowitz riding for himself or 100% for the team?

[@lepavis]

I knew it was going to be a knuckleheads feast for Chris

[@Sportsloverandrew]

Word

[@mikedittsche]

I was just amazed how fresh Ben looked at the finish all the while extending his lead while being chased by several riders from the peloton. Ben must have had an exceptionally good day. Like that day Puck Pieterse sprinted for all the boni all day long and still looked completely fresh, finishing with exhausted GC favourites. In the interview afterwards she said she never even felt her legs 😂 I guess sometimes the stars just align.

[@RB..1]

Something like that…😉

[@slayer6936]

I always love it when we get a winner from the breakaway!! Ben was full gas for the whole stage. Now we are going to see how strong Red Bull and Roglic truly are. Ben's 4 minutes plus time gap just made the Vaulta probably one of the best stage races to watch this year. Roglic and Red Bull have their work cut out for them. I don't think Sepp can make up the time he needs, but Roglic can.

[@SparkleDonkey]

Thanks for breaking down this stage for me. I was soooo confused by what I was seeing. I'm like why does Bora not react because the hay barn is definitely on fire and the cows are all jumpin' the fence. Kudos to O'Connor though, that was an amazing display. Classy rider too.

[@matthillard9363]

Still though he'll be lucky to finish top 10

[@ChrisHornerCycling]

🏠🔥😱🦋👊

[@collinbradford8866]

​@@matthillard9363why do you say that when he has gotten 4th in other tours?

[@CycoWarriorx]

Right… I was gonna post my confusion as well…

[@andrewcalladine2507]

@@matthillard9363 He finished 4th at the Giro so that seems unlikely.

[@stevemarriott2788]

Fantastic ride Ben. Hope you can keep going. Bravo from Tassie.

[@ChrisHornerCycling]

👊🦋

[@joebriggs8422]

The teams in the peloton all not wanting to risk a real pursuit reminds me of the "Life Cereal with Mikey" commercial..."I'm not going try it, you try it...I'M not going to try it" (if you're a younger person put Life Cereal with Mikey in the YT search) 😉

[@ChrisHornerCycling]

😂🦋👊

[@seely1320]

Spraying his head, hand in the cookie jar, sitting on the chesterfield... I love this guy! 😄

[@GoliPowerEIC]

I was working while the race took place. So I could only check the results. I couldn’t believe my eyes. Big time knucklehead moves from RBH aswell as all the other GC teams. Still shaking my head right now.

[@ChrisHornerCycling]

Me too 😱🦋🔥👍

[@roberthotter7008]

Knuclewitz?😅

[@nofascistsonmywatch]

Yeah, Toro Rosso was asleep at the handlebars, and their D.S./Management in the team car were totally asleep at the wheel. Ben has to be one of THE tallest 'pure climbers' ever (how tall is Froomie?).

[@mikedickerson3944]

Decathlon AG2R help control the peloton? No way. Sit on Red Bull. Defend defend defend.

[@JorgeTeixeira]

Wheel wheel wheel all the time and use the 5 minutes in the hardest moments...

[@ChrisHornerCycling]

Right. 👊🦋

[@patrickwong4824]

Ben O’Connor’s brilliant performance today. Can we say Ben is the 2024 version of Sepp Kuss on a weaker team? Let's see if Decathlon can support him for the remainder of the La Vuelta.

[@ChrisHornerCycling]

Decathlon won’t even have to do it all because Bora will help them. So long as Ben can stay on Roglic wheel. 🤔🦋👊

[@didiscores]

@@ChrisHornerCycling But he cannot !

[@andreasabels589]

O'Connor is the stronger rider on paper. He was 4th in the Giro 2024, 7th in the Vuelta 2022 and 4th in the Tour 2021whereas Kuss best previous result was 8th in the Vuelta in 2022.

[@Sobchak2]

@@andreasabels589 kuss rode almost all of those races as a domestique in support of his captains. You really cannot compare them based on their GC results.

[@kieranbarry8193]

@@ChrisHornerCycling thats quite a big if

[@jonson1338]

The combination of temperature and pace have been brutal. It is only stage 6. Vande Velde stated Bora's strategy: Get thru this stage with its riders in good enough shape to ride effectively in weeks 2 and 3. The pelaton looked cooked at the end of this stage even without chasing hard. Maybe Bora's DS is incompetent. Or maybe he knew the condition of his riders was very poor and how high the risk chasing posed.

[@roberthotter7008]

There was absolutely no need to pull for Lipo.

[@robbchastain3036]

Congratulations to Ben and let's hope he has buds in the peloton to keep his dream alive. And thanks to Primoz for making this exciting and riding like a Visma Man in Spain. And I'm thinking it might be a new Chris Horner Rule of Racing, Never Bring Cookies to a Bike Race. Or mount a bar bag for easier access. 😀

[@ezron11]

Team Visma is not riding. Sepp is like a domestique in this race, he doesn’t show a leader’s mentality. He is most of the time alone, isolated, riding at the back. He needs to command the team, have it around him and keep him in front of the race. Otherwise, even top 5 finish will not be realized for him in this race. The only exceptional person going forward is Wout but that’s Wout as always, delivering.

[@BlackTone91]

Wow a domestique behave like a domestique

[@Wonderkid44]

Wout is a winner, and does anything to win. Kuss not so much, thats what separates the good from the greats, mentality. Hope Kuss can come back but last year was a fluke + visma giving it to him.

[@JohnMFlores]

It's not Team Visma's job to ride in front, it was Bora's responsibility to keep today's time gap in check. And for the next week or more, it is now Bora's job to claw back time on O'Conner and give Primoz a chance. Let them work and tire themselves out. Let Kuss and Visma save their matches for the final mountain stages.

[@Sportsloverandrew]

​@@JohnMFloresI do think Bora were knuckleheads today because they made the race potentially harder than it needed to be. At the same time so is UAE and Jumbo and whoever else has thoughts on a podium.

[@KurtPreston]

They don't need to ride; ... stage 11 onwards is where the fun will start (and the teams need to be as fresh as they can be)

[@OrganicSearchStandards]

Chris, I think you should start an annual The Knucklehead Awards. Broadcasters, riders, and team directors. I would like to nominate Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe Sports Director Patxi Vila and Lipowitz for 2024.

[@KevinBurke-x9n]

Great win. Lots of massive mountain stages yet to come.

[@Chiller11]

Nice summary. Can’t figure out how Bora, Visma or UAE let Ben O’Conner get a 5 minute gap. O’Conner is a quality GC threat. Bike racing is complicated but it’s not rocket surgery.

[@BobBrereton-o2k]

Good one!

[@MichaelTSlade]

Hmmm, is that rocket science or brain surgery🙂

[@mattpotter8725]

Visma aren't riding for GC so they, unlike other teams in GT's who often seemed to ride for them leading them through much of the day before disappearing into thin air, usually Ineos, had no desire to work for Bora or UAE, both teams who have come with stacked teams to this race. You can also tell Visma are supporting Kuss in this race because nearly all their riders, riders like Valter and Kruisjswuijk, were taking it easy and nowhere to be seen the day when Kuss needed help to be brought to the base of that steep, steep climb, something nearly every GC team did for their team leader, only to magically appear yesterday to work all day on the front floor van Aert to bring back a break of 2 riders that were not a threat at all and we're caught 30km the finish. It becomes me why they're doing this, the only thinking I have is that it's sticking two fingers up at Kuss not letting Jonas win last year's race, that or the team are basically saying to Kuss, we have you this chance, you blew it, back being a domestique next year for you. As for Bora and UAE I totally agree, I don't understand what they were thinking. The heat must have got to them, that's all I've got, except the possibility that Bora wanted another team to do the work them and all the other teams said it's your problem, if you want to win this race and since you are in pole position with the red jersey it's your job and no one did anything. Movistar put two riders at the front but they just rotate so it was basically one rider against O'Connor at a time and neither were good enough, it looked like a token gesture to me, maybe in the hope that Bora would commit men as well, but they didn't. It was bizarre.

[@ChrisHornerCycling]

👊🦋🚀

[@Eirikkinserdal]

"They did surgery on a rocket" 😂

[@Gowalkabout]

I was waiting ALL day for your analysis of this stage, Chris.

[@BodyByBrandt]

same.....didnt understand how Bora let Ben get that much time. Werent they on the radio saying lets get to the front and close this down??

[@Gowalkabout]

@@BodyByBrandt Yea, man. It’s not like no one else in the peloton had an interest in chasing when they could see things were getting out of hand.

[@ChrisHornerCycling]

Enjoy 👊🦋

[@SergioCristancho]

Many things are unanswered questions or what would happen if... Like if Poggi was the GC in UAE would they try this... Would UAE allow this... In the same order yes Bora red bull did allow it as much as UAE... Or visma allowed the Gap to grow out of control... Then you have the same scenario as kuss did last year... Then I ask ... Is there some un written or non spoken words about the 'respect' for Poggi or Jonas ... Or is like riders like Rog or kuss even Rodriguez have lost or never had the 'respect'... Or maybe is La Vuelta the best scenario to dare and try this because is the other way around... Those big names and teams have lost all respect for pro rides in the UCI level.

[@bjornlangoren3002]

It is nice to see the break get a break for a change.

[@sianb1260]

Thanks for providing information on why Adam Yates was behind the rest of the GC group.

[@raphaelklijn6358]

This was a great stage!

[@eduardoschneider2010]

Always nice to hear your commentaries 🎉

[@willavinou1507]

Ben O' Connor SHOULD be able stay in red, coz he only really struggles when trying to follow Tadej or making crazy attacks on the higher gradients! If he can ride within himself, he's got this!!!

[@NikoSaario]

Watched this live. What a race

[@ChrisHornerCycling]

True that 👊🦋🔥

[@gypsybrother-z8q]

Thanks ChesterFs. I felt like Primoz was behaving as if he knew something we don't. Baffling, but I'll go along... Was hoping someone else would "know" and share. I think Sepp should just ride for Wout now. I know it's gonna be a great race but it sure is a mess right now. Probably good for the gamblers. Can't wait for part two. 💥🦋👊💫

[@ChrisHornerCycling]

Part two is out. 👊🦋

[@tonyg3091]

We have been eagerly awaiting for this one. Knuckleheads left, right and center.😂😂😂

[@roberthotter7008]

And in the team cars as well 😂

[@joelronningen9930]

O'Connor said in post race that he wasnt even considering the GC today. His focus was on a stage win to go for the triple - stage win in all three grand tours. My prediction is he will try valiantly and fail, to stay in red. Not enough team, and his mental fitness is definitely suspect given his past record. BUT - Bora and Primoz are knucklheads for not at least trying to limit the gap. No point in taking these kinds of chances when it isnt necessary. Juggling nitro for sure

[@nickthorpe5931]

The real time gaps will be on Stage 15. Would love to see it but I doubt O’Connor can make it up that final climb first.

[@cjcrrazy]

Considering he lost around 2 minutes on stage 4 , you’re probably right, but hoping that leaders jersey can give you wings !

[@marcostevens4086]

Agree O’Connor has Talent but he lacks calmness under pressure. All he needs to do is sit behind Bora and let them do the work. Not having a strong team is going to test his strategy in the next week or so. Let’s hope he can make this race exciting and not crack when Bora starts to work him over.

[@roberthotter7008]

​@@nickthorpe5931 the way he was riding today is a solid base to expect more of him . Let's see if he has to pay for this effort today.

[@nofascistsonmywatch]

@@cjcrrazy Wait, doesn't Bora have that full time, from their title sponsor?? 🤣

[@stevehageman6785]

Amazing, just like last year or: "Deja vu all over again." Thanks for the update. 🙂

[@gulfgal98]

I was scratching my head watching this in real time. I understand the rationale behind Bora's tactic of not working, but WTF, why did they not at least try to limit the amount of time O-Connor gained? As for Lipowits, it made zero sense to have him up in the break. I do not fault Lipowits personally, but it appeared that he was following the Bora DS instructions. So why was he there? The big question is why did the teams allow O'Connor get such a huge time gap? IMHO, Roglic is still the favorite and probably will still pull this out. But Enric Mas may be the big loser because the rest of the teams allowed O-Connor such a huge lead. It was a head scratcher for sure.

[@ChrisHornerCycling]

It was as if the Bora DS just refused to change the plan when it wasn’t working. 😱🦋🔥

[@JSBax]

Ben didn't just win from the break, he rode a 30km(?) TT against the whole peleton and won. (If you include the bonies.) Lads looks good!!

[@markgoodley2450]

Is that a squash racquet on the shelf? 😅 Chris, we play tennis or pickleball here! 😂

[@thart6103]

I’ve been waiting for you, Chris! 👊🦋❤️ (at least WvA is still in green).

[@ChrisHornerCycling]

👊🦋❤️

[@CharlieVanDiver]

Always the best source of what's happening. You should be "the man" on a team

[@charliedillon1400]

I reckon Oscar Pereiro got a kick out of this stage! Don't stop believin'!

[@ChrisHornerCycling]

I bet he did. 😂🦋👊

[@josenunes321]

Awesome performance by Ben 💪💪 And he looked very very fresh at the end! Great form! Now I'm curious about the Red Bull tactics within the next mountain stages because from UAE nothing will come out except following the herd.

[@HellaRandomVideos]

BOOYA!

[@ChrisHornerCycling]

Booya 👊🦋🏆🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋

[@rosshole]

12:49 Great pic! Thanks, Chris! 🇵🇸 🍉

[@ChrisHornerCycling]

👊🦋

[@leomaduro8661]

If Roglic still wants to win the Vuelta, it's not only the legs that have to be 110%, but they need to get some extra brains from somewhere... Give O'Connor six minutes and arrive at the finish line not being in panic mode? Errors of epic proportions have been produced here!

[@ScottCarlson-cz7wj]

Watching the highlights, I could not tell how Ben O'Conner broke away to get so far ahead. No worries, I said to myself, I'll just wait until Chris Horner's show and all will be made clear. Sure enough, I was informed instantly how it occured. Thanks Chris.

[@JohnDoe-sw9zq]

That's one of the funniest stages i've seen in a grand tour in a long time. I had the popcorn on my lap and was soaking it up. The RD should lose his job just on this stage alone.

[@tomsmith1059]

As an Aussie, I'm super happy for Ben but how pathetic was the GC group? That's why Pogi is the favourite rider by fans, he lights up every stage win lose or draw. Besides cheering for our boy Ben to win, it was the most boring stage I can remember watching.

[@johnslover8079]

Weird not to see Chris on prime time. He is so much better than anyone else commenting for US TV!

[@nofascistsonmywatch]

Especially since he was the first U.S. rider to win this thing, and one of only two ever to do so. 😉👍

[@dankerman321]

Surprised Lipowitz didn't get hit with the "Knucklehead" tag.

[@ZBicyclist]

Still time for that :)

[@ChrisHornerCycling]

Yep. Still time. Catch the next video. 😂👊🦋

[@roberthotter7008]

Knucklewitz ?😅

[@charles.andrelagoueyte4007]

We are told all the time about budgeting your efforts for the duration of the race. Ben O'Connor looked amazing, but he spent a lot of energy to win this stage. We will have to see how he, and his team, manage today's and the upcoming stages to allow him some recovery. Bora announced they did not want to protect the red jersey, and they didn't. To me that means the Bora team is somewhat rested, while Decathlon burned two matches already to the one by Bora.

[@tannerslomko]

I was so pumped when I saw this happening. The first week was a little boring. Glad my man Big Ben shook things up.

[@mattpotter8725]

Chris, amazing analysis and what a stage!!! I missed catching yesterday's video so I have a comment on yesterday's stage as well. So, yesterday Visma after all but Gesink and Uijdtebrooks had done some work on the previous day, though I still didn't see them making sure Sepp Kuss was in for the key steep climb (but this is another story), every Visma rider seemed to be there riding on the front (with the exception of Kuss and Uijdtebrooks, obviously) limiting a 2 man break with only the invitee teams take too much time, and I'm sat there thinking why? Wout is in green, these riders aren't going to get to the finish, let Red Bull Bora do the chasing and tire their legs for later in the race, but no, even Valter os up there pulling, I'm thinking wtf, where was he yesterday, saved for a flat stage??? Ok, onto today, and even though I think everyone underestimated Ben O'Connor, when I was watching the chase multiple teams seemed to put one man on the front and there was zero rotation through so it was basically the one man on the front of the peleton against Ben O'Connor, and I could tell you that wasn't going to work, not massively anyway, especially because there weren't any big climbs after the cat 1 climbI just couldn't see O'Connor cracking. On to a big question I have, why didn't Bora put 3 or 4 men in the peleton on the front and rotate them through almost like a pursuit team on the track that way they could put in an effort and then rest before going again? Did they all have an off day on the same day or are there just no instructions, no panic from the DS in the car? My main question though is that usually on a stage like this a team like Intros for example will ride for no reason and pull back the break for the race leader on team, maybe UAE or Jumbo-Visma as it was last year. This time no team are knuckleheads enough to do this (they must be watching and listening to you Chris), progress I was thinking, but then by Bora not putting the firepower they have on the front did Bora try to double bluff some of the other teams and it backfired, that's all I've got. It also got me thinking what are UAE doing? They seemed to have Soler reverting to type and rising for himself, they didn't commit hardly to help chase back O'Connor and bring the time gap down. What are they thinking? I'm at a loss as to what to think. This feels like Carapaz in the Giro he won all over again, maybe even Kuss from year, the only question being whether O'Connor has the team him, and the quality and form to not have one of two off days to win this race. I can't believe what I watched today. I just don't get how this happened. Was everyone in the Red Bull Bora car asleep on the job? Having a siesta? I know it's been hot over there but what's going on?!!!

[@musclelessfitness2045]

Let me guess before watching the whole video .. Bora H. is a bunch of knuckleheads? 😂

[@ChrisHornerCycling]

Hehehe. Yes but why 😂🦋👊

[@musclelessfitness2045]

@@ChrisHornerCycling Thank you for calling a spade a spade and thanks for your analysis.

[@adamcurpier]

Same, couldn’t believe what happened!

[@MrTbayles2]

this needs a part 3 and 4

[@gobears6487]

Rut roh 😳

[@ChrisHornerCycling]

It got ugly out there. 😬😱👊🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋

[@darrinschwarz7446]

Those Oury grips are sweet.

[@BronnyJamesBricks]

You would think after Oscar Pereiro at the 2006 Tour de France Stage 13 that they wouldn't give a quality rider that much time

[@atoms-to-atoms]

Chris you are hilarious 🤣 We know who is the knucklehead!

[@ZBicyclist]

I don't have a feeling for how well protected his team can defend O'Connor on the big climb stages.

[@ChrisHornerCycling]

Ag2R is looking ok. 🤔🦋🤞

[@nickmorton9938]

He has Gall, Paret-Peintre, Bouchard and Lafay to help out in the mountains. Plus Armirail as a good all-rounder. Not as stacked as the big teams, but that is plenty of help for him. No, I think it is more going to come down to O'Connor himself.

[@royoser9956]

Yes. Plus, Roglic can't have a major crash or mechanical problem in a key stage the rest of the way. O'Connor at his best doesn't finish that far behind the 1st page riders in the grand tour high mountain stages.

[@KevinBurke-x9n]

Both of Ben's fourth place finishes in GTs were by over ten minutes, so it will be a challenge for him. At least he made the race interesting.

[@royoser9956]

@@KevinBurke-x9n Roglic would still be my odds-on favorite were it not for his habit of crashing.

[@ChrisHornerCycling]

Let’s hope there are no crashes. 🤞🦋👍

[@cote-dubucraphael6235]

He finished the giro 15 minutes behind pogacar …

[@paulevans6403]

@@royoser9956 I would take that bet. Roglic is going to get weaker and weaker in this race. The climbs are way too steep for his aging body. Almeida is a bigger favorite and I'm not necessarily writing off Kuss like all the he-was-given-a-gift smart-alecks although those flat TTs are a big handicap.

[@kurtg3891]

i did the pro race at Fitchburg in the 1990s and i told myself i had to stay with Chris Horner in order to win but he typically still lapped me 3 times in the stage 1 circuit race.... So i bet the Bora team also knew they had to get Florian Lipowitz to stay with Ben O`Conner yesterday just the same but sometimes you can still only do as much as you can do no matter how far wrong it turns out to be in regards to the original objective.

[@paulevans6403]

How do you get lapped three times in a pro circuit race of a 1.5 km loop? That's 4.5+ km in an 80 km race. Makes no sense - officials would pull you or you would retire.

[@markschneider3915]

Damn I hope Ben win's it!

[@ChrisHornerCycling]

👊🦋

[@ethangodridge6833]

Thanks Team Horner.

[@daleanthony4343]

Hands being in the cookie jar all the time 😂😂😂😂😂

[@philipkoop9411]

BTW, the Bora post-race interviews confuse me. Lipowitz says the original idea was to follow the #1 rule on the Butterfly effect, but he ad-libbed. The DS says the idea was for him to control O'Connor. Neither story makes Lipowitz look great.

[@Nicuu98]

Great post analysis as always. You should become DS yourself. Every team would love your knowledge.

[@pennyuyitung4854]

The Directors of S of the leading teams were trying to see if each would chase. This will be interesting to see the next few stages on how they will see who will attack Decathlon

[@ChrisHornerCycling]

Yep. Going to an interesting next few mountain stages. 🔥👊🦋

[@markmoshepatoc]

Oconnor need to follow almeida on the next mountain stages. 😂

[@mikemartinez4450]

Barring any untoward incident happening, Ben 's prospects of winning La Vuelta is pretty much on the horizon. It would take some herrculean effort to the other favorites to overcome the sizeable time gap Ben dropped on them.

[@jakobdivo]

impressive Ben O Connor. Probably has this race wraped up.

[@FT__Bicycling_____-sc7yv]

Ben was riding like a guy did in the good old days after getting a blood bag the night before. Amazing ride by Ben. Wonder if we will see a complete meltdown and an epic angry tantrum within the next few days

[@MihaiAz]

This guy isn't T. Voeckler to give him such an advantage. Bora, UAE... good luck for second place!

[@ChrisHornerCycling]

👊🦋

[@nofascistsonmywatch]

True, but don't be dissing ol' Thomas as he at least incessantly tried to animate things, and sometimes his solos were actually successful, (but of course not on a GC level, ever). 😉

[@Captinfun101]

They sound more like a cigarette pack than bike lights 😂😂

[@TheRonniethecook]

I don't hink Ben is going to give away the Red Jersey lightly. I believe Bora just lost the Vuelta. Roglic has to have amazing legs and stay upright which will be hard. Go Ben!

[@ChrisHornerCycling]

Staying upright could be an issue 😱🦋👍🤞

[@tonyg3091]

@@ChrisHornerCyclingGravity in Spain is not as strong as in France so who knows…

[@nofascistsonmywatch]

@@tonyg3091 But the roads, at least down south in the inferno there, are much more slick.

[@michaelbergfeld8751]

Maybe Borah Hansgrow should not give the guy of that cookies anymore. If that will be anough remains to be seen. I don't think Roglic regrets having left Visma, but this will be hard to digest!

[@MountainKing7]

Ma man Chris Horner did Lipovich dirty 😬😬😬

[@zannovak2643]

Cool to see il bandito there

[@savagepro9060]

Big Ben: "I know For Whom the Bell Tolls”

[@tonyg3091]

I see this comment used in other vids as well. Very incorrectly because the bell tolls for the deceased. You hear the bell means someone has died.

[@JosesAmazingWorlds]

​@@tonyg3091or maybe read a bit of Hemingway and Donne and learn that the bells toll for thee

[@tonyg3091]

@@JosesAmazingWorlds If you read a bit more carefully you would know Each man's death diminishes me, For I am involved in mankind. Therefore, send not to know For whom the bell tolls, It tolls for thee.

[@JosesAmazingWorlds]

@@tonyg3091 I just gave you the author's name!

[@tonyg3091]

@@JosesAmazingWorlds …smh….sigh…you didnt but even if you did that does not explain your misunderstanding of the real meaning of the poem…kid…

[@nickthorpe5931]

How does Felix Gall race these next couple days? He has the perfect scenario now with his teammate in GC and probably has a better shot in the high mountains. I don’t mind the 6+ min gaps from Roglic, Mas, Rodriguez & Almeida. Their teams won’t have to control the race till stage 12 now. The race will probably be decided on stage 15 and O’Connor is going to need every second if he wants to still lead GC.

[@T_Mo271]

Roglic has no margin left for either bad luck or bad strategy.

[@johndoiron9615]

It will definitely be interesting to see this play out. Is Decathlon up for defending the red jersey? I'll be happy if they can do it, but I will make no predictions.

[@ChrisHornerCycling]

👊🦋

[@user-cx2bk6pm2f]

Unbelievable.

[@fourlakes]

Roglic: Clean up aisle 7…

[@ChrisHornerCycling]

😂🦋👊

[@schattelux4827]

great as always 🦋👊🛋️

[@charles9215]

The attacks will come but not from one team but multiple teams. Defending this lead won’t be easy

[@Shrike58]

Here's the question: Does Bora have a clue about mounting a GC campaign, as opposed to getting a really fast sprinter into position? Never mind the over-all fitness of Roglic.

[@ChrisHornerCycling]

No 😂🦋👊

[@tonyg3091]

Well, 2022 Giro is not too far back so they should probably remember how to do it but who knows really…

[@guitawrizt]

Holy Moly.

[@ChrisHornerCycling]

Exactly 🔥🦋👊

[@okothobbo]

Hey Chris, I often wonder: if you were DS, presiding over things in real time, would you be calling it this correctly? Always?

[@Sportsloverandrew]

I think Roglic is feeling freaking great or terrible. Only way Bora didn't take this on harder. Some of the other GC teams seem more knuckleheadish imo.

[@PelicanIslandLabs]

Lipowitz didn't have the legs to stay with O'Connor. Nobody did!

[@ChrisHornerCycling]

You could be right but Lipo said differently. His words not mine. But my version in the video is the truth. Lipo hand his hand in the cookie jar. 😂🦋👊

[@chrisrighton6685]

@@ChrisHornerCycling Hi can you tell me what good it would have done if Lipowitz had stayed with O’Connor other than having a Bora rider close on time it still leaves Roglic way back? I don’t really know what Lipowitz could have done to stop O’Connorand I’ve been following bike racing for over 40 years?

[@pdlngsqrs9547]

Although a tough task to close a nearly 5 minute gap, IMO, RedBull has a (slightly)stronger team, and in the mountains, could chip away at lead. But as you highlighted, today was a big SNAFU, by RedBull.

[@plexoduss]

Somehow I'm not a Vuelta-fan (probably visually too hot for me) but I'm really triggered by this surpise. This is going to be tactical mayhem in the next weeks.

[@johnjohnson2096]

Is Sepp Kuss just going to write off 2024? I'm really bummed considering the Tour Du Force year he had last year, after being a pack mule for so many years????

[@StanleyDo]

I really wanted to see him at least try to defend his title

[@christopheralix8554]

Sooo, if you are gonna buy a Lupine light definitely use the coupon code, saves 100-400 dollars on your bike headlamp.

[@happyharry7331]

Who do u think Movistar’s protected rider is ? Nairo was riding about 3 rd wheel all day with team riders in front and behind could it be him ?

[@BrandonYoung-kt4zz]

I like your argument that Lipowitz was poorly instructed, and so out of his depth. When I was a kid, my dad let me take the controls of his speed boat, until he suddenly took over and said I was heading straight for a sandbar... he never told me to look out for and navigate around sandbars... if he had, I would have known what to do. I think that Lipowitz had no idea he had to mark the four main threats in the group as best he could, and report back if he got into trouble, so that there could be a change of strategy. If they had properly told him the rules of the game, he would have known what to do, and wouldn't have ended up looking so incompetent. I also wonder if Roglic was bored by what appeared to be a Vuelta that seemed to be nothing but a one horse race, a foregone conclusion that sucked the fun out of everything, and so giving a very large lead to a potential but weaker rival like O'Connor might work to spice things up a little.

[@nofascistsonmywatch]

Interesting theory. But Rog would have to know, and have complete confidence in knowing, that his form was sooo effing phenomenal that he could ride anyone and everyone off of his wheel in any upcoming terrain and/or conditions (the cooler northern cols would suit him better, but not the potential slick roads from rain), for that to make any sense at all.

[@pennyuyitung4854]

Wonder which teams will start to make deals to work together to get higher up in the GC while weakening the race favourites

[@ChrisHornerCycling]

🤔🦋👍

[@aarondcmedia9585]

The definition of insanity: letting Ben O'Connor go solo AGAIN, in a Grand Tour, on a hilly mountain stage towards the end of week 1 AND EXPECTING A DIFFERENT OUTCOME. If you are so new to the sport as a DS that you don't remember 2021 TdF when Ben did the exact same thing (break away then finish solo and catapult up the GC) you should not be in the team car. wtaf. Just knew Mr Horner was gonna laugh at these nuff nuffs today haha.

[@BlackTone91]

Yes he do this before and in the end finished 5 minutes behind race leader

[@aarondcmedia9585]

@@BlackTone91 ah so you think he's the same rider as 2021. Interesting. Have you watched cycling before?

[@ChrisHornerCycling]

Laughing all morning while watching it. Wow. Do know one remember just last year. 😱🦋👊😂

[@geoffreymccann2841]

There was only one rider today that looked comfortable . If Roglic had really good legs you would have thought he would have brought back a lot more time on the last climb without to much effort?? They only pulled back around 20 seconds give or take on that last climb

[@ChrisHornerCycling]

They never tried. Bora could have easily sent Vlasov to the front but they never tried. They never changed their plan. Ever. It was insanity. 🤔🦋😱🔥

[@gildabney]

What tactics? Hahaha!

[@ChrisHornerCycling]

Well, Bora had one. Someone where in all that craziness. 😂🦋👊

[@cooldude.1811]

What should have been a sleeper breakaway stage got turned on its head with a superb ride by BOC. Is it a Vuelta winning performance? Still too early to say, but Bora and UAE should not come to regret giving Ben such a long rope when they come to Madrid.

[@josenunes321]

Chris, your thoughts about the new UAE GC rising star McNullty? Do you still think that's reasonable to consider him as a GC leader for UAE in a GT?

[@ericvonhellens8822]

Sucks that Rigo crashed out for EF in his last grand tour.

[@HoangNguyen-dy6ik]

I open KZbin for race highlight, and can not believe the time gap

[@asmay5]

So, if Leemreize had pulled a few more turns at the front he probably would have snatched a podium. I see this happen time and time again.

[@camillelively]

Hm...if only Primoz had an historical example of this type of attack...

[@ChrisHornerCycling]

If only. 😂😂😂😂🦋👊