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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I suppose Movistar should have been doing what sky was doing since They were in red
@meursault
I have no problem with the tactic, whether they attacked him on a crash or just attacked, BUT Sky saying they didn't know the GC leader was down is total BS.
@Souleur Here's famous cycling author and reporter William Fotheringham's point of view, which is also mine: to me it all comes back to whether the race is "on". if it's on, it's fair game. if it's not on + crash occurs, attacking is bad ethics...
Unexpected finish to the stage today. The dig that Uran put in at the front for Froome on the last climb was something else! Still, it was interesting to see Contador get dropped when Froome and Rodriguez took off for the finish. To me, it looked as though he didn't even try to go with them. Despite the pace set by the Sky train, somehow I still find it doubtful that Contador didn't have the legs to go with the front two had he really wanted to.
@Duende
Who really knows what any one rider is feeling anyways? Contador rode away from Froome earlier, now Froome returned the favor. It is a long race, and as I see it COTHO might not have enough racing this season to be ready, while conversely Froome might have too much racing in his legs. But really, who knows.
Looking over my picks, is it too early to vote Cobo for evanescent riders of the 10s?
@DerHoggz I think the lack of racing you're talking about could mean Bertie is a little more succeptible to having a day or two off during the three weeks just because his legs aren't used to race pace
@Mikael Liddy
Yes, that is what I meant, why did I write COTHO?
How about Jens soloing for 150km for a win with every "bonification" along the way in the USA Pro Cycling Challenge.
@DerHoggz
It was great but because the Americans haven't worked out how to transmit live pictures of a bike race we saw very little of it. I mean if they can transmit movies from Mars they can do it from Colorado too - can't they.