Waiting for the Vuelta

[cycutza]

When isn't the tour a circus???? But I guess its the only one I get too see live so one ticket for me please. Will no doubt try and watch the Vuelta streaming this year as it does look like it will be a ripper.

 

[uphillstruggle]

Yeah the profile looks goods, definitely better than the tour this year and it should be a climber who takes it.

It is a shame that a lot of big names miss it due to when it is. If the worlds weren't strait after you would get a lot more of the bigger guy competing. Spain is lovely at that time of year too.

Dan Martin is going as he had to drop out of the tour so i'm hoping he can win a stage or maybe get top 10.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

Thought this thread was going to be about La Vuelta?

It is. Tell me what you think about the course, and about any favorites.

They did try to make it easier in recent years, but back to normal this year. The stages are a little shorter, but a lot of them are very tough. Like I said, three mountain top finishes in a row this year. And the queen stage is likely three from the finish, followed by an ITT.

Not really, it was started by Alp whining about the LA saturation and trying to deflect us towards the Vuelta. While I agree with him about the over the top crap around the AC vs LA hype, I would prefer to stay in the present and the present is Le Tour!

Then why are you posting in a thread about the Vuelta? Especially when there are dozens and dozens of other threads on the Tour. If you would like to talk about the Vuelta, then let us know what you think.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

It is a shame that a lot of big names miss it due to when it is. If the worlds weren't strait after you would get a lot more of the bigger guy competing. Spain is lovely at that time of year too.

Agree with you on that one. There's been talk about moving the Vuelta back to Mid-April, but the calendar is very full already then. If they moved it to late Sept and the Worlds to early Sept, they run the risk of having late stages get stormed out. All worth discussing though.

 

[issoisso]

Agree with you on that one. There's been talk about moving the Vuelta back to Mid-April, but the calendar is very full already then. If they moved it to late Sept and the Worlds to early Sept, they run the risk of having late stages get stormed out. All worth discussing though.

Acording to Olano who now works fur Unipublic, it's a virtual certainty it'll be back in the spring for the 2011 season. Possibly even 2010 if all goes well.

Me like

 

[Mellow Velo]

There are actually more vertical metres of climbing in the Vuelta, than either of the other big two.
My main concern is it's position in the calander. Or, rather the position of the WC's in the calander.
I expect we will see the usual raft of 3rd week abandonments, in favour of the rainbow quest.

Personally, I'd like to see the worlds on a classics course, held in August's first week.

 

[craig1985]

Nah I like the calendar as it is.

Is Jakob Fuglsang making his debut at the Vuelta? If so I will be following his results very closely, as will be the case with Dan Martin. IMO anyway, I think the Vuelta is the right choice when it comes to giving young riders their GT debut. The Giro is crazy, the Tour too stressful and too much pressure, whilst the Vuelta seems just right. I would imagine fdj.com will give young Wesley Sulzburger his GT debut as well and I will be following him, as will I do the same with Lars Boom. So my focus will be following the progess of riders of the future.

As for riders to win overall, maybe this is one that Kloden could win, providing his alleged activities at Freiburg don't come back to haunt him.

 

[craig1985]

There are actually more vertical metres of climbing in the Vuelta, than either of the other big two.
My main concern is it's position in the calander. Or, rather the position of the WC's in the calander.
I expect we will see the usual raft of 3rd week abandonments, in favour of the rainbow quest.

Personally, I'd like to see the worlds on a classics course, held in August's first week.

This. Hold the World's a week out from the Vuelta.

 

[DJ Sprtsch]

In 2004 the route was only 3034 kms with 21 stages, yet 69 out of 189 riders abandonded. I don't think longer stages necessarily makes the race harder.
Havent compared the number of mountain top finishes and such. There are five this year, which is very promising, but wasn't last year even harder?

Favourites. A spanish rider will win it most probably, Valverde, Joaquin Rodriguez, Samuel Sanchez. I hope Ezekiel Mosquera will make the podium, he has been so close the past two years (I know nothing about the guy, but he is an underdog with an interesting palmares). Non-spanish riders? Maybe Lovkvist will have a go and end in the top 5. Basso? I don't know which other regular GC contenders are riding it this year.

 

[DJ Sprtsch]

Sorry, my last post came a bit sudden, was a reply to Alpe way up.

Is Jakob Fuglsang making his debut at the Vuelta?

I think he will have his GT debut, yes. Agree on Kloden.

 

[uphillstruggle]

Agree with you on that one. There's been talk about moving the Vuelta back to Mid-April, but the calendar is very full already then. If they moved it to late Sept and the Worlds to early Sept, they run the risk of having late stages get stormed out. All worth discussing though.

It's a tricky one, fact of the matter is there's not enough year for all the racing that needs to be done! Moving the Vuelta to mid-april will get more guys racing, if only to prepare for the tour, in which case you will see a less quality field for the Giro and i'm not sure how I feel about that. Also wasn't there talk of the TOC moving to may which would make everything worse. The TOC is good where she is and does not really warrant taking over the Giro.

This will be a more pressing problem in the coming years as races in the new world get more backing and money thrown into them. Everyone wants a tour now.

Yeah, back to the Vuelta I think conta will take it if he rides, the course seems to suit him (anyone know if the teams have been announced?).

 

[7starz]

I'm with you re the Vuelta for the parcours which looks fantastic! Also the prospect of Vino participating there in a new-look Astana ('bye-'bye Lance) is thrilling to say the least - add Kash and, wow!
I do love the Tour (though not as much as when Ullrich was riding) and although also throroughly fed up with the LA circus will enjoy it this year, if only to see Contador, Kloden and Gerdeman - Gerdeman a long shot I know but there you go - kick him off the podium!!
And to join the very debate that drives you crazy - sorry but have to educate the uneducated 3-weekers ;-) - what pee's me off is the on-going cry that Lance has never tested positive: I seem to remember a well documented retrospective EPO positive from 1999 . . .

 

[craig1985]

It's a tricky one, fact of the matter is there's not enough year for all the racing that needs to be done! Moving the Vuelta to mid-april will get more guys racing, if only to prepare for the tour, in which case you will see a less quality field for the Giro and i'm not sure how I feel about that. Also wasn't there talk of the TOC moving to may which would make everything worse. The TOC is good where she is and does not really warrant taking over the Giro.

This will be a more pressing problem in the coming years as races in the new world get more backing and money thrown into them. Everyone wants a tour now.

Yeah, back to the Vuelta I think conta will take it if he rides, the course seems to suit him (anyone know if the teams have been announced?).

My friend:

* Ag2r-La Mondiale
* Andalucía-Cajasur
* Astana
* Bbox Bouygues Telecom
* Cervélo TestTeam
* Caisse d'Epargne
* Cofidis
* Contentpolis-Ampo
* Euskaltel-Euskadi
* Française des Jeux
* Garmin-Slipstream
* Lampre-N.G.C.
* Liquigas
* Quick Step
* Rabobank
* Silence-Lotto
* Team Columbia-HTC
* Team Milram
* Team Saxo Bank
* Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team
* Xacobeo-Galicia

link

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

The reason the ToC moved to may is mostly to attract bigger racers seeking an alternative to the Giro. And a huge plus is the scenery. They can ride on just about any road in the state in May. Some may need plowing, but there are huge, huge mountain passes in California, some HC climbs and maybe the hardest in North America. To see riders going up Whitney Portal, or Onion Valley Road for example (if they ever get there) would truly show the grandeur of the state. I thought they should have moved it to June and let it compete with the Dauphine, but I do think May is good.

Moving the Vuelta is iffy, as others have said. Spain is greener then, and more snow, which is more pretty I suppose. The idea was to have it start just after Liege, and move the Giro up a week. But this means riders would ride either the Vuelta or Romandie or Trentino. I think you'd see more riders, and maybe more excitement instead of it being an afterthought. But instead of training for the World's, it would be training for the Tour to many.

Moving the World's to late August or first week of Sept and the Vuelta right after that would change some things, but would mess with the World Champion calendar so many are used to. I just don't see it happening.

I hadn't heard that from Olano, but I know that Perico has said the same, and he would like the Vuelta back in April-May as well.

 

[RhodriM]

I must admit I know nothing of the Vuelta, but it looks like my best chance of combining a holiday with the g/f somewhere hot and watching a GT

Who's likely to be riding it? Seriously thinking of heading to Grenada and catching the Sierra Nevada mountain finish.

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

Menchov should quit tour and try a giro-vuelta double.

Valverde and basso look like early favorites.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

You have to add Sanchez to any list of favorites. He's a great climber, the course fits him, he's from Spain, and he's focused his entire season on the Vuelta.

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

Oh i totally forgot about Sammy sanchez
I do think he can podium but im not so sure he will win. I think Evans will ride the vuelta also (2nd GT should have the energy left) to salvage his GT season (yes im wrottong him off in the tour )

I'm hoping young mollema will make his GT debut for rabobank at the vuelta.

 

[titan_90]

Menchov should quit tour and try a giro-vuelta double.

Valverde and basso look like early favorites.

I think this would be a good idea also. He might decide to pull out once they hit the mountains.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

Considering he crashed today, it would make a convenient excuse. Problem is, Rabo, and Menchov himself, may be under some serious hot water in the weeks to come, so if he has any concerns that the team will either go under or he'll be suspended, he may stay in the Tour and hope for a stage win.

 

[fpcyclingn]

And if Contador doesn't "kill it" on Stage 7, all you Lance haters get to be shipped off to the middle of the desert where you fail at life in isolation.

Let's see. Lance said he is here to try and win. He knows odds aren't in his favor, but he's a contender.

Forum retards say Lance "doesn't have a chance in hell".

Gee... whom might we believe? The guy who won 7 tours in a row, or some has-not-been intarweb pansey who probably rides around town on a race bike in expensive jerseys for no reason at all.

Tough choice.

Heh. All it will take is for Contador to kill it on the first mountain stage. Then posters like Robert Malviel-whatshisname, who was very quiet after Contador's time trial and suddenly decided today that he needed to create a hundred threads about the same topic, will crawl back into their holes.

Gotta agree on the Vuelta's course this year. They have had some stinkers the past few years when they decided that shorter, easier stages would someone reduce doping; but this year's looks tops.

 

[perico]

Great, another seasoned veteran...who joined just a few days ago. Let me guess, you came here to talk about Lance and his chances in the Tour.

Wait, wait, now you're going to tell me that's got nothing to do with it, and you love cycling so much that you'll still be here posting when the Vuelta starts, right?

Thanks Franciep10, I knew you'd hear me.

Hmm... What defines a hardcore fan? If you look at the number of posts that I have here, you would assume that I just showed up to throw out more exclamations about the greatness of his Lanceness.

But, you know nothing about me, or a lot of folks who haven't commented regularly here.

My story? Actually, I post quite regularly at another cycling site, and though (as you could also see from my side) I signed up for this forum right after it first started up here, I haven't checked this forum out much until now.

You wouldn't have known that I've followed the sport religiously for 30 years, have witnessed the majority of the greats post-Merckx...

Ironically, I really don't care that much about Armstrong one way or the other. I'm not really a fan of his, but I don't despise him anymore than I do anyone else in the field.

At the same time, he's allowed to have fans too, isn't he? They might get on some peoples nerves, but... it can be equally as boring to spend so much time reading about how he is the most evil warm blooded mammal to ever walk the face of the earth.

I'm not trying to start a war on a message board, but this seems to be a rather harsh and judgmental view, all things considered.

 

[Escarabajo]

In 2004 the route was only 3034 kms with 21 stages, yet 69 out of 189 riders abandonded. I don't think longer stages necessarily makes the race harder.

You have to be careful how you read the numbers because some of those riders are abandoning to prepare for the World Championship. These abandons are premeditated.

 

[DJ Sprtsch]

I know, I know - but for the past ? years La Vuelta has been held prior to Worlds, and 69 out of 189 is the highest ratio in those years.

 

[quadsRme]

Alpe--- Bring on the Vuelta!!