Vuelta a España Vuelta a España 2023, stage 19: La Bañeza - Íscar, 177.1k

[Devil's Elbow]

Welcome to what is probably going to be the stage thread with the fewest posts this Vuelta.

Pan-flat and a headwind for most of the day, perfect for the sprint teams. It becomes more of a crosswind towards the end (mainly the section into the intermediate sprint), but as luck would have it, that’s basically the only section through a forest we have all day. So expect a snoozefest.

Not much to talk about for the finale either: long, ramrod straight, slightly narrow road until about 2.2k to go, big right-hander, slight drag around to the right, then a final straight of 2 kilometres. Should be a fairly messy sprint with all the sprinters and leadouts bunched up together, but normally this is too late in a GT to get big crashes.

 

[yaco]

Many teams missed the boat by not taking a sprinter to this edition of the Vuelta - Six nailed on sprint opportunities is not to be sneezed at a GT.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Let's cut out the middle man and just hold a twitter poll to decide who wins.

 

[RedheadDane]

Aular!

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Aular!

DNS stage 13

 

[Devil's Elbow]

Aular!

Would be rather impressive given that he dropped out on Friday.

 

[RedheadDane]

DNS stage 13

Would be rather impressive given that he dropped out on Friday.

***! I thought I was being clever...

 

[Samu Cuenca]

***! I thought I was being clever...

You seldom are. But at least Scotson won't win either.

 

[EddyMazzoleni]

Vingegaard to follow Remco in the cross-wind using the excuse that he is still a Gc threat, go in to the Red jersey and look with an evil grin as Kuss and Roglic cry in disbelief

 

[RedheadDane]

You seldom are. But at least Scotson won't win either.

Excuse me!

I... just have a hard time keeping track of which riders are, or aren't, in this race...

And I got nothing against Scotson!

 

[Ilmaestro99]

Remco will destroy some out of contract Venezuelan pro conti riders and inexperienced u23s by 5 minutes, and point to his hat when he wins to remind us how smart he is

 

[AmRacer]

Remco will destroy some out of contract Venezuelan pro conti riders and inexperienced u23s by 5 minutes, and point to his hat when he wins to remind us how smart he is

He knows which races he can win.

 

[RedheadDane]

Remco will destroy some out of contract Venezuelan pro conti riders and inexperienced u23s by 5 minutes, and point to his hat when he wins to remind us how smart he is

The only Venezuelan "pro conti" (ProTeam) rider who was on the startlist is no longer in the race, as I was helpfully reminded earlier.
Also, he isn't out of contract.

 

[RobertCrawley]

This stage has Filippo written all over it.

 

[Didinho]

Finally. The stage we’ve all been waiting for.

 

[tobydawq]

This stage has Filippo written all over it.

Zana is also out.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Marc Soler to win with a surprise attack in the final, which will make Molano furious. But there'll be an unprecedented amount of tension after the stage, when Soler dedicates the victory to Oumi, Noemi, Trine, Lora and Urška.

 

[cen]

Marc Soler to win with a surprise attack in the final, which will make Molano furious. But there'll be an unprecedented amount of tension after the stage, when Soler dedicates the victory to Oumi, Noemi, Trine, Lora and Urška.

I'll give you one better. Rog goes on a final km raid just like last year except this time it is Soler who takes him out of the race. The story then continues as you specified.

 

[Eddy Evenepoel]

Possibilities for wind and echelons?

 

[ice&fire]

Possibilities for wind and echelons?

Forecast has wind from the South or South-West with top speed around 15km/h

 

[CyclistAbi]

With such a strong lead-out at disposal hard to see beyond Kuss.

 

[veganrob]

Remco will destroy some out of contract Venezuelan pro conti riders and inexperienced u23s by 5 minutes, and point to his hat when he wins to remind us how smart he is

What's the record for stage wins in a Vuelta? Maybe he still has a shot.

 

[ice&fire]

What's the record for stage wins in a Vuelta? Maybe he still has a shot.

Maertens won 13 stages in 1977.

 

[topcat]

Finally. The stage we’ve all been waiting for.

But will they race it or just tee it up for Groves?

 

[Devil's Elbow]

But will they race it or just tee it up for Groves?

Groves has lost the two previous sprints so it's hardly like nobody else has a shot. At the very least, UAE should help them out (Novak, Fisher-Black and Soler could all be committed to the chase depending on how strong the break is) given that Molano has been almost as good this Vuelta and, you know, won the most recent sprint.