Rate the 2016 Vuelta

[Flamin]

So?

I'd give it a 6,5. Formigal was epic and some pretty good racing overall.

 

[Valv.Piti]

7 or 8, can't decide. Too many god damn breaks.

 

[DFA123]

I went for 8. Mostly because expectations for GTs are so low nowdays, that to see so much GC action - particularly between Froome and Quintana - was a pleasant surprise. Formigal stage was great, and I enjoyed the muritos. Race let down by having no decent sprinters and the breakaways often getting the stage wins without much effort from the peloton.

 

[LaFlorecita]

7 for me, some stages were dull, some were great.

 

[Tonton]

Wow! I thought that Valv.piti would have given it a 12, at least .

I give it a 9. By far the best GT in '16, one of the best in recent years. Although I denounced and am still bothered by what I call the Vuelta a Veinte Por Ciento de Espana, the course proved to be balanced and be conducive to great racing. As we always say, it's the riders who make the race: we had the 3 best GT riders in the World,it was a close fight. Too bad that Contador crashed, and I wish that Stage 20 had been an all-out slug fest between the three.

Still, I truly enjoy this Vuelta.

 

[Red Rick]

8. Which is miles better than this route had any right to be.

 

[Brullnux]

6.5, OK. Some stages were really good, but others were awful. Great to see Quintana and Froome go at it, and Formigal was fantastic. Too many muritos meant that there were only 3 actual mountain stages, which is pretty poor. With a better route and more TT kilometres then it could've been an 8 or 9.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Wow! I thought that Valv.piti would have given it a 12, at least .

I give it a 9. By far the best GT in '16, one of the best in recent years. Although I denounced and am still bothered by what I call the Vuelta a Veinte Por Ciento de Espana, the course proved to be balanced and be conducive to great racing. As we always say, it's the riders who make the race: we had the 3 best GT riders in the World,it was a close fight. Too bad that Contador crashed, and I wish that Stage 20 had been an all-out slug fest between the three.

Still, I truly enjoy this Vuelta.

Well had Quintana won a couple of other stages (or Chaves or Froome, for that matter), I would definitely have said 8, maybe even 9. While some of the breaks were great to follow, its effectively just lesser riders given a pass without any real impact on the race winning the big stages. I don't like that.

But it was a good race, definitely. Especially as a Quintana fan, so I land on 8, but you feel the race actually had potential to be better with Froome and Quintana being this even.

 

[CaptainSpenno]

6 for me, although almost swayed to a 7 by the last couple of days. Course needs a better balance for me, but close GC through the top 10 kept some interest.

 

[orangerider]

4 for me. Too much "grade B" level riders. Sky and Tinkoff teams were filled with tired and/or unmotivated riders. Contador injured again ruled him out early on. And then that massive organized cheating that occurred when unmotivated riders soft pedaled up at 200w the entire stage & laughed when they crossed the line knowing they got away with it. Didn't seem like a premier grand tour to me ,and frankly disgusted me with the cheating part.

 

[Cance > TheRest]

8 - Good GC battle. Good mountains jersey battle. Good points jersey battle. One of the most entertaining stage races this year

 

[Dazed and Confused]

A big six.

Orica was great. Some of the break wins were very good, but the lack of peloton action (no serious chase) takes the rating down.
Some sprints were ok.
Repetitive and predictable GC action between Froome and Quintana bar one stage.
Vuelta found some interesting small and twisty roads here and there, but the peloton didn't take much advantage.

 

[Jancouver]

2 for me.

One point for Quintana beating Froome and one point for Chavez beating Contador for the 3rd place.

Actually, there should be no points for anybody beating Contador as he is cleared past his best and he should retire ASAP because he will not be winning any GT again.

 

[Gigs_98]

8
With the formigal stage as the big highlight, but besides that the race wasn't overly great and compared to the giro it didn't have as much drama.

 

[Ramon Koran]

6 the racing was descent but not great, the winner I'm not to pleased about OBE were great Alberto was awful froome was a gladiator all in all decent

 

[PremierAndrew]

The route was a joke and it still ended up being so great. I'm giving it an 8

 

[Pantani_lives]

9/10
In terms of GC quality by far the best of the year. Some stages winners were less interesting, but it was nice to see Gesink being rewarded for attacking. The best stage win was Quintana on Lagos de Covadonga.

 

[jens_attacks]

8
Formigal
Nairo and froome being fresh after doing le tour

 

[Singer01]

7, formigal was amazing at the time but the gap was just a bit too big and ruined any chance of a comeback in the last week.

 

[WillemS]

How can I rate something that is not over? We still have one day of epic racing ahead! Might change my whole opinion of the race... (I'd like to see the last-day short-to-mid length ITT return in either the Giro or the Vuelta; a breathtaking ~30 Km fight for the podium, now that's a ceremony worthy of closing a GT.)

I think I would rate this Vuelta with a 7.5, but I don't know if I want to follow the convention to round that up. Froome's attacks, despite lacking the form to distance Quintana, were refreshing; he basically won the tour without ever showing such attacking spirit, save for a loony descent. Chaves' courage to attack from afar and snatch the podium from Contador is also something I would like to see more often. The break action has been good, too, so I'll cherish that memory as well.

However, despite a promising field, the Vuelta was also severely lacking in some points and lot of that had to do with the route. The level of sprinting was sub-par for a GT, as is more often the case in the Vuelta. To truly be a "Grand Tour of Cycling" instead of a "Climber's Fest", a GT should offer a variety of terrains incenting a varied field of top riders to come and compete. However, we seem to be stuck with the ridiculous notion that the only proper action in a GT is climbing action.

 

[jsem94]

8. Despite a shite route, the riders made the best of it.

 

[Fergoose]

7 for me. Great for GC and good stage racing, but lack of quality sprints and KotM contested by non-specialist climbers (which I hoped ASO would make more like TdF for points scoring) so little obvious prestige for any jersey other than the red one.

 

[Netserk]

Hmm, my first impression is that it's been the best of the last ten Vueltas (not the greatest competition). In that regard, '12 and '15 were quite good as well.

 

[Kwibus]

Re:

7, formigal was amazing at the time but the gap was just a bit too big and ruined any chance of a comeback in the last week.

I have no problems when an epic stage like that ruins the GC excitement. If it was just 1 rider destroying everyone on the first MTF then it would've been crap, but now we had an 120km stage that was all out racing for 120km with daring moves. Teams failing and teams succeeding. Leaders in the wind etc.
I can live with the fact that it pretty much sealed the win for Quintana.

 

[Kwibus]

Re:

The route was a joke and it still ended up being so great. I'm giving it an 8

Indeed. Also this Vuelta did actually have good medium mountain stages.

Too many flat with mtf at the finish though.