What's your opinion about the route of this first part of "Vuelta"?

[Asturiano]

Well, approaching ciclists are having a rest. What's your opinion about the route of this first part of "Vuelta", according you have watched on TV?.

Opinion about:

- Route
- Landscapes
- Climbs
- Hardness

And how enjoyable do you think the Unipublic's style is?. You can compare it with other races.

 

[barmaher]

The flat stages have been good. Thanks to guys like Martin, Stybar, Gilbert, etc.

I would like the route if it had been for a week-long race.

Problem is that there is more of the same to come. What is wrong with downhill finishes, difficulties in the middle of stages, etc.?

The scenery looks lovely.

And they have raced some interesting climbs.

 

[Asturiano]

Problem is that there is more of the same to come. What is wrong with downhill finishes, difficulties in the middle of stages, etc.?

Well, I think there is a bit of improvement of that with the pyrenees stages (with more climbs in the middle of stages) and harder stages. Agree with downhill finishes.

 

[SafeBet]

It's better than last year but there's room to improve. I don't dig all those wall finishes and the lack of descents. Scenery has been terrific, especially in Galicia.

 

[SKSemtex]

I liked it. I would love to see this type of stages, descends, narrow roads in first part of the LeTour.

 

[movingtarget]

Not too bad so far but it will have to pick up a lot to top the last two editions and I can't see that happening. That said, it is good to see Roche, Horner and Basso doing well.

 

[Netserk]

I'm missing a flat ITT.

 

[therhodeo]

I like it. It has a different feel to the other GT's. I appreciate the stages being unfriendly to sprinters so theres more chances for attackers. Good to see the guys prepping for Worlds out playing.

 

[Netserk]

I'm missing a stage like the Cordoba stage in 2011.

 

[hfer07]

So far, it has been great- racing wise plus the routes are visually entertaining & lovely-as always.

 

[veji11]

I must say I really liked it. But than again, a big part of it is due to the fact that unlike the tour they are no sprinters, lots of teams are full of tired past their season peak guys, leaders have different levels of fitness, etc...

You put the same route on the tour, with teams at their best, Sagan and the sprinters there, you get a much more controlled race.

But overall I liked it a lot, the Vuelta has created its identity at last, sure there is excess in terms of uphill or mountain finishes, but they have established their identity and that's the most important.

 

[murali]

so far, things hav been very good. the scenery is very good.

i enjoyed all the climbs. could some of them have been made harder? i dont want to think of it at the first rest day, but it might resurface at the end of the race.

lack of a robot-train makes the race lively, and entertaining. (my apologies to sky fans; but i am only stating a fact.)

route: i think in some stages, they could have distributed the intermediate sprints a bit better. i miss a stage where the guy who comes on top of the last climb can battle out alone and take stage(EBH stage). the TM stage was interesting only becoz of the wonderful ride by that lone rider. i can't recall a single stage that had predictable results, the way it happened in TdF.

My only complaint is that the stupid organisers haven't linked up with any tv channel in my country. TdF is shown almost every year, and Giro was aired this time around. but no vuelta.

 

[IndianCyclist]

Not too bad so far but it will have to pick up a lot to top the last two editions and I can't see that happening. That said, it is good to see Roche, Horner and Basso doing well.

The difference is an GC attacker with nothing to lose. Contador in 2012 and Cobo in 2011. I donot see this Vuelta going that way at all. I think the 2012 Vuelta probably was the best Vuelta.

 

[Jux1893]

It has been great.

I really like when Unipublic ends stages with a little wall.

I guess it could have a bit more stages for the sprinters but since cycling for me is all about mountain tops, I don't mind it at all.

 

[Afrank]

It's been a good race and enjoyable thus far. The sprints stages have been good, mostly do to a weaker sprinter field. And the combination of the Vuelta's short uphill finishes with time bonuses makes for a nice battle for red all throughout the first week. We've had 5 different wearers of the red jersey only half way through verses the Tour and Giro only having 5 different wearers total. So that gives makes the first week interesting.

Of course, much work could be done still, more downhill finishes, more mountains in the middle of stages, pus some harder stuff before the walls that could provide a springboard for attacks. But so far it's been pretty good the way it is. I've also enjoyed a number of the climbs as well, like yesterdays and some of the really steep walls. Criticize Unipublic all you want for there excess of HTF's, but it's pretty fun sometimes to see pro cyclists grind their way up 20%+ sections of road.

 

[roundabout]

Boring.

Embarrassingly weak sprinter teams.

GC "favorites" holding back somewhat despite all the uphill finishes which were supposed to be a scene of battle between them.

Nothing on the Monachil except for de la Cruz when the field was going at breakaway speed.

The route is frankly too hard. Not because of the climbs, but the number of stages where the GC contenders need to be close.

All the "entertainment" comes from a disparity in form. Very good attacking riders vs 3rd rate sprinter teams. People who have done the Tour in full mode vs people who haven't raced much during the year or have goals further in the season. It's all contrived.

Give me a boring race where the riders have peaked for it.

Oh and the route is horrible. A descent on Sunday had as much effect on GC as some of those pointless uphill finishes.

Landscapes are ok, the approach to Monachil is as lovely as ever.

 

[roundabout]

Criticize Unipublic all you want for there excess of HTF's, but it's pretty fun sometimes to see pro cyclists grind their way up 20%+ sections of road.

They can grind up 20% climbs and then go down. Radical, I know.

 

[Afrank]

They can grind up 20% climbs and then go down. Radical, I know.

It's cool to see the best pro cyclists in the world have to go so deep to drag themselves up such big gradients, that's all I'm saying. Of course moderation is important in this, and Unipublic definitely overdoes the amount of these climbs they include.

These wall-climbs also provide a change from the type of parcours typically used in the Giro and Tour, which is kind of nice.

 

[murali]

It's cool to see the best pro cyclists in the world have to go so deep to drag themselves up such big gradients, that's all I'm saying. Of course moderation is important in this, and Unipublic definitely overdoes the amount of these climbs they include.

These wall-climbs also provide a change from the type of parcours typically used in the Giro and Tour, which is kind of nice.

i agree.

but, they could still have included stages for good descenders.

 

[roundabout]

It's cool to see the best pro cyclists in the world have to go so deep to drag themselves up such big gradients, that's all I'm saying. Of course moderation is important in this, and Unipublic definitely overdoes the amount of these climbs they include.

These wall-climbs also provide a change from the type of parcours typically used in the Giro and Tour, which is kind of nice.

I am not saying that they shouldn't use walls, but why not finish downhill when possible. Not Angliru, obviously, and I am not sure about Valdepenas de Jaen, but yesterday they could have finished in Granada and that instantly would have added some variation while keeping up the wall theme.

 

[Afrank]

Agree on downhills, they could definitely use more descent finishes. It would definitely make for more interesting and exciting racing.

 

[Descender]

I didn't like the fact that there wasn't any downhill finish yet, but then again, there's still two weeks to go. Surely we'll see a descent finish at some point.

 

[murali]

I didn't like the fact that there wasn't any downhill finish yet, but then again, there's still two weeks to go. Surely we'll see a descent finish at some point.

which stage? i didn't notice any stage ending in a descent. is there any change in stage profile. i am using steephill to look at the profiles. am i looking at the wrong place?

 

[Flamin]

I like it. It has a different feel to the other GT's. I appreciate the stages being unfriendly to sprinters so theres more chances for attackers. Good to see the guys prepping for Worlds out playing.

In what stages?

 

[murali]

In what stages?

every stage.

probably you can claim that the one matthews won is different. but that was a stage that orica team was on the offensive.