Vuelta 2018, Stage 21: Alcorcón > Madrid - 100,9 km *Spoilers*

blazing_saddles

Alcorcón > Madrid 16/09/2018 - Stage 21 - 100,9 km

At 100.9 kilometres, the final stage of the Vuelta a España runs from Alcorcón to Madrid, places that are actually only 13 kilometres apart. As (almost) always, the Spanish Grand Tour ends on a 5.9 kilometres circuit in the Spanish capital. The route is flat, so we should expect a bunch sprint.



Departure place Alcorcón lies to the southwest of Madrid. It is one of many suburbs and, as in most suburbs, is it pretty quiet and eventful. That is, most of the time. The city is home to AD Alcorcón, the local football club that rose to national fame when it defeated international powerhouse Real Madrid 4-0 in the Copa del Rey 2009/2010. Following the second leg at the Santiago Bernabéu the club ousted Real Madrid 4–1 on aggregate.
Today Alcorcón and Madrid don’t play against each other, instead the cities are linked in the last stage of La Vuelta.



Following a slight detour the riders hit the 5.9 kilometres circuit in the city centre of Madrid. It’s flat and it’s straightforward and it’s raced eleven times. Last edition, Alberto Contador entered the circuit slightly ahead of the others. El campeón was saluted by cheers and applause from the home crowds and he drank in this goodbye.
It’s a safe bet to expect a bunch sprint in Madrid. Previous winners at this arrival are Matteo Trentin (2017), Magnus Cort Nielsen (2016), John Degenkolb (2015, 2012), Michael Matthews (2013), Peter Sagan (2011), and Tyler Farrar (2010). They all won in the sprint.

Video of the circuit.
https://youtu.be/uJYYHYV-OBw

Finish details.





Favourites 21st stage 2018 Vuelta a España

*** Peter Sagan, Elia Viviani, Danny van Poppel
** Matteo Trentin, Giacomo Nizzolo, Simone Consonni
* Ryan Gibbons, Michael Schwarzmann, Max Walscheid

The all important, Madrid team party hotels!



Alcorcón
Unprecedented departure

167,354 inhabitants

Autonomous Community of Madrid
Three weeks after taking off from the Pompidou Centre in Malaga, we close the modern art circle with the MAVA (Municipal Glass Art Museum) in Alcorcón, which has spent the past 20 years promoting this contemporary discipline in the Grand San José de Valderas Castle, built 100 years ago and recently restored - an artistic luxury in which to host the final departure of La Vuelta 2018.



Alcorcón, with 177,722 inhabitants, is today a city of reference in the Autonomous Community of Madrid in many ways. Located in the region’s South-West, it possesses a strategic location between Madrid, the Metropolitan South and the Western area. It also features a wide transport network that allows Alcorcón to be perfectly communicated, through the best roads and public transport.
Its pottery tradition is still very present today, thanks to the efforts made by the Town Hall to keep those traditions alive. It also occupies an important place in history, something that is evident when you see the centenary Valderas Castle, which is on its way to being declared an Asset of Patrimonial Interest, and currently houses one of the most important Glass Art museums in Europe. Another of its most emblematic and loved buildings is the Parish of Santa María La Blanca, declared an Asset of Cultural Interest in 1993. All of these are a source of pride for Alcorcón locals.

Its attractive cultural, educational and leisure offer make Alcorcón a city in which many inhabitants and businesses choose to lay their roots.



Madrid
73 La Vuelta stages have had finales in Madrid

3,165,541 inhabitants

Autonomous Community of Madrid
The La Vuelta peloton rides again, yet another year, amongst Madrid's most emblematic buildings in order to bid farewell to the race's 2018 edition. One of this route's usual witnesses is the Prado Museum. This year, the Spanish picture gallery, one of the most important in Europe, prepares for its second centenary celebrations. The circle we began to trace through the Malaga museums will come to a close by greeting one of our country's most iconic art centres.



Last year, Madrid received nine million tourists. People from all over the world come to the Spanish capital, interested in the different leisure activities, its vast cultural offer, its open and inclusive character and its numerous parks and gardens, among other features that make Madrid one of the most attractive cities in Europe.



And this year, one of Madrid’s symbols is having a celebration, as the Prado Museum begins its preparations to commemorate its second centenary. One of the greatest art jewels in Spain – the second most visited museum in the country – will start its 200th birthday in the month of November, which will continue throughout almost all of 2019.
The usual residents of this picture gallery, such as Francisco de Goya, Diego Velázquez, El Greco, Tiziano, Rafael, Rubens, El Bosco and Rembrandt, will be accompanied by a series of temporary exhibits related with the periods before and after the museum opened (1819). The centre also prepares a recreation that will allow visitors to understand how the building’s layout and the various incorporations to its collection have evolved since it first opened its doors.
The different eras and the different disciplines that will be on display during this celebration are a good example of how heterogeneous and diverse Madrid is. A city of contrasts where tradition and modernity walk hand-in-hand, and let visitors access a cultural and leisure offer that very few cities in the world possess.

RonB

S21 says adiós to Spain’s own Igor Anton, from TeamDD at the moment , but best known as a rider for Euskaltel–Euskadi back in the day.



Highlight - S18 of the 2011 edition into Bilbao?

Wonder if he will get the chance to lead out the riders during the circuit finish?

Nice post from him on Twitter -

https://mobile.twitter.com/igorantonh/status/1041025315978530817

larkim

When does the GC officially get neutralised? And do they need to start formalising the last stage charade so there's no argument even if there was just 1 sec in the GC at the end of the penultimate day?

RonB

larkim wrote:

When does the GC officially get neutralised? And do they need to start formalising the last stage charade so there's no argument even if there was just 1 sec in the GC at the end of the penultimate day?

Closest the stage will come to being neutralised will be 3km from the finish. Personally I don’t think of a final GC stage as a charade; more of a tradition and there is still a lot to play for if you’re a sprinter who’s managed to make the cut after all those mountain moments.

RichN95.

larkim wrote:

When does the GC officially get neutralised? And do they need to start formalising the last stage charade so there's no argument even if there was just 1 sec in the GC at the end of the penultimate day?

Usually on the line unless there are problematic circumstances - bad weather or a bad course. The Giro course this year had some stupidly tight corners and I think cars parked on parts of it, for example. Froome and Dumoulin both agreed to neutralise.
Last year Landa was 1 second from the podium of the Tour, but he knew the only way he'd get it back is if Bardet had a misfortune. Other than time bonuses (see Vino 2005), no-one can really race for GC on the last day.

bobmcstuff

What's the expected finish time?

blazing_saddles

bobmcstuff wrote:

What's the expected finish time?

UK time, between 6-50pm and 7-10pm.

awavey

Bronzini wins the last stage of the Madrid Challenge in her final WWT race Ellen van Dijk wins the overall

larkim

RonB wrote:

larkim wrote:

When does the GC officially get neutralised? And do they need to start formalising the last stage charade so there's no argument even if there was just 1 sec in the GC at the end of the penultimate day?

Closest the stage will come to being neutralised will be 3km from the finish. Personally I don’t think of a final GC stage as a charade; more of a tradition and there is still a lot to play for if you’re a sprinter who’s managed to make the cut after all those mountain moments.

So a really farcical crash just before 3km caused by a rider not concentrating and taking out the red jersey could take it away at that late stage? Makes the confidence of someone cautious like Yates seem potentially misplaced.

I like the tradition of the last day, but would prefer it if they created some special regulations around it so that there was no jeopardy at all for the winner and remove any doubt that overall podium placings could change at all.

RichN95.

larkim wrote:

So a really farcical crash just before 3km caused by a rider not concentrating and taking out the red jersey could take it away at that late stage? Makes the confidence of someone cautious like Yates seem potentially misplaced.

I like the tradition of the last day, but would prefer it if they created some special regulations around it so that there was no jeopardy at all for the winner and remove any doubt that overall podium placings could change at all.

I can't ever remember a crash on the final stage though (aside from Abdoujaparov). There tend to be fewer sprinters and the GC riders are no longer worried about getting the wrong side of a split in the peloton, so everything is less frantic.

6wheels

Many thanks Blazing, and also to Deadcalm ( I think) for all the intro's.

Lanterne_Rogue

The race has now finished without a single comment about the stage on the spoiler thread - is this a record?

Just seen a clip of the last few hundred metres, but don't want to spoil things by mentioning what happened...

Mad_Malx

Crash at 4 km and Yates loses 5 minutes

bobmcstuff

underlayunderlay wrote:

The race has now finished without a single comment about the stage on the spoiler thread - is this a record?

Just seen a clip of the last few hundred metres, but don't want to spoil things by mentioning what happened...

It was a bit dull wasn't it

BelgianBeerGeek

bobmcstuff wrote:

underlayunderlay wrote:

The race has now finished without a single comment about the stage on the spoiler thread - is this a record?

Just seen a clip of the last few hundred metres, but don't want to spoil things by mentioning what happened...

It was a bit dull wasn't it

Didn’t watch it all. Racing in Spain, who cares. Blazings intros were great, but ....meh.
Good luck to whoever won.

blazing_saddles

Other than Igor Anton's lap of honour, there wasn't a lot to comment upon.
Endless neutral section, a "dry", featureless run to the circuit, nothing much of a breakaway and Viviani wins fairly comfortably, all to the soundtrack of a babbling Kirby.
The end.

Weather was a bit nicer then here, though.

Lanterne_Rogue

Viviani did pretty well, I thought - certainly picked his moment to go.

ivor_pye

Felt a bit for Kenneth Vanbilsen, the lone Cofidis rider trying to enter the sprint shoot out with no help from any of his team mates only for his chain to come off 100 yards from the line.

larkim

I’d have liked to have seen some innovation with the lap format. I know that makes me sound like some internet troll who has just come to watching GT action late because of the success of Sky etc (all partly true) but there’s not much excitement to be garnered by a finale like yesterday. How about have some elimination action on each lap, whittle the field down in size to say 20 riders by the last lap so there are some frantic scramblings to try to keep some team support available as they go through each lap etc? Drop everyone else back to a grupetto so everyone finishes the distance of the Tour but only permit a select few contest the finale.

As it was, we finished the race with no sign of the actual race leader crossing the line and no real excitement for all but the final lap. Even as a purist, you’d have to admit there wasn’t much worth watching there?

Pross

Did I imagine it or did there used to be a pretty competitive final stage in Barcelona on the Montjuic circuit? Maybe it was just one year but something similar could have led to a final twist on the podium places.

knedlicky

larkim wrote:

I’d have liked to have seen some innovation with the lap format. I know that makes me sound like some internet troll who has just come to watching GT action late because of the success of Sky etc (all partly true) but there’s not much excitement to be garnered by a finale like yesterday. How about have some elimination action on each lap, whittle the field down in size to say 20 riders by the last lap so there are some frantic scramblings to try to keep some team support available as they go through each lap etc? Drop everyone else back to a grupetto so everyone finishes the distance of the Tour but only permit a select few contest the finale.
As it was, we finished the race with no sign of the actual race leader crossing the line and no real excitement for all but the final lap. Even as a purist, you’d have to admit there wasn’t much worth watching there?

Simpler to do away with the last stage charade and make it a proper race stage, with double the normal points and bonus seconds both for intermediate sprints and at the finish. Throw in a couple of stiff climbs with double points too. Try to make nothing certain.
I don't do the tradition arguments – none of the 3 GTs have always had these last stage charades, it's not even 20 years since the Vuelta finished with a TT (and thus changing the podium on the last day). Sometimes the TdF circuits on the Champs-Elysees can be exciting, but otherwise to me these last stage charades are just wastest days.
Imagine if both teams in a football cup final stopped trying to win/score after the 80 min mark and so prematurely accepted the result (ManU would never have won the Champions League final against Bayern in 1999).

r0bh

knedlicky wrote:

larkim wrote:

I’d have liked to have seen some innovation with the lap format. I know that makes me sound like some internet troll who has just come to watching GT action late because of the success of Sky etc (all partly true) but there’s not much excitement to be garnered by a finale like yesterday. How about have some elimination action on each lap, whittle the field down in size to say 20 riders by the last lap so there are some frantic scramblings to try to keep some team support available as they go through each lap etc? Drop everyone else back to a grupetto so everyone finishes the distance of the Tour but only permit a select few contest the finale.
As it was, we finished the race with no sign of the actual race leader crossing the line and no real excitement for all but the final lap. Even as a purist, you’d have to admit there wasn’t much worth watching there?

Simpler to do away with the last stage charade and make it a proper race stage, with double the normal points and bonus seconds both for intermediate sprints and at the finish. Throw in a couple of stiff climbs with double points too. Try to make nothing certain.
I don't do the tradition arguments – none of the 3 GTs have always had these last stage charades, it's not even 20 years since the Vuelta finished with a TT (and thus changing the podium on the last day). Sometimes the TdF circuits on the Champs-Elysees can be exciting, but otherwise to me these last stage charades are just wastest days.
Imagine if both teams in a football cup final stopped trying to win/score after the 80 min mark and so prematurely accepted the result (ManU would never have won the Champions League final against Bayern in 1999).

I was thinking this yesterday, would be good to see at least one of the GTs experiment with having a "proper" last stage. Not a MTF maybe but something a bit lumpy that gave some scope for attacking

webboo

knedlicky wrote:

larkim wrote:

I’d have liked to have seen some innovation with the lap format. I know that makes me sound like some internet troll who has just come to watching GT action late because of the success of Sky etc (all partly true) but there’s not much excitement to be garnered by a finale like yesterday. How about have some elimination action on each lap, whittle the field down in size to say 20 riders by the last lap so there are some frantic scramblings to try to keep some team support available as they go through each lap etc? Drop everyone else back to a grupetto so everyone finishes the distance of the Tour but only permit a select few contest the finale.
As it was, we finished the race with no sign of the actual race leader crossing the line and no real excitement for all but the final lap. Even as a purist, you’d have to admit there wasn’t much worth watching there?

Simpler to do away with the last stage charade and make it a proper race stage, with double the normal points and bonus seconds both for intermediate sprints and at the finish. Throw in a couple of stiff climbs with double points too. Try to make nothing certain.
I don't do the tradition arguments – none of the 3 GTs have always had these last stage charades, it's not even 20 years since the Vuelta finished with a TT (and thus changing the podium on the last day). Sometimes the TdF circuits on the Champs-Elysees can be exciting, but otherwise to me these last stage charades are just wastest days.
Imagine if both teams in a football cup final stopped trying to win/score after the 80 min mark and so prematurely accepted the result (ManU would never have won the Champions League final against Bayern in 1999).

If they had been playing for 3 weeks it might be a bit different.

larkim

I suppose the problem with a last day TT event is that it makes the whole even look like it comes down to TT'ing ability. A saving grace of the current style of final days is that at least the guy who wins *isn't* involved so they can do something different. But a lumpy stage with potential for some late shake up of the GC combined with a GC neutralisation (or an inverse depart fictif) could still allow for both some excitement and a suitable recognition of the winner. I suppose the only downside of racing for the win on the last day is that the jersey wearer could end up crossing the line in red / yellow / pink but then lose it post race - would make for some odd photos!

blazing_saddles

The Giro still has final day ITTs fairly regularly.
2017 for instance and before that, 2009 - 2012 all had ITTs.
These final day processions are just a waste of time.

Pross

I don't think it needs changing. GTs are effectively 20 stages long and then the winner gets a nice procession to celebrate at the end before the rest of the field have one last chance of glory. I reckon that celebration at the end of 3 weeks of tough racing is a fitting tribute.

larkim

I'm happy enough with the procession, and "end of term celebration" type atmosphere. But equally I think you have to have something more than just a procession to justify shutting down a city, and the 50km of laps up and down a straight boulevard just didn't do it for me. And I would like them to formalise the overall GC position as being static from the night before.

DeadCalm

Pross wrote:

I don't think it needs changing. GTs are effectively 20 stages long and then the winner gets a nice procession to celebrate at the end before the rest of the field have one last chance of glory. I reckon that celebration at the end of 3 weeks of tough racing is a fitting tribute.

That seems an eminently fair point. I've given up bothering to watch them though.

mrb123

If the GC leader crashed on one of these final stages but was able to get back on the bike and ride on at a reduced pace, do we reckon the other GC contenders would agree to wait and all ride in together or would it be no mercy?

Always makes me shudder when they do that thing where the winner's team all ride no handed strung out across the road together. Maybe that's just because I'm rubbish at riding no handed! I seem to remember Porte nearly taking out the rest of Team Sky doing it on the Champs Elysee one year although I think that was right at the end.

larkim

The thing with the daft scenario of the leader crashing out is that it only needs to happen once for the sport to look like a joke. We saw in the Clasica San Sebastian that an innocuous crash in the peloton can be really quite serious caused by a moment's inattention.

Whilst I'm fixating on the leader's jersey here, it is actually less inconceivable that the points jersey winner could fail to finish due to a final stage crash (so wouldn't be the winner then). But then I suppose that going into the final stage if the points are close there is no gentleman's agreement that they won't race for the points on that stage so that's less of an issue - the points jersey race isn't considered "finished" until the full finish line is crossed.

kingstongraham

Leader crashes in the final stage that's tough - should be no different to any other stage. Got to finish the race to win it. Imagine if there was only 8 seconds between first and second, and bonus seconds on the line - should the second place rider not do everything they can to go for it?

I only watched about 10 minutes of it yesterday, same of Paris this year, and none of the Rome stage. They like to call it a showcase, but it's only that for the people who are there, surely. For everyone else it's another flat stage with 10 minutes of interest at the end.