2012 Vuelta. The Return of the King.

[the asian]

Machado..he's been good in early season but disappointing elsewhere and also outshone and outclased by Costa

It's his first grand Tour for the season as well. I wonder whether they earmarked him for the Vuelta at the beginning of the year. Hasn't done much since Algarve though.

 

[18-Valve. (pithy)]

It's his first grand Tour for the season as well. I wonder whether they earmarked him for the Vuelta at the beginning of the year. Hasn't done much since Algarve though.

They did. Machado was always going to race California and Poland instead and then start the Vuelta as a leader. He has to prove his worth as a future GT top-10 contender, I guess. I'm pretty sure they expect him to fail, however.

 

[Froome19]

Why? He tried it last year in a much easier Vuelta, and whilst 6th in the GC, that was mainly due to the ITT. He faltered in many mountain stages.

Not that that's bad. He's just fairly limited uphill. And with this many mountainous stages I can't see Montfort do a repeat of that 6th place.

He wasnt really prone to the pressure of being a leader in that Vuelta, as he entered the GT alongside Fuglsang if not subsidiary to Fuglsang and in fact throughout the race they were effectively co-leaders until close to the end. Though he may have been exposed to some pressure it wasnt much.

 

[airstream]

Is any pressure in the Vuelta whatsoever?

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Well there's the pressure of staying out of Anton or Mosquera's vicinity as they might fall and cost you a podium place

 

[SafeBet]

Why? He tried it last year in a much easier Vuelta, and whilst 6th in the GC, that was mainly due to the ITT. He faltered in many mountain stages.

Not that that's bad. He's just fairly limited uphill. And with this many mountainous stages I can't see Montfort do a repeat of that 6th place.

Plus coming from the TdF. Fatigue will be a factor.

 

[Parrulo]

They did. Machado was always going to race California and Poland instead and then start the Vuelta as a leader. He has to prove his worth as a future GT top-10 contender, I guess. I'm pretty sure they expect him to fail, however.

i don't know if the expect him to fail or not but i must say i certainly do.

Machado is a fantastic physical talent, even better then costa but he simply lacks in everything else. he doesn't know how to peak for a race, he is a afraid of riding in the peloton and has no tactical awareness, which is actually what used to make him awesome and got him a lot of fans.

 

[Ferminal]

http://www.johanbruyneel.com/blog/article/2012-tour-de-france-blog-4-closing-thoughts-looking-ahead

Andy won't ride la vuelta.

Best news in a while...

 

[trompe le monde]

Euskaltel's shortlist for the Vuelta:


Igor Antón, Romain Sicard, Alan Pérez, Amets Txurruka, Mikel Astarloza, Pierre Cazaux, Miguel Minguez, Mikel Landa, Rubén Pérez, Gorka Verdugo, Iván Velasco and Juan José Oroz.

No Samu, no Nieve. Nice to see Amets back for consideration.

 

[MartinGT]

No, I wanted Andy to ride

 

[MonteZoncolan]

Best news in a while...

Why is this best news in a while?

 

[airstream]

it's a pity... well, so be it. one can take the Vuelta.

 

[happytramp]

Best news in a while...

Really? Why on earth is that?

 

[iZnoGouD]

i don't know if the expect him to fail or not but i must say i certainly do.

Machado is a fantastic physical talent, even better then costa but he simply lacks in everything else. he doesn't know how to peak for a race, he is a afraid of riding in the peloton and has no tactical awareness, which is actually what used to make him awesome and got him a lot of fans.

haha that's so true, this year he worked harder than any other year in the year and he only had good results in TdU, let's hope he'll be even better at Vuelta
he is a pro rider he should know how to peak i was suprided when i read in his blog after Tour Down Under that he was afraid he peaked too early

 

[richwagmn]

Best news in a while...

Would have loved to see a healthy schleck dual AC in this year's Vuelta. Froome vs AC it is.

 

[Cimber]

A shame with Andy, but we all know there was no way he would have shown up in shape after his injury.

Anyways, 3 more weeks

 

[trevim]

Euskaltel's shortlist for the Vuelta:


Igor Antón, Romain Sicard, Alan Pérez, Amets Txurruka, Mikel Astarloza, Pierre Cazaux, Miguel Minguez, Mikel Landa, Rubén Pérez, Gorka Verdugo, Iván Velasco and Juan José Oroz.

No Samu, no Nieve. Nice to see Amets back for consideration.

Nice, we can start to make bets on who's gonna save Euskaltel's Vuelta GC wise when Anton has some sort of problem (not crash I hope). Nieve was the obvious pick considering 2011 Giro/Vuelta...and 2010 Vuelta too So will Sicard or Landa step up or will we have the return of Astarloza as a GC rider?

 

[Ferminal]

Andy wouldn't have added anything to the Vuelta. He couldn't have won it and his heart certainly wasn't in it (nor were his legs). A Schleck rolling around in the bus for days on end is an unnecessary distraction.

 

[UpTheRoad]

Andy wouldn't have added anything to the Vuelta. He couldn't have won it and his heart certainly wasn't in it (nor were his legs). A Schleck rolling around in the bus for days on end is an unnecessary distraction.

It would have been cool if he attacked and everyone let him go because they didn't see him as a threat. What a blow to his ego that would have been.

 

[hfer07]

Stage 1, August 18: Pamplona 16k team time trial is a hoax

Unipublic/ASO Vuelta jerks downgraded the ride to a team pres. which will not affect the overall classification

http://www.lavuelta.com/12pr/en/recorrido/index.html?e=1

common!!! WTF just happened there????

 

[movingtarget]

common!!! WTF just happened there????

Ridiculous is not the word. A step backwards for the Vuelta maybe two.

 

[LaFlorecita]

common!!! WTF just happened there????

Ridiculous is not the word. A step backwards for the Vuelta maybe two.

It isn't even true Unfortunate translation.

 

[movingtarget]

It isn't even true Unfortunate translation.

Sack the unfortunate translator !

 

[hrotha]

Sack the unfortunate translator !

The original text is ambiguous.

Los dieciséis kilómetros de etapa, que no marcarán diferencias en la clasificación, servirán a los equipos para presentarse ante el público y sus seguidores.

The literal translation would be "...which won't create gaps in the classification". Now, unless you have a cycling background, it's perfectly natural to interpret it the way the translator did. Even I would have hesitated, because I'd have expected "grandes diferencias", and I would at least have considered the possibility that the TTT was just for show too. If the translator wasn't sure and he asked someone at ASO, chances are they never got an answer, or their contact with ASO simply couldn't help (believe me, this happens a lot).

Sack their contact at ASO, I says.

 

[Mogwai_]

Don't know if it's posted yet.

Team Sky

APPOLLONIO Davide Italy
DOWSETT Alex United Kingdom
FROOME Christopher United Kingdom
NORDHAUG Lars Petter Norway
PUCCIO Salvatore Italy
ROWE Luke United Kingdom
STANNARD Ian United Kingdom
URAN Rigoberto Colombia
ZANDIO ECHAIDE Xabier Spain