La Vuelta, Stage 4, *Spoilers*

knedlicky

confused@BR wrote:

Errrrrm, there doesn't seem to be a Stage 4 Spoliers thread?
Are we all too awestruck by Chris Horner's stage win?
Have we all lost the 'love'?

Gary Imlach seems to think the Vuelta is good this year, this evening he called the last 4 days, today included, “spectacular”. Not sure I agree, but I wouldn’t have minded had he played more of “Un canto a Galicia” as the programme came to a close.

Some of tonight’s discussion was around how Horner had somewhat unjustly (studio opinion, not mine) lost the leader jersey because there was a small gap between the first group following Moreno and Cancellara and the second group, where Horner was.
I felt more surprised that today Moreno got the same time not just as Cancellara (2nd) but also as next 20 riders.

Of the current top GC riders, only Brajkovic lost time.

But some of the countryside and more especially the coastline looked pretty good today.

sbbefc

I like this race, however are they going a bit mad on the hill finishes? Yesterday was pretty much the same as today.

cesco

The Vuelta is actually my favourite grand tour. Or has been for the last 5-10 years. And yep, the Spanish love a good uphill finish (or 15). I really enjoyed today's stage, one of those "legbreakers." Lots of compacts in the peloton.

Great jump by Moreno. I would have loved seeing Cancellara catch up. I bet he wishes he'd been as decisive as usual.

mfin

Is noone watching the Vuelta this year then? The threads are tiny!! :0

secretsqirrel

mfin wrote:

Is noone watching the Vuelta this year then? The threads are tiny!! :0

It's a good race.

But when you look back at the TDF spoilers they were mostly about cheese, rocks, and Brits, which for me spoiled the spoiler. And as none of the afore mentioned is featuring much in the Vuelta, threads are rather thin.

Shame really

mechanism

Sadly the lack of Brits in the race might have something to do with the lack of interest.

* Perhaps that should be "the lack of stage-winning Brits" *

dabber

I've been watching it but, apart from the finishes, I've felt strangely uninvolved and it's just been on in the background.
I don't know if it's because of the actual racing or the fact that I've just read, back-to-back, the Tyler Hamilton book followed by the David Walsh (Seven Deadly Sins) book which left me cynical about the whole scene.

MrTapir

But usually there are posts about the profile and who is in the break, even if its a sprint stage you get a few posts to start and then someone says 'oh it was Guillaume van Kiersbulck' or whoever the winner is. I thought the forum might be broken yesterday afternoon.

Maybe everyone is suffering major burnout ;-)

Richmond Racer

I'm definitely suffering burn-out. I gave the first 2/3rd of the season everything I had. Trying to build back up, but its a process, you know?

rick_chasey

Bad route. Big worlds. Post tour.

Always going to be less important.

The only riders who care are Astana and riders who have had a disappointing season. Hardly going to set anyone alight.

iainf72

Rick Chasey wrote:

Bad route. Big worlds. Post tour.

Always going to be less important.

The only riders who care are Astana and riders who have had a disappointing season. Hardly going to set anyone alight.

Forum generally dead /dying isn't helping either

sbbefc

Rick Chasey wrote:

Bad route. Big worlds. Post tour.

Always going to be less important.

The only riders who care are Astana and riders who have had a disappointing season. Hardly going to set anyone alight.

Why is it the worlds are seemingly more important this year? More climbing than usual?

Richmond Racer

sbbefc wrote:

Rick Chasey wrote:

Bad route. Big worlds. Post tour.

Always going to be less important.

The only riders who care are Astana and riders who have had a disappointing season. Hardly going to set anyone alight.

Why is it the worlds are seemingly more important this year? More climbing than usual?

Yeah - opens it up to more potential winners, is my take

sbbefc

Richmond Racer wrote:

sbbefc wrote:

Rick Chasey wrote:

Bad route. Big worlds. Post tour.

Always going to be less important.

The only riders who care are Astana and riders who have had a disappointing season. Hardly going to set anyone alight.

Why is it the worlds are seemingly more important this year? More climbing than usual?

Yeah - opens it up to more potential winners, is my take

You would have thought the organisers of the Vuelta this year would've gone for a more sprinter friendly course to attract some big names that havnt got a chance at the worlds, cav etc

fleshtuxedo

Too many hill finishes blatantly set up for home stage wins.

Not enough interest in the GC - it'll be Nibali won't it.

No culture clash intrigue - dastardly Sky cash/science vs. Latin panache.

No brits.

It's the least liked GT, at the end of the calendar.

= no threads to speak of

I've been fast forwarding straight to the final hill every day.

Thursday and Friday both look like being sprinters' stages, don't know why they didn't have one earlier in the race to offer some more variety and interest more people from the start.

Richmond Racer

sbbefc wrote:

Richmond Racer wrote:

sbbefc wrote:

Rick Chasey wrote:

Bad route. Big worlds. Post tour.

Always going to be less important.

The only riders who care are Astana and riders who have had a disappointing season. Hardly going to set anyone alight.

Why is it the worlds are seemingly more important this year? More climbing than usual?

Yeah - opens it up to more potential winners, is my take

You would have thought the organisers of the Vuelta this year would've gone for a more sprinter friendly course to attract some big names that havnt got a chance at the worlds, cav etc

Not a chance. Wouldnt suit the Spanish AT ALL

fleshtuxedo

Wow, more posts on why no ones posting than on the race.

cougie

I'm enjoying the scenery anyway. They have some lovely coastline don't they ? Looks a bugger to ride round mind you with all those 30% climbs.

FJS

iainf72 wrote:

Rick Chasey wrote:

Bad route. Big worlds. Post tour.

Always going to be less important.

The only riders who care are Astana and riders who have had a disappointing season. Hardly going to set anyone alight.

Forum generally dead /dying isn't helping either

I was just going to say. It's not just quiet on the Vuelta.

above_the_cows

Coverage starts at a difficult time i.e. when you are commuting home, I cleaned out my diary to pay attention to the Tour and I'm about to move house, so the Vuelta is taking a bit of a back seat.

knedlicky

cesco wrote:

Great jump by Moreno. I would have loved seeing Cancellara catch up. I bet he wishes he'd been as decisive as usual.

Cancellara after the stage:
“In the end, it’s easy to say that I left it too late; it’s something else to accelerate 55 kilos or 85 kilos. During the last 20 kms I considered more than once whether to attack or not, and then (when Moreno went) I thought: you’ve got nothing to lose. So I had to give it a go”

Cancellara might have had nothing to lose, but arguably had he stayed with teammate Horner, Horner might not have come in 6 secs back on the Nibali group and lost the leader's jersey.
Still, I liked seeing him try to catch Moreno - and he was closing the gap, so making Moreno work hard right up to the finish line.

frenchfighter

greasedscotsman

Is that La Tigre?

RichN95.

greasedscotsman wrote:

Is that La Tigre?

"The man has only one look, for Christ's sake! Blue Steel? Ferrari? Le Tigra? They're the same face! Doesn't anybody notice this? I feel like I'm taking crazy pills!"

frenchfighter

greasedscotsman

Ahh, now that looks more like Ferrari to me!