Vuelta a España Vuelta a España 2024, stage 16: Luanco - Lagos de Covadonga, 181.3k

[ppanther92]

He's such a funny man - after TDF unchained I found him as annoying as most people did but at this stage I just love how he doesn't pretend to hide how stressed and grumpy he is

It makes him totally unsuited to defend a leader jersey though.

 

[perico]

He's such a funny man - after TDF unchained I found him as annoying as most people did but at this stage I just love how he doesn't pretend to hide how stressed and grumpy he is

I tend to agree. I find him oddly endearing and compelling.

In some ways he’s a more charismatic, but less talented, Cadel Evans. Remember in 2008 when his dog was relieving itself?

 

[staubsauger]

The first arrival in 1983 was awesome. Lejarreta attacked from the bottom and gained more than a minute on Hinault, who was second and highly praised the climb. Note than Hinault previous participation was in 1978 when the Vuelta was still organised by a Basque newspaper, routes didn't have many hard mountains and MTFs were a rarity. Routes started to change when Unipublic took over in 1979 and Covadonga was like a gem discovery in the search for harder climbs to the point that it feaured up to 5 years in a row.
The climb hosted good racing until the early '90s with stage wins by Lejarreta, Delgado, Millar and Herrera.
For me it lost its magic when Jalabert won for the first time in 1994. Since then it's been quite boring with the exception of 2016 (Quintana), 2018 (Pinot) and 2021 (Roglic)

They also simply didn't have anything better did they?
Sierra Nevada has always been pretty bad.
Angliru only got introduced in 1999.
The Pyrenees stages at the Vuelta a Espana have either been underwhelming or took place in Andorra.

That made Lagos de Covadonga THE Vuelta a Espana mountain stage prior to Angliru. Because initially, like you pointed out. Racing there was actually quite entertaining.

 

[ice&fire]

They also simply didn't have anything better did they?
Sierra Nevada has always been pretty bad.
Angliru only got introduced in 1999.
The Pyrenees stages at the Vuelta a Espana have either been underwhelming or took place in Andorra.

That made Lagos de Covadonga THE Vuelta a Espana mountain stage prior to Angliru. Because initially, like you pointed out. Racing there was actually quite entertaining.

Covadonga was by far the best they had then. But that was a time when their shorter gear was 42x23 and a climb like Pajares shred the peloton to the point that sprinters couldn't catch up even if the finish was 60km away from the summit at León.
Hinault was kicked in the Pyrenees in 1983, losing 1min at la Bonaigua and 2min in a MTT at Panticosa, near Formigal, so they weren't that bad. But wider gear range, better training and shorter stages have rendered many of those climbs irrelevant.
There was a climb to a small ski station at Rasos de Peguera (18km @7.15%) that was used twice in the '80s, but it didn't stick. It's now part of a protected area and apparently they're not willing to take a bike race there. The climb was only used since then by the now defunct Setmana Catalana, but never by the Volta a Catalunya, although they got close this year on the penultimate stage at the Santuari de Queralt, which are the first 5km of the 18km long climb.

 

[staubsauger]

Covadonga was by far the best they had then. But that was a time when their shorter gear was 42x23 and a climb like Pajares shred the peloton to the point that sprinters couldn't catch up even if the finish was 60km away from the summit at León.
Hinault was kicked in the Pyrenees in 1983, losing 1min at la Bonaigua and 2min in a MTT at Panticosa, near Formigal, so they weren't that bad. But wider gear range, better training and shorter stages have rendered many of those climbs irrelevant.
There was a climb to a small ski station at Rasos de Peguera (18km @7.15%) that was used twice in the '80s, but it didn't stick. It's now part of a protected area and apparently they're not willing to take a bike race there. The climb was only used since then by the now defunct Setmana Catalana, but never by the Volta a Catalunya, although they got close this year on the penultimate stage at the Santuari de Queralt, which are the first 5km of the 18km long climb.

Peguera is the Pyrenees climb Eric Caritoux won atop isn't it?

 

[ice&fire]

Peguera is the Pyrenees climb Eric Caritoux won atop isn't it?

Yes, that was it.