Vuelta a España Vuelta a España 2021: Stage 2 (Caleruega - Burgos, 166.7 km)

[Devil's Elbow]

Wasn't expecting to be the one to make a thread today as I've been away until now, but here goes.

The route

Another hot day. These early sprint stages all traverse exposed terrain, but the wind forecast for tomorrow looks pretty meh. In addition, this is the first of five sprint stages without any categorised climbing whatsoever...

The little climb inside the final 5 kilometres is unthreatening, consisting of 800 metres at 3.8%. The final left-hander comes at 1.5 kilometres from the line, with a series of sweeping roundabouts and a switch to the opposite side of the road that causes a chicane which doesn't look too tight preceding it. All in all, pretty straightforward for the sprinters' teams, weather permitting.

 

[Bonimenier]

Hoping on a Fabio feel good story.
Philipsen might be hindered by his crash today.

 

[RedheadDane]

Is the green route the bus route?

 

[sir fly]

Is the green route the bus route?

Broomwagon.

 

[SHAD0W93]

Roglic or Jakobsen to win.

 

[DaLong]

Broomwagon.

Why would the broomwagen be somewhat far away from the actual race? If you DNF you have to hike ~10 km to get assistance? How do they know if they missed a rider? Like say their radio stops working? So many questions.

 

[Sciatic]

Why would the broomwagen be somewhat far away from the actual race? If you DNF you have to hike ~10 km to get assistance? How do they know if they missed a rider? Like say their radio stops working? So many questions.

I believe it’s the route the team buses takes along with anything/anyone else that’s not needed during the race but has to get set up in the arrival town and be ready when the riders finish.

 

[The Barb]

Very underwhelming way to start the race, especially since the quality of sprinters is not high.

Demare or Jakobsen ..... I'll go with Jakobsen.

 

[SHAD0W93]

Very underwhelming way to start the race, especially since the quality of sprinters is not high.

Demare or Jakobsen ..... I'll go with Jakobsen.

Yeah Jakobsen should have Demare’s number 99/100.

 

[Red Rick]

Chance for echelons?

 

[Rollthedice]

Landismo in ingles.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1426800447847809027

View: https://twitter.com/Laura_Meseguer/status/1426800447847809027?s=19

 

[Red Rick]

Landismo in ingles.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1426800447847809027

View: https://twitter.com/Laura_Meseguer/status/1426800447847809027?s=19

I was really hoping for him to just listen blankly for 2 minutes to a big and complicated question only to reply "free Landa" in broken English"

 

[Lequack]

So who will win? Not a stacked sprinter field, but that kind of makes it more exciting.
If Jakobsen is back to his best and the QS train working, then they can go all Cavendish on the field.

 

[tobydawq]

Landismo in ingles.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1426800447847809027

View: https://twitter.com/Laura_Meseguer/status/1426800447847809027?s=19

A bit strange. In 2015, his English was fine.

But I guess he expected to be asked why he had decided to take an early start and then he was asked if he was almost late for his (early) start.

 

[sir fly]

Why would the broomwagen be somewhat far away from the actual race? If you DNF you have to hike ~10 km to get assistance? How do they know if they missed a rider? Like say their radio stops working? So many questions.

Exactly...

 

[Samu Cuenca]

I hope Démare will finally show, why he dominated the Giro sprints last year. He looked good before the Tour, though he didn't win against the best sprinters, apart from a subpar Ewan. He was unlucky in the Tour, but hopefully he is close to his best again now.

 

[search]

I believe it’s the route the team buses takes along with anything/anyone else that’s not needed during the race but has to get set up in the arrival town and be ready when the riders finish.

it's actually the route from one press center to the other, but the buses take a similar one, yeah.

 

[Lequack]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1426871202203713538

View: https://twitter.com/TeamIsraelSUN/status/1426871202203713538

 

[sir fly]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1426871202203713538

View: https://twitter.com/TeamIsraelSUN/status/1426871202203713538

A Yates day?

 

[Red Rick]

The breakaways is.... predictable.

 

[DJ Sprtsch]

Will be difficult for the peloton not to catch them too early.

 

[Armchair cyclist]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1426871202203713538

View: https://twitter.com/TeamIsraelSUN/status/1426871202203713538

All the king's motorbikes and all the king's men
Couldn't put Ferti together again.

 

[RedheadDane]

Okay, compared to Norway and Belgium, the landscape here is rather dull...

 

[JosefK]

Jumbo likely unable to transfer the red jersey today.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

Okay, compared to Norway and Belgium, the landscape here is rather dull...

If there's one thing the Vuelta has taught me, it's that Spain consists almost exclusively of three things: scorched plains, misty mountains, and tourist development.