Is it wrong...
EPO Delivery Man
Posts: 271
...to be enjoying the Vuelta, more than the Giro or Tour, this year.
Giro was a bit of a washout and never seemed to get going to me, the Tour was good but a bit predictable, but this Vuelta is fekin magic!! it's got Roche on his game, Nibali, Valverde, Rodriguez etc all watching each other, while some old red-neck from the US of A whips them all.
Throw in Martin and Cancellara trying to psyche each other out for the world TT's along with Martins unbelievable stage on his lonesome, you're looking at a race thats got the lot.
Whats going to happen next?! im luvvin it!
Giro was a bit of a washout and never seemed to get going to me, the Tour was good but a bit predictable, but this Vuelta is fekin magic!! it's got Roche on his game, Nibali, Valverde, Rodriguez etc all watching each other, while some old red-neck from the US of A whips them all.
Throw in Martin and Cancellara trying to psyche each other out for the world TT's along with Martins unbelievable stage on his lonesome, you're looking at a race thats got the lot.
Whats going to happen next?! im luvvin it!
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A hell of a lot i'm sure , and then the angliru!
And why didn't Nico Roche lose 2.5 kilos years ago?0 -
I believe he only lost the 2.5kg he put on for this years TDF. He is back to his "normal" GT weight when he rode for AG2R0
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I was just thinking that last night - it is very entertaining. The Tour does seem to have a lot of "transition stages" between the interesting stuff - and even that wasn't that interesting.
It definitely doesn't have the glamour but it makes for good highlights.I'm left handed, if that matters.0 -
IMHO It's purely the calibre of riders that make the Tour the 'best GT'. The route I often find uninspiring and as said, lots of transition stages and flat stuff - they never seem to want to throw anything a little different in there.
Vuelta was the best GT last year and probably will be this year based purely on the racing. The Giro usually has an inconsistency to it, some years it's great, some years its dishwater. For me though the Tour is probably the dullest GT of the year.0 -
JustinLeeAtkinson wrote:A hell of a lot i'm sure , and then the angliru!
And why didn't Nico Roche lose 2.5 kilos years ago?
Agree. Roche has been riding like a man possessed in this Vuelta, even his TT was good. I hope he ends up with some form of jersey at least.0 -
k-dog wrote:I was just thinking that last night - it is very entertaining. The Tour does seem to have a lot of "transition stages" between the interesting stuff - and even that wasn't that interesting.
It definitely doesn't have the glamour but it makes for good highlights.
I think the trouble with the Tour is that its almost 'too big'. Don't get me wrong, i absolutely love it, but sometimes these events can get so large that the real business of the day ie: the racing, can get overlooked or over-hyped. Its a bit like European or World Cup finals, often the final itself is as boring as watching paint dry and the hype leading up to it is the real buzz.
Whereas i think the Vuelta is slightly different, its a bit smaller, doesnt get quite the same attention as the Tour but in some ways is more the better for it, as you get the impression the riders and teams can focus on what its really all about.0 -
LeicesterLad wrote:IMHO It's purely the calibre of riders that make the Tour the 'best GT'. The route I often find uninspiring and as said, lots of transition stages and flat stuff - they never seem to want to throw anything a little different in there.
Vuelta was the best GT last year and probably will be this year based purely on the racing. The Giro usually has an inconsistency to it, some years it's great, some years its dishwater. For me though the Tour is probably the dullest GT of the year.
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LeicesterLad wrote:IMHO It's purely the calibre of riders that make the Tour the 'best GT'. The route I often find uninspiring and as said, lots of transition stages and flat stuff - they never seem to want to throw anything a little different in there.
Vuelta was the best GT last year and probably will be this year based purely on the racing. The Giro usually has an inconsistency to it, some years it's great, some years its dishwater. For me though the Tour is probably the dullest GT of the year.
The tour has something for every skill and discipline, the Vueta has climbing only basically. Even the time trials. I happen to love that aspect more than a bunch sprint so the Vuelta is right up my street but I can understand why the Tour is the biggest GT.0 -
It's like the first week of stages were set up to have nail biting finishes, which is always good. As much as I love to see a big sprint, the rest of sprint stages can be an incredibly dull fast-forward fest sometimes but there have been some real crackers.0
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The calibre of the riders never concerns me, it's always about the calibre of racing.
IMHO, the most exciting GT of the year is always the best GT of the year."Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.0 -
sbbefc wrote:LeicesterLad wrote:IMHO It's purely the calibre of riders that make the Tour the 'best GT'. The route I often find uninspiring and as said, lots of transition stages and flat stuff - they never seem to want to throw anything a little different in there.
Vuelta was the best GT last year and probably will be this year based purely on the racing. The Giro usually has an inconsistency to it, some years it's great, some years its dishwater. For me though the Tour is probably the dullest GT of the year.
The tour has something for every skill and discipline, the Vueta has climbing only basically. Even the time trials. I happen to love that aspect more than a bunch sprint so the Vuelta is right up my street but I can understand why the Tour is the biggest GT.
Nail on head.
The Vuelta is planned purely for a Spanish climber to win. If not then an Italian climber. The Tour has stages to suit all disciplines and in recent years, at least, is won by an all rounder. It is exciting this year though, and its good
to hear of riders I know nothing about.0 -
I think these are very simple judgements.mike6 wrote:
The Vuelta is planned purely for a Spanish climber to win. If not then an Italian climber.sbbefc wrote:the Vueta has climbing only basically.
- apart from Nibali in 2010, the last Italian to win the Vuelta was Giovannetti in 1990
- the joint top in most Vuelta wins is the Swiss rider, Rominger (the other being the Spaniard Heras)
- the most green jersey overall victories go to Kelly and Jalabert (4 each) - neither of whom are Spanish or Italian
- of the riders who’ve won the most stages in the Vuelta, apart from a Spaniard from the 1940s, and one Italian (Petacchi), the rest are from northern Europe (Jalbert, Van Looy, Kelly, Karstens, Maertens, Wüst, Rominger)
- the record of most days in the leader’s red jersey belongs to Zülle, from Switzerland
It’s inevitable that the Vuelta has mostly been won by a Spanish rider (31 times from 67 editions), because any home event, wherever it is, has a certain additional prestige, and most national tours had primarily only home riders in their initial 25 years (the Vuelta didn’t start till 1935, and only got regular non-Spanish participants as from the 1960s.).
I also disagree with sbbefc, but I can’t be bothered to do the research, and anyway I wouldn't want to be too hard because he/she says he prefers the Vuelta to the Tour.
If anyone looked back to Vueltas of many previous years, they’d find most stages were across the boring cereal-growing plateau of middle Spain, with only the obligatory (if decisive) few mountain stages. This in a way explains why sprinters used to do well at the Vuelta (in 1977 Maertens won 13 of 19 stages!)
I welcome the change in Vuelta-stage planning which seems to have occurred in the last few years. Maybe it is currently very orientated to Rodriguez winning, but if the organisers could draw back a little (which I think they have already this year compared to last), I think it could be the best GT in terms of allround rider ability.0
