Velominati Super Prestige: 2011 La Vuelta a España
Spain is an awesome country. It has amazing scenery, culture, cities and chicas… oh, the chicas. Its football competition features the world’s best players, their national team are the reigning World Cup holders, and they boast world champions in tennis, Moto GP, Superbikes and Formula 1. They regularly kick the collective asses of France and Italy, and a lot of other European countries when it comes to bicycle racing, although most of their recent heroes have somewhat of a cloud hanging over them. So why does their Grand Tour hardly raise an eyebrow when compared to the other two big tours, and why the fuck do they still allow cowards on horses armed with poison darts to taunt and kill a beast as noble as el toro for ‘entertainment’?
I can’t really answer the last one, but the fact that La Vuelta is treated like the road racing equivalent of a red-headed stepchild is about as fair as the Corrida itself. To me, and to many pros, it is seen as a tour of redemption. Those who, for one reason or another, either due to bad luck, bad management or bad form suffered a less-than-stellar Tour de France, now get a chance to make something of their season and add a ‘major’ to their palmares. Riders like Jan Ullrich, who in 1999 took the amarillo jersey after sitting out Le Tour with a dicky knee. 2008 saw Contador make amends after his Astana team was prevented from starting le Grande Boucle under a doping cloud. In fact, La Vuelta and doping have more than a passing aquaintance, with Valverde winning while under a pending hearing in 2009, and of course little Robbie Heras getting stripped of his 05 title after an EPO positive. Last year wasn’t without its own scandal, with a positive for 2nd place ‘sensation’ Ezequiel Mosquera dragging La Vuelta’s name through the red dust again. It could well be the dirtiest tour of them all, a race that itself seeks atonement as much as those who race it.
This year’s edition has the same sense of redemption written all over it, with some of Le Tour’s unfortunates having a crack at it. There’s Wiggo, who was in the self-proclaimed form of his life before snapping his twig-like collarbone early on. Can he show us what he had promised on the roads of France in the Dauphine, or will the Spanish heat and steep, long climbs be too much for him? How about Jurgen Van den Broeck, also looking great before his own clavicle calamity ended his July. Invisible Denis will also be there, his Geox team considered not good enough for the Tour, out to show that he’s still a force and add to his two Spanish victories. Other battered old warhorses who will never give up easily are Andreas Klöden and Carlos Sastre, but father time may have finally taken its toll on this duo.
In reality, it’ll probably come down to the younger brigade made up of last year’s winner Vinnie Nibali, J-Rod, Scarponi, and Anton. It could be a blow-out, or one of the best races of the year. We may even get another drug controversy to keep up the status quo of years gone by. Whatever happens is anybody’s guess, which is why this race is one of the hardest to pick for VSP contenders, and one that might even be as exciting, vibrant and colourful as the country it traverses for three hot weeks.
So pour yourself a glass of Sangria, give the start list a long or glancing look, and post your picks before 5am Pacific time (yeah, I don’t know when the hell that is either…) and if you have any doubts, confusion or questions, head to the VSP page for clarification, rules and/or rebuttals. No horsing around, no bullshit.
Buena suerte!
Been trying to catch up on the racing and watched the final 5 k’s of the stages. Is it just me or do the crowds seem really sparse? Are the Spaniards suffering from a Giro/Le Tour hangover? Or, are they just not keen on standing in sand when it’s that hot.
Cavendish is on his third Grand Tour of the year. I can’t really fault him for pulling out, though it’ll be interesting how this affects his form for the WC.
@Ron
Petacchi is on his third Grand Tour as well.
Why does Anton keep hanging on? Does he hope for a good second and third week?
@Netraam
Fuglsang is the mang
qué tal FOOLZ?
Okay, a little late on this “news” but Sky had a crash in the TTT? And they still managed to beat Geox? Ouch.
And I didn’t realize it was Brajkovic who slipped his chain at the start.
So I’m watching todays stage (a bit late but keeping a roof over the head is mandatory), and it occurred to me that there have been some weird sponsors of cycling over the years. Skil Garden Tools is what’s capturing my attention.
Locally, there’s a team sponsored by Fat Cobra Video (it’s a ‘adult’ video outlet apparently with ‘preview booths’ and whatnot).
Anyone else have a ‘favorite’?
You know, I love this fuckin guy (in a bromance kinda way).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZv4REF99Sg&feature=related
Funny, spell check wants to fix fuckin, but not bromance.
@scaler911
World is defo a richer place with Jens about
Hurk! “Don’t make it sound like Yens fuck. You Danish always make it sound like that”
I don’t speak like that. So Yens fuck….”
@Marcus
@minion
Gentlemen, I stand corrected.
I admit that I couldn’t forgive him for beating Cuddles in that Tour.
For penance I’ll have go climb some more hills this weekend.
Go Purito.
Save my VSP ass.
I have a feeling Luis Leon Sanchez and Menchov will be top-5 after the TT.
Vuelta seems less interesting than a debate on tubs. No surprises. Trying hard to care indeed.
@mouse
Carlos got all his ducks in a row that year.
Blame Popovych who couldn’t help Cuddles up the Alpe because he tried (and failed) to be a hero the day before.
@Jeff in PetroMetro
Me too. Although all my picks remain within range, particularly with the time trial, I could use some swaps. Anton is last of the potentially realistic contenders in 34th at 3:16 behind on the GC. After that the time just goes up exponentially.
So Nibali’s pissed he didn’t get the leader’s jersey? Well, if it wasn’t for Sagan winning the sprint, Liquigas would have been rather embarrassed at having four riders in a five-man break and losing the stage. That would have been a good reason to be pissed. Next time try some tactics like letting Nibbles attack and sitting on the Movistar rider.
@Erik
If I make too many swaps, I could finish La Vuelta with a negative number, the way things are going. That’s gotta be worth some kind of Velominati officially recognized dubious distinction.
La Dave takes the lead, and for the first time in the Vuelta, we’re down to less than a 5-way tie.
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@Jeff in PetroMetro
No negative points, but I could include the negative calculations in determining the Lanterne Rouge, that’s a thought.
“Jeez, what type of hat do they make you wear if you finish last?”
@Ron
The Podium Girls seem to be following some form of the Three Point System and hence look stylish. Sagan has failed in that regard. Of course, the Three Point System may have nothing to do with it, given the beauty of both women. Hmmm…
@Ron
Perfect! Thanks for the update. I’m beginning to understand why you’re consistently late with your VSP picks. Time difference in NC is, what? A week behind?
@Ron
Loving the Venus Gerbera Flower…
Very impressive work from Liquigas today. Very impressive, even if Nibali failed to pick up the bonus seconds.
This, from the twitterwebs, made me guffaw:
@wiscot
They did. Lastras covered twice.
Anyone following the US pro cycling challenge? Higher altitudes but less uphill finishes than European races.
@Netraam
I’m keeping tabs. Glad to see Big George getting a win. I know it might be too late, but someone needs/should tell Van Garderen that a)ball caps on the podium suck and b) if you’re going to wear a ball cap, wear it properly or you end up looking like a junior Landis – and that’s not good.
@wiscot
Is there a livestream that doesn’t bother me with pop-up ads for things I can’t buy because I’m in the Netherlands? Or is the shack tour tracker the only one?
I’m without live coverage this time…
@Ron
Ha!, I’d wear that hat to stand next to those two tho………..well and the win of course.
Fair play to Lastras, bet he felt as welcome as a fart in a spacesuit, with the four peas in a pod trying to TTT it – and brilliant riding by Sagan to watch him, where clearly Nibbles was to busy chatting to his luitenant on the run in – I hope they give Sagan some credit and don’t ball him out like some kid – he looked like the class act amongst them whole way down that glorious descent
Pity Nibbles didn’t get an interview or we might have seen some Cuddles action….
Wiggo still hanging around
@Netraam
Yes, and I’m also getting updates from a collegue who is a avid cyclist and went bonkers when she saw Cuddles. She lives near the TT, I guess.
I tried to get a biz trip scheduled back to the hope office in Denver to check the race out, but nothing doing.
steampunk – Yeah, slow news feed here in NC. Coupled with the TdF hangover I’m suffering, it’s rough. Nice work on the flower. My VMH identified that for me, she’s great with trees and flowers.
scaler – Yeah, I think I could be convinced to wear that hat, a baseball hat, any hat around those ladies. Wimmin’ weaken hat wearin’ anxiety!
Frank – you chose to challenge the mtn. again when you could have been in CO? Good man, good man, challenging yourself, and that damn mtn. again.
For the first time I’m sitting on the podium. Of course, to stay there several miracles have to happen and Nibali has to stay put.
I’ll savor it for now.
Just found this posted on the OBRA (Oregon Bicycle Racing Assoc.):
http://obra.org/posts/obra/show/77984
There’s a team here that has HTFU on their shorts. Kool Mo De.
Jens cracks me up. http://liten.be//hrKRd
@Dr C
http://ridewithgps.com/trips/369288
Did some hill reps on Wednesday and this ride yesterday, one of the hardest I’ve done, some fairly steep hills, hot and the last leg of the triangle was on some truly awful surfaces! Cracked Tarmac of a pave like nature!
Holy shit. Massive carnage at La Vuelta today. Sadly, Tyler was the first to go down. Hope he’s ok. He laid on the ground for quite awhile.
EDIT: He lay on the ground…
Nibali, Rodriquez and Scarponi have light injuries. Baukema looked bad but he only has strained a muscle in his neck.
Boonen claimed he could’ve won the stage if he didn’t go down. Freire looking rather OK, despite being ill at the start of the Vuelta.
Got to love Oscarito, he uses a Grand Tour to ride into form and overcome illness. Oh boy.
@Jeff in PetroMetro
Farrar needs a good talking to for jumping halfway across the road to try to grab a wheel when he realized he had no speed. Fucking poor move
Agreed. I watched it on Eurosport this morning. It was pretty clear Farrar came way over in a hurry.
Crazy uphill finish today; 28% and cobblestones. We sure we’re not in Vlaanderen? Buck Rogers rocks into the lead with a three-way tie.
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Anton returning to form, gaining time on Nibali this ride. Looking good, but now I still have to swap him on the next rest day!
Baukema just took the Red jersey. Tomorrow TT.
Incredible riding from the Modfather. Terrific form, destroying the group and setting himself up for tomorrow’s TT. And very impressed with Nibali; the guy always seems capable of riding within himself and not getting too excited. That was some pretty mature work from him, too. And nice to see Martin take the stage””nice final kick. Shame his cousin couldn’t hold his wheel on the initial break.
What a badass final climb! I loved all the attacks flying from everywhere. People blowing themselves up (Scarponi) and people getting gobbled up, chewed, and spit out the back (J-Rod, and Nibali to a lesser extent). Well played by Jaws to hang on to the freight train that was Sky and then jump around for the win. He blew up the race and manged to snag the stage. Chapeau.
Wiggins, Fuglsang, Monfort, Kessiakoff, Zubeldia, Menchov. All within 2 minutes of eachother. Tomorrow will be D-Day for General Contenders.
Also nice: Spartacus vs Tony. Who is the best now, and who will be the best on the World Championships ITT?
Collin – Jaws? I think that name must be reserved for the guy leading out Viviani in CO these days:
Looks like he wants to swallow Cav up whole!
@Ron
I dunno Ron, consider:
with: