Vuelta a España 2019 Rumours

[roundabout]

is it really 80 meters though

I have been to Toledo years ago and it did not feel like that much

edit: well, I still think that it would be more like 2010 finish

 

[Devil's Elbow]

According to the official site the final kilometre is uphill and on cobbles, that would fit with a finish at Zocodover.

 

[CaptainSpenno]

Any idea when we might get detailed stage routes & profiles?

 

[Tim Booth]

Re:

Any idea when we might get detailed stage routes & profiles?

https://www.lavuelta.es/en/

 

[CaptainSpenno]

Re: Re:

Any idea when we might get detailed stage routes & profiles?

https://www.lavuelta.es/en/

Ah yes, my mistake - it's the routes that still aren't available. I.e. something usable rather than the profile with towns etc along the way. Guess they could be a few months away yet.

 

[roundabout]

Re:

According to the official site the final kilometre is uphill and on cobbles, that would fit with a finish at Zocodover.

Serves me right for not reading the stage commentary.

Very unlikely that a sprinter can contest that stage then.

 

[Max Rockatansky]

Wildcards go to:

Burgos - BH (ESP)
Euskadi Basque Country – Murias (ESP)
Cofidis, Solutions Crédits (FRA)
Caja Rural-Seguros RGA (ESP)

They are afraid of Balarcon.

 

[Alexandre B.]

Burgos - BH has no business in this race. They are weak and had clinic issues not so long ago.

 

[yaco]

Giro and Vuelta wildcards are always interesting - Giro invited Bardiani back in 2018 after their issues in 2017 - and we have a similar situation with Burgos.

 

[Mayomaniac]

Re:

Giro and Vuelta wildcards are always interesting - Giro invited Bardiani back in 2018 after their issues in 2017 - and we have a similar situation with Burgos.

Bardiani have Cipo backing them up. They are riding on his bikes and he still has a lot of influence and contacts. That is probably also the main reason why they got a wildcard over NS, who no longer have an italian bike manufacturer to support their claim.

 

[yaco]

Re: Re:

Giro and Vuelta wildcards are always interesting - Giro invited Bardiani back in 2018 after their issues in 2017 - and we have a similar situation with Burgos.

Bardiani have Cipo backing them up. They are riding on his bikes and he still has a lot of influence and contacts. That is probably also the main reason why they got a wildcard over NS, who no longer have an italian bike manufacturer to support their claim.

I have no issue with Bardiani riding the 2019 Giro but surely you should miss one Giro for Misdeeds.

 

[Koronin]

Not surprising. Cofidis is a major sponsor of la Vuelta and several other Spanish races. The other 3 are the 3 Spanish Pro Conti teams. Of course the wildcards were going to those 4 teams.

 

[barmaher]

It's refreshing to have GT WC announcements without Rick Delaney bitching and moaning.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re:

It's refreshing to have GT WC announcements without Rick Delaney bitching and moaning.

Delighted that that trash human being isn't in the sport any longer. God he was an annoying character.

 

[yaco]

Except the Italian PC teams who miss out on the Giro *** and moan for months - Yeah, lets blame Delaney.

 

[Forever The Best]

I for some reason missed this during my studies and only checked the route detailed now and there are some really nice stages. There are still many negatives but this is much better than 2016 and 2018 and similar to 2015 and 2017 so I will focus on positives.

I like stage 2. A good stage for stage hunters early in the race.
Stage 5 is a nice, tough MTF to make gaps early.
Stage 9 even though extremely short for my liking has the Gallina-Engolasters combo with an additional ramp to Els Cortals. Here is a question. When I was making stages, I checked out this road from Engolasters to Els Cortals but it looked like it was a national park road and it didn't look like you were allowed to enter the road. Did anything change or did I assume wrong?

The stage to Bilbao is good even though I fear the racing may be neutered because of the next stage.
The stage to Acebo is really nice, a multi mountain stage that uses some really nice climbs like Connio and Pozo de las Mujeres Muertas which are very underused climbs.
I am very happy seeing Cubilla being used in Vuelta and like the stage as well with Marabio and Cobertoria before.

The Sierra de Madrid stages are also nice. Stage 18 is a clone of Cercedilla '15 and stage 20 has Pena Negra with a finish in Plataforma de Gredos which I like even though I would have liked the mid part of stage to be harder and finish in Parador de Gredos.

 

[Red Rick]

I'm a little annoyed the profiles are still not on steephill.

Feel this route is about as balanced and moderate as a Vuelta gets this decade. Longest GT TT too.

 

[Valv.Piti]

I like the route as well. I think stage 18 has to have the perfect circumstances to be a good stage, but stage 20 is kinda nice. The only negative is 3 flat stages out of the last 5 stages, but apart from that it should be a great race to follow (as usualI might add, I like the Vuelta).

 

[Gigs_98]

Re:

I like the route as well. I think stage 18 has to have the perfect circumstances to be a good stage, but stage 20 is kinda nice. The only negative is 3 flat stages out of the last 5 stages, but apart from that it should be a great race to follow (as usualI might add, I like the Vuelta).

The easy third week approach worked really well in 2015 so hopefully it will again this year.

 

[Red Rick]

Re: Re:

I like the route as well. I think stage 18 has to have the perfect circumstances to be a good stage, but stage 20 is kinda nice. The only negative is 3 flat stages out of the last 5 stages, but apart from that it should be a great race to follow (as usualI might add, I like the Vuelta).

The easy third week approach worked really well in 2015 so hopefully it will again this year.

Hard to look at 2015 and not look at the sheer coincidence that Dumoulin happened to be there.

I fear that if it's reasonably close between climbers the last week just doesn't have any stretches where it's hard enough to do much.

 

[hayneplane]

Re: Re:

I like the route as well. I think stage 18 has to have the perfect circumstances to be a good stage, but stage 20 is kinda nice. The only negative is 3 flat stages out of the last 5 stages, but apart from that it should be a great race to follow (as usualI might add, I like the Vuelta).

The easy third week approach worked really well in 2015 so hopefully it will again this year.

Not so sure about that as Fabio Aru fluked his way to a Grand Tour win that will be looked back on as one of the most anomalous of the entire decade done almost entirely on team strength and something he has never looked like repeating since.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Re: Re:

I like the route as well. I think stage 18 has to have the perfect circumstances to be a good stage, but stage 20 is kinda nice. The only negative is 3 flat stages out of the last 5 stages, but apart from that it should be a great race to follow (as usualI might add, I like the Vuelta).

The easy third week approach worked really well in 2015 so hopefully it will again this year.

Not so sure about that as Fabio Aru fluked his way to a Grand Tour win that will be looked back on as one of the most anomalous of the entire decade done almost entirely on team strength and something he has never looked like repeating since.

Not really, it was his third podium and his fourth straight GT top 5. People are more likely to say, "what happened after that?" as he's only managed one top 10 since despite only being 25 when he won his GT, but he's not an anomaly like Horner, Cobo AND Froome in 2011, Hesjedal who only had one top 10 and two top 20s before winning a GT at 31, or even Geraint Thomas, who won the Tour in his first GT top 10, at the age of 32.

 

[gregrowlerson]

Re: Re:

I like the route as well. I think stage 18 has to have the perfect circumstances to be a good stage, but stage 20 is kinda nice. The only negative is 3 flat stages out of the last 5 stages, but apart from that it should be a great race to follow (as usualI might add, I like the Vuelta).

The easy third week approach worked really well in 2015 so hopefully it will again this year.

Not so sure about that as Fabio Aru fluked his way to a Grand Tour win that will be looked back on as one of the most anomalous of the entire decade done almost entirely on team strength and something he has never looked like repeating since.

Not really, it was his third podium and his fourth straight GT top 5. People are more likely to say, "what happened after that?" as he's only managed one top 10 since despite only being 25 when he won his GT, but he's not an anomaly like Horner, Cobo AND Froome in 2011, Hesjedal who only had one top 10 and two top 20s before winning a GT at 31, or even Geraint Thomas, who won the Tour in his first GT top 10, at the age of 32.

Yes, people have short memories.

As for the route, I like them being less back loaded, so a big tick to this Vuelta.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re: Re:

I like the route as well. I think stage 18 has to have the perfect circumstances to be a good stage, but stage 20 is kinda nice. The only negative is 3 flat stages out of the last 5 stages, but apart from that it should be a great race to follow (as usualI might add, I like the Vuelta).

The easy third week approach worked really well in 2015 so hopefully it will again this year.

Hard to look at 2015 and not look at the sheer coincidence that Dumoulin happened to be there.

I fear that if it's reasonably close between climbers the last week just doesn't have any stretches where it's hard enough to do much.

This. You couldn't dream of a better scenario back in 2015, you won't have that again. Still could be good. Wouldn't really mind if there wasn't 3 completely flat and uneventful stages in the end tho.

 

[Libertine Seguros]