Vuelta a Espana Stage 3 *SPOILER*

DeadCalm

Today's stage is 178.2km from Mijas to Alhaurín de la Torre and is described as 'medium mountains' although the major obstacle, a category one climb to Puerto Del Madrono, comes at the beginning of the stage and the last 5km are actually pretty flat so this should be one for the sprinters. But, after yesterday, who knows!

The profile:


The climb to Puerto Del Madrono:


The last 5 kilometres:


The jerseys
Kwiatkovski will be in the leader's jersey and he also leads the points and comined competitions. Expect to see Dennis in green and Valverde in white as they are second in the respective competitions. The only competition Kwiatkovski doesn't lead (Sky are best team also) is the jersey for best climber. Luis Ángel Maté of Cofidis will be wearing the fetching blue and white jumper.

Local colour
According to the Vuelta website, "Alhaurín de la Torre has a high quality of life, based on a horizontal urban development centred around single-family homes and semi-detached houses, the density of green areas (with three million square metres), recreational areas and the equipment that accompanies over 50 sporting installations where almost one hundred different disciplines are practiced. Alhaurín’s associative network is, therefore, enormous and its high rate of child population, logical."

The castle


Yes, I'm missing Blazing Saddles' interesting and informative thread openers too.

knedlicky

Mijas is said to be the whitest of the many Andalusian towns with white houses, and is known for its donkey-taxis for tourists.




Alhaurín de la Torre is where Malaga's jail actually is and local food includes a dessert a bit like a rice pudding with chestnuts, sprinkled with cinnamon.

DeVlaeminck

I'm expecting you and Blazing to go head to head with rival threads on his return!

Thanks appreciate the starter.

DeadCalm

DeVlaeminck wrote:

I'm expecting you and Blazing to go head to head with rival threads on his return!

Thanks appreciate the starter.

It would be like Froome versus some fat bloke riding his bike up a mountain for fun with Blazing cast as the multiple GC winner and me as Betancur. No contest.

Vino'sGhost

yes well done with the thread

The ef guys have cracking looking bikes with the cannondale, but the new one is minging and supposedly very fast. Why arent they using it?

Mad_Malx

Is minging good or bad? I’m not down with the kids like you vino.

RonB

Did not see much until the final few kms of a bunch sprint finish. I was wondering where the Quickstep riders were, but then realised the Danish champ was leading out the Italian champ :oops:

RonB

Possibility that Porte has lost more time. Probably under the weather and might be looking for stage wins later on.

RichN95.

RonB wrote:

Possibility that Porte has lost more time. Probably under the weather and might be looking for stage wins later on.

A.Yates +4.09
D.Martin +4.09
Porte +8.55

DeadCalm

RichN95 wrote:

RonB wrote:

Possibility that Porte has lost more time. Probably under the weather and might be looking for stage wins later on.

A.Yates +4.09
D.Martin +4.09
Porte +8.55

Dan Martin a surprise. The other two not so much.

A selective GC:
Rnk Prev ▼▲ Rider Team UCI Time
1 1 - Kwiatkowski Michał Team Sky 20 9:10:52
2 2 - Valverde Alejandro Movistar Team 0:14
3 3 - Kelderman Wilco Team Sunweb 0:25
5 5 - Izagirre Ion Bahrain Merida Pro Cycling Team 0:30
8 8 - Gallopin Tony AG2R La Mondiale 0:33
9 9 - Quintana Nairo Movistar Team ,,
10 10 - Mollema Bauke Trek - Segafredo 0:35
11 11 - Kruijswijk Steven Team LottoNL-Jumbo 0:37
12 12 - Yates Simon Mitchelton-Scott ,,
14 14 - Majka Rafał BORA - hansgrohe 0:42
16 16 - Pinot Thibaut Groupama - FDJ 0:43
17 18 ▲1 Bennett George Team LottoNL-Jumbo 0:45
18 19 ▲1 Aru Fabio UAE-Team Emirates 0:47
19 20 ▲1 Urán Rigoberto Team EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:48
22 23 ▲1 Roche Nicolas BMC Racing Team 0:50
24 25 ▲1 de la Cruz David Team Sky 0:53
25 26 ▲1 López Miguel Ángel Astana Pro Team 0:54
30 31 ▲1 Henao Sergio Team Sky 0:59
33 34 ▲1 Woods Michael Team EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 1:07
34 36 ▲2 Meintjes Louis Team Dimension Data 1:16
35 37 ▲2 Kudus Merhawi Team Dimension Data 1:30
36 38 ▲2 Zakarin Ilnur Team Katusha - Alpecin 1:31
52 56 ▲4 Carapaz Richard Movistar Team 2:36
77 82 ▲5 Nibali Vincenzo Bahrain Merida Pro Cycling Team 4:44

Apologies if I've missed out anyone's favourite who may still be in with a chance of doing something in the overall classification.

Vino'sGhost

Mad_Malx wrote:

Is minging good or bad? I’m not down with the kids like you vino.

Minging is bad. usually ascribed to an ugly bird or a dirty kebab or the way you feel after a night on the beer, the dirty kebab and the ugly woman. Your head hurts and youre full of self loathing. Thats minging.

Vino'sGhost

so i turned off todays stage through boredom. Am i right in thinking some of the biggest GC riders are now waaaay down?

Good job there are some brutal stages to put things right.

inseine

Vino'sGhost wrote:

so i turned off todays stage through boredom. Am i right in thinking some of the biggest GC riders are now waaaay down?

Good job there are some brutal stages to put things right.

I don’t think anyone who wasn’t already out of it yesterday lost time today. I could be wrong

bm5

Loving the interviews with Kwia so hoping he continues in red.
Camera work on the race is not great though.