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Guillén has stated several times that he likes Gamoniteiro but there's lack of flat and solid space to host the minimum finish infrastructure. That was the case with Ancares summit until he got permission to get some bulldozers in 2014. I believe getting some bulldozers up to Gamoniteiro is just a matter of time.Red Rick said:Bar is goodice&fire said:Candín is big enough to have a bar. And that's more than what you can find at the summit
Seriously, all stages in those sparsely populated areas are paid by regional governments or provincial councils. So as long as there is space to deploy the infrastructure any place is feasible. It's just a matter of interest of the involved actors.
Yeah I guess that's also part of the reason we still haven't seen the Gamoniteiro cause it's like 1km from the Angliru as the crow flies.
ice&fire said:Guillén has stated several times that he likes Gamoniteiro but there's lack of flat and solid space to host the minimum finish infrastructure. That was the case with Ancares summit until he got permission to get some bulldozers in 2014. I believe getting some bulldozers up to Gamoniteiro is just a matter of time.
He won't say yes, but it's obvious that the race avoids those regions where hostility is quite open. That means that the only feasible MTF in Catalonia is Pla de Beret.OlavEH said:ice&fire said:Guillén has stated several times that he likes Gamoniteiro but there's lack of flat and solid space to host the minimum finish infrastructure. That was the case with Ancares summit until he got permission to get some bulldozers in 2014. I believe getting some bulldozers up to Gamoniteiro is just a matter of time.
Guillen has used a bunch of previously unknown climbs in the Vuelta the last decade, and hosted MTFs in south (Nevada, Pandera, Calar Alto), central, northwest and north (mainly Andorra), but it's ages since we have seen a big MTF in Catalonia. Is this due to political reasons?
ice&fire said:He won't say yes, but it's obvious that the race avoids those regions where hostility is quite open. That means that the only feasible MTF in Catalonia is Pla de Beret.
Yes, but I don't think that the riders, and especially not the race organisers (who were Basque) were a problem for La Vuelta when there were ETA bomb threats in the 60s and 70s. A bike race is harder to secure than a lot of sporting environments and if there is going to be separatist violence in Catalunya, the Vuelta is a pretty high profile sporting event which is probably easier to disrupt, whether via indirect but disruptive means like the tacks on the road in 2012, more aggressive means like Trieste in 1946 or Czechoslovakia in 1969, or the most extreme examples like the Basque separatists in the El Correo-El Pueblo Vasco days. We've had in recent years the Frankfurt Maitagrennen cancelled at short notice for a bombscare and of course the Boston Marathon bombing, so while the Vuelta is not actively avoiding Catalunya at present, they don't want to stray too far from areas with good security presence and they don't want to travel into areas where the separatist/nationalist feeling is too strong either.OlavEH said:ice&fire said:He won't say yes, but it's obvious that the race avoids those regions where hostility is quite open. That means that the only feasible MTF in Catalonia is Pla de Beret.
Hostility against what? The riders? The Vuelta in general? Madrid and central government.
Anything with España in its name. Same situation as the Basque Country until they realised that it was just a sport competition detached from partisan politics that could be positively used as a show window to the world.OlavEH said:ice&fire said:He won't say yes, but it's obvious that the race avoids those regions where hostility is quite open. That means that the only feasible MTF in Catalonia is Pla de Beret.
Hostility against what? The riders? The Vuelta in general? Madrid and central government.
The provincial borders issue has an aggravating circumstance in Ancares linked to the 2014 Vuelta stage.Red Rick said:Damn provincial borders
ice&fire said:According to La Vuelta web site the race presentation will be on Wed 19th of December. This is just 6 weeks from now.
On Wednesday, December 19th, Unipublic will be presenting the route of La Vuelta 19. The ADDA (Auditorio Provincial de Alicante) will be hosting the ceremony in which the details of the 74th edition of La Vuelta will be revealed.
In a live streamed gala that will be broadcasted on Teledeporte at 7 pm, the organisation will be unveiling the host cities of the 21 stages of the 2019 edition, starting on August 24th in the Salinas of Torrevieja and arriving in Madrid on September 15th.
Does the stage in Andorras start there? Could get there over the Port d'Envalira is coming from France.OlavEH said:There are no rumours about a stage in France?
If there is some climbs/area that deserves to be used again, it is the climbs in French Basque country.
Red Rick said:Does the stage in Andorras start there? Could get there over the Port d'Envalira is coming from France.OlavEH said:There are no rumours about a stage in France?
If there is some climbs/area that deserves to be used again, it is the climbs in French Basque country.
But yeah I think we all want to see French Basque Country.
If they finish at Urdax as the rumour says, they're far away from the best climbs. They can do Bagargi, Arnostegi, Izpegi and Otsondo, but Arnostegi is more than 60km from the finish and the last two are 6% climbs.Mayomaniac said:French Basque Country has the potential to be super awesome, but i don't know if they are willing to create a proper mountain stage.
https://goo.gl/QJEfuPMayomaniac said:French Basque Country has the potential to be super awesome, but i don't know if they are willing to create a proper mountain stage.