Vuelta a España Vuelta a España 2023, stage 14: Sauveterre-de-Béarn - Larra-Belagua, 156.2k

[ManicJack]

No. I do, however, hate watching teleshopping, and Eurosport International's XC skiing broadcast is basically a targeted ad campaign for Diggins with them making every race solely about her and cheerleading her as though there are no other athletes on the snow, making excuses for any time she doesn't win and shouting "COME ON JESS!" like a bunch of adolescent fanboys.

Evelyn Stevens and Katie Hall, for example, were riders I was very fond of.

Here in the US almost all of the XC skiing and biathlon coverage is commentator free. Just the sound of skis on snow.

 

[gunara]

Big heart win by Remco

While Kirby, my, his employers must be deaf. But he will make an interesting forum member, can we invite him?

 

[Lequack]

Imagine the battle if Roglic, Vinge and Kuss were all on different teams. Now that would be a race.

 

[search]

in case you missed it, @Armchair cyclist : Jens Voigt picked Dani Navarro to win the stage today.

That would have needed an even bigger comeback, though.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Here in the US almost all of the XC skiing and biathlon coverage is commentator free. Just the sound of skis on snow.

Which is kind of funny when you consider that the ES coverage seems to be designed for an American audience. I mean, Winterton and Dixon are Brits and they don't cheerlead Musgrave as much as they do Diggins in particular and the Americans in general. They were already pretty biased towards the American team before the Discovery Channel buyout, but since then it's gone from being "biased but annoying" to "flat-out unprofessional". I assumed they were being that biased because their commentary was being used for the US feed as well and they were forgetting that ES International is supposed to be a neutral broadcast (much as Phil 'n' Paul used to do when commentating the world feed on the Tour while also doing the pieces to camera for Versus in the US), but if they aren't even being broadcast to the US audience it's actually even worse!

I find Diggins to be quite an annoying character anyway - I've always described her as being like a Disneyland attendant, like she's genuinely a happy person, but that isn't enough, she has to demonstrate at all times what a happy and fun person she is, so there's all this exaggerated, fake posturing, forced grins and glitter and sparkles which I find really off-putting - but with the commentary pushing their biases down my throat at every juncture and insisting that what's good for Jessie Diggins is good for the sport... it takes an "I want you to lose the race" dislike and makes it into an "I want you to go away and never come back" one.

 

[RobertCrawley]

Christian VDV make a good point: Sometimes people need to feel defeat to appreciate victory more. It's classic Henry V stuff. Maybe Remco becomes a better and wiser rider and human being from this race.

 

[GroupDK]

Well done Remco, what a beautiful comeback but also mind-bending, that you can perform like this on such a heavy mountain stage after being dropped on the first mountain just 20 hours earlier..
Though I don't like the situation, at Jumbo, it's this 3min breakaway on stage6 suited in team loyalty-etics that is neutralizing the expected clashing to sort out who is the strongest rider, at Vuelta 2023.
Had hoped for more, on today's big stage, and it would make some marks on the GC, but sadly no dice.

 

[ManicJack]

Which is kind of funny when you consider that the ES coverage seems to be designed for an American audience. I mean, Winterton and Dixon are Brits and they don't cheerlead Musgrave as much as they do Diggins in particular and the Americans in general. They were already pretty biased towards the American team before the Discovery Channel buyout, but since then it's gone from being "biased but annoying" to "flat-out unprofessional". I assumed they were being that biased because their commentary was being used for the US feed as well and they were forgetting that ES International is supposed to be a neutral broadcast (much as Phil 'n' Paul used to do when commentating the world feed on the Tour while also doing the pieces to camera for Versus in the US), but if they aren't even being broadcast to the US audience it's actually even worse!

I find Diggins to be quite an annoying character anyway - I've always described her as being like a Disneyland attendant, like she's genuinely a happy person, but that isn't enough, she has to demonstrate at all times what a happy and fun person she is, so there's all this exaggerated, fake posturing, forced grins and glitter and sparkles which I find really off-putting - but with the commentary pushing their biases down my throat at every juncture and insisting that what's good for Jessie Diggins is good for the sport... it takes an "I want you to lose the race" dislike and makes it into an "I want you to go away and never come back" one.

I get what you're saying about Diggins. Glitter and sparkles. That's funny and accurate. I'm personally a Hailey Swirbul fan, but I'm biased because I've spent a fair amount of time riding my bike with her brother since he was a teenager.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

Which is kind of funny when you consider that the ES coverage seems to be designed for an American audience. I mean, Winterton and Dixon are Brits and they don't cheerlead Musgrave as much as they do Diggins in particular and the Americans in general. They were already pretty biased towards the American team before the Discovery Channel buyout, but since then it's gone from being "biased but annoying" to "flat-out unprofessional". I assumed they were being that biased because their commentary was being used for the US feed as well and they were forgetting that ES International is supposed to be a neutral broadcast (much as Phil 'n' Paul used to do when commentating the world feed on the Tour while also doing the pieces to camera for Versus in the US), but if they aren't even being broadcast to the US audience it's actually even worse!

I find Diggins to be quite an annoying character anyway - I've always described her as being like a Disneyland attendant, like she's genuinely a happy person, but that isn't enough, she has to demonstrate at all times what a happy and fun person she is, so there's all this exaggerated, fake posturing, forced grins and glitter and sparkles which I find really off-putting - but with the commentary pushing their biases down my throat at every juncture and insisting that what's good for Jessie Diggins is good for the sport... it takes an "I want you to lose the race" dislike and makes it into an "I want you to go away and never come back" one.

I could have saved the forum a lot of ink by saying "who is not a native speaker of the same language" instead...

 

[Rob5091]

Well done Remco & young Lenny VE - 3rd on the stage!
The Lennys Battle is hotting up and Lotto are having a good couple of days.

 

[QueenStagiaire]

Rein Taaramäe has abandoned today.

 

[search]

Rein Taaramäe has abandoned today.

a couple of days ago he said that he has some health issues, and somehow gained 6kg of weight during this Vuelta.

 

[Miss Violet Smith]

Which is kind of funny when you consider that the ES coverage seems to be designed for an American audience. I mean, Winterton and Dixon are Brits and they don't cheerlead Musgrave as much as they do Diggins in particular and the Americans in general. They were already pretty biased towards the American team before the Discovery Channel buyout, but since then it's gone from being "biased but annoying" to "flat-out unprofessional". I assumed they were being that biased because their commentary was being used for the US feed as well and they were forgetting that ES International is supposed to be a neutral broadcast (much as Phil 'n' Paul used to do when commentating the world feed on the Tour while also doing the pieces to camera for Versus in the US), but if they aren't even being broadcast to the US audience it's actually even worse!

I find Diggins to be quite an annoying character anyway - I've always described her as being like a Disneyland attendant, like she's genuinely a happy person, but that isn't enough, she has to demonstrate at all times what a happy and fun person she is, so there's all this exaggerated, fake posturing, forced grins and glitter and sparkles which I find really off-putting - but with the commentary pushing their biases down my throat at every juncture and insisting that what's good for Jessie Diggins is good for the sport... it takes an "I want you to lose the race" dislike and makes it into an "I want you to go away and never come back" one.

I don't mind Diggins, but I very much resent the narrative the Eurosport commentators are trying to force-feed me.

 

[red_flanders]

Pretty f-ing cool when your breakaway companion calls you “a legend”…at 23.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

I get what you're saying about Diggins. Glitter and sparkles. That's funny and accurate. I'm personally a Hailey Swirbul fan, but I'm biased because I've spent a fair amount of time riding my bike with her brother since he was a teenager.

Funnily enough, Keegan is one of the American riders I quite like - and the fact that he's Hailey's brother is the main reason for that.

Edit: also I like Pioneers hockey so your avatar is triggering

 

[Eddy Evenepoel]

a couple of days ago he said that he has some health issues, and somehow gained 6kg of weight during this Vuelta.

I remember Tobias Foss talking about experiencing something similar just before and during Giro last year. He said in a podcast him and the team believed it came from a combination of overtraining and sickness and the body’s reaction was to gather extra water weight. Really strange.

 

[Miss Violet Smith]

Good to see Remco bounce back from yesterday's disappointment - kudos to him and also to Bardet!

Now I'll go back to quietly cheering for Almeida.

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

Now only 27 riders within 1 hour of the race leader. Still 1 week to go.

 

[GroupDK]

Well this is boring. Only one looking like he can do anything is Vingegaard and he won’t attack. This Vuelta is looking like a letdown…

Yea, he seems pretty strong and liked he had some gasoline left in the tank, - a shame as it is the second half of grand tours, he tends to accelerate.
at the end - most of us, couldn't care less which team or who wins and who is on the podium, as it doesn't mean jack..we just want some bang for the buck, hence the time we invest watching it while trying to decipher who is in fact the strongest rider and getting some see-worthy cycling amongst the main GC contenders.

Two captains Roglic and Vingegaard also admits they are pretty locked down' hence team-ethics, and the 3min breakaway on stage6 that flipped things 180* hence the Vuelta2023 planning, so it's up to other teams/riders to rattle the cage, otherwise, we will see more big GC stages like today..with a gifted breakaway by Jumbo Visma to undermine the incentive and parading to the finish line and not going deep' risk cracking.. that scenario would be a shame for the final in 2023's Vuelta.

Also, not a lot of forum traffic on such a big mountain stage with 21 pages, even though it is Saturday, Friday's Tourmalet stage was a tad under 50 pages.. let's hope Ayuso can go berserk on some of the later stages, and rattle up this Jumbo Visma 2-1-3 Christmas tree...

 

[Unchained]

Christian VDV make a good point: Sometimes people need to feel defeat to appreciate victory more. It's classic Henry V stuff. Maybe Remco becomes a better and wiser rider and human being from this race.

His opinions should be appreciated from a blog or tweet, should not be on TV, was always disappointed when Frankie Andreua was given a free pass.

 

[Lequack]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1700550269241630971

View: https://twitter.com/lavuelta/status/1700550269241630971?s=20

 

[Unchained]

Great stage,great racing, great police work, awesome rabid fans, great landscape. 2 man break was fantastic.. Camera team dropped the ball at the end and we didn't get to see who was going to get 3rd. race design is turning out to be perfect despite the time trial in the rain and darkness, looks like everything is salvaged

 

[QueenStagiaire]

Now only 27 riders within 1 hour of the race leader. Still 1 week to go.

For reference, the 2012 Giro had 41 riders within 10 minutes at this point.

 

[QueenStagiaire]

Now only 27 riders within 1 hour of the race leader. Still 1 week to go.

2023 Tour 22
2020 Tour 26
2000 Tour 26
The only ones with less by Stage 14 since 2000
2009 Tour is the worst group ride offender with 100 within an hour at that point, just ahead of the 2004 Giro with 98.

 

[ManicJack]

Edit: also I like Pioneers hockey so your avatar is triggering

Should be double triggering since Sepp is a fellow, proud alumni😁. DU is definitely a college hockey program to admire.