Go Back  Bike Forums > Bike Forums > Professional Cycling For the Fans
Reload this Page >

Vuelta Thread, possibly including Spoilers - don't read if you don't want to know!

Notices
Professional Cycling For the Fans Follow the Tour de France,the Giro de Italia, the Spring Classics, or other professional cycling races? Here's your home...

Vuelta Thread, possibly including Spoilers - don't read if you don't want to know!

Old 08-31-17, 10:08 AM
  #51  
Caretaker
Heretic
 
Caretaker's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Dublin, Ireland
Posts: 2,246

Bikes: Specialized Sirrus, Giant OCR3, Giant CRS3

Mentioned: 20 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2827 Post(s)
Liked 561 Times in 429 Posts
Stage 12

Great win for the Pole, great attacking ride from Contador and Froome has his problems but manages to limit his loss. Shows anything can happen when you least expect.
Caretaker is offline  
Old 08-31-17, 10:18 AM
  #52  
dstrong 
Senior Member
 
dstrong's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Awesome, Austin, TX
Posts: 4,231

Bikes: Specialized Roubaix, Interloc Impala, ParkPre Image C6

Mentioned: 7 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 254 Post(s)
Liked 86 Times in 56 Posts
I'll say it...I miss the podium girls. Each rider that stands on the podium looks lonely and unsure of how long they need to stay there.

I worry about the impact this has on the Podium Girl industry. Hopefully they have training programs to develop other skills that makes them employable.
__________________

2014 Specialized Roubaix2003 Interloc Impala2007 ParkPre Image C6 (RIP)

dstrong is offline  
Old 08-31-17, 11:05 AM
  #53  
MatthewJRudd
Junior Member
 
MatthewJRudd's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2017
Location: Edmonton, AB
Posts: 17

Bikes: 2012 TREK Madone 3.1

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 9 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Originally Posted by Caretaker
Stage 12

Great win for the Pole, great attacking ride from Contador and Froome has his problems but manages to limit his loss. Shows anything can happen when you least expect.
A-Mercx to that. One of the more exciting stages I've seen in a bit, and that's saying something for this Vuelta. It will be interesting to see how Froomey rides tomorrow, but he didn't look particularly banged up.
MatthewJRudd is offline  
Old 08-31-17, 11:11 AM
  #54  
Doge
Senior Member
 
Doge's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: Southern California, USA
Posts: 10,474

Bikes: 1979 Raleigh Team 753

Mentioned: 153 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3374 Post(s)
Liked 371 Times in 253 Posts
Originally Posted by Caretaker
You're all just jealous because of him being an African.
Well I "grew-up" in Nairobi too. I road with the Nairobi bike club and did my first TT there - age 16 or something.
Doge is offline  
Old 08-31-17, 12:34 PM
  #55  
Kevindale
Senior Member
 
Kevindale's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Amsterdam
Posts: 1,684

Bikes: 1980 Koga-Miyata Gentsluxe-S, 1998 Eddy Merckx Corsa 01, 1983 Tommasini Racing, 2012 Gulf Western CAAD10, 1980 Univega Gran Premio

Mentioned: 49 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 600 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 11 Times in 11 Posts
When they say anything can happen in the Vuelta...

EDIT: Here's a page that has more info and more crazy cell phone videos of today's stage.

Last edited by Kevindale; 08-31-17 at 12:53 PM.
Kevindale is offline  
Old 08-31-17, 01:22 PM
  #56  
MinnMan
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
MinnMan's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Minneapolis
Posts: 5,735

Bikes: 2022 Salsa Beargrease Carbon Deore 11, 2020 Salsa Warbird GRX 600, 2020 Canyon Ultimate CF SLX disc 9.0 Di2, 2020 Catrike Eola, 2016 Masi cxgr, 2011, Felt F3 Ltd, 2010 Trek 2.1, 2009 KHS Flite 220

Mentioned: 19 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 4268 Post(s)
Liked 2,938 Times in 1,812 Posts
It's a shame that the Vuelta gets a small fraction of the attention of the Tour. For my money, it'e the most interesting grand tour.
MinnMan is offline  
Old 08-31-17, 02:26 PM
  #57  
diphthong
Senior Member
 
diphthong's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: insane diego, california
Posts: 8,287

Bikes: 85 pinarello treviso steel, 88 nishiki olympic steel. 95 look kg 131 carbon, 11 trek madone 5.2 carbon

Mentioned: 26 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1619 Post(s)
Liked 3,087 Times in 1,670 Posts
^agreed.
diphthong is offline  
Old 08-31-17, 02:58 PM
  #58  
gpsblake
Walmart bike rider
 
gpsblake's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: South Carolina
Posts: 2,117
Mentioned: 2 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 127 Post(s)
Liked 29 Times in 24 Posts
Originally Posted by MinnMan
It's a shame that the Vuelta gets a small fraction of the attention of the Tour. For my money, it'e the most interesting grand tour.
I agree. You see a lot more racing between the "heads of state" in the Vuelta. But I guess one downside is that the Vuelta isn't geared for the sprinters and it conflicts with the World Championships. Although one can argue that stages meant for the sprinters make for the most boring racing to watch on TV minus the last 10km.
gpsblake is offline  
Old 08-31-17, 03:12 PM
  #59  
DLBroox
Senior Member
 
DLBroox's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Miami, FL
Posts: 1,010

Bikes: Bianchi San Jose, Dahon Mu Uno, Origami Wasp

Mentioned: 2 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 118 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 23 Times in 15 Posts
Originally Posted by Kevindale
When they say anything can happen in the Vuelta...

EDIT: Here's a page that has more info and more crazy cell phone videos of today's stage.
Thanks for sharing those. It's horrifying that a fan ran up to that rider and pushed him off his bike. I hope he was arrested. And the cop shoving the fan is a big wtf moment.
DLBroox is offline  
Old 08-31-17, 06:08 PM
  #60  
dstrong 
Senior Member
 
dstrong's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Awesome, Austin, TX
Posts: 4,231

Bikes: Specialized Roubaix, Interloc Impala, ParkPre Image C6

Mentioned: 7 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 254 Post(s)
Liked 86 Times in 56 Posts
Is it possible that the cop thought the fan was about to get hit by the neutral service moto and was trying to push him out of the way, willingly putting himself into harms way?

Naw...I didn't think so either.
__________________

2014 Specialized Roubaix2003 Interloc Impala2007 ParkPre Image C6 (RIP)

dstrong is offline  
Old 08-31-17, 08:59 PM
  #61  
Kevindale
Senior Member
 
Kevindale's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Amsterdam
Posts: 1,684

Bikes: 1980 Koga-Miyata Gentsluxe-S, 1998 Eddy Merckx Corsa 01, 1983 Tommasini Racing, 2012 Gulf Western CAAD10, 1980 Univega Gran Premio

Mentioned: 49 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 600 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 11 Times in 11 Posts
Regarding the videos I linked to earlier, here's a link that has some additional videos that show more.

The Spanish cop pushed the fan for running along and getting to close to the rider. He was apparently unaware he was pushing the fan right into the neutral service moto. It was a bad idea, since he could also have pushed the fan into a rider instead, but I understand that those guys are probably on high alert after the terror attacks in Spain in the last few weeks. We've repeatedly seen the police pushing the fans back along the side of the road, which I've never seen before. It's a little less exciting, but it's the rational thing to do.

And I read in the comment section on the page I just linked that the fan who pushed the rider over has Down's Syndrome, so it apparently was a fluke thing where the poor guy was reacting to all the overexcited fans around him.

As for the excitement of the Vuelta, it seems to me that the somewhat shorter stages, along with the depleted teams, is making for more exciting and desperate racing.
Kevindale is offline  
Old 08-31-17, 09:46 PM
  #62  
San Pedro
Senior Member
 
San Pedro's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: Kota, Aichi, Japan
Posts: 1,277

Bikes: 2011 Giant Seek R3, 2015 Specialized Allez Elite, 2017 Giant TCR Advanced 2

Mentioned: 2 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 344 Post(s)
Liked 3 Times in 3 Posts
Originally Posted by Kevindale
It's interesting that people often complain about the efficiency and strength of the Sky team in supporting their designated leader. They're clearly fantastic at it, and it does get boring seeing a line of 3-6 black-clad Sky riders leading the peloton, mile after mile, with one or two domestiques going deep into the stage in service of their leader.

OTOH, when I was watching the Binckbank Tour, Sagan had the GC well in hand till he flatted with no support (neutral or team car or teammate), and then in subsequent stages the other riders worked together to keep him from making up time or winning a stage. I read a lot of comments that he had no reason to complain - it was his team's fault, or even his fault for going with Bora-Hangrohe, and that he should go with a deep and strong team Sky-like team to get better results. Of course, if he did have that team, we'd hear that he wasn't really that good a rider, that it was all the team, that it was boring...

Anyway, stage 12 is shaping up for a nice race for the stage win by someone really hungry. As I write this they're 29 km out and about to hit the second big climb.

The sport has evolved to reward aggressive/organized team tactics. Or rather, it's always rewarded that, but Sky has dialed it in to an unprecedented degree, at least in the TdF, and in this year's Vuelta.
Sagan was great fun to watch in the Binckbank Tour. I do think he screwed himself when he said "I decide who wins" or something similar after one of the stages. Probably didn't want to make anyone help him catching breaks.

So sad, I couldn't find a way to watch the 12th stage.
San Pedro is offline  
Old 09-01-17, 07:21 AM
  #63  
Pemetic2006
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2015
Posts: 1,117
Mentioned: 3 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 377 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 14 Times in 10 Posts
Originally Posted by San Pedro
Sagan was great fun to watch in the Binckbank Tour. I do think he screwed himself when he said "I decide who wins" or something similar after one of the stages. Probably didn't want to make anyone help him catching breaks.

So sad, I couldn't find a way to watch the 12th stage.
I just returned from a two week vacation and I'm catching up on YouTube (Eurosport). It only, typically, shows the last half hour to perhaps one hour but that beats nothing.
Pemetic2006 is offline  
Old 09-01-17, 07:38 AM
  #64  
Kevindale
Senior Member
 
Kevindale's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Amsterdam
Posts: 1,684

Bikes: 1980 Koga-Miyata Gentsluxe-S, 1998 Eddy Merckx Corsa 01, 1983 Tommasini Racing, 2012 Gulf Western CAAD10, 1980 Univega Gran Premio

Mentioned: 49 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 600 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 11 Times in 11 Posts
Originally Posted by San Pedro
Sagan was great fun to watch in the Binckbank Tour. I do think he screwed himself when he said "I decide who wins" or something similar after one of the stages. Probably didn't want to make anyone help him catching breaks.
He said that after everyone had already taken an "anyone-but-Sagan" riding approach. What he meant by it was that for several successive stages, he was the only rider in the leading group who was shutting down last minute breaks. He would shut down 3 or 4 in a row, and then get frustrated and let the next one go. That's what he meant - he decided who would win by which break he didn't chase, since no one else would chase. I didn't read where any of the other riders disputed that statement. They all looked kind of embarrassed.
Kevindale is offline  
Old 09-01-17, 07:39 AM
  #65  
Kevindale
Senior Member
 
Kevindale's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Amsterdam
Posts: 1,684

Bikes: 1980 Koga-Miyata Gentsluxe-S, 1998 Eddy Merckx Corsa 01, 1983 Tommasini Racing, 2012 Gulf Western CAAD10, 1980 Univega Gran Premio

Mentioned: 49 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 600 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 11 Times in 11 Posts
Originally Posted by Pemetic2006
I just returned from a two week vacation and I'm catching up on YouTube (Eurosport). It only, typically, shows the last half hour to perhaps one hour but that beats nothing.
Go to Tiz if you want to catch up by watching everything.
Kevindale is offline  
Old 09-01-17, 10:30 AM
  #66  
Gyro
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 2008
Location: lost
Posts: 538
Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 128 Post(s)
Liked 98 Times in 49 Posts
Originally Posted by Kevindale
Go to Tiz if you want to catch up by watching everything.

We can't find the file you are looking for. It maybe got deleted by the owner or was removed due a copyright violation.

Page not found

The page you're looking for is either restricted or doesn't exist


the publisher of the video doesn't allow adblock


First few I tried.
Gyro is offline  
Old 09-01-17, 10:33 AM
  #67  
Kevindale
Senior Member
 
Kevindale's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Amsterdam
Posts: 1,684

Bikes: 1980 Koga-Miyata Gentsluxe-S, 1998 Eddy Merckx Corsa 01, 1983 Tommasini Racing, 2012 Gulf Western CAAD10, 1980 Univega Gran Premio

Mentioned: 49 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 600 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 11 Times in 11 Posts
Originally Posted by Gyro
We can't find the file you are looking for. It maybe got deleted by the owner or was removed due a copyright violation.

Page not found

The page you're looking for is either restricted or doesn't exist


the publisher of the video doesn't allow adblock


First few I tried.
Hmm, works fine for me. I got this link from another BF race fan. It's "tiz-cycling.racing". Check your ad blocking software.
Kevindale is offline  
Old 09-01-17, 10:49 AM
  #68  
Caretaker
Heretic
 
Caretaker's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Dublin, Ireland
Posts: 2,246

Bikes: Specialized Sirrus, Giant OCR3, Giant CRS3

Mentioned: 20 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2827 Post(s)
Liked 561 Times in 429 Posts
Works for me for stage 12.
Caretaker is offline  
Old 09-01-17, 12:01 PM
  #69  
Pemetic2006
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2015
Posts: 1,117
Mentioned: 3 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 377 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 14 Times in 10 Posts
Originally Posted by Kevindale
Go to Tiz if you want to catch up by watching everything.
Thanks. I'll check it out.
Pemetic2006 is offline  
Old 09-01-17, 01:09 PM
  #70  
Gyro
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 2008
Location: lost
Posts: 538
Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 128 Post(s)
Liked 98 Times in 49 Posts
Originally Posted by Kevindale
Hmm, works fine for me. I got this link from another BF race fan. It's "tiz-cycling.racing". Check your ad blocking software.
Some work some don't. ABP unblocked for the site.

Last edited by Gyro; 09-01-17 at 05:27 PM. Reason: spell
Gyro is offline  
Old 09-01-17, 09:26 PM
  #71  
MinnMan
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
MinnMan's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Minneapolis
Posts: 5,735

Bikes: 2022 Salsa Beargrease Carbon Deore 11, 2020 Salsa Warbird GRX 600, 2020 Canyon Ultimate CF SLX disc 9.0 Di2, 2020 Catrike Eola, 2016 Masi cxgr, 2011, Felt F3 Ltd, 2010 Trek 2.1, 2009 KHS Flite 220

Mentioned: 19 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 4268 Post(s)
Liked 2,938 Times in 1,812 Posts
So we keep talking about Sky's dominance, but how many other teams really came to the Vuelta with the GC as their chief goal? Maybe 3-4 others? Astana with Aru, Bahrain-Merida with Nibali, BMC, with TJ, who is becoming a perennial also-ran?

The reason I am prompted to ask is today's stage, where Quick Step clearly prioritized the stage win rather than protecting their GC contender, De La Cruz, who got caught out and dropped from 4th to 5th. He's only a little more than 2 minutes back, and surely if Froome were to stumble, he could be a contendor. And even if Froome is untouchable, De La Cruz still has a good chance to podium in the GC, but still they preferred the stage win.

You would never see Sky go for the stage win while their contender was losing seconds from the GC group.

And btw, Quick Step has done a great job winning stages in this race. Apart from Sky, they seem to be the only team that has repeatedly shown successful strategic team work. Just not towards the GC.
MinnMan is offline  
Old 09-02-17, 02:05 AM
  #72  
diphthong
Senior Member
 
diphthong's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: insane diego, california
Posts: 8,287

Bikes: 85 pinarello treviso steel, 88 nishiki olympic steel. 95 look kg 131 carbon, 11 trek madone 5.2 carbon

Mentioned: 26 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1619 Post(s)
Liked 3,087 Times in 1,670 Posts
seems like quick step has always devalued gc contenders and elevated sprinters and classics specialists.
can't blame them. between the mini-tours, gc's and classics/one day races, oodles of stages/races to hoist
the meh quick step kit in front of the public. riding for the gc in the vuelta, giro or tour is not that big of a priority.
if they happen to have a rider in contention/win the tour of california, tour of switzerland, romandie, paris-nice, et al,
so much the better. it's difficult to truly count them out of any race/any stage/anywhere tho. love their style and approach
but it's not for every team.
diphthong is offline  
Old 09-04-17, 12:14 AM
  #73  
San Pedro
Senior Member
 
San Pedro's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: Kota, Aichi, Japan
Posts: 1,277

Bikes: 2011 Giant Seek R3, 2015 Specialized Allez Elite, 2017 Giant TCR Advanced 2

Mentioned: 2 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 344 Post(s)
Liked 3 Times in 3 Posts
How about Lopez in the last 2 stages? He was flying up the hills.
San Pedro is offline  
Old 09-04-17, 06:51 PM
  #74  
one4smoke
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: Nashville, TN.
Posts: 2,176

Bikes: 2020 Specialized Roubaix Comp SC - 2016 Specialized Roubaix SL4 - 2015 Giant Roam 2 Disc

Mentioned: 23 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 639 Post(s)
Liked 338 Times in 224 Posts
Originally Posted by San Pedro
How about Lopez in the last 2 stages? He was flying up the hills.
Has my admiration.
one4smoke is offline  
Old 09-04-17, 07:15 PM
  #75  
one4smoke
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: Nashville, TN.
Posts: 2,176

Bikes: 2020 Specialized Roubaix Comp SC - 2016 Specialized Roubaix SL4 - 2015 Giant Roam 2 Disc

Mentioned: 23 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 639 Post(s)
Liked 338 Times in 224 Posts
Originally Posted by San Pedro
How about Lopez in the last 2 stages? He was flying up the hills.
Has my admiration.
one4smoke is offline  

Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.