Vuelta 2017, Stage 4: Escaldes-Engordany/Tarragona 198.2km

[starlord]

Fernando Escartín commentary:

Flat. This will be the second sprint to the finish-line, another of the few opportunities for sprinters in the 2017 Vuelta. We may have a few breakaways at the beginning, but the sprinter teams will be able to control them and head down to Tarragona in order to win the stage.

Mountain passes & hills:
Km 132.0 - Alto de Belltall.13 kilometre-long climb at 2.8% - category 3




Last 5km:

Start: 12:57 CEST, Finish: 17:27-17:54 CEST, Live pictures from 15:00 CEST
Quite technical finale with many roundabouts, slightly uphill. Positioning will be crucial. No crashes hopefully.

 

[Laplaz]

I heard this will be windy, am I right?

 

[Pricey_sky]

Re:

I heard this will be windy, am I right?

40kph winds but sadly it's mainly headwind, there will be a few stretches of crosswind but not too much.

 

[BeagRigh]

Re: Re:

I heard this will be windy, am I right?

40kph winds but sadly it's mainly headwind, ...snip....

Ooft, going to be a loooong day. Solo break?

 

[Robert5091]

Thanks for posting the info Starlord - half a dozen decent guys in the breakaway working together could take this.

 

[DFA123]

That finish looks ridiculously hard to get right - four 90 degree turns in the last km and then a slight uphill drag to the line. It's going to be very unpredictable I think with maybe someone unexpected positioning well and timing the sprint perfectly to take the win. Maybe even a solo Postlberger style attack could work.

 

[Krokro]

Trentin to win this bicycle race. I expect Cort to do well.

 

[King Boonen]

Re:

That finish looks ridiculously hard to get right - four 90 degree turns in the last km and then a slight uphill drag to the line. It's going to be very unpredictable I think with maybe someone unexpected positioning well and timing the sprint perfectly to take the win. Maybe even a solo Postlberger style attack could work.

The roundabout at the 3 km mark combined with the 90 degree turn beforehand has the potential to be absolute carnage.

 

[carolina]

What is the blue line in the first picture?

 

[TMP402]

Re:

What is the blue line in the first picture?

Probably the course for support vehicles?

 

[starlord]

Re:

What is the blue line in the first picture?

From rulebook:

Recommended Parallel Route
To make the race itinerary, which is sometimes lined with very large numbers of spectators, safe, it may be useful to reserve this route only for essential vehicles. Whenever it is possible, it will be established a recommended parallel route (with more important and faster roads) that allows accredited persons to get from the starting zone to the finish area without having to cover the whole stage. This recommended parallel route will be included in the route book.

 

[MartinGT]

Trentin FTW

 

[rick james]

a big peloton won't enjoy the final 5k, could be a mess

 

[carolina]

Thank you for the explanation!

 

[DFA123]

Re: Re:

That finish looks ridiculously hard to get right - four 90 degree turns in the last km and then a slight uphill drag to the line. It's going to be very unpredictable I think with maybe someone unexpected positioning well and timing the sprint perfectly to take the win. Maybe even a solo Postlberger style attack could work.

The roundabout at the 3 km mark combined with the 90 degree turn beforehand has the potential to be absolute carnage.

Yep, I've got a slightly bad feeling about this stage. I guess the good thing is that there are not too many big sprint trains here, and the run in until the last km is on really big wide roads. But, then the last km is on fairly narrow roads, and the very last corner has a big brick wall making a pinch point with no margin for error.

Certainly not the best designed sprint finish.

 

[Inquitus]

No chance of echelons to spice up the day? I fancy Adam Blythe to do something today.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Re:

No chance of echelons to spice up the day? I fancy Adam Blythe to do something today.

He will finish second, again.

 

[Jspear]

Quickstep probably did better homework than everyone else so Trentin for the win.

Degenkolb needs to win because he's on my team in a game, but I guess he was feeling bad yesterday.

 

[FjPavels]

Re:

Quickstep probably did better homework than everyone else so Trentin for the win.

Degenkolb needs to win because he's on my team in a game, but I guess he was feeling bad yesterday.

Read on a danish website (feltet.dk) that Degenkolb is sick and that Theuns will be their sprinter today.

 

[sir fly]

Difficult to make an interesting broadcast of these kind of stages in Spain.
The scenery doesn't offer more than the racing does.

 

[Bolder]

everything tranquillo so far with 35 k left. I expect (hope) to see a few attacks before the sprint. Break now under 3 min...

 

[Tank Engine]

Eurosport in Polish: discussions of garlic, human pyramids and a short description of the Church of St. John. It must be a transition stage.

 

[Bolder]

Re:

Eurosport in Polish: discussions of garlic, human pyramids and a short description of the Church of St. John. It must be a transition stage.

That must be great. To be honest I don't even know why GTs include these stages anymore. It's kind of soothing to watch everyone tool along at 35kmph but why not shake things up with a short circuit stage, US-criterium style -- then at least you'd have more attacks...(stifles yawn)

 

[Vroome.exe]

Kirby tipping Si Clarke.

 

[rick james]

TCR rider in trouble