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.
I know as well as any of you that I've been checked out lately, kind…
Peter Sagan has undergone quite the transformation over the years; starting as a brash and…
The Women's road race has to be my favorite one-day road race after Paris-Roubaix and…
Holy fuckballs. I've never been this late ever on a VSP. I mean, I've missed…
This week we are currently in is the most boring week of the year. After…
I have memories of my life before Cycling, but as the years wear slowly on…
View Comments
@Dan_R I'm in the same boat. Was considering just sticking in Purito and hoping for a 25 point boast but it seems to be a bit odds with the spirit of the thing. A bit like turning up for the last week of a GT with fresh riders and saying "Sorry chaps - we were bit disorganised, how about we start 30 seconds behind the leader and leave two riders out of the team?"
Well, I think I can count on the fact that Froome is cooked. So am I. No changes. I'm going for a ride.
"Rabobank climbers Robert Gesink and Laurens Ten Dam, sixth and eighth on general classification, were horrified at their experience. "I have never seen anything as hard than the Cuitu Negru," Gesink said on the team's homepage after the stage. "This last climb is hell, for a fact. The Angliru is also very steep, but it's more regular. The last three kilometres were horrible. It was steeper than the Angliru. I almost fell off the back of my bike."
Ten Dam echoed his sentiments. "It was perhaps a great show for the spectators, but not for the riders. When I came down again, I saw other riders still going up, and it was just unbelievable to watch, terribly steep. I rode with a compact cassette for the very first time in my life. And in the end, I needed it! It was no fun, I was in a cave of pain. Horrible."
@Dr C I liked Pedro Delgado's comments, he said that stage was like a "human butcher shop"
looks like contador is going to take the red jersey from j-rod.
Another brilliant Vuelta stage.
This has been my favourite GT of the year.
Shat out the back of the VSP like a Froome - Flecha? What was I thinking?
Lexicon proposal - "VMH Pleaser" = Froome - for his refusal to finish first under any circumstances
@the Engine
Nicely put.