Vuelta a España 2018 Rumours

[FilipeFD]

remind the impossibility to broadcast live images inside tunnels, no matter how beautiful they are

the only way to make this possible for live tv transmission, is with standing cameras. and that would implie, a duplicate of resourses (that usually are on the finish line), that I dont know it would be feasible

 

[Red Rick]

I want to see that tunnel. That looks amazing

 

[DFA123]

Re: Re:

Asturias agin (the Spanish Paradise), yes it's for cycling:

Is this just a far fetched wish or is this a serious rumour? Because as cool as it looks I can't really imagine this is serious

I doubt very much it will ever happen. The caves lead immediately to a tiny village which is a dead end. So the caves would have to host the sprint finish. It's also not really as impressive or spectacular as those photos suggest - it's only 200m long, so definitely not worth designing a stage around.

 

[Asturiano]

Re: Re:

Asturias agin (the Spanish Paradise), yes it's for cycling:

Is this just a far fetched wish or is this a serious rumour? Because as cool as it looks I can't really imagine this is serious

I doubt very much it will ever happen. The caves lead immediately to a tiny village which is a dead end. So the caves would have to host the sprint finish. It's also not really as impressive or spectacular as those photos suggest - it's only 200m long, so definitely not worth designing a stage around.

It's as impressive as it looks like. It's more tan 200 metres.

I think it would be a good departure, not for a sprint finish with RELLY good and better options for the finish like Covadong and Casielles (if you could make a final there).

The cave called La Cuevona is in Ribadesella, in 70 kms you can put all the climbs

There are many climbs to choose over there, if you want a final stage design in Covadonga.

 

[ice&fire]

More old news. This one from December last year!

The Vuelta 2018 will visit Galicia. In the short audio clip Guillén talks about discovering new places.

http://cadenaser.com/emisora/2016/12/26/radio_pontevedra/1482768693_215440.html

I fear we'll have 3/4 stages with some familiar finishes.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Gamonitero is probably the climb I'd choose if I was given the opportunity to pick a climb for a competitive race. Its in the league of modern legends such as Mortirolo, Angliru and Zoncolan. One could even argue it'd be the hardest of all those climbs, altho I still think that title belongs to Zoncolan. Such a beast! I'd still take a Fauniera - Sampeyre combo tho...

 

[RedheadDane]

Re:

remind the impossibility to broadcast live images inside tunnels, no matter how beautiful they are

the only way to make this possible for live tv transmission, is with standing cameras. and that would implie, a duplicate of resourses (that usually are on the finish line), that I dont know it would be feasible

They somehow managed at the Tour de Suisse...
Just kidnap the Swiss media people and force them to do their trick. Or, maybe just ask them nicely.

 

[ice&fire]

The amount of old news seems to be endless. The village of Sabero proposed one year ago to host another stage finish at la Camperona in 2018. The text also mentions that the province of Bizkaia wanted to host another mountain stage.

http://www.diariodeleon.es/noticias/deportes/camperona-mira-vuelta-2018_1097212.html

 

[jfazendeiro]

The alcaide of Marbella has announced that the city will host the start or finish of a stage:
https://twitter.com/AngelesMunoz_/status/903297223118774273

The city is located at 37km south-west of Málaga. From this it becomes probable that the city will be part of the 2nd stage and that the Vuelta will go West after leaving Málaga and then North, going through Extremadura and Castilla till the beggining of the second week.
The Pyrenees will be either on the thrid week or out of the race in this edition.

The year of 2006 was the last time the race direction was this, at the time the start city was also Málaga.
Here is a map:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3a/Vuelta-a-Espana-2006.png

 

[ice&fire]

La Camperona is almost a done deal.
http://www.leonoticias.com/deportes/ciclismo/vuelta-volvera-camperona-20170918121537-nt.html

According to the link there's also interest in the region of León to promote their northeastern mountains and they mention Puerto de Tarna. The problem with Tarna and similar climbs in that area such as el Pontón or San Glorio is that they're too easy from León and not every well connected with other climbs.
San Glorio from Cantabria can be brutal as we saw in 2014, but then it was 70kms away from the finish at La Camperona. San Glorio followed by the easier but closer Pandetrave and a descent finish at the Leonese side of Picos de Europa in Valdeón could be interesting. But as the route seems to turn clockwise I can't see it happening next year.

 

[Red Rick]

Re:

La Camperona is almost a done deal.
http://www.leonoticias.com/deportes/ciclismo/vuelta-volvera-camperona-20170918121537-nt.html

According to the link there's also interest in the region of León to promote their northeastern mountains and they mention Puerto de Tarna. The problem with Tarna and similar climbs in that area such as el Pontón or San Glorio is that they're too easy from León and not every well connected with other climbs.
San Glorio from Cantabria can be brutal as we saw in 2014, but then it was 70kms away from the finish at La Camperona. San Glorio followed by the easier but closer Pandetrave and a descent finish at the Leonese side of Picos de Europa in Valdeón could be interesting. But as the route seems to turn clockwise I can't see it happening next year.

Absolutely brilliant.

Other climbs rumored are:

Mirador de Ezaro
Pena Cabarga
Formigal
Peyragudes (preferrably preceded by the Tourmalet)
Lagos de Covadonga
Naranco

 

[ice&fire]

To be fair, most rumours are pointing to no Pyrenees in the race, so I'd drop two from your list. I'll give you another hint: Guillén has reportedly said that climbs like Angliru and Los Machucos are unique but he considers that they should be used once every 4 years or so. Look for climbs that were last used in 2014

 

[Red Rick]

Think enough time has passed for the return of Cuitu Negru honestly.

 

[FilipeFD]

looking at the route of 2018 World Championships, maybe Vuelta should design a route to atract sprinters and medium mountain riders, as they have no chance in WC, and probably wont skip vuelta as the been doing. on the reverse, maybe is the only chance some GC riders have to win the rainbow jersey, and there is a chance the wont make Vuelta to focus on WC

 

[Gigs_98]

Re:

Think enough time has passed for the return of Cuitu Negru honestly.

Just like Bola del Mundo last used in 2012 and I still find that surprising. And because someone mentioned 2014, it's actually surprising that some of the climbs from back then haven't returned, with Puerto de Ancares and La Farrapona being the two most obvious examples. The strange thing about the Vuelta is that the only climbs the race really overuses are short steep mtf's like La Camperona, Peña Cabarga, Cumbre del Sol,... and ofc Lagos de Covadonga. But the really famous big mountain top finishes aren't any more overused than climbs in the giro or the tour. That said, I still wish they would use an even bigger variety of climbs.

looking at the route of 2018 World Championships, maybe Vuelta should design a route to atract sprinters and medium mountain riders, as they have no chance in WC, and probably wont skip vuelta as the been doing. on the reverse, maybe is the only chance some GC riders have to win the rainbow jersey, and there is a chance the wont make Vuelta to focus on WC

I agree, the Vuelta field next year could be worse than usually.

 

[Red Rick]

Re: Re:

Think enough time has passed for the return of Cuitu Negru honestly.

Just like Bola del Mundo last used in 2012 and I still find that surprising. And because someone mentioned 2014, it's actually surprising that some of the climbs from back then haven't returned, with Puerto de Ancares and La Farrapona being the two most obvious examples. The strange thing about the Vuelta is that the only climbs the race really overuses are short steep mtf's like La Camperona, Peña Cabarga, Cumbre del Sol,... and ofc Lagos de Covadonga. But the really famous big mountain top finishes aren't any more overused than climbs in the giro or the tour. That said, I still wish they would use an even bigger variety of climbs.

looking at the route of 2018 World Championships, maybe Vuelta should design a route to atract sprinters and medium mountain riders, as they have no chance in WC, and probably wont skip vuelta as the been doing. on the reverse, maybe is the only chance some GC riders have to win the rainbow jersey, and there is a chance the wont make Vuelta to focus on WC

I agree, the Vuelta field next year could be worse than usually.

The Giro basically has too many mountains to choose from to overuse any of the good ones. My only issue is Cervinia if the rumors are true.

 

[ice&fire]

The province of Ourense in Galicia is in negociations with Unipublic to host a stage.
http://www.laregion.es/articulo/ourense/tendra-protagonismo-ourense-proxima-vuelta-2018/20170921184914737142.html

No clue about the possible course and finish. The province of Ourense hosted in 2016 the opening TTT and the mid mountain stage that S.Yates won and the departure of the Ancares stage in 2014. The area includes mountains such as Cabeza de Manzaneda and the never used Fonte da Cova and Sierra del Courel but I doubt they'll go to any of these. My guess is that they'll go again around the canyon or RIver Sil like the stage S.Yates won since they're heavily promoting that area as a touristic destination. For the stage finish rumors in forums point to the city of Ourense, which is at the side of River Miño, is surounded by hills that top 200m above the river bed, and one of them has already been used in amateur races.

 

[railxmig]

Re:

The province of Ourense in Galicia is in negociations with Unipublic to host a stage.
http://www.laregion.es/articulo/ourense/tendra-protagonismo-ourense-proxima-vuelta-2018/20170921184914737142.html

No clue about the possible course and finish. The province of Ourense hosted in 2016 the opening TTT and the mid mountain stage that S.Yates won and the departure of the Ancares stage in 2014. The area includes mountains such as Cabeza de Manzaneda and the never used Fonte da Cova and Sierra del Courel but I doubt they'll go to any of these. My guess is that they'll go again around the canyon or RIver Sil like the stage S.Yates won since they're heavily promoting that area as a touristic destination. For the stage finish rumors in forums point to the city of Ourense, which is at the side of River Miño, is surounded by hills that top 200m above the river bed, and one of them has already been used in amateur races.

Fonte da Cova is right on the border of Galicia and Castillia and i think it's much closer to Ponferrada, so i personally wouln't count this as Ourense area.

 

[ice&fire]

Regardless of proximity to major cities there's a road to the summit from each region, so the authorities of the province of Ourense would be involved if they (or Unipublic) wanted a stage finish at the summit climbing from their side.

In any case this is irrelevant. The road is flanked by slate quarries in both sides and that's hardly a landscape that local and regional politicians will want to show on TV. On the Galician side they're promoting the River Sil canyon, and on the Leonese side they'll take us next year to La Camperona. And in the future I can see other parts of Leon such as their side of Picos de Europa or even Ancares before Fonte da Cova.

 

[Forever The Best]

Re:

The province of Ourense in Galicia is in negociations with Unipublic to host a stage.
http://www.laregion.es/articulo/ourense/tendra-protagonismo-ourense-proxima-vuelta-2018/20170921184914737142.html

No clue about the possible course and finish. The province of Ourense hosted in 2016 the opening TTT and the mid mountain stage that S.Yates won and the departure of the Ancares stage in 2014. The area includes mountains such as Cabeza de Manzaneda and the never used Fonte da Cova and Sierra del Courel but I doubt they'll go to any of these. My guess is that they'll go again around the canyon or RIver Sil like the stage S.Yates won since they're heavily promoting that area as a touristic destination. For the stage finish rumors in forums point to the city of Ourense, which is at the side of River Miño, is surounded by hills that top 200m above the river bed, and one of them has already been used in amateur races.

Costina de Canedo HTF by Guillen?

 

[ice&fire]

That fits the script, but there are some more around. They could even do a circuit and climb twice whatever hill they chose.

 

[ice&fire]

Pau wants to host a Vuelta stage next year
http://www.sudouest.fr/2017/07/07/pau-negocie-le-passage-de-la-vuelta-dans-la-ville-en-2018-3598639-4344.php

Apart from the departure in Malaga and the regular mountain stage(s) in Asturias Unipublic has confirmed that the race will visit Extremadura and Galicia and there are rumours about Cantabria and Basque Country. I can't see how they can fit a visit to Pau without a ridicuolus transfer.

Another rumour: a private association in Salamanca has requested Unipublic to consider a stage finish in the city to celebrate the 800th anniversary of their University. They look like a nonprofit organisation. Let's see if they find someone willing to pay for that.
https://www.tribunasalamanca.com/noticias/ciudadanos-del-reino-de-leon-solicita-una-etapa-de-la-vuelta-2018-en-salamanca-por-el-viii-centenario-de-la-usal/1503683811

 

[jens_attacks]

nuke pau plz

 

[ice&fire]

The province of Bizkaia is bidding to host a 'spectacular' Vuelta stage without departure of finish at Bilbao. They plan to bid in the future for a Tour stage.
http://www.biciciclismo.com/es/vizcaya-puede-acoger-una-etapa-de-la-vuelta-2018-28-09-2017

Literal translation:

It is understood that taking advantage of the Biskayne orography, it would be a high mountain stage to fulfil the idea of 'spectacular'

My knowledge of roads above 700m in Bizkaia is limited to Monte Oiz, Urkiola and Pagomakurre. They can be connected in that order, but the terrain after Urkiola would be like La Vallée d'Oisans. I don't know if three climbs in the 700m-900m range make a high mountain stage.

 

[Forever The Best]

Re:

That fits the script, but there are some more around. They could even do a circuit and climb twice whatever hill they chose.

Thanks. I'd prefer a finish in Ourense after Costina de Canedo but knowing Guillen he will probably finish the stage at the top of the climb.