Vuelta (cycling)

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Sun Aug 27, 2017 10:13 pm

Froome looking good on his promise that the would try to win this - seems more determined than he was in the tour de france for this one and has certainly appeared to start this race in absolute prime condition - his team have proved strong so far but plenty of time for them to wilt in the mountains over the next couple of weeks

been very impressed with the Canadian Woods who has only been cycling 5 years (2 as a pro)

piston broke · Post by **piston broke** » Sun Aug 27, 2017 10:30 pm

I enjoy the Vuelta. The climbs are a bit steeper than TdF. Brings a different element to the race but as you say Froome looks up for this and his team are superb.

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Wed Aug 30, 2017 8:00 pm

The weather played a huge part in today's climb and Froome seemed to suffer better than the rest extending his lead and seeing al but one of his rivals finish way behind him. Nibali has the freshest legs and it shows but even he finished just behind Froome on the line - losing another 2 seconds in time bonuses plenty more climbs to come and that long TT for Froome to bank next week

otto1959 · Post by **otto1959** » Wed Aug 30, 2017 8:34 pm

Can you suffer better?

piston broke · Post by **piston broke** » Wed Aug 30, 2017 8:45 pm

He didn't look at his best today. Spent a long time on the back of his breakaway group, which isn't like him, but when it came to the crunch he still had too much for them.
I feel he let Lopez take the win and the 10 secs bonus to stop Nibali getting them. If Nibali had chased Lopez it could have been some finish.
Long road ahead of them yet but over a minute is a handy lead.

Winstonswhite · Post by **Winstonswhite** » Wed Aug 30, 2017 8:49 pm

"been very impressed with the Canadian Woods who has only been cycling 5 years (2 as a pro)"

I listened to a podcast during the tdf about Woods and he actually ran a PB of 3:57 for a mile when he was 18 which is unbelievable.

piston broke · Post by **piston broke** » Wed Aug 30, 2017 8:49 pm

I'm still surprised the comms are surprised that when somebody attacks him it takes him a while to get back.
He turns a smaller gear but pedals faster. The attackers normally go up a gear or two and charge, then they blow up. He doesn't he keeps his gear and works his way back thus conserving energy.

Pstotto · Post by **Pstotto** » Wed Aug 30, 2017 9:45 pm

Is it on TV?

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Wed Aug 30, 2017 9:49 pm

Pstotto wrote:Is it on TV?

Highlights on itv 4 every evening - mostly at 7pm but moved about for other sporting events such as world cup qualifiers this weekend- all episodes are available on itv player as well

https://www.itv.com/hub/cycling-la-vuel ... a1289a0140" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Pstotto · Post by **Pstotto** » Wed Aug 30, 2017 9:53 pm

Thanks, I was missing the T de F on TV and I forgot about this.

J50 · Post by **J50** » Wed Aug 30, 2017 10:02 pm

On Eurosport 1 or 2 live.

TheFamilyCat · Post by **TheFamilyCat** » Wed Aug 30, 2017 10:19 pm

Just put this on to find we had a power cut and it had only partly recorded. Fortunately the last 2km had been recorded so at least I saw the business end if not the build up.

Like the TdF thread, I need to avoid this until I watch the recorded highlights, which is usually after the mrs has gone to bed.

Froome is looking very good but can he maintain it? He conditioned himself for the TdF to be strongest for the final week (God knows how they can train to such precision) but he looks to be in peak condition right from the off in the Vuelta.

burnley007 · Post by **burnley007** » Wed Aug 30, 2017 10:20 pm

That weather was grim today.

burnley007 · Post by **burnley007** » Wed Aug 30, 2017 10:21 pm

I can't see anyone catching Froome, never mind putting any time into him before his TT

evensteadiereddie · Post by **evensteadiereddie** » Thu Aug 31, 2017 8:48 am

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Saw it come through Xabia on Sunday, ninety degrees, over a hundred miles done with a climb to finish.

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Thu Aug 31, 2017 7:52 pm

Froome does his usual calamity today and lost at least 20seconds to everyone - Contador breaking and causing the error - good for the race - but unreal how he seems to do this with an insane level of regularity.

Stevie2112 · Post by **Stevie2112** » Thu Aug 31, 2017 8:02 pm

The second fall on the corner was terrible riding on his part,too slow round the corner.

piston broke · Post by **piston broke** » Thu Aug 31, 2017 8:52 pm

Stevie2112 wrote:The second fall on the corner was terrible riding on his part,too slow round the corner.

he was, possibly, distracted by the team car, totally blamefree, but where it stopped left Froome very little view of the bend.

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Sat Sep 02, 2017 12:16 am

Pretty straightforward day today as we gear up for a mammoth weekend of climbing - expect some long range attacks on Froome in an effort to isolate him from his team with Contador and Nibali especially likely to link up on an assault - should be a good/hard weekend of racing

piston broke · Post by **piston broke** » Sat Sep 02, 2017 12:43 am

With 2 mins on the field, bar Nibali, and a TT to come he really only needs to mark out Nibali.

Leon C · Post by **Leon C** » Sat Sep 02, 2017 3:54 am

He might get a puncture

Garnerssoap · Post by **Garnerssoap** » Sat Sep 02, 2017 7:14 am

Might be a bit sore from falling off twice and nibali (and Contador) are circling
Or am I just nervous as I've got a few quid on the froome dog

piston broke · Post by **piston broke** » Sat Sep 02, 2017 3:16 pm

46km to go. Tune in guys there's a monster to finish today.

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Sat Sep 02, 2017 10:53 pm

That ended a bit flat - Nibali snatches the bonus seconds crumbs - it is now a straight head to head. Tomorrow has to be a huge day for a constantly improving Nibali - with that TT coming up

JohnMac · Post by **JohnMac** » Sun Sep 03, 2017 9:55 am

I think they should have cattle prods to hit those muppets who run around like lunatics dressed in Lycra

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Sun Sep 03, 2017 9:52 pm

Fantastic from Lopez today - Sky and Froome did everything you would expect with the bonus of 6 seconds gained back on Nibali - Rest day tomorrow with a long tt to follow - if Froome stays in his saddle looks like he shouldn't lose.

piston broke · Post by **piston broke** » Sun Sep 03, 2017 9:55 pm

Amazing how Sky get the lead so early in the Grand tours and then seem to defend it effortlessly.
It obviously isn't.

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Tue Sep 05, 2017 7:56 pm

Well Froome did what was expected of him - but given the rides of Kelderman, Nibali, Contador and Zakarin his performace was exceptional.

Huge day tomorrow with the final climb incorporating sections of 26% - three summit finishes in the next four - they are going to have to go really hard at him and his team

TheFamilyCat · Post by **TheFamilyCat** » Tue Sep 05, 2017 8:11 pm

26% gradient is obscene!

Pstotto · Post by **Pstotto** » Tue Sep 05, 2017 8:30 pm

Have you tried cycling out of Hebden Bridge up to the Tod road (the lane near the turning circle, not the one to Heptonstall?) It's 33% and yes I got off the bike and no I only had 10 gears.

Q: has anyone ever won the Giro, Tour de and the Vuelta in the same year?

Why is the Tour of Britain on at the same time as the Vuelta?

piston broke · Post by **piston broke** » Tue Sep 05, 2017 8:36 pm

Pstotto wrote: Why is the Tour of Britain on at the same time as the Vuelta?

Because the calendar is so full and the ToB is only a one week tour so lower ranked.
The top teams have enough riders to enter both.

Which is the climb P?
I've checked on google earth and can only see Church Lane and Savile Rd.
I have a mate who runs a cycling climbs page and he's mad for them. He lives in Rossy so this would be a good one for him.

evensteadiereddie · Post by **evensteadiereddie** » Tue Sep 05, 2017 8:39 pm

I'm off to see the ToB at Clumber Park, Notts, tomorrow. It's a National Trust place so there should be a decent crowd.

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Tue Sep 05, 2017 8:48 pm

piston broke wrote:Because the calendar is so full and the ToB is only a one week tour so lower ranked.
The top teams have enough riders to enter both.

to be a world tour team you need 25 + riders as you are obliged to enter teams in all their races (this is a bone of contention as budgets have to be enormous and many teams are always frantically searching for sponsors to keep them afloat - Cannondale thought they had a big sponsor for next season, but it has now pulled out leaving them in danger of dropping to a continental team and no garunteed plave on Giro, tdf or vuelta - the most important races to sponsors)

tob like vuelta is a world tour race I believe most weeks there is more than 1 world tour event - often more than 1 stage race. Squads also need to be able to cope with the different kinds of races - classics racers rarely make great tour races unless you are Eddie Mercx

Pstotto · Post by **Pstotto** » Tue Sep 05, 2017 8:50 pm

Church Lane I think. It's 1 in 3 in places.

TheFamilyCat · Post by **TheFamilyCat** » Tue Sep 05, 2017 8:54 pm

piston broke wrote:Because the calendar is so full and the ToB is only a one week tour so lower ranked.
The top teams have enough riders to enter both.

Which is the climb P?
I've checked on google earth and can only see Church Lane and Savile Rd.
I have a mate who runs a cycling climbs page and he's mad for them. He lives in Rossy so this would be a good one for him.

I think he's referring to Mytholm Steeps though not sure if that's the name of the road or how the climb is known locally.

tim_noone · Post by **tim_noone** » Wed Sep 06, 2017 12:33 pm

evensteadiereddie wrote:I'm off to see the ToB at Clumber Park, Notts, tomorrow. It's a National Trust place so there should be a decent crowd.

Keep off the pavement. Two cyclists overtook on the pavement! Crazy.disqualified

evensteadiereddie · Post by **evensteadiereddie** » Wed Sep 06, 2017 4:54 pm

Wow ! No problems today, a great atmosphere and I got a team UK water bottle. Yay !

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Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Wed Sep 06, 2017 8:02 pm

Those ramps were horrendous but the panic from the commentators today was so OTT (and factually incorrect even as they were speaking) - yes Froome has a bad day at the office - but not as bad as Nibali's loss yesterday.

Chapeau to Aqua Blue and Stefan Denifl

Contador had a good day and made the whole thing interesting - will be intriguing to see if some riders suffer tomorrow as Froome did today (including the team sky riders that protected him today

piston broke · Post by **piston broke** » Wed Sep 06, 2017 9:32 pm

100% correct on the comms. At one point they were showing Contador 1min up on Froome with Nibali somewhere between and Kirby made it sound like Froomes goose was cooked.
I know they want to excite you but he is a drama queen.

piston broke · Post by **piston broke** » Wed Sep 06, 2017 9:32 pm

Duplicate post.

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Thu Sep 07, 2017 1:31 am

Looking back Froome does seem to struggle on those steep ramps - More of them on Saturday's final climb to a summit finish - the next few days are going to be tricky but if Froome can maintain his lead - he has a lot to play with on Saturday than he lost today

piston broke · Post by **piston broke** » Thu Sep 07, 2017 9:31 am

It was on the Angliru where he blew his Vuelta in2011 by being the loyal teammate to Wiggins, who was obviously cooked. He had no problems that day.
Now that Nibali has to force something it could give Sky an easier ride. One man to mark.

scouseclaret · Post by **scouseclaret** » Thu Sep 07, 2017 10:05 am

I thought the most worrying thing on the highlights was the look on Froome's face when he finished. He looked shocked.

Winstonswhite · Post by **Winstonswhite** » Thu Sep 07, 2017 1:04 pm

scouseclaret wrote:I thought the most worrying thing on the highlights was the look on Froome's face when he finished. He looked shocked.

You mean he looked f ## ked!

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Thu Sep 07, 2017 7:55 pm

Nibali making life hard for that Saturday challenge - to lose 21 seconds to Froome today after yesterday must be utterly demoralising.

The Sky team were very strong and tactically very bright today - just need to keep as much in the legs as possible for Saturday - they are on the verge of a special double

Garnerssoap · Post by **Garnerssoap** » Thu Sep 07, 2017 8:07 pm

Hope so. It's Marbella Monday if he wins

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Fri Sep 08, 2017 8:35 pm

Contador lights up the stage again - gains nothing except putting the fear of God iinto Kelderman and Zakarin for tomorrow hellish final climb - will he wait for the final one or will they go early to try and separate Froome from his team. To my mind that depends on whether they want a podium place or the Red Jersey - Contador (on his last ever day of proper racing) will go all out for red so will hit hard - looking forward to it

evensteadiereddie · Post by **evensteadiereddie** » Fri Sep 08, 2017 10:35 pm

As you say, Chester, Contador is bound to do something special - it will be interesting to see how Sky attempt to stifle him.

TheFamilyCat · Post by **TheFamilyCat** » Fri Sep 08, 2017 10:40 pm

However aggressive and in-form Contador may be, I can't see him beating Froome by over 3 and a half minutes.

Not to say it's not going to be a great stage to watch though.

Winstonswhite · Post by **Winstonswhite** » Sat Sep 09, 2017 6:33 pm

What a fantastic last hour that was! Brilliant cycling