2015 Vuelta stage 1: Puerto Banús > Marbella 7.4km TTT

[TMP402]

Thought this deserved more coverage than it might get in general news:

Silin and Trofimov drunk at Rio airport

KAtusha won´t let them start the Vuelta

http://sporza.be/cm/sporza/wielrennen/Vuelta/1.2419346

 

[Asero831]

no GC classification on Day 1?

 

[hrotha]

Leaving the sand thing aside, isn't it all sorts of moronic to do a TTT where teams will barely able to work as a team? What's the point?

 

[King Boonen]

Re:

I still think this talk about dirt roads is misleading. Dirt roads are still roads; loose sand is an entirely different matter.

If you watch the video there is clearly a solid path under the very light sandy covering, looks like concrete to me. They are not riding on just loose sand. You can't, I've tried. It looks very similar to a dusty, dry, dirt road.

 

[hrotha]

Re: Re:

I still think this talk about dirt roads is misleading. Dirt roads are still roads; loose sand is an entirely different matter.

If you watch the video there is clearly a solid path under the very light sandy covering, looks like concrete to me. They are not riding on just loose sand. You can't, I've tried. It looks very similar to a dusty, dry, dirt road.

I know, but it depends on how deep the sand goes. From what I've seen, it varies from "very superficial, no different to most dirt roads" to "well that might be a bit too deep huh".

 

[RedheadDane]

The biggest problem with this whole route mess is that was discovered so relatively late. If it had come out last week then there would have been more time for the teams and organisers to sit down together and find a suitable solution.

And what about team vehicles? Some of those sections seem rather too narrow for cars.
I suppose on the dirt road section they could use something like this:

which would also sove the problem of the surface getting messed up, but then they wouldn't have anywhere to keep the bikes, not to mention I don't think it can go quite as fast as the riders.

 

[Tank Engine]

Re: Re:

I know, but it depends on how deep the sand goes. From what I've seen, it varies from "very superficial, no different to most dirt roads" to "well that might be a bit too deep huh".

Exactly, and a heterogeneous crap surface is always more dangerous than a homogeneous crap surface.

I'll wait till Sunday, I don't like openinig ceremonies and beach parades.

 

[DBotero]

I'm happy they neutralized this stage.Vuelta has a great roster this year,no need to risk losing some of the guys in a useless beach parade.

 

[RedheadDane]

I don't understand where this loose-sand-on-a-hard-surface talk is coming from. Looking at this Picture it looks more like a road consisting of just dirt which will be completely messed up once the riders start going over it, unless they roll out the steam-rollers.

 

[LaFlorecita]

I'm happy they neutralized this stage.Vuelta has a great roster this year,no need to risk losing some of the guys in a useless beech parade.

Lose some guys? Seriously? It's a sandy road, not Crostis descent

 

[ice&fire]

Re:

The biggest problem with this whole route mess is that was discovered so relatively late. If it had come out last week then there would have been more time for the teams and organisers to sit down together and find a suitable solution.

And what about team vehicles? Some of those sections seem rather too narrow for cars.
I suppose on the dirt road section they could use something like this:

which would also sove the problem of the surface getting messed up, but then they wouldn't have anywhere to keep the bikes, not to mention I don't think it can go quite as fast as the riders.

The race was made public in January. The stage map was in the Vuelta web site at that time. I had a look at it on Google Street View. Seems that riders and teams don't care about race recon if it is not the Tour.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

I don't understand where this loose-sand-on-a-hard-surface talk is coming from. Looking at this Picture it looks more like a road consisting of just dirt which will be completely messed up once the riders start going over it, unless they roll out the steam-rollers.

That talk probably comes from numerous other pictures in which the road doesn't look nearly as bad and quite solid, actually.

 

[King Boonen]

I'm happy they neutralized this stage.Vuelta has a great roster this year,no need to risk losing some of the guys in a useless beech parade.

Lose some guys? Seriously? It's a sandy road, not Crostis descent

LaFlo and I are agreeing!!

 

[SafeBet]

Re:

The biggest problem with this whole route mess is that was discovered so relatively late.

By whom?
The route was official a very long time ago.

 

[RedheadDane]

Re: Re:

The biggest problem with this whole route mess is that was discovered so relatively late.

By whom?
The route was official a very long time ago.

By the teams and riders.
Sure, the route was official, on a profile and a map, but did the organiser publicate actual pictures? Of course it's also the teams' own responsibility to recon the routes, and I guess if anything positive is going to come from this then it's reminding the teams that they need to recon routes a bit earlier than two days before the race.

 

[hrotha]

Re: Re:

The biggest problem with this whole route mess is that was discovered so relatively late.

By whom?
The route was official a very long time ago.

The definitive official route was only published this week though. Anyone would have assumed whatever they saw before now would be subject to change to make it more suitable for road bikes.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

Re:

So it's official: this will count only for the team classification. No gaps among riders.

what's the point then? lol most teams will now completely softpedal

 

[SafeBet]

Re: Re:

The definitive official route was only published this week though. Anyone would have assumed whatever they saw before now would be subject to change to make it more suitable for road bikes.

Doesn't sound very professional. They have a rider association which is there, among other things, to manage security issues in bike races. And yet every time we see riders complaining on Twitter a couple of days before the race. If they really care about security they should start doing something about it.

 

[SafeBet]

Re: Re:

what's the point then? lol most teams will now completely softpedal

I don't know. This whole thing smells of amateurism on every side. It's a farce.

 

[Pippo_San]

They could at least convert it in some kind of show. Like a team presentation or something, because this is just farcical.
What a bunch of buffoons.

 

[HelloDolly]

I'm happy they neutralized this stage.Vuelta has a great roster this year,no need to risk losing some of the guys in a useless beach parade.

+1

If a team tried to race on that course all out then I think we would lose some GC guys. I also think its rich that some comments on here are saying 'just do it'. If the riders are not happy with the safety aspect then that is good enough for me. They afterall are taking the risks not some couch surfer who wants thrills and hasn't ridden the course

 

[King Boonen]

Re: Re:

The biggest problem with this whole route mess is that was discovered so relatively late.

By whom?
The route was official a very long time ago.

By the teams and riders.
Sure, the route was official, on a profile and a map, but did the organiser publicate actual pictures? Of course it's also the teams' own responsibility to recon the routes, and I guess if anything positive is going to come from this then it's reminding the teams that they need to recon routes a bit earlier than two days before the race.

No, no pictures, just like they won't go take pictures of every bump and pot-hole out on the course and tell the riders to avoid them.


I'm all for rider safety taking forefront, but this complaining is a joke.

 

[DFA123]

I'm happy they neutralized this stage.Vuelta has a great roster this year,no need to risk losing some of the guys in a useless beach parade.

+1

If a team tried to race on that course all out then I think we would lose some GC guys. I also think its rich that some comments on here are saying 'just do it'. If the riders are not happy with the safety aspect then that is good enough for me. They afterall are taking the risks not some couch surfer who wants thrills and hasn't ridden the course

The problem is that some riders probably are happy to ride on it. Just a vocal minority have forced it to be neutralized. I can't imagine that riders who can handle their bike, like Sagan, Nibali or Valverde are losing any sleep over riding through a short section with a bit of sand.

It's a far less dangerous situation than a mountain descent or on cobbles for example, where even if you're not a good descender or cobbles rider, you have to push your limits to stay with the group or risk getting dropped by the peloton.

If a rider with poor bike handling skills doesn't feel comfortable here, they could just drop off the back and ride the last 300m at a gentle pace by themselves. They'd lose a handful of seconds, but that's a fair price to pay for their lack of handling skills - which, after all, is a part of the sport.

 

[Eyeballs Out]

It's such a short stage, having no time gaps would be ridiculous. Teams that want to soft-pedal are going to lose 30 secs max - so what ? Just get on with it

 

[staubsauger]

#biggirlsdontcry !