Vuelta a España Vuelta a España 2025, Stage 4: Susa – Voiron (206.7k)

[Tricycle Rider]

Wonder what the riders prefer:
A stage finishing in France?
Or a long transfer after stage 3?

I'm speaking just in general, it's the Tour of Spain and today is stage 4 and we're still not in Spain. So, route design and all that...

 

[Devil's Elbow]

They did one in 2022, so need to wait another year to be allowed to add a travel day again.

This is why the UCI rule is counterproductive without adding a maximum transfer length.

 

[Rob5091]

Well yesterday's nothing burgrer turned into a tasty surprise with Gaudu upseting the Trek/Visma apple cart. The Man to Watch, Chumil, is hanging in there still, so good for him.
As the sprint guys have not got a lot to look forward to, I suppose somewhere along the 70 km flatish run in to the line, it'll be pelotón compacto and the usual suspects for the win.
If this was week 3, I'd say a breakaway win, but not today, although we might get the 40 man breakaway as it's an uphill start.

 

[Tricycle Rider]

They did one in 2022, so need to wait another year to be allowed to add a travel day again.

Total noob question - they rotate how many rest and/or travel days they get per GT per year? How does all that work?

I never actually gave this stuff any thought...

 

[Ilmaestro99]

I assume your boy Fausto isn't starting the stage in respect of his biggest fan.

Im sure Fausto is not happy about the route of this vuelta. But the team needed his presence, his ambience and grace in the team, and Fausto is a true professional. I respect his decision to start the stage.

 

[Zoetemelk-fan]

Would that also have been the case if you were from Belgium or Spain? Cause objectively that was some absolute horseshit, lets be honest

At least standing in the crowds on stage 3, '22 didn't smell all like horse***.
Well, mostly it didn't. Some did. But they were actual horses right behind me, and showed the same great interest in the caravan as the rest of the horde.

Spoiler

"The race itself was absolutly bad-smelling ***, thanks to disastrous too safe stage designs and for too forgiving riders"

Edit: Did spoiler format coding leave the forum surface together with recent over-protectionism PM takedown??

 

[Red Rick]

Of course not. That experience cannot be judged objectively by Danes. Either they joined the party and had a great time or they go to great lenghts of distancing themselves from it and pretend that it was much worse than other Grand Tour starts of the last decades which included two sprints and a TT (2009 Vuelta in the Netherlands and Belgium (actually three sprints and a TT), 2010 Giro in the Netherlands, 2012 Giro in Denmark, 2014 Giro in Ireland and Northern Ireland, 2016 Giro in the Netherlands, 2018 Giro in Israel, 2022 Giro in Hungary, 2022 Vuelta in the Netherlands, 2024 Vuelta in Portugal).

I realise you also said The Netherlands in the above post but it still annoys me a bit to see Danes slamming the Tour start in Denmark when it's really nothing out of the ordinary route wise. We can agree that the staging of the World Championships in Copenhagen is an atrocity but I definitely do not see a problem with a Grand Tour start.

It's also a saturation thing. For a lot of countries a GT start will be a novelty, going to the big cities, passing some famous landmarks and drawing big crowds. Then there's the TdF being bigger, and France being inbetween Spain and Italy which makes it seem much less weird overall if the Tour starts in Spain or Italy.

 

[Red Rick]

This is such a weak break man. Like where is all the teams that can't win this in a sprint or shouldn't want to control the stage anyway?

 

[SafeBet]

Vervaeke, Quinn, Nicolau, Bonneu, Aparicio.
If no one tries on Monginevro or Lautaret we're 90% heading towards a sprint.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

In all seriousness Finestre lost a historical chance to be an all GTs climb. I think the Tour may use it within 5-10 years but for Vuelta it was the only shot. Likely timing of this stage decided not to include it.

 

[tobydawq]

In all seriousness Finestre lost a historical chance to be an all GTs climb. I think the Tour may use it within 5-10 years but for Vuelta it was the only shot. Likely timing of this stage decided not to include it.

Maybe Carapaz thought they would do it and decided not to go because of that.

 

[will-10]

This is such a weak break man. Like where is all the teams that can't win this in a sprint or shouldn't want to control the stage anyway?

I genuinely thought we'd have a big fight, couldn't believe my eyes when I opened the tracker

 

[Tricycle Rider]

And they're climbing now according to PCS, have to use the imagination as to what's happening for another 1.5 hours till we get live pictures.

In the meantime some fun factoids per PCS:


Weight for riders in break.

#	Rider	Weight (kg)
1	BONNEU Kamiel	62
2	NICOLAU Joel	66
3	QUINN Sean	67
4	VERVAEKE Louis	68
5	APARICIO Mario	69

 

[DJ Sprtsch]

we're 90% heading towards a sprint

Living up to the safe bet name. I'm risking it and am going with 99%.

 

[Red Rick]

In all seriousness Finestre lost a historical chance to be an all GTs climb. I think the Tour may use it within 5-10 years but for Vuelta it was the only shot. Likely timing of this stage decided not to include it.

It's all I wanted

 

[Zoetemelk-fan]

Ha, what a blast from the past, I'm actually old enough to have seen la Bomba in action. Good times!

Sucks we probably won't see any of the riders' la Bomba descending skills due to coverage starting too late.

I just noticed the video link as it was for 1998 Crans-Montana and La Bomba's last World Cup participation, where he, still with his skis on, was carried in a throne chair by 2nd and 3rd place, the two Norwegians Finn Christian Jagge and Hans-Petter Burås. A completely unforgettable moment that crowned his career.
(myself prehistoric dated as such that I clearly remember the feeling that the 'La Bomba' era had almost suddenly ended after I remember Tomba suddenly starting to mix in with cyrophaes like Bojan Križaj, Ingemar Stenmark, Marc Girardelli and the like).

All of the above is of course totally relevant to today's stage.

If Pidders wanted to, I think he could pull himself together for some descending skills, La Bomba or Il Falco style.

 

[Rackham]

So when Vinge wins this Giro I mean Vuelta does it somehow count as half a Giro? I'm trying to see the logic here in racing 4 days in Italy (& even a peekaboo into France because why not).

 

[Red Rick]

So when Vinge wins this Giro I mean Vuelta does it somehow count as half a Giro? I'm trying to see the logic here in racing 4 days in Italy (& even a peekaboo into France because why not).

Winner of the GT treble really.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

Edit: Did spoiler format coding leave the forum surface together with PM takedown??

No, you just mis-coded. You don't need to put =hidden content inside the first set of square brackets, hidden content goes between the two pairs. Fixed it for you

But please follow the no swearing rule, even within spoilers.

(Further follow up on this in a new thread on the spoiler method, in the rare likelihood that anyone is interested.)

 

[search]

Total noob question - they rotate how many rest and/or travel days they get per GT per year? How does all that work?

I never actually gave this stuff any thought...

Normally, the maximum duration of a Grand Tour is 23 days, with two rest days having to be distributed evenly - which are not allowed to be travel days. Every four years, the organizers can ask for an additional travel day to be added, if they start in a non-adjacent territory to the country of the event

The Vuelta had one in 2022 to travel back from the Netherlands, so the earliest they can get another one is next year.

 

[Heston]

Any words on sprinters being dropped? Philipsen, Vernon?

 

[Tricycle Rider]

I just noticed the video link as it was for 1998 Crans-Montana and La Bomba's last World Cup participation, where he, still with his skis on, was carried in a throne chair by 2nd and 3rd place, the two Norwegians Finn Christian Jagge and Hans-Petter Burås. A completely unforgettable moment that crowned his career.
(myself prehistoric dated as such that I clearly remember the feeling that the 'La Bomba' era had almost suddenly ended after I remember Tomba suddenly starting to mix in with cyrophaes like Bojan Križaj, Ingemar Stenmark, Marc Girardelli and the like).

All of the above is of course totally relevant to today's stage.

If Pidders wanted to, I think he could pull himself together for some descending skills, La Bomba or Il Falco style.

I didn't follow cycling yet during Cipollini's heyday, but I imagine he was a bit like Tomba - a total rockstar, and also a bit of a playboy!

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Normally, the maximum duration of a Grand Tour is 23 days, with two rest days having to be distributed evenly - which are not allowed to be travel days. Every four years, the organizers can ask for an additional travel day to be added, if they start in a non-adjacent territory to the country of the event

The Vuelta had one in 2022 to travel back from the Netherlands, so the earliest they can get another one is next year.

Thank you, much obliged!

 

[QueenStagiaire]

10th on GC VPP has abandoned

 

[Tricycle Rider]

10th on GC VPP has abandoned

Yes, apparently due to illness.