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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@Dr C No arguments here about Contador animating the race - I'm actually coming around to liking the guy.
It's one thing to attack when you know you're going to rip everyone to shreds like he did in the Giro, but quite another to keep coming back day after day and throwing yourself at a brick wall.
I can't think of a GT in the last 10-15 years where anyone has done it quite like this. Usually there's a key stage where the rivals are broken and after that they just ride to limit their losses or make the occasional attack in case the favourite falls off, but everyone knows the game is over.
When have we seen repeated attacks within a stage, repeated day after day on killer stages. Chapeau to Bertie I say.
On the coverage, I haven't seen ITV, but I do wish David Harmon could stop sounding like he is close to tears every time Chris Froome loses more time.
Rule #5 engaged, no rest day swaps. 24hr delay to sunny Afghanistan and no Vuelta to watch though. Bah.
Despite the truth of having 2 in the top 5 with no chance left...the cost of swaps looks too much for the gamble so I am hoping Cobo and Uran hop on a tandem and dish some pain to Valverde and Moreno!
Also enjoying via ITV4 highlights here. Format is different to tour, Imlach and a seemingly random pundit have a chat about the previous days stage, before the action, which is usually the last 20k or so. But all good.
Really enjoyed Steve Cummings attack and stage win other day too.
Hmm, swapping 1st and 4th would put me tied for second. Seems like thats not in keeping with the spirit of things though.
My DeGendt choice is a bust, but I'm still rooting for the wee man Talansky to get top 5 - which he would be without the awful TTT at the beginning. Froome looks like he's on fumes.
I think one reason we've seen so great racing is that it's basically a three-way race for the win by three Spaniards. When was the last time a grand tour was being so closely contested by three riders from the home country?
@ChrisO and that's why he will win the Tour next year.
I'm hoping Moreno will continue to blow himself up working for Purito and my man Talansky can slide into fifth for a perfect VSP Vuelta pick! Either way this has been the best grand tour I've ever watched and I'm looking forward to the last week of action.
Tell you what, I think Bertie may be getting stronger, and in a week's time, on his home patch, we are going to see some serious fireworks - he seems to know only one way - attack attack attack - I can see Puritos legs falling off on the final climbing day - that said, I still hope he wins it
Hmmm, since I delgado'ed the start, if I pick 5 riders now, it will be at a 50 point penalty. LOL