slcbob

So I see this race has been a hot mess and @canam73 has practically won this thing. Wow. What a difference a few days make.

But say it with me everybody....

It's a long way to Madrid!

diphthong

stage eight...if the breakaway survives-gilbert. if the breakaway doesn't survive-bennett. thinking the breakaway doesn't survive.

diphthong

tis. so how's the trippie? where are all the good times? who's gonna show this stranger (you) around?

GrainBrain

Stetina looking good I think he'll get a stage win yet.

one4smoke

For whatever reason, just can't get into this Grand Tour like the other two this year. Trying to watch the DVR'd stages every day, but just isn't as intriguing to me as past Vueltas. Could be the cast of characters involved at the top, I dunno.

diphthong

whatta stage. tpog looking good in his first gt. nice to see lopez go from way out. didn’t pay off but given today’s weather, it could have. something for the other riders to contemplate on the rest day.

happy to get four riders placing in the in the top ten. not quite as good as canam73 scoring three riders in the top four tho.

who the hell is carl hagan and why is he so far up the gc?

dstrong 

In case anyone can't tell...I've dismounted my bike and gotten into the team car.

GrainBrain

Roglic more then delivers on stage 9!

Nice job to Lawson Craddock, I was wondering if he'd go for this stage, a great run.

Wow Pogacar! The gigs up kid, everyone knows you now! No more lurking behind the scenes!

slcbob

I'll tell you all about it. Collect call for Mrs. Floyd. But there's a man answering and he's hanging up because he'd rather be in Spain. Que lastima. Otra vez.

Carlisle is getting a lot closer. It's still a long way to Madrid, but not quite long enough for me. It looks like I picked the wrong time to stop betting on Roglic and should have kept sniffing glue, too. Speaking of which, how about the dynamic duo from Movistar?

slcbob

If something big doesn't change soon, the "Riders Who Are Dead To Me" book might get another entry on the M page. Make room for Louis, Denis.

diphthong

see what happens when you don’t accept the charges from the united states?

slcbob

As you drive to the airport, keep an eye out for me. I'm in a ditch, left behind by the team car. Since there are no cameras or commissaires around, I could get away with and really need some non-neutral support of a wheel, a very sticky bidon or two, and a hug.

one4smoke

And I have done a Froomie...

diphthong

been incommunicado. slcbob’s not the only one on (seemingly permanent) vaca. stage twelve...valverde.

GrainBrain

Awesome Lawson helping me out the last few stages. I fear now I'll start to slip from my podium.

diphthong

stage thirteen...brutal. where’s clubber lang where you need him? out on a bigger limb than usual here...higuita for the win and lopez claws back 15-35 seconds on roglic.

slcbob

With the stage 12 boost from PhilGil, I am now solidly into the upper ranks of the 4th quartile of the 14,899 teams in the game. AKA the cream of the crap.

The winner will not be on my team. I can't fault David Hunter's preview of stage 13 and will pick Valverde to win. I thought about going against the grain to say that Lopez attacks again from distance and succeeds, but he's on my team so that will never happen.

one4smoke

Dylan Teuns for stage 13.

diphthong

roglic is killing it and looking good. we’ve still got a week to go but none of the other contenders is riding as consistently well. lopez has the heart but hasn’t been able to crack roglic and has only succeeded in cracking himself so far.

pogacar...wow.

GrainBrain

Yeah Pogacar is incredible! I made a huge mistake not going with Roglic, he didn't seem to impress at the Giro but holy vaca he just rightfully claimed his vuelta spot after today's stage 13!

Higuita was looking good but decided not to go for it. I was surprised the peloton shut the break down late like that. It's becoming clear that Pogacar had held back in mt baldy! Higuita could not stay with the GC bunch.

It was ridiculous watching those gradients, the riders were up a literal wall!

diphthong

stages 15 + 16...woof. esp stage 15...double woof. i think pogacar continues to solidify a podium place. does roglic show any weakness at all here? if so, are any of the top ten gc guys
(besides pogacar) able to take advantage?

canam73 with 4 of the top 6 riders is looking pretty unassailable currently...

team slow (s)pokes has connived its way into second place...no thanks to tgh or (especially ) meintjes. GrainBrain is right behind and has
rodriguez on the team. tried to shoehorn him onto my team but couldn't make it work. rodriguez has been bery bery quiet...expecting his rattlesnake strike
for victory before the rest day on tuesday. i'll take rodriguez to win stage 15. slcbob has somehow wheedled back into the peleton midpack.
if chaves has a big last week, expect slcbob to throw a victory parade just because there were 2 unused credits on team X Merckx the Spot.

GrainBrain

How awesome is Lawson riding right now huh? As 15 wore on I was hoping for a defining Lawson-Rodriguez one-two. As it were on this stage I was 186th out of 14,899 so that's kinda cool.

Sepp downing the entire bottle of beer to the announcer's amusement was hilarious. Finally an American with a stage win, talented and good natured!

I fear not having that extra GC candidate will put me eventually in fourth...Majka is a solid performer! If I get lucky Stetina, Rodriguez and Higuita will make something happen.

GrainBrain

My wild guess for 16 - Ben King. Although Rodriguez would be fantastic. Brutal stage, will any of the GC teams really try to chase?

one4smoke

Kool Kuss wins a stage at the Vuelta! Great to see our American win!

But someone please explain to me how in the hell IF Roglic had fell off the wheel of Valverde, Kuss would've had to relinquish the win to go back and "help" him, like they all kept saying?!? What did he have, a special shot of GoGo juice in his jersey pocket to give to him? He would need to go back to cheer him on?? Oh, THAT's worth giving up a stage win in the Vuelta for.

How in the world with a handful of kilometers left, would ANYTHING that Kuss might have done ...have helped Roglic??

I can follow the strategies and tactics most of the time, but by golly sometimes ...like the scenario today... their logic just goes right over my head.

diphthong

really well. nice to see.

majka is a steady eddie. almost always a guaranteed top 8 finisher on the gc. i think the highest he's placed at a gt is 2nd. he's usually in that top 3-6 mix.

my stage 15 pick of rodriguez finished 4th today. higuita has consistently animated. i'll go with rodriguez again to win stage 16 and look to make the leap to a bigger team that needs
him like katusha or cofidis. please cycling gods...not ineos.