42nd Vuelta a Burgos (2.PRO) // July 28th - August 1st 2020

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Assuming this race will actually take place, i hereby declare this thread opened!
Everybody is welcome, just be nice and keep 1.5m distance. No spitting, coughing or heavy breathing towards other posters.

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Date: 2020-07-28 - 2020-08-01 Race class: 2.Pro Race category: Men Elite UCI-Tour: Europe Tour

www.vueltaburgos.com www.twitter.com/vueltaaburgos www.facebook.com/VueltaABurgos www.instagram.com/vueltaburgos

Startlist PCS Stages PCS Top competitors PCS Top GC riders PCS

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INTERESTING CONTENDERS (SO FAR AND SAVE CANCELLATIONS): N. Quintana, Carapaz, Landa, Mas, Valverde, López , S. Yates, A. Yates, Majka, Evenepoel, Sosa, Poels, Soler, Mohoric, Kruijswijk, Kuss, G. Bennett, Aru, Gaudu, Hermans, Bilbao, S. Bennett, Démare, Nizzolo, Kristoff, Kämna...

TRIVIA: The 2020 race will feature 22 teams, of which 15 WT teams for the first time (to my knowledge). // The previous two years, it was Sosa who claimed the victory (and rightfully so, since he was the fastest overall). Considering this is the first post-Covid-19-lockdown stagerace of note, the race is attracting a lot more high profile riders compared to previous years, so Sosa will probably have to dig a bit deeper to take the trophee home again. // Only since a few days has the official website been updated with the new 2020 schedule. However, at the moment of writing, only 1 stage has been added, including stage profile. Others surely to be added later. // Considering previous years generally featured similar routes, it is safe to expect the major climbs in the 2020 parcours to be: Alto de Altotero, Picón Blanco, Lagunas de Neila and many, many more (but shorter). // The race will be featured on 15 television networks. // I'll add the new stage profiles as they become available.

LAST YEAR'S TOP 10:

1	Sosa Iván Ramiro	Team INEOS	18:53:44
2	Rodríguez Óscar	Euskadi Basque Country - Murias	0:31
3	Carapaz Richard	Movistar Team	0:42
4	Pedrero Antonio	Movistar Team	0:46
5	Martin Guillaume	Wanty - Gobert Cycling Team	1:13
6	Ghebreigzabhier Amanuel	Team Dimension Data	1:18
7	Rolland Pierre	Vital Concept - B&B Hotels	1:39
8	de la Cruz David	Team INEOS	1:44
9	Cherkasov Nikolay	Gazprom-RusVelo	1:52
10	Costa Rui	UAE-Team Emirates	2:05

STAGES:

Stage 1

Stage 2

Stage 3

Stage 4

Stage 5

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[BlueRoads]

You really made an effort here to appreciate this race. Still a month, but yes, it sounds very nice.

 

[SafeBet]

A thread for Vuelta a Burgos appearing more than a month before the race actually takes place (IF it takes place).
We're desperate and not even trying to hide it.

 

[RedheadDane]

* Breathes heavily, away from people. *

Maybe when we reach a week before the race, you could add a count-down.

 

[WKA311]

Will be cool to see Lagunas de Neila with more heavy hitters at the start.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Apparently the final climb to Lagunas de Neila will be revamped and differ from the traditional parcours. From what i understand, the corona pandemic has forced the organizers to take a different route, along a different climb (Alto del Collado de Neila), where there is more space for spectators to keep social distance and park their cars. But i don't speak Spanish, so just going by google translate.

Also, Fabio Aru has said to ride Vuelta a Burgos.

Las Lagunas de Neila, con una ascensión diferente a la de los últimos años, cerrará la Vuelta a Burgos

La quinta, última y definitiva etapa saldrá de Covarrubias, atravesará toda la comarca del Arlanza y finalizará en el tradicional alto de Categoría...

www.cope.es

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Not especially new, but then again they hadn't been climbing the traditional side for a few years.

The traditional side that is climbed in the Vuelta a Burgos is to go from Quintanar de la Sierra on the BU-822 towards Neila village. This takes you over the Alto del Collado, which they talk about there. It's a false flat for the most part with 2km at 5-6% at the end. They would then descend into Neila village, turning left and then left again to head to Lagunas de Neila from the south. The first time they ascended, they would cut off before the final section, going only as far as Pasil de Rosavientos, and then descend the old, more consistent road into Quintanar de la Sierra to do it again.

Sample design:

The final climb (from the junction for Quintanar de la Sierra at the 13km mark):

In the last few years, however, because of the Picón Blanco MTF being introduced, they've decided that having two 8-9% MTFs is too much for a five day race and started using the old road, which they used to descend to introduce the circuit around Quintanar de la Sierra, as the climb. This is much less severe, and rather than finishing on 8km at 8% or so, it's 13,7km at 5,7%, although a couple of kilometres at 10% near the end mean you get a strong finish.

What looks like being the case for the 2020 edition per that article is that they will have to climb to El Collado as there are not sufficient places for cars to be left on the side they've been climbing recently, but instead of doing the descent in toward Neila village as per tradition, they will instead turn left at El Collado and link up to Pasil de Rozavientos via the steep connecting road - so the final 5km are up in the 10% bracket, but before that it's not going to be selective at all.

I'm trying to recall if it was this side that was climbed in 1998, the only time the Vuelta has used Lagunas de Neila. José María Jiménez won. The profile isn't clear but I suspect it may have been the side they've climbed the last couple of years, however the profiles were sometimes a bit misleading in those days and the selectivity was akin to that of a steeper climb.

 

[Escarabajo]

But those 4 kilometers look hard enough to make a selection.
It is not bad.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Just to get you in the mood. (No not thàt mood!)

 

[Sciatic]

Just to get you in the mood. (No not thàt mood!)

Awesome! Can’t wait (and look forward to going there some day). Thanks for that.

 

[lemon cheese cake]

I assume it's a mistake from PCS but Jumbo Visma are riding and so are their academy team. I presume it's just Gijs Leemreize that is riding up a category with the world tour team like he did at Provence? Would be a bit confusing having two teams with the same kit and would basically have a team with 14 riders.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

I assume it's a mistake from PCS but Jumbo Visma are riding and so are their academy team. I presume it's just Gijs Leemreize that is riding up a category with the world tour team like he did at Provence? Would be a bit confusing having two teams with the same kit and would basically have a team with 14 riders.

Yes, Leemreize will join the big boy team in Burgos.

 

[search]

Would be a bit confusing having two teams with the same kit and would basically have a team with 14 riders.

it would also be not allowed

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Not especially new, but then again they hadn't been climbing the traditional side for a few years.

The traditional side that is climbed in the Vuelta a Burgos is to go from Quintanar de la Sierra on the BU-822 towards Neila village. This takes you over the Alto del Collado, which they talk about there. It's a false flat for the most part with 2km at 5-6% at the end. They would then descend into Neila village, turning left and then left again to head to Lagunas de Neila from the south. The first time they ascended, they would cut off before the final section, going only as far as Pasil de Rosavientos, and then descend the old, more consistent road into Quintanar de la Sierra to do it again.

According to some tweets, they will indeed be taking the "old" route, and according to this guy, it is the hardest route:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1277698036915986435

View: https://twitter.com/Derrape_Sonido/status/1277698036915986435

 

[Escarabajo]

He says that asphalt is bad but that is no problem because of the high gradient? Huh! am I missing something?
Not only you have to deal with the bad gradient but the bad asphalt. It is annoying and makes you more tired IMHO.

 

[DNP-Old]

it would also be not allowed

Quick-Step used to do it in a race in the Czech Republic with Klein Constantia.

 

[RedheadDane]

Quick-Step used to do it in a race in the Czech Republic with Klein Constantia.

Very much a loophole abuse, but could it having something to do with it not being quite so obvious that Klein Constantia was a development squad for Quick-Step, as it is that Jumbo-Visma Development Team is a development team for Team Jumbo-Visma?

 

[Roku]

Awful race design with four flat stages, two of them with a MTF (at least they threw in some lesser clims on the third stage, but there is no possibility of a real mid range attack) and the usual Castillo stage.

This race gets worse every year. No ITT, no real mountain stage (just mountain top finishes). They need a bit of a reshuffle.

 

[DNP-Old]

Very much a loophole abuse, but could it having something to do with it not being quite so obvious that Klein Constantia was a development squad for Quick-Step, as it is that Jumbo-Visma Development Team is a development team for Team Jumbo-Visma?

I wasn't disputing his statement, but yes, that is very much the reason.

 

[search]

now 100% sure how it was back then, but now there is a file on the UCI website which lists the teams not allowed to compete together in the same race:

https://www.uci.org/docs/default-source/rules-and-regulations/part-ii-road/teams-participation.pdf?sfvrsn=85d4c6aa_24

CCC and CCC Devo (different paying agent) are not listed, but covered by the "In addition, the participation of both a UCI WorldTeam and the UCI registered development team supported by this same UCI WorldTeam is prohibited" rule, I guess.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Awful race design with four flat stages, two of them with a MTF (at least they threw in some lesser clims on the third stage, but there is no possibility of a real mid range attack) and the usual Castillo stage.

This race gets worse every year. No ITT, no real mountain stage (just mountain top finishes). They need a bit of a reshuffle.

Could they be making the course more "mainstream" due to the larger peloton, to also cater to riders that are now forced to ride Burgos due to the tight schedule post-corona?

 

[Kaptain Kool]

Is the course really that different from other years? Outside crosswinds in final 25 km of the Clunia stage in 2012, I can't remember a single stage in which something happened before the last few kms. It's always uphill sprints, action in the last 5 km of a mountain stage and sometimes a TTT.

 

[Roku]

Is the course really that different from other years? Outside crosswinds in final 25 km of the Clunia stage in 2012, I can't remember a single stage in which something happened before the last few kms. It's always uphill sprints, action in the last 5 km of a mountain stage and sometimes a TTT.

The stage of Neila usually had multiple mountain passes, including a double ascent to Neila (the first ascent usually excluded the last km which is the hardest, it was called "Pasil de Rozavientos"). At least it gave the possibility of long range attacks of second tier GC options.

I also recall a year with Saramotins winning a short ITT not too long ago.

 

[Kaptain Kool]

It's been several years since the double Neila, tho. I think they dropped it when they added Picon Blanco.

 

[BlueRoads]

He says that asphalt is bad but that is no problem because of the high gradient? Huh! am I missing something?
Not only you have to deal with the bad gradient but the bad asphalt. It is annoying and makes you more tired IMHO.

If their abilities are similar to mine it does make sense, I suppose: Because the climb is so steep they can't go up fluently or use a slipstream anyway, so the bad asphalt does not matter, they will be trembling on their bikes anyway, lol. I mean it's not like they are pro riders or something.