One of the loveliest things about the Grand Tours is that you get a feel, by the nature of the route, of the country’s landscape and physical qualities. Italy is littered with mountains and coasts, France is bordered by mountains with large swaths of open landscape throughout, and Spain is like Tatooine; mostly desert with some rocky outcroppings. I might be oversimplifying here, but it seems like every edition of the Vuelta features a week or two of riders cutting through open desert on a freeway and then finishing it off with some climbs that require a buzz-saw gear to get up. Of the three Tours, this one is my least favorite, but it’s a bike race and I loves me a bike race.
The Vuelta also stands apart as being the event which generally decides the Velominati Super Prestige GC and the personalized Shop Apron that goes with it; in past editions, we’ve even had newcomers to the event debut at the Vuelta and win the overall, as was the case last year with @Nate’s performance. Unless I have that wrong, in which case I don’t really care. The important point here is that even though there is less interest in this event than others, it matters quite a bit to the year-long VSP, so you better be paying attention, corporal.
No fancy prizes on offer as we did at the Tour, but we do have our customary Symbol Pack up for grabs, in addition to second and third places winning a pair of Handlebar Cufflinks each when they come available in a few weeks. So, check the race details, get your picks in by the time the countdown clock goes to zero (5am Pacific time on Saturday), and buckle in for the ride. Regular GT VSP rules apply. Good luck.
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This is going to be one hell of a race. Froome vs Contador vs J-Rod for the honours, all three have a punch going up hill and two ave something to prove (Froome that he can win and contador that he is still top dog). Getting nationlistic i hope that froome has got it and that contador needs to long to get back into it. Hopefully lots of attacking in the first week and froome will have the better of contador in the TTT and ITT, both will put a lot of time into j-rod too.
Can.Not.Wait.
VSP PICKS:
1. Froome-dog
2. Contador
3. J-Rod
4. Igor Anton
5. Uran
There is always something about the 'lesser' Grand Tours that attract me, the Giro is awesome, and the Vuelta is sage for the season. I love them too, because the promise to break legs, and take names
note: no cuntador in this pick, froome will hand it to him
VSP PICKS:
1. zoom zoom Froome
2. jurgen VDB
3. DeGent
4. Cobo
5. Valverde
VSP PICKS:
1. 'berto
2. Froome
3. Anton
4. Purito
5. Cobo
VSP PICKS:
1. cuntador
2. froome
3. jrod
4. anton
5. cobo
... But it's a bike race, and I loves me a bike race...
Well said, that man
VSP PICKS:
1. Froo-Froo
2. De Gendt
3. El Beefeater
4. J-Rod
5. VdB
... But it's a bike race, and I loves me a bike race...
Well said, that man
VSP PICKS:
1. contador
2. purito
3. anton
4. froome
5. de Gent
I have a desire to return to Gadret as another dark horse, but I like Monfort. I'd have to pull Anton. Of course, Anton always blows it. So, yeah, I'll go for it. He sure ain't riding for Nico Roche.
VSP PICKS:
1. Froome
2. Purito
3. Contador
4. Gadret
5. Maxime Monfort
VSP PICKS:
1. Froome
2. Contador
3. De Gent
4. Cobo
5. Talansky
Its going to be more exciting than and exciting thing...