• The Cycling News forum is still looking to add volunteer moderators with. If you're interested in helping keep our discussions on track, send a direct message to @SHaines here on the forum, or use the Contact Us form to message the Community Team.

    In the meanwhile, please use the Report option if you see a post that doesn't fit within the forum rules.

    Thanks!

Rate the 2012 Vuelta a España route

Rate the 2012 Vuelta a España route

  • 1 (crap)

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    0
I rather like the look of it. Seriously climby, but without the Giro's super long stages. Looks like more fun than the Tour this year anyway (not that that's saying much).
 
Jan 5, 2012
15
0
0
I'll give it a 5. Some stages like stage 20 to the Bola del Mundo or the ITT are ok, but the stages in the Basque Country are very bad. No other mountains before Arrate? :confused:
 
Certainly the route could be better, but it's different from the other 2 Tours which is good imo. Ofcourse you can be different and very wrong, but I don't agree.

Well I like climbing and there are plenty MTF's which make me happy, but a finish after an descent would've been nice ofcourse.
An extra TT or TTT was needed as well.

This time there are 2 stages which actually have climbs before the MTF which the Vuelta lacked last year. The stage ot Ancares and Cuitu Negru ain't easy allthough not long.
There are no long stages at all. I'm not sure if I miss them in the Vuelta though... A long flat stage is pointless and there are allready enough climbing kms so a long stage full with climbs might have been a bit of overkill.

Certainly not a perfect course, but I think it will entertain us.

A 7 from me.
 
Jul 24, 2009
239
0
0
I gave it a 2, which is as charitable as I could be. The positives? A tough stage to Cueto Negro (yes it will probably come down to the last ten - or more likely three - kilometres, but at least there are prior difficulties and an outside chance of someone being bold from distance). The stage to Bola del Mundo is more or less as good as it could be, and again with Navafría, Canencia, Morcuera and Cotos then at least there will be fatigue in the legs and the terrain for teams to make it hard work - but again, that stage is most likely all about the last three kilometres.

That aside, it's a joke of a route. Apart from the above two, Ancares is the only stage with any kind of difficulties spread throughout the stage, and even that is extraordinarily weak and a complete missed opportunity. Elsewhere, just about every single stage is about the last five kilometres. Just one ITT of inadequate length and with a bump thrown in just to make sure the climbers don't have it too hard. Not a single stage over 200 km. Not a single descent finish - and this the year after the Liquigas exhibition in Córdoba provided the highlight of the race. Absolutely incomprehensible.

If it carries on like this then forget two weeks, the Vuelta doesn't deserve to be eight days. You'd think it was designed by people who know nothing about cycling... oh wait.

Thinking about it, I really ought to have given it a 1.
 
Oct 28, 2010
1,578
0
0
It seems to me that (for some reason) a huge part of cycling fans rate existence of a MTF higher than amount of climbing in the same stage, its a bit strange... in fact the 'MTF' is the most overrated part of cycling :eek: Why is it so hard to conceive? :rolleyes:
 
Kvinto said:
It seems to me that (for some reason) a huge part of cycling fans rate existence of a MTF higher than amount of climbing in the same stage, its a bit strange... in fact the 'MTF' is the most overrated part of cycling :eek: Why is it so hard to conceive? :rolleyes:

Well you are right, but atleast it's better then 3 mountain passes and 40km flat after it.
 
roundabout said:
I am stuck between 3 and 4.

Ok, 4 it is. I am feeling generous today.

i was having the same dillema but i am not feeling so generous today so i gave it a 3 for the reasons many already mentioned


Kvinto said:
It seems to me that (for some reason) a huge part of cycling fans rate existence of a MTF higher than amount of climbing in the same stage, its a bit strange... in fact the 'MTF' is the most overrated part of cycling :eek: Why is it so hard to conceive? :rolleyes:

i agree 100% with this. MTF are overrated by some cycling if not most. most great days of racing from the last 2/3 years came from downhill finishes.
 
Kvinto said:
It seems to me that (for some reason) a huge part of cycling fans rate existence of a MTF higher than amount of climbing in the same stage, its a bit strange... in fact the 'MTF' is the most overrated part of cycling :eek: Why is it so hard to conceive? :rolleyes:

I agree, of course.

It is beyond me. It's as if people would rather have 15mins of action instead of one hour.
 
When Descender Libertine Seguros and Skip Madness are making GT routes this would be a 1 no doubt.

But weve come to expect much worse so I will give this a higher score.

Moreover even though MTFs arent the best choice, I agree, I do see positives in a high number of mtf finishes.

It means there are less sprint stages and while most of the mtfs will be boring, at least the wins will be going to breakaway riders or domistiques who will really have to kill themselves for the win, and will get their moment of glory.

Though of course it would be way better if they went down the mountains after they climbed them. Except with Bola. Hope to be there.
 
IMO the route is good to encourage break aways, since they're short with technical roads to deal with during the last Kms & before the finish line. I think we have gotten accustomed-or rather spoiled by Zomegnan & his Giro layouts, that we cannot envision a good race without massive & multiple MTF-Which I do love, but is not the absolute answer to a successful GT at all.
 
Went with 3.

Stage by stage:

1) TTT. I don't like TTTs, but it's at least an OK length in a nice city.
2) Look at all that lovely intermediate stage terrain between Pamplona and Viana not being used, or the hills of the GP Miguel Indurain. Sad.
3) How can you screw up the run-in to Eibar that badly? No Karabieta? Really? If they're just going to go over through Elorrio and round by Durango and Ermua, they may as well just go up Urkiola and finish there, since it's harder than Arrate.
4) This one came straight out of the Tour de Suisse 2009. Valdezcaray is not hard enough on its own to be anything other than a 20 man sprint at best.
5) No Riojan mountains at all? Just a circuit race? Really?
6) Actually not too bad, would have preferred a couple of more climbs earlier in the stage, but I'll take what I can get from this route.
7) Generic, meaningless flat stage, motor racing finish, seems popular in Spain at the moment.
8) At least the finishing climb is fairly steep, but could they seriously not include Ordino, La Rabassa or something else to make it a bit tougher and encourage somebody to make a move with more than 7km to go? Or to mean that any attacks inside of 7km to go are more likely to stick?
9) Too flat for the final vague uphill to be of any importance. If we're lucky, it'll be like the Suancés stage in 2008 that Bettini won. Not worthy of a weekend stage at all.
10) Joke.
11) I actually rather like this. Should perhaps be a bit longer (or at least be accompanied by a second TT of the same or longer length), but not a totally easy time trial but still one that favours the strongman.
12) Really ridiculously poor stage plan. The final climb could be quite good but the stage leading up to it will be laughably bad unless the wind is strong.
13) Useless again.
14) Don't mind this at all. Lots of climbs, although it could easily be much tougher than it is. At least the final climb here should be decisive and gaps can and should be created, and legs will be tired.
15) Actually a tougher lead-in to Covadonga than I expected but still, all about the final climb and nothing else.
16) The false flat between Cobertoria and Cuitu Negru isn't quite as bad as I thought, but this will still be about the last few kilometres. At least the legs will be tired by the rest of the stage and the gaps should be decent.
17) Both overkill and utterly pointless; not steep or hard enough to create difficulties. Seems like the Peio Terme stage in the 2010 Giro. So many options for short mountaintops, steep short finishes (Santo Toribio?) or descent finishes in the area, it's a letdown.
18) Total waste of a day.
19) Likewise. Really? No ITT here?
20) This I like. It will probably be all about Bola again, but at least they've made it a proper hard stage before then.
21) Ceremonial.

Overall, I think there are some OK stages there, but none that make me excited for the Vuelta, and I'm one of the race's biggest defenders here. I like the race and think it gets some really undeserved bad press. But it's not helping itself. It's like the organisers recognised that in the last couple of years almost the only meaningful gaps have been created on MTFs, and that those gaps have been pretty small, and have therefore made the equation that "more MTFs creating those small gaps = bigger gaps and more stages with gaps, therefore more MTFs = good" without stopping to think that the reason behind those small gaps is that all too often the MTF stages are simply not tough enough to break the péloton apart until they get to the final climb, and none of the contenders are worn down enough to collapse big style.
 
Dec 27, 2010
6,674
1
0
Would be great to see Libertine and a few of the other regulars from the Race Design thread seeing how much they can improve on this route, with the limitation of using the same start and finish towns that have paid for the privilege on this route? :)
 
Feb 20, 2011
396
0
0
Quite weird route

I like Pamplona TTT, Jaca, Ancares, Cuitu Negru and Bola del Mundo Stages... but not enoght ITT and not a descend finish apart from Barcelona...

Ancares a joke, same route than 2011 in a aerea with lots of alternatives...
 
will10 said:
Would be great to see Libertine and a few of the other regulars from the Race Design thread seeing how much they can improve on this route, with the limitation of using the same start and finish towns that have paid for the privilege on this route? :)
After about ten minutes' thought, a first attempt:

Faustino V - Eibar (Alto de Arrate):
iv9zsl.png


213km
Puerto de Herrera (5,6km @ 8,2%)
Puerto de Vitoria (6,0km @ 3,1%)
Puerto de Urkiola (6,1km @ 9,2%)
Untzilla (2,4km @ 8,5%)
Alto de Karabieta (4,9km @ 7,8%)
Alto de Arrate (7,2km @ 6,9%)
 
I just watched the presentation-According to Purito, Samu & Cobo- the crucial stages are 14, 15, 16 & 19. the 1st week is taxing where some gaps will appear to start the selection. I confirm this 2012 Vuelta will be exciting!!!
 

TRENDING THREADS