Vuelta 2024 discussion

[Valv.Piti]

This is the list of riders capable of top 10 and some other notable riders down below.

Confirmed:
Enric Mas
Sepp Kuss
Mathias Skjelmose
Mikel Landa
Adam Yates
Joao Almeida
Brandon McNulty
Isaac Del Toro
Jay Vine
Valentin Paret Peintre
Ben O' Connor
Cian Uijtebroeks
Felix Gall
Nairo Quintana
Einer Rubio
Lorenzo Fortunato
David Gaudu
Max Poole
Filippo Zana
Lennart VE
Primoz Roglic
Aleksandr Vlasov
Dani Martinez
Florian Lipowitz
Max Poole
Mat Riccitello
Antonio Tiberi
Carlos Rodriguez
Thymen Arensman
Laurens de Plus
Tao G. Gart
Giulio Ciccone
Richard Carapaz

Other notable riders (non GC):
Josh Tarling
WVA
Pavel Bittner

Unconfirmed:
Guillame Martin
Kaden Groves
Ilan Van Wilder

 

[tobydawq]

• -CARAPAZ Richard
• -URÁN Rigoberto
• -COSTA Rui
• -CEPEDA Jefferson Alexander
• -DOULL Owain
• -SWEENY Harry
• -SHAW James
• -RAFFERTY Darren*
  
  Aaaand Richie is officially riding! A couple of old guys with some lads that I don't really know at all and then Cepeda who climbed quite well in Burgos. I don't think this team is strong, but Richie has what it takes to win a GT I think.
  
  The only interesting team left is QS now, I think. Cofidis will select some over the hill riders from the glory days of Movistar in the mid 10's to late 10's and Martin, and Alpecin and Intermarche will bring a bunch of pack fodder apart from Groves.

I gotta say, your enthusiasm in this thread makes it hard for me not to look forward to Saturday!

The sprinter field is hilarious, though. So far, of riders on the start list with a decent sprint I can honestly only spot Wout and Bittner. But Alpecin are likely to select Groves I guess and Cofidis haven't announced their team either, so I guess Coquard is likely to be there too. And Intermarché will perhaps make sprints their top priority with top star Arne Marit.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Of course man, its the Vuelta, the 3rd biggest race (behind the Tour and Tour of Flanders, obviously), so we are all hype in here. Love the Vuelta, always have been since the mid 00's when TV2 started to show the race and of course my main man was often a lot more successful in this beauty of a race than in France.

This year it has a great route, a great (but open) field and it starts in the South in the middle of August. Always a great recipe, riders will get absolutely cooked early on and stage 9 will be the best stage of the year. Mark my words.

 

[Squire]

This is the list of riders capable of top 10 and some other notable riders down below.

Confirmed:
Enric Mas
Sepp Kuss
Mathias Skjelmose
Mikel Landa
Adam Yates
Joao Almeida
Brandon McNulty
Isaac Del Toro
Jay Vine
Valentin Paret Peintre
Ben O' Connor
Cian Uijtebroeks
Felix Gall
Nairo Quintana
Einer Rubio
Lorenzo Fortunato
David Gaudu
Max Poole
Filippo Zana
Lennart VE
Primoz Roglic
Aleksandr Vlasov
Dani Martinez
Florian Lipowitz
Max Poole
Mat Riccitello
Antonio Tiberi
Carlos Rodriguez
Thymen Arensman
Laurens de Plus
Tao G. Gart
Giulio Ciccone
Richard Carapaz

Other notable riders (non GC):
Josh Tarling
WVA
Pavel Bittner

Unconfirmed:
Guillame Martin
Kaden Groves
Ilan Van Wilder

I guess the other C. Rodriguez could sneak onto this list as well, considering VPP is there. And I see you have (rightly, I guess) lost faith in the 2021 podium finisher.

Just hoping this won't be a holding hands parade like Hindley/Carapaz/Landa and Roglic/Thomas/Almeida in the Giro in recent years while everyone thinks they can do something big on the final two mountain stages before Madrid or in the final TT. But as I've said here before, maybe the Unipuerto stages are kinda a saving grace, as it it won't cost too much to try there. And stuff like Cuitu Negru certainly and Hazallanas likely will force selection.

 

[Coffeeplanter]

Van der Poel was considering to take the start in Lisboa, but, as per usual, to consider amounted to a no. Very understandable decision if you’d ask me, the man must be exhausted from all the racing he’s been doing this year.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

This is the list of riders capable of top 10 and some other notable riders down below.

Confirmed:
Enric Mas
Sepp Kuss
Mathias Skjelmose
Mikel Landa
Adam Yates
Joao Almeida
Brandon McNulty
Isaac Del Toro
Jay Vine
Valentin Paret Peintre
Ben O' Connor
Cian Uijtebroeks
Felix Gall
Nairo Quintana
Einer Rubio
Lorenzo Fortunato
David Gaudu
Max Poole
Filippo Zana
Lennart VE
Primoz Roglic
Aleksandr Vlasov
Dani Martinez
Florian Lipowitz
Max Poole
Mat Riccitello
Antonio Tiberi
Carlos Rodriguez
Thymen Arensman
Laurens de Plus
Tao G. Gart
Giulio Ciccone
Richard Carapaz

Other notable riders (non GC):
Josh Tarling
WVA
Pavel Bittner

Unconfirmed:
Guillame Martin
Kaden Groves
Ilan Van Wilder

I can say with 100% certainty, that Van Wilder is not going to ride the Vuelta. His strava already made that clear, but i just got confirmation as well.

ps: It's Lennert, not Lennart.

 

[CyclistAbi]

I gotta say, your enthusiasm in this thread makes it hard for me not to look forward to Saturday!

AFAIK it started once Rogla announced the participation. Looks like we are on the same boat here.

 

[CyclistAbi]

The thing is i don't feel anybody will win it by 10 minutes or more. The field is strong and the route is nice too. Climber fest and not that many opportunities for sprinters involved. So likely this race will deliver in term of a GC battle.

P.S. I am thinking Giro 2023 level of delivery here. Majestic. We'll see.

 

[CyclistAbi]

Weather looks like it will be really hot in at least week one. True holidays!

 

[Sciatic]

The thing is i don't feel anybody will win it by 10 minutes or more. The field is strong and the route is nice too. Climber fest and not that many opportunities for sprinters involved. So likely this race will deliver in term of a GC battle.

P.S. I am thinking Giro 2023 level of delivery here. Majestic. We'll see.

Giro23 level—do you mean how close it will be for win or how uneventful most of the stages will be?

 

[Valv.Piti]

The thing is i don't feel anybody will win it by 10 minutes or more. The field is strong and the route is nice too. Climber fest and not that many opportunities for sprinters involved. So likely this race will deliver in term of a GC battle.

P.S. I am thinking Giro 2023 level of delivery here. Majestic. We'll see.

Very good prediction, I don't think anyonewill be winning with 10 minutes either (which is very common in cycling).

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

Soudal Quickstep:

LANDA MEANA Mikel

ASGREEN Kasper

CATTANEO Mattia

KNOX James

LECERF William Junior

PEDERSEN Casper Phillip

VANSEVENANT Mauri

VERVAEKE Louis

Yes: they are CQ formatted names. It's almost as though I was trying to make you associate the Vuelta with CQ points in order to sneakily promote a game that combines those concepts.

Just Cofidis still to announce

 

[Ilmaestro99]

Soudal Quickstep:

LANDA MEANA Mikel

ASGREEN Kasper

CATTANEO Mattia

KNOX James

LECERF William Junior

PEDERSEN Casper Phillip

VANSEVENANT Mauri

VERVAEKE Louis

Yes: they are CQ formatted names. It's almost as though I was trying to make you associate the Vuelta with CQ points in order to sneakily promote a game that combines those concepts.

Just Cofidis still to announce

Of course I am always behind don Mikel, and it is nice to see Cattaneo and vansevennent back racing. For me it is a nice team

But shame to see nothing in the race programme for Fausto these days. He could be a good lieutenant in this la Vuelta and get a condition for the Italian classixs

This must mean he has some health problems, but there is no mention of anything by him or the team

 

[Berniece]

Soudal Quickstep:

LANDA MEANA Mikel

ASGREEN Kasper

CATTANEO Mattia

KNOX James

LECERF William Junior

PEDERSEN Casper Phillip

VANSEVENANT Mauri

VERVAEKE Louis

Yes: they are CQ formatted names. It's almost as though I was trying to make you associate the Vuelta with CQ points in order to sneakily promote a game that combines those concepts.

Just Cofidis still to announce

Seems a bit early for Lecerf to ride a GT, but the Vuelta is a good starting point

 

[Valv.Piti]

Quite good team from the QS lads. The two Danes act as the rouleurs while the rest are decent uphill, although very hit and miss and not with the best top level.. but this is about the best a QS team could look without Remco and his boys.

• PLANCKAERT Edward
• -VERGALLITO Luca
• -BALLERSTEDT Maurice*5h
• -GROVES Kaden5h
• -HERMANS Quinten5h
• -HOLLMANN Juri*5h
• -MEURISSE Xandro5h
• -RIESEBEEK Oscar5h
  
  As expected a lot of pack fodder on a route like these. Maybe Hermans can do something on the easier break days, and then of course Groves who should be able to win one in the first week.

 

[Valv.Piti]

• MARIT Arne*
• -GOOSSENS Kobe
• -MEINTJES Louis6h
• -PAQUOT Tom*6h
• -PETILLI Simone6h
• -ROTA Lorenzo6h
• -TAARAMÄE Rein6h
• -BRAET Vito*
  
  I completely forgot about Meintjens, how could i?! Well, the bring a 3rd tier sprinter and a 3rd tier climber and not much else, so expectations should be low here as expected.

 

[Valv.Piti]

And Cofidis is then the only team left. As I said earlier: Guillaume Martin, lots of the old Spanish boys and potentially Coquard?

 

[tobydawq]

Coquard indeed. This might be his best ever chance for a Grand Tour stage win.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

MARTIN Guillaume

COQUARD Bryan

IZAGIRRE INSAUSTI Ion

HERRADA LOPEZ Jesus

FERNANDEZ ANDUJAR Ruben

LASTRA MARTINEZ Jonathan

ELISSONDE Kenny

CHAMPION Thomas

 

[Valv.Piti]

Confirmed:
Enric Mas
Sepp Kuss
Mathias Skjelmose
Mikel Landa
Adam Yates
Joao Almeida
Brandon McNulty
Isaac Del Toro
Jay Vine
Valentin Paret Peintre
Ben O' Connor
Cian Uijtebroeks
Felix Gall
Nairo Quintana
Einer Rubio
Lorenzo Fortunato
David Gaudu
Max Poole
Filippo Zana
Lennart VE
Primoz Roglic
Aleksandr Vlasov
Dani Martinez
Florian Lipowitz
Mat Riccitello
Antonio Tiberi
Carlos Rodriguez
Thymen Arensman
Laurens de Plus
Tao G. Gart
Giulio Ciccone
Richard Carapaz
Louis Meintjens
Guillaume Martin

Other notable riders (non GC):
Josh Tarling
WVA
Pavel Bittner
Kaden Groves
Bryan Coquard

Its finally complete. Pretty much as expected IMO, although I had thought riders like Buitrago and Pello did the Vuelta, but thats no major loss at all. Ayuso is a bigger loss, mostly due to the drama at this point, but its not surprising. Im however pleasently surprised that Carlos Rodriguez decided to show up, that also shows how little there's actually left to race if you're a classic GT/GC-rider that necessarily isn't that good at one day races. Simon Yates is pretty glaring as well, and so is Hindley, but both riders have underperformed severely so they probably need to reset and see if they can do well in Canada/Worlds/Italy and wouldn't have done much in this race. I bet Hindley is pretty disappointed though, but Bora is stacked in the mountains and you also need some workhorses. I bet he would have been here if not for Roglic being cleared to race.

Roglic should be considered the favorite, I guess, but its not straightforward at all for him to win. He needs to be very close to his best to win and I very much doubt that. There's a super exciting field consisting of Mas, Landa, Rodriguez, Carapaz, Yates, Almeida and Kuss that can win the race. Can I include Dani Martinez here? Maybe. On top of that you have a group of exciting prospects in the mountains like Tiberi, Riccitello, Skjelmose, Van Eetvelt, Arensman, Cian, Lipowitz and Del Toro. Only Tiberi and Arensman and to some extent Cian has shown the level prior to the start of being able to show consistency and a high level over 3 weeks, but many of these riders haven't even tried to target a GT proper before, so thats very exciting to follow.

 

[Valv.Piti]

35 degrees in Lissabon, 38 in Castelo Branco, 38 in Plasencia, 39 in Cordoba, 40 in Sevilla and 36 in Granada.

First 9 days will be incredibly hot and and heat will play a major factor. Suspect the weather will be at least 10 degrees colder on average when they go north from stage 10 and onwards.

Hype!

 

[Lequack]

Lanterne rouge

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqvHyeEAcIs

 

[Invicituz]

The Vuelta a España 2024 has 21 stages, covering 3265 kilometres (2028 miles). There are 2 individual time trial stages, and the other 19 are predominantly mountain and hilly stages, offering little opportunity for the sprinters.

With the three amigos Pogačar, Vingegaard, and Evenepoel not participating, it will be a wide-open event. Three-time race winner and third overall in 2023, Primož Roglič, fresh from his Tour disappointment, is the race favourite. The other contenders are last year's Vuelta champion Sepp Kuss, Adam Yates, João Almeida, Carlos Rodríguez, Richard Carapaz, Mikel Landa, Enric Mas, and Daniel Felipe Martínez. It's sure to be a mouth-watering affair.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Very curious about Skjelmose and Van Eetvelt.

 

[CyclistAbi]

Very good prediction, I don't think anyonewill be winning with 10 minutes either (which is very common in cycling).

Is it, where have you been lately?

Giro23 level—do you mean how close it will be for win or how uneventful most of the stages will be?

Weather of epic proportions, instead of floods the heat, a lot of mano a mano, indeed a lot of eventful stages and then Rogla in final ITT to drop the chain only to after drop the hammer. Mic drop. We'll see.