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Vuelta the New Tour?

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auscyclefan94

auscyclefan94

Jun 16, 2009
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Personally this tour has been very dissapointing from an Australian point of view but from a cycling fans point of view. The parcours and the un-exciting race. Has anyone looked at the super strong field which will be present at the Vuelta. I'll give you some names and some betting odds to go with:

Alberto Contador $2.25
Ivan Basso $5.00
Samuel Sanchez $5.00
Alejandro Valverde $6.50
Robert Gesink $8.50
Levi Leipheimer $8.50
Igor Anton $8.50
Ezequiel Mosquera $10.00

Their will also be guys like Cadel Evans, Carlos Sastre (possibly), Alexandre Vinokourov (possibly) and maybe Denis Menchov.

This is a gun field with a great parcours. They have 2 time trials with 1 prologue, 5 mountain top finishes (with 1 up the Sierra Nevada which is 2550m in altitude and is a 17km climb. It also has a cat 1 climb right before it.) Also their are many other gruelling mountain stages and it all starts in Assen in Holland. Someone better give me a good reason why the Vuelta this year will not be better than the tour or as good as the Giro. It's going to be a cracker.
 
groverjones

groverjones

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Hmm, Contador to back up in only a couple of months and win his home GT? He's probably the only cyclist around at present who could.

On another topic, I note that the SBS website says we don't get /any/ coverage of the Vuelta, anyone know if that is true? We DO get the Tour of Ireland though, which is of course much more important than the Vuelta....

http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/event/
 
ak-zaaf

ak-zaaf

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auscyclefan94 said:
Someone better give me a good reason why the Vuelta this year will not be better than the tour or as good as the Giro. It's going to be a cracker.
Click to expand...

half the vuelta field is there purely as training for the worlds. the key moments are always exciting, but the rest of the race is mostly tame and boring. mountaintop finishes that late in the season normally lead to no racing at all until 5km from the finish.

it could be a good race, but it's still the vuelta.
 
auscyclefan94

auscyclefan94

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ak-zaaf said:
half the vuelta field is there purely as training for the worlds. the key moments are always exciting, but the rest of the race is mostly tame and boring. mountaintop finishes that late in the season normally lead to no racing at all until 5km from the finish.

it could be a good race, but it's still the vuelta.
Click to expand...

They do say their training for the worlds but they still race for the win.
 
groverjones

groverjones

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Buninyong Bunny said:
Probably because SBS only has a contract with ASO to show events. Hence we get the Tour and Paris-Roubaix but not much else.
Click to expand...
Yep, you may be right. We aren't get any Giro di Lombardia, but we are getting Paris-Tours. Ah well, most races are posted online these days, and can be picked up via p2p.
 
I

issoisso

Mar 18, 2009
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Leipheimer won't be there.

Riders who have confirmed they will be there specifically for the Vuelta's GC, and not preparing for the worlds include:

Samuel Sánchez
Joaquim Rodríguez (this time in top form, not dead tired like at the Giro)
Robert Gesink
Alejandro Valverde
Ivan Basso
Ezequiel Mosquera

Others such as Evans will also be there, with the worlds on their minds.
Contador won't race.

The route is fantastic. There are certain climbs that guarantee excitement, and usually one or two make their way into each year's route. But this year quite a few made it in.

Sierra de la Pandera and Xorret de Catí should be very much looked forward to, while the Sierra Nevada and Alto de Aitana also look very good.

Overall, despite the 68kms of time trialling, it's a climber's Grand Tour.
 
auscyclefan94

auscyclefan94

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issoisso said:
Leipheimer won't be there.

Riders who have confirmed they will be there specifically for the Vuelta's GC, and not preparing for the worlds include:

Samuel Sánchez
Joaquim Rodríguez (this time in top form, not dead tired like at the Giro)
Robert Gesink
Alejandro Valverde
Ivan Basso
Ezequiel Mosquera

Others such as Evans will also be there, with the worlds on their minds.
Contador won't race.

The route is fantastic. There are certain climbs that guarantee excitement, and usually one or two make their way into each year's route. But this year quite a few made it in.

Sierra de la Pandera and Xorret de Catí should be very much looked forward to, while the Sierra Nevada and Alto de Aitana also look very good.

Overall, despite the 68kms of time trialling, it's a climber's Grand Tour.
Click to expand...

Why won't Contador race?
 
T

TrudyTas

Jul 21, 2009
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groverjones said:
Hmm, Contador to back up in only a couple of months and win his home GT? He's probably the only cyclist around at present who could.

On another topic, I note that the SBS website says we don't get /any/ coverage of the Vuelta, anyone know if that is true? We DO get the Tour of Ireland though, which is of course much more important than the Vuelta....

http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/event/
Click to expand...

I believe we're getting the 7 minute highlights each morning - 7 minutes isn't really much to sum up 5 hours of racing!

Anyone know where the Vuelta will be streamed online in English?
 
BroDeal

BroDeal

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TrudyTas said:
I believe we're getting the 7 minute highlights each morning - 7 minutes isn't really much to sum up 5 hours of racing!

Anyone know where the Vuelta will be streamed online in English?
Click to expand...

I have heard that Universal Sports will have the Vuelta, but that does help those of you on the wrong side of the world. :p

Steephill.tv and justin.tv are good places to check every day. The video feeds often die in mid-race when the rights owners shut them down. Eurosport audio can be listened to over the web.

This will be the best GT course of the year. After the Bore de France, I am really looking forward to it.
 
S

Señor_Contador

Jul 22, 2009
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Buninyong Bunny said:
Yeah and no San Sebastian either - which sucks because it is one my fav. classics. I think I will need to dig up sites with highlights... great
Click to expand...

Well, that the Vuelta organization has nothing to do with. That is the Basque government not inviting the Vuelta.

Come to think of it... if I were a Spanish cyclist I wouldn't participate in any friggin race that goes on in the Basque country.
 
J

jamfra67

Jul 20, 2009
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Pharazon said:
but it doesn't have lance!
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LoL. Lance better try and see if he can win it, because the young turks are not going to allow him to win another tour de france. Though he did pretty well in this tour the ***** in his armour have been exposed for all to see. Time is not on his side. According to delgado all little dwarfs started beleving in themselves and started attacking him. He will not want to stomach another beating so soon.There is a new generation of riders on the rise
 
Timmy-loves-Rabo

Timmy-loves-Rabo

Jun 22, 2009
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auscyclefan94 said:
Personally this tour has been very dissapointing from an Australian point of view but from a cycling fans point of view. The parcours and the un-exciting race. Has anyone looked at the super strong field which will be present at the Vuelta. I'll give you some names and some betting odds to go with:

Alberto Contador $2.25
Ivan Basso $5.00
Samuel Sanchez $5.00
Alejandro Valverde $6.50
Robert Gesink $8.50
Levi Leipheimer $8.50
Igor Anton $8.50
Ezequiel Mosquera $10.00

Their will also be guys like Cadel Evans, Carlos Sastre (possibly), Alexandre Vinokourov (possibly) and maybe Denis Menchov.

This is a gun field with a great parcours. They have 2 time trials with 1 prologue, 5 mountain top finishes (with 1 up the Sierra Nevada which is 2550m in altitude and is a 17km climb. It also has a cat 1 climb right before it.) Also their are many other gruelling mountain stages and it all starts in Assen in Holland. Someone better give me a good reason why the Vuelta this year will not be better than the tour or as good as the Giro. It's going to be a cracker.
Click to expand...

they don't ride as much kms as the tour, and generally the tempo at the vuelta is not as high as the tour and the giro. And in past years it has almost been a "salvage my season" race. but this year looks promising... but overall the climbing in the vuelta is good every year.

I don't see LL, Menchov and sastre riding another gt -certainly not contending - after racing the giro and tour already.

Conta said he would defend, but that is to be seen. if he doesn't, it should be a epic battle between Samuel Sanchez, Basso, Valverde and Gesink. With Mosquera and Rodríguez possibly challenging too... Not sure what cadel will do, if he chooses to go all out (tho im not sure after his, WCs comments) he will have the advantage in the time trials, but i think will struggle to keep up in the mountains to a fresh valverde, sanchez, basso and gesink!

And it will be interesting to see how young riders like Dan Martin, Mollema(?) etc. fair in thier first gt.

it also has really good parcours.. stages 12-14 should be brilliant.

Oh and of course Vino aspect should be interesting!
 
scribe

scribe

Jul 22, 2009
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re: Contador and the Vuelta.

He has won it and further wins won't contribute to his legacy the way Le Tour would. To win the tour, you need to prepare specifically for it. It is a fact in razor-thin competitive environment cycling has evolved into.
 
Cobber

Cobber

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BroDeal said:
I have heard that Universal Sports will have the Vuelta, but that does help those of you on the wrong side of the world. :p

Steephill.tv and justin.tv are good places to check every day. The video feeds often die in mid-race when the rights owners shut them down. Eurosport audio can be listened to over the web.

This will be the best GT course of the year. After the Bore de France, I am really looking forward to it.
Click to expand...

Are any of these geolocked in Australia? Universal's coverage is really good. Also check out http://www.cyclingfans.com - they list a lot of the feeds available for a particular race.
 
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