Vuelta stage 3 *spoiler*

afx237vi

Still in the Netherlands. Still flat. I think that little peak in the middle of today's stage is a sleeping policeman:



Three riders in the break today. Token Spaniard Jesus Rosendo, Lars Boom and the amazingly named Johnny Hoogerland, who surely must have been lead guitarist in an 80's new wave punk band at some point in his life.

The ticker says there are still over 100 km to go and the three have 8'20". Not sure if there are any cobble sections today, but there are the possible side-winds to make things difficult.

frenchfighter

I don't like to see these stages in this part of Europe included in the Vuelta. There is a time and a place for these stages, and for me, the Vuelta isn't it. Nothing to do with the stages themselves from a viewing standpoint (a flat stage in Spain is likely to be more boring).

It seems my company is the only one at work here and everything is dead. Gives me an opportunity to watch some of the stage I guess.

afx237vi

frenchfighter wrote:

I don't like to see these stages in this part of Europe included in the Vuelta. There is a time and a place for these stages, and for me, the Vuelta isn't it. Nothing to do with the stages themselves from a viewing standpoint (a flat stage in Spain is likely to be more boring).

I think it adds a bit more interest. It's a different style of racing in the Netherlands and Belgium - and to be a grand tour champion you need to be able to adapt to different styles.

I think yesterday had the right balance. One short section of cobbles. Enough to remind the peloton that they're not in Spain, but not enough to cause real damage like when the Tour did the Roubaix sections a few years ago.

FJS

afx237vi wrote:

Not sure if there are any cobble sections today

No cobbles in those parts of the country; the only significant ones in the Netherlands are in Drenthe, the province of Assen and Emmen; and a couple in Zeeland on the border with Flanders north of Bruges...
That 'climb' in the profile of today is uphill, short but reasonably steep for almost one km just East of Nijmegen; they could easily have made a King of the Mountains sprint of that to create a bit of play around that jersey.

frenchfighter

Live feeds now up.

68km to go - 3.16mins lead for the three out front.

blazing_saddles

Nice weather for some.....
All very relaxed.

frenchfighter

Rosendo has 30 secs with 19km to go.

blazing_saddles

Slowed to a crawl, with just one rabbit. Boy, it's flat....unlike tomorrow.

frenchfighter

Henderson nice win. Bozic 2nd. Bonnen, Farrar, Bennati, Ciolek not in contention.

62km/h sprint.

Cancellara still leading. Henderson at 6 secs.

afx237vi

Henderson, blimey. Is he the first ever Kiwi to win a GT stage?

Nice sprint by Bozic too. If his lead-out man had waited a little bit longer...

LangerDan

afx237vi wrote:

Henderson, blimey. Is he the first ever Kiwi to win a GT stage?

Yes. And no. (I think)

"Champion of New Zealand" (TM Phil Liggett) Julian Dean was part of the Slipstream team that won the TTT in the Giro last year

afx237vi

Stage 3:

1º 175 HENDERSON, Greg NZL THR 4:41:01
2º 202 BOZIC, Borut SLO VAC m.t.
3º 151 FREIRE, Óscar ESP RAB m.t.
4º 171 GREIPEL, André GER THR m.t.
5º 44 BONNET, William FRA BBO m.t.
6º 141 BOONEN, Tom BEL QST m.t.
7º 66 HAMMOND, Roger GBR CTT m.t.
8º 148 WEYLANDT, Wouter BEL QST m.t.
9º 198 O'GRADY, Stuart AUS SAX m.t.
10º 168 ROELANDTS, Jurgen BEL SIL m.t.

GC:

1º 194 CANCELLARA, Fabian SUI SAX 009:29:33
2º 175 HENDERSON, Greg NZL THR a 06
3º 181 CIOLEK, Gerald GER MRM a 08
4º 141 BOONEN, Tom BEL QST a 09
5º 113 FARRAR, Tyler USA GRM a 12
6º 207 MOURIS, Jens NED VAC a 14
7º 152 BOOM, Lars NED RAB a 16
8º 132 BENNATI, Daniele ITA LIQ a 16
9º 135 KREUZIGER, Roman CZE LIQ a 17
10º 215 GARCÍA, David ESP XAC a 18

Vino

Yes is boring stage see ,y blog

richard wants a baum

On the australian broadcast they said it had been 20 years since a New Zealander had won a stage of the Vuelta so theres been atleast one more.

afx237vi

richard wants a baum wrote:

On the australian broadcast they said it had been 20 years since a New Zealander had won a stage of the Vuelta so theres been atleast one more.

Took a bit of Googling, but someone called Paul Jesson won a stage in 1980:

http://www.sitiodeciclismo.net/coureuru ... urid=10855

Looks like he was only a pro for 2 years, but had some good results.

afx237vi

afx237vi wrote:

richard wants a baum wrote:

On the australian broadcast they said it had been 20 years since a New Zealander had won a stage of the Vuelta so theres been atleast one more.

Took a bit of Googling, but someone called Paul Jesson won a stage in 1980:

http://www.sitiodeciclismo.net/coureuru ... urid=10855

Looks like he was only a pro for 2 years, but had some good results.

For those not watching Eurosport, Sean Kelly (his former team-mate) just explained why. Apparently he had a bad crash in the Dauphiné Libéré and ended up losing his leg below the knee. But then he went on to compete in the Paralympics and now owns a bike shop.

prawny

afx237vi wrote:

afx237vi wrote:

richard wants a baum wrote:

On the australian broadcast they said it had been 20 years since a New Zealander had won a stage of the Vuelta so theres been atleast one more.

Took a bit of Googling, but someone called Paul Jesson won a stage in 1980:

http://www.sitiodeciclismo.net/coureuru ... urid=10855

Looks like he was only a pro for 2 years, but had some good results.

For those not watching Eurosport, Sean Kelly (his former team-mate) just explained why. Apparently he had a bad crash in the Dauphiné Libéré and ended up losing his leg below the knee. But then he went on to compete in the Paralympics and now owns a bike shop.

Flippin heck that'd have to be a bad crash, poor guy. fair play for gettin back on the bike though, I'd probably just sit in a chair and eat crisps if that happend to me.

richard wants a baum

Thanks for doing what i couldnt be bothered doing (though i did give it a really half hearted effort) afx237vi