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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Ha, tuned in Sunday morning with the VMH to watch the first Vuelta I'd seen so far. Have been too busy to watch much cycling since the end of the TdF. Well, I get to see Boss Hogg win. Oh wait, that isn't the Vuelta! (the VMH was not happy with being misled). Then twenty minutes later get to see Fast Phil chalk up his first win of the year, just a couple of days after reading an article regarding how he's won every year since he turned PRO.
Quite the Sunday morning!
Nice riding by both of them too, really slick moves by EBH and awesome to see him go with the VelcroElbows as he went under the red flag...
I kinda miss the old VSP DNF rules, since I think they would have allowed me to swap out fucking Gadret without penalty because he has a tummy ache.
Though I should just really Rule 5 it.
Fucking Gadret. I am through with you.
Really? Is no one else paying attention to the Vuelta. I made the previous comment 24 hours ago? Froome. Contador. Purito. Valverde. The future. The seeker of redemption. The bridesmade. The past trying to make good.
This is drama. This is a great race. Hello? Bueller?
See, as I sit here working Froome is slipping. Contador is gaining ground. Looks like he will be in red. What then? Can Froome recover? Is it over.
Crickets. I hear nothing but crickets out there.
Sorry, too busy out riding my fucking bike to watch cycling on TV.
@eightzero
Good response. Just busy enough at work that I can have it streaming to my computer in the background.
@Erik
@Erik
I have been watching it, the highlights show on ITV4 anyways. Except Tivo didn't get it yest so not sure what happened. Will look it up on the interwebs while at work tonight. Been really enjoying it, as I am new to following the sport properly, I like seeing the new names than the ones in the tdf.
have not seen the TT as mentioned above but Portes ride looks good. Can't find much comment on it either, from the online cycling press.
Vuelta Stage 11 Result
1 KESSIAKOFF, Fredrik AST 52' 36''
2 CONTADOR, Alberto STB + 17''
3 FROOME, Christopher SKY + 39''
4 VALVERDE, Alejandro MOV + 1' 08''
5 INTXAUSTI, Beñat MOV + 1' 09''
6 PORTE, Richie SKY + 1' 15''
7 RODRIGUEZ, Joaquin KAT + 1' 16''
8 MEYER, Cameron OGE + 1' 17''
9 TALANSKY, Andrew GRS + 1' 24''
10 CASTROVIEJO, Jonathan MOV + 1' 34''
Away at a cottage for the better part of the last week with no internet access, I Delgadoed the rest day swaps. Just catching up on the past week's developments at the Vuelta. I don't want to be too hasty here, but Van den Broeck and De Gendt are starting to look more and more like "long shots" for the top five!
Is it too early to do a feature on Juan Jose Cobo as an Evanescent Rider?