The Vuelta: Who are you looking forward to seeing?

LeicesterLad

I'm looking forward to seeing these guys:






Mega upset Colombia-Coldeportes didn't get an invite. This race would have suited them.

ratsbeyfus

I'm looking forward to seeing whether an unleashed Froome can match Contador's attacks. I doubt it.

andy_welch

Since the Vuelta is the grand tour with the weakest doping controls I'm looking forwards to some good old fashioned attacking in the mountains and a previously unknown rider putting in the ride of their life.

Cheers,

Andy

smithy21

I am looking forward to burning Contador as a witch.

If he comes back and rips the field apart he is still on the juice- aided and abetted by the Spanish authorities.

If he comes back and struggles then he was always a juicer and is getting his comeuppance now he is clean.

:twisted:

Daz555

Hoping to see Bertie coughing his lungs up and failing to hold onto Froome.

LeicesterLad

Can't we have a Vuelta thread without it turning into a Contador hatefest. It's getting pretty boring. :roll:

The question is WHO are you looking forward to seeing, not WHAT you are looking forward to seeing.

styxd

Looking forward to seeing Contador again.

But even more so, Froome destroying the climbs followed by some good Twitter chatter from his lass.

BelgianBeerGeek

Contador v. Froome for me (no hatefest, I've chosen Contador for PTP GC). I'm wondering whether Froome has enough left, or if he worked too hard on the TdF. Looking forward to the whole race.

ocdupalais

LeicesterLad wrote:

The question is WHO are you looking forward to seeing, not WHAT you are looking forward to seeing.

The only reason I could name WHO I'm looking forward to seeing is in relation to WHAT they do: otherwise, it's the podium girls, then.

Facetiousness aside, it's got to be the old Bertie Vs Froome Vs Quintana Vs J-Rod frying-pan fight... And not to forget Cobo: the bloke what dropped everyone on the Angliru and went on to win - what's he going to do (I think we'll a clear answer to that one by about stage 3)?

andyrac

I can't believe Froome can have recovered sufficiently to challenge Bertie. If he manages to get on the podium he will have done well. I await with interest the performance of Cobo.....

squired

Given his attacking style I can't wait to see what Henao manages to achieve. Like others I'm also looking forward to seeing Quintana in action.

As for the non-climbers, I'm really looking forward to seeing what Ian Stannard can manage. Over the last few months he seems to have developed a far more aggressive streak (maybe confidence gained from becoming national champion?) and is showing himself at the front more often.

Finally, I'd love to see Gilbert back to his best. With so many uphill finishes there could be a number of dud stages where the GC riders just watch each other, but riders like Gilbert could send excitement levels up a notch or two.

rick_chasey

Boonen in week one (assuming he's doing that).

avoidingmyphd

squired wrote:

As for the non-climbers, I'm really looking forward to seeing what Ian Stannard can manage.

Me too, but not in this race. Here, the most he'll manage is long turns on the front. I hope I'm wrong.

Turfle

Looking to see:
how Cameron Meyer climbs, and how he copes with 3 weeks. Talansky too.
how Cobo performs. Looked good at end of the Tour.
the young Colombians.

Plus Swift in the sprints. And Stannard.

Richmond Racer

Froome vs Contador. How Froome manages measuring his own efforts without Wiggins' guidance, and how he copes as leader. Swifty picking up his first GT stage. Some ding-dongs between Froome, Contador and J-Rod (if Cobo repeats his 2011 of mighty Vuelta after total invisibility all season I truly will have rage). Another cheeky Vuelta stage for Dan Martin.

afx237vi

J-Rod, obviously. People are bigging up Froome v Contador and completely overlooking him, which is good. Plus only 36 km against the clock (and not on the bloody last day).

Andalucia riders. In the breakaway. Every. Single. Day.

Bouhanni in his French jersey.

Henao. My bet is he finishes higher in the GC than Froome.

Igor Anton. I guess this is a make or break race for him as a GC rider?

LeicesterLad

afx237vi wrote:

J-Rod, obviously. People are bigging up Froome v Contador and completely overlooking him, which is good. Plus only 36 km against the clock (and not on the bloody last day).

Andalucia riders. In the breakaway. Every. Single. Day.

Bouhanni in his French jersey.

Henao. My bet is he finishes higher in the GC than Froome.

Igor Anton. I guess this is a make or break race for him as a GC rider?

I am looking forward to seeing J-Rod - however I still feel he's not so strong on the long climbs as riders like Bertie, its more about short, sharp kicks for J-Rod, if Hesjedal can outclimb him in the Giro, surely Contador and Froome will too?

I'll be keeping an eye on Anton as an Esuki fan, bitterly dissapointed Samu could race...

frenchfighter

Yeah Joaquim isnt the best on the long climbs but did fine on them in the Vuelta. All depends on how hard they are ridden. Contador and his team are not one to sit back, soft-pedal them jump with a km to go.

FJS

Stybar in a GT

LeicesterLad

Here's what Contador has to say about Froome: http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/contador-froome-will-be-tough-to-beat-at-the-vuelta

takethehighroad

I'm actually looking forward to Contador, after the climbing form he showed on the Muur

milton50

Looking forward to some epic battles between Contador, Froome, J-Rod, Quintana, Henao et al. All of the favourites have so much to prove. If this Vuelta is boring then we may as well give up on GTs as a spectacle.

oldwelshman

Looking forward to the race but suspect Froome will have better of others in TT but team spain will all team up to make sure sky dont win too much .

frenchfighter

If you haven't looked at the profiles, here are the stages classified as mountains (note how they are on the shorter length compared to a Giro/TT stage, lending itself to fresher legs and earlier attacks):

3

4

8

14

15

16

20


The TT:
http://www.lavuelta.com/12pr/imgrecorrido/8_perfil.png

And among the stages not classified as mountains:
6

12


17

inkyfingers

The profiles are good, but you know that 9/10 they'll not do anything till the last 5KM, even Bertie.

andyp

Especially with the time bonuses for the top three on each stage.

Here's a prediction, whoever wins will have completed the course slower than the runner up but will win due to time bonuses gained.

inkyfingers

andyp wrote:

Especially with the time bonuses for the top three on each stage.

Here's a prediction, whoever wins will have completed the course slower than the runner up but will win due to time bonuses gained.

Nah, time bonuses will just mean that Contador wins by 6 minutes, rather than 5 minutes 30.

thomthom

inkyfingers wrote:

The profiles are good, but you know that 9/10 they'll not do anything till the last 5KM, even Bertie.

On paper this is not a very good route. Absolutely no chance of good racing until 10 km to go. A pity. Where are the great descents towards the finish? Why 20-30 km of flat from second last climb to the MTF on the majority of the stages?.. It's pretty much useless. It's probably a harsh assessment and hopefully it turns out better than expected but can't say I'm optimistic with these profiles.

On the other hand. Bertie is back. Might see some proper racing afterall..

andyp

Given Contador's lack of racing, does anyone envisage a few teams trying to make the opening ten days harder than normal so he doesn't have time to ride back into proper racing shape?

frenchfighter

andyp wrote:

Given Contador's lack of racing, does anyone envisage a few teams trying to make the opening ten days harder than normal so he doesn't have time to ride back into proper racing shape?

Its a good question. Sometimes I think riders/DS arent as clever as people on this forum.

I think people would have noted his form in Eneco (admittedly not the same as racing a mountain stage) and seen that he is going superbly even with all that time off so assume that there is little they can take advantage of.

The Giro and Vuelta appear to be raced not as hard or as fast as the Tour, so maybe that will help Contador at first, if he is struggling to find a rhythm.

inkyfingers

frenchfighter wrote:

andyp wrote:

Given Contador's lack of racing, does anyone envisage a few teams trying to make the opening ten days harder than normal so he doesn't have time to ride back into proper racing shape?

Its a good question. Sometimes I think riders/DS arent as clever as people on this forum.

I think people would have noted his form in Eneco (admittedly not the same as racing a mountain stage) and seen that he is going superbly even with all that time off so assume that there is little they can take advantage of.

The Giro and Vuelta appear to be raced not as hard or as fast as the Tour, so maybe that will help Contador at first, if he is struggling to find a rhythm.

That's a dangerous game though if he is in reasonable shape. Other riders risk just burning their riders out while Contador just follows the wheels, then when they are tired....bang.