Seriously. Is it almost September? This was not the agreement, this was supposed to be an endless summer. And all you A-Holes down there in the Antipodes are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, enjoying longer days and shorter nights. I don’t need to tell you where you can take that, but it’s dark and it smells. I have no patience for the changing of seasons when it means I’m going to be benching Number One and busting out the headlight.
I’m not going to lie to you; the Vuelta is my least-favorite race of the year. Part of it is the parcours-it’s hard enough to get excited about flat sprint stages in the Tour, but these stages in central Spain that go down a straight freeway for hours are just too much for my brain to find interesting. Hey look! There’s another shrub! Wasn’t he a President at one point? There will be some redeeming points of the race, I’m sure, and the shit-steep climbs they dot along the route are certain to be highlights of the season. But after you do the math, this is the grand tour with the weakest field, the worst route, and-most damning-the strongest signal that Summer is coming to an end on the half of the world that matters.
I can’t be bothered to sort out the route and what stages are going to matter, but I’ll tell you this: for the last few years, the winner of the Vuelta VSP has won the VSP GC. A few years back, @Marcus complained that he only lost the VSP because @Nate used the second Rest Day Swaps to his advantage to take the win, but after heavily increasing the penalties, he kept losing. Typical of a man who posts photos of his todger on a Cycling site. (@Nate, your win was clean according to the VCI.) Speaking of which, at worst the Vuelta will distract from Pat McQuaid and his bid for losing the UCI Presidency.
He has a strong lead in the 2013 Anti-V competition, however.
Check the start list, get your picks in, and don’t Delgado this baby; it could be your ticket to the shop apron. Bon chance.
[vsp_results id=”26944″/]
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@Buck Rogers
Yep. The Count has failed to deliver yet again. He's taken the last of my VSP votes. I thought he had one last peak in him. I was wrong.
I'm worried about the kids! Ratto's descending "style" leaves a little to be desired, Don't try this at home kids!
@Harminator
Apparently it was hypothermia that did him in, given I've been concerned about a slight cough I've been carrying all week I can't imagine trying to ride with that!
With the exception of Uran I've got the top 5 names on GC correct after stage 15. Unfortunately, in entirely wrong order!
@Buck Rogers
Don't ask, don't tell... he's on fire!
@Harminator
Ha! Took me a bit to figure out who The Count was but now that I figured it out, love it!
Pretty much just today and Saturday's monster stage to decide the final outcome. I do not see the rest of this week prior to Saturday shaking up the GC. But, then again, look what happened on a supposed Sprinter's stage at the tdf.
Can Old Man Horner, who has obviously found the fountain of youth, hold on? Can Roche creep back into it??? And come on Slammy Sammy!!!
Uran finally shows us his race face....great photo finish and Nibbles nearly loses the lead!
What an awesome day after yesterdays boredom...!
@Deakus Absolutely, both the fight for the stage win and the fight amongst the GC riders had drama.
With the gap only 28 seconds, the Angliru is going to be a cage match.
@Collin
Absolutely! Nibbles showing some weakness. This is definitely not over yet!