Velominati Super Prestige: Vuelta a España 2012
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.
From what little of the coverage I have seen it strikes me that a lot of the guys are fulfilling contracts rather than racing the USA Pro Cycling Challenge.
Mind you the USA also gave us Formula 1 from a hotel car park in Vegas a few years back so the bar isn’t set that high.
Updated provisional results, Lindrop takes the lead:
So yesterday was the first bit of this Vuelta I’ve actually watched, but not for the first time I am bamboozled by Sky’s tactics.
Why chase down a non-threatening breakaway, only to let your three main rivals take the bonus seconds and some extra time from you as well ? Froome was left without help pretty early on the last climb and had to make the pace himself, as well as counter their attacks.
If they have a plan I can’t work out what it is.
@Oli
So he must think Ullrich should’ve attacked on Luz Ardiden 2003…
@brett I don’t know what Fothers thinks but Ullrich did attack. Sure he slowed down after a while, but he definitely punched it when Armstrong went down. There’s a classic clip of him from the left and it shows his right thumb going down on his Ergolever as he dumps it into a higher gear as he looks around at the crash.
I don’t care that he did attack, I just think he should have told the truth about it.
Great finish today – if you can watch from 15km to go then do it. The whole bunch is barrelling along at awesome speed, too fast for any one team to control.
Then there is attack after attack until Rodriguez and Gilbert get clear with nearly 5km still to go, but they make it stick and Phil takes the win, just in time for the World Championships.
Gutsy stuff from J-Rod. I know there’s a lot of climbing still to come but I hope he can pull this one off.
@ChrisO Agreed, it was a great run into Barcelona.
I hope J-Rod doesn’t lose too much in the ITT on Tuesday, he deserves to be leading the GC.
My favoritism toward Gadret is officially over. OVER.
I do believe that I will keep Monfort in. He could have a killer day in the mountains and come in fifth. I can dream.
@ChrisO
I wondered about that too. Can only guess that Froomey said he was strong enough to get some bonus time, but then it turned out he wasn’t. Sky’s recent attempts to exhaust the competition with fast tempo riding don’t seem to have affected anyone except their man, so maybe they will let others lead up the climbs after the rest day.
Froomey has definitely lost that explosive climbing power that he showed at le Tour.
Great to see my smokey Fast Phil get up at last. And a great quote from him in cycling news as to why he has struggled this year, apparently he is human. Who’d have guessed it.
”
The million-dollar question, though, was why Gilbert had had such a bad season up to now after such a good 2011. To his credit, he met the question head on.
“I had a very hard season in 2011, racing a lot and winning a lot takes a lot of energy,” he explained. “I’m just human, I’m maybe paying a lot for it this season. After the Tour last year I normally would have had a break, instead, I refocused on the Worlds, and did Eneco, San Sebastian and so on.
“I never stopped and maybe I have paid for it this year. Last year was my year and maybe I was paying for this because I was over my limit.”
VSP PICKS (1st Rest Day Swaps):
1. Contador
2. Froome
3. Rodriguez
4. Valverde
5. De Gendt
VSP PICKS (1st Rest Day Swaps):
1. Froome
2. Contador
3. Jrod
4. Valverde
5. Gesink
I am going to regret this change.
VSP PICKS (1st Rest Day Swaps):
1. Froome
2. Purito
3. Contador
4. Valverde
5. Maxime Monfort
Well I Delgadoed the first picks so there’s no point in going for the same choice as everyone else – I think the 25 point penalty is technically impossible to overcome anyway, unless I correctly pick the rider, the place, his favourite colour and what he had for breakfast, unless it is a Tuesday in which case it would be lunch.
So there we go – one banker and four crazy wild cards. I think I would piss myself laughing if Nico Roche actually podiumed.
VSP PICKS (1st Rest Day Swaps):
1. Contador
2. Gesink
3. Roche
4. Capecchi
5. Nocentini
After the Tour VSP I vowed never to make a rest day swap again.
That being said I have to get De Gendt out and put Valverde in.
VSP PICKS (1st Rest Day Swaps):
1. A. Contador
2. A. Valverde
3. J. Rod
4. Froome
5. Van den Broeck
VSP PICKS (1st Rest Day Swaps):
1. Conti
2. Valverde
3. Igor
4. Roche
5. Dekker
Going to stick, can’t afford the penalty.
makin some changes….stupid VDB, had to lose all those minutes
VSP PICKS (1st Rest Day Swaps):
1. Contadorrrrr
2. Purito
3. Froome
4. Valverde
5. Roche
I’ve been dog sitting at a house that has the Universal Sports channel so I’ve been watching the race on real TV instead of the computer. I must say that the last two stages were pretty awesome. J-Rod and Valverde blowing by Contador in the last 50m Saturday and then Fast Phil finally getting a win and all is well with cycling (other headline grabbing stories notwithstanding).
VSP PICKS (1st Rest Day Swaps):
1. Bertie
2. Froome
3. J Rod
4. Valve Cap
5. Cobo
Van der broek has been left in another country, if the gps is even accurate. But not going to switch him out in hopes of surmounting 5 point penalty. Amazing how fast those gaps add up in just one week.
Travelling outside of access to the Internet when the Vuelta started. The irony may be that I earn more points by coming in late.
VSP PICKS (1st Rest Day Swaps):
1. RODRIGUEZ OLIVER Joaquin
2. Chris Froome
VSP PICKS (1st Rest Day Swaps):
1. el Pistolero
2. J Rod
3. Gesink
4. Zommy Froomy
5. Valverde
Uran’s out. But who is in? Gesink? He is bound to crash. Valverde? He said he still doesn’t hold out much hope for GC. Dani Moreno? Going well now, but should sacrifice himself for Purito later. Roche? Saxo will help him get points for 2013, but well, he’s still just Nico Roche.
The only logical answer is Valverde, because I would be a fool to believe what he says about anything.
VSP PICKS (1st Rest Day Swaps):
1. Contador
2. Purito
3. Froome
4. Valverde
5. Capecchi
Thought I had a ringer with DeGent! Whoops, we’ll try Valverde instead, but I am sticking with Talansky. Watch him go on Wednesday and then the team will get behind him, and I think he’ll make some noise.
VSP PICKS (1st Rest Day Swaps):
1. Rodriguez
2. Contador
3. Valverde
4. Froome
5. Talansky
VSP PICKS (1st Rest Day Swaps):
1. Froome
2. J. Rodriguez
3. Contador
4. Anton
5. Valverde
Cobo the clown? What was I thinking?
VSP PICKS (1st Rest Day Swaps):
1. Contadouche
2. Froome-dog
3. Jay-Rod
4. Valverde
5. de Gendt
One swap, I should have picked valverde to begin with. I still think Purito can see it through.
VSP PICKS (1st Rest Day Swaps):
1. J-Rod
2. Contador
3. Froome
4. Valverde
5. igor anton
@Skinnyphat
Indeed.
Out, damn Cobo, out!
VSP PICKS (1st Rest Day Swaps):
1. Contador
2. Purito
3. Froome
4. Valverde
5. Mollema
One Movistar out, the other in.
VSP PICKS (1st Rest Day Swaps):
1. Froome
2. Contador
3. JRod
4. Valverde
5. Talansky
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?
Brilliant final climb on the stage today, so so steep. Really worth trying to watch the last 15 minutes if you can find it.
@motor city
http://www.cyclingfever.com/stage.html?etappe_idd=MjcwMDU=&_ap=video
@wiscot
I queried the same thing last week, great minds and all.
@DerHoggz
That article could have been written straight after last year’s Vuelta finishing ceremony!
Watching Froome get worked over on the climbs has me wondering: is he cooked from the Tour or is it just an indication of how much slower the climbing was at the Tour without the Pistolero?
Updated provisional standings:
Seems to me Froome is feeling the pressure of being GC rider. Plus I am not sure how Sky compares in strength to tour team.
Did I lose some points? I didn’t make any rest day swaps.
Bye, bye, ugly shirt sleeves (and baseball caps)? Rapha to kit out Team Sky next year.
@Nate This should be interesting, Rapha’s slightly retro design and a modern cycling team. Maybe it will make their stuff more affordable? Somehow I doubt it. Maybe they will go mod on Sky, at Wiggo’s urging.
@Gianni
It won’t be hard for them to improve. And slightly OT, but the stripey jersey icon looks good on you.