Re:
deValtos said:
Decent result by Moscon but he didn't get close to challenging Trentin who himself isn't a bunch sprinter. Vuelta sprints are just weird. I'm still suprised every year a big dog doesn't just turn up for the lulz and wipe the floor with everyone every stage.
They used to more often.
Just look at 2010.
Cavendish won 3 stages.
Pettachi won 1 stage (all together he won 20 in the Vuelta)
Hushovd won 1 stage
Farrar won 1 stage
But since then there have been very few pure sprinting stages in the Vuelta.
Take today, for example. This was considered one of the few sprinting stages in this years Vuelta and even then it clearly wasn't a pure sprinting stage with the uphill finish (and Froome almost competing for victory).
Wilco Kelderman summed it up pretty well today after the stage: "It was a flat stage, but a Spanish flat."
Cav and Kittel wouldn't have won today (though sprinters who are slightly better at hills such as Gaviria and Demare might have).
Even if Cav or Kittel turned up in relatively good form to this Vuelta, they would only win a couple of stages.
So, with so few sprinting stages in each Vuelta and even then the sprinting stages being unsuited for pure sprinters it is no surprise so few sprinters turn up.
Then there is also the fact that (depending on the course) the sprinters sometimes build towards the worlds (like Gaviria this year) so skip the Vuelta.
All this means that so few of the pure sprinters race the Vuelta.