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

[Flamin]

Re: Re:

Anyone with a livestream of the team presentation?

ES as usually are not doing what they promised

Eurosport broadcast starts in 15 minutes

Not Dutch ES. Some French football instead. You can only watch it with the ES player, which i don't have.

But i've got a livestream of TDP now.

TV guide says football, but the team presentation is on...

 

[Backroader69]

After seeing that video and the pictures posted by the riders, I am in total agreement with the riders who are against it. Total Amateur hour!! Who thought-up this stupid course, Professional cycling officials or the Tourist Board? It is Dangerous! Not only is the surface ridiculous, the sides of the course are littered with sharp BOULDERS, trees and benches, etc. An accident along there could easily be FATAL! The organizers and anyone who approved this course are morons.

 

[Flamin]

Daaaaaaamn. Edurne

 

[sir fly]

Good atmosphere in Movi, some kilos and appropriate seriousness on Froome, a sense of tension in Astana, Purito in the mood, Samu relaxed.

 

[Taxus4a]

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As I recall, very little of this route is on normal roads...in fact, even the little bit on Marbella front is not really much like a normal road. Re. the sand being a thin layer on top of concrete....it isn't as far as I remember. It's compacted sand/dirt which cuts up easily.

Neutralizing the stage is daft.

Sand, sterrato, cobbles, are normal roads, at list this kind of sand, other kind of sand is for cyclocross.

THESE ARE NORMAL ROADS.

If for SKY in his everything calculating way to understand cycling, this is not normal roads, they can come back to track.

 

[racing_like_scalded_cats]

Re:

After seeing that video and the pictures posted by the riders, I am in total agreement with the riders who are against it. Total Amateur hour!! Who thought-up this stupid course, Professional cycling officials or the Tourist Board? It is Dangerous! Not only is the surface ridiculous, the sides of the course are littered with sharp BOULDERS, trees and benches, etc. An accident along there could easily be FATAL! The organizers and anyone who approved this course are morons.

I agree. I think a single rider could navigate this course but a group of rider's view of obstacles will be obscured by riders that are in front. This course is going to produce a lot of crashes.

 

[Jagartrott]

Re: Re:

Sand, sterrato, cobbles, are normal roads, at list this kind of sand, other kind of sand is for cyclocross.

THESE ARE NORMAL ROADS.

If for SKY in his everything calculating way to understand cycling, this is not normal roads, they can come back to track.

There's a big difference between an individual event and TTT. Plus, as said above, the road is also very narrow, with rocks etc. They were looking for something 'special' and then they jumped the shark. They shouldn't be surprised that there is a limit to what you can come up with.

 

[martyfulu]

I dont post very often so hello everyone. Im relatively new to watching cycling but my first thought on seeing this story was why does cycling keep shooting itself in the foot. I mean the whole Richie Porte thing at the giro, the sprint where there was a pole in the middle of the road(cant remember exactly), the way cyclists seem to have less priority than all the support vehicles at times. At least the cyclists safety is at the root of this but it seems so bizarre to make this decision now. Really like the vuelta but you wonder whats coming next. I mean this is all they do. You would think they would have it down by now. Just my tuppence.

 

[Sasquatch]

lol if the sand section is that bad then why don't they have 10 guys with rakes raking it each time a team goes through.

 

[dgodave]

Re:

lol if the sand section is that bad then why don't they have 10 guys with rakes raking it each time a team goes through.

Bonus seconds to the team that least disturbs the zen garden.

 

[Savant12]

Put in a waterfall and windmill to make it more of a challenge a la Crazy Golf style. If a team can't get past either obstacle they need to drop a rider out of the team before they can continue. If a monkey pops out of the windmill then the team currently on course gets subject to immediate doping control.

 

[giuying]

Put in a waterfall and windmill to make it more of a challenge a la Crazy Golf style. If a team can't get past either obstacle they need to drop a rider out of the team before they can continue. If a monkey pops out of the windmill then the team currently on course gets subject to immediate doping control.

Ha ha. I am sorry, Froome et al are not pussies, they are brave for speaking out, someone has to. The fact that Froome did with all the animosity thrown at him, double points.

The stage is ridiculous, you can blather all you want.

 

[yespatterns]

You guys do know that there are rocks, trees, benches, telephone poles, etc. In pretty much every race. Strade has rocks, pebbles, PR has cobbles, mud, and crazy dust. It's part of a complete cycling skill set, so enough with the hand wringing, jeez.

 

[Jagartrott]

Re:

You guys do know that there are rocks, trees, benches, telephone poles, etc. In pretty much every race. Strade has rocks, pebbles, PR has cobbles, mud, and crazy dust. It's part of a complete cycling skill set, so enough with the hand wringing, jeez.

Your comparison is completely off.
I've been following cycling many, many years and stages such as these are completely farcical - it hasn't got anything to do with good racing. They just took it one step too far and forgot what cycling is really about, it's as simple as that.

 

[Hugo Koblet]

This is a joke. No time gaps? How about finding another course then? How hard can it be to locate 7 km's of road to use?

 

[yespatterns]

Re: Re:

You guys do know that there are rocks, trees, benches, telephone poles, etc. In pretty much every race. Strade has rocks, pebbles, PR has cobbles, mud, and crazy dust. It's part of a complete cycling skill set, so enough with the hand wringing, jeez.

Your comparison is completely off.
I've been following cycling many, many years and stages such as these are completely farcical - it hasn't got anything to do with good racing. They just took it one step too far and forgot what cycling is really about, it's as simple as that.

I feel okay about my comparison, but opinions vary. A lot of us ride crazy terrain in poor conditions for fun or even commuting, and these guys get paid but still complain. Maybe they should neutralize PR in the event of rain since it isn't fresh tarmac. The sport is tough so maybe they should htfu and ride within their abilities and stop getting the vapors over a 7k ttt that includes some sand.

 

[Jagartrott]

And maybe they should have F1 cars race on dirt roads.
The drivers are paid much better than most cyclists. They should htfu and get on with it.

PR in the rain is - again - something totally different.

 

[matter]

There is a massive difference between training solo or touring through rough terrain and going full out at 60 kph with 8 other riders that need to rotate position.They don't even compare.

Neither is the comparison with strade bianchi fair. Strade is a one day course. You are full aware what you're up against before you choose to start. If you like a half cyclocross course this is where you can go out and play. When conditions are toughest the peleton is decimated and speeds aren't nearly as high as in a TTT. You ride for yourself and you are in control.
This TTT course though is something you must tackle before the real stages of vuelta begin. You have no choice. You don't get to play, the people in control play with you.

The sand isn't deep but it's not comparable with tarmac. I've ridden (not raced) roads like that often enough to know I don't feel safe riding a full speed TTT there. Add the narrow 'road' and many narrow passages and road furniture we get something I personally haven't seen before.

 

[Red Rick]

Why isn't this sticky?

 

[No_Balls]

Re:

The amount of pussies in the peloton is actually saddening. Back in the days this was considered a good road for the mountains.

However, the organisers had their wish and controversy right from the start. Just as it was intended.

 

[slim charles]

I don't understand how it took them this long to figure out it was unsafe? Nobody saw how it looks like 2 weeks ago?
I am all for riders' safety, but I don't know, this feels a bit meh.

 

[Savant12]

Put in a waterfall and windmill to make it more of a challenge a la Crazy Golf style. If a team can't get past either obstacle they need to drop a rider out of the team before they can continue. If a monkey pops out of the windmill then the team currently on course gets subject to immediate doping control.

Ha ha. I am sorry, Froome et al are not pussies, they are brave for speaking out, someone has to. The fact that Froome did with all the animosity thrown at him, double points.

The stage is ridiculous, you can blather all you want.

For the record, I don't think the route looks safe.

My attempt to make light of the situation is the fact that riders only noticed the condition of the route mere days before it kicks off. No-one had a look at it beforehand?

The UCI approved it but I wonder if the planned running of the route shown to them months ago differs to the state it is in now. Maybe, it was to look a lot safer and um...rideable.

Looking at it now and the way that the route was shown in GCN's video looks to me like the race organizers showed up a week before and thought sh!t this isn't how we sold it to the UCI. Let's throw some rubber mats and get a rake out for the sand and we'll call it a "unique" and "imaginative" stage.

 

[darwin553]

As others have said, ridiculously short course. More the distance of a fun ride than a professional stage of a grand tour.

 

[SafeBet]

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Why isn't this sticky?

Because it's not a bike race?

 

[yespatterns]

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And maybe they should have F1 cars race on dirt roads.
The drivers are paid much better than most cyclists. They should htfu and get on with it.

PR in the rain is - again - something totally different.

What does F1 have to do with cycling? And no, the PR references are apt, as it's not what I would call safe parcours. The element of difficult terrain is important to cycling races, and rewards those who are balanced riders as well as the team's who ride a strategically well thought out stage. Without that element one might as well line them up in a spin class studio.