La Vuelta 2017 - Stage one, TTT, Nîmes **spoilers**

rick_chasey
rick_chasey Posts: 72,244
edited August 2017 in Pro race
Might as well kick this off, since it's August and the entire office is out.

Map

CARTE.jpg

profile

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Geodiversity
Nimes and the Rhône Delta

Nimes is located on the edges of the Rhône Delta, resting on the reliefs that surround it. To the West and North-West of the city are the reliefs of the Region of Cévennes, part of the French Massif Central where the rocks that were used to build most of the city's monuments come from.

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On the other side, the city is close to the delta, where agriculture can prove highly efficient due to the conditions of that particular ecosystem. But Nimes is far enough from the water so as to not be affected by overflowing rivers. Even nowadays, with a multitude of reservoirs in the Rhône and in its tributaries, floods mark the history of human populations. It may seem like a trivial detail, but even given its location at the edges of the delta, Nimes did suffer very serious floods in 1988 and the neighbouring city of Arles, right in the delta's centre, has had many more floods, such as the one it suffered in 2003 that led to the evacuation of over 15.000 people.

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A delta formation requires a river that carries a large amount of sediments and an adequate coast so that the waves, currents and tides allow the accumulation of those sediments to take place. The Rhône River originates in the Alps. Over the space of 800km, it goes from an altitude of almost 2000 metres above sea level where it originates, down to the Rhône Glacier and to the Mediterranean. Such an incline gives the river a huge capacity for erosion and its sediments have shaped the landscapes that surround the city of Nimes.

Stage Term: River DeltaA delta is an accumulation of sediments where a river flows out into a sea or lake. This accumulation is possible when the area's marine waves and currents are unable to transport all the river sediments to other coastal areas or to the seabeds. Due to their mild reliefs, the abundance of water and rich soil, early civilisations chose to settle near deltas. That is why cities such as Alexandria (in the Nile) and New Orleans (in the Mississippi) are located in the deltas or right on the edges.

Local sites

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Drink
375px-Costi%C3%A8res_de_N%C3%AEmes_red_wine_and_bottle.jpg


Food
brandade de morue
(whipped salt cod spread, either with bread or potatoes)

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Horses
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Comments

  • andyp
    andyp Posts: 10,069
    No fabrics?
  • Ive done that circuit round the old town with a brandy hangover and 2 hours sleep at 8 am with a cardboard bike box rolled up bungeed to my paniers trying to get to the airport to pack the bike in the box - so the idea of a team time trial is nothing to me
  • hypster
    hypster Posts: 1,229
    Levi Strauss made from "de Nimes"
  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,137
    andyp wrote:
    No fabrics?
    Here you go:

    B-witched.jpg
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • Finally a categorised climb in a grand tour that I can complete.
  • TheBigBean
    TheBigBean Posts: 20,511
    Does anyone else find starting a GT with a TTT utterly underwhelming?
  • Kind of used to it with the Vuelta, who likes to put on a Sat evening parade through the host town, complete with sparkly lights as dusk falls. Looks good for the tv pictures innit
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 72,244
    TBH, with this race, I vaguely keep an eye on the results, and tune in for the odd loony mountain stage.
  • forehead
    forehead Posts: 180
    I love Brandade
    Cube - Peloton
    Cannondale - CAAD10
  • Forehead wrote:
    I love Brandade



    nomnomnom
  • TheBigBean
    TheBigBean Posts: 20,511
    Kind of used to it with the Vuelta, who likes to put on a Sat evening parade through the host town, complete with sparkly lights as dusk falls. Looks good for the tv pictures innit

    Yes, it is an annual disappointment.
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 72,244
    So anyone have a view on which teams are favourites?

    I haven't had the chance to peruse the startlist, so no idea who brought a decent TTT team.
  • RonB
    RonB Posts: 3,984
    TheBigBean wrote:
    Does anyone else find starting a GT with a TTT utterly underwhelming?

    SGS rules. That would make it a bit more fun
  • RonB
    RonB Posts: 3,984
    Forehead wrote:
    I love Brandade

    Looks a bit like Plokkfiskur, but done under the grill.
  • Bo Duke
    Bo Duke Posts: 1,058
    Might as well kick this off, since it's August and the entire office is out.

    Horses
    240x322-SPP_abrivado2_large.jpg
    Bunch sprint. Looks like Sagan in the centre is coming across to take Blue Shirt out.
    'Performance analysis and Froome not being clean was a media driven story. I haven’t heard one guy in the peloton say a negative thing about Froome, and I haven’t heard a single person in the peloton suggest Froome isn’t clean.' TSP
  • bobmcstuff
    bobmcstuff Posts: 11,196
    So anyone have a view on which teams are favourites?

    I haven't had the chance to peruse the startlist, so no idea who brought a decent TTT team.
    I can't claim it's my own view but BMC seem to be marginal favourites and Sky also expected to do well. Doesn't seem too controversial.
  • Bugger. Our tent started ripping apart in a gale so we ran away, and having arrived back home at three in the morning the entire family is happy to use today to recover - so I can (unexpectedly) watch the Vuelta without anyone whinging. However I now discover it's a TTT.

    Worst holiday ever.

    (had forgotten about the hilarity of that categorised climb - is this the GT equivalent of grade inflation?)
  • I really fancy some brandade
  • gsk82
    gsk82 Posts: 3,439
    Great spoiler thread this. Bmc won from quick step, sunweb, sky then orica at 17 seconds.
    "Unfortunately these days a lot of people don’t understand the real quality of a bike" Ernesto Colnago
  • inseine
    inseine Posts: 5,786
    No huge surprises, though Trek were poor and AquaBlue very good.
  • ocdupalais
    ocdupalais Posts: 4,224
    What's going on with Juan Antonio on Eurosport!? He's using consonants in his English, and everything. Berryunespeted, I must say.
  • davieb78
    davieb78 Posts: 97
    - Froome
    - Chaves/Yates/Yates 8s
    - Majka 12s
    - Nibali 22s
    - Zakarin 24s
    - Contador 26s
    - Aru 32s
    - Bardet 36s
  • Dorset_Boy
    Dorset_Boy Posts: 6,877
    Love the ride through the ampitheatre.
  • Christ Kirby really is the Noel Edmonds of cycling commentary. What a f * cking clown.
  • bobmcstuff
    bobmcstuff Posts: 11,196
    Either the Vuelta has taken a very different approach this year or a darts tournament has overrun on ITV.
  • bobmcstuff
    bobmcstuff Posts: 11,196
    Nobody went for Anderson or Gurney in the PTP. I think Gurney has this.
  • slim_boy_fat
    slim_boy_fat Posts: 1,810
    Geez, how I've missed the watchfinder advert...
  • FocusZing
    FocusZing Posts: 4,373
    Millar, Boulting and Imlach doing the highlights, glad about that. Coast and echelon possibilities tomorrow, nice.
  • FocusZing wrote:
    Millar, Boulting and Imlach doing the highlights, glad about that. Coast and echelon possibilities tomorrow, nice.


    Ooh yes please
  • dabber
    dabber Posts: 1,924
    Anyone find any decent live feeds? We're in France at the moment and tried the ones on Steephill but without much success.
    “You may think that; I couldn’t possibly comment!”

    Wilier Cento Uno SR/Wilier Mortirolo/Specialized Roubaix Comp/Kona Hei Hei/Calibre Bossnut