LaVuelta 2018

La Vuelta will start Sunday the 25th in Malaga.
Malaga capital, centre. More centre impossible.
An 8 km. time trial which will háve to be an exhibition of prudence by the favorites.
Looked at the details of the route and it is all very, véry tricky surface with very little grip.
The finish is at the end of Calle Larios; pedestrian area.
https://www.lavuelta.es/es/etapa-1

The second stage however is beautiful. Not the most challenging of clibs but plenty of opportunities for escapes and the loop at the end which they will do twice is só scenic. Obviously also a totally commercial thing to pass the Caminito del Rey twice. I bet it will be frequent helicopter shots of this tourist attraction.

Next day is still in Malaga as is the start of stage four. That stage four has some really serious climbing and a WOW! finish that could shake up things from very early on.

Again the Vuelta is characterised by relatively short stages with some very, véry demanding climbs.

Best of luck then!

The Vuelta has been exceptional the last couple of years. Looking forward to it.

Having watched the Giro and the Tour de France this year on TV, I'm certainly looking forward to the Vuelta.

scooter

Recieved an invitacion for the opening gala Thursday evening.
Am in Malaga anyway for a lunch date so dropped by the office and met a very charming lady administrating the invitacions. Had an entertaining talk with her and she gave me thréé ´tickets´.
With an half hour to spare in the restaurant so took my laptop. No, no free wifi for clients. Huh??? Had an entertaining talk with the two charming waitresses and... they gave me the access code anway.
Think I am going to buy a lottery ticket at the bar.

Anyway, looking forward to the opening gala. If nothing else it will be a good show in the Roman Theatre.

Oh and álso I received a message from a friend that he knows of a very rare eroica bike for sale. Yes, lottery ticket it is!

The openingsgala was Great Fun!

https://boktimg.nl/img/m/69insQ.jpg

Not impressed by the Sky team nor that of Giant Sunweb.

With the tough climbing stages so dominating, Nairo Quintana must be the favorite. Since he can be rather fragile, there are imo more candidates for the win than in many years.

Looking forward to the first stage Saturday.

Só impressive through Málaga centre.

https://boktimg.nl/img/m/WVYwC7.jpg

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https://boktimg.nl/img/m/DhnKDR.jpg

Bit of a surprise the last climb. Would not have picked Valverde to win the etappe but with Sagan and Porte fading earlier, he took his chance. Good for him.

Tomorrow is a beautiful route going around the Sierra de las Nieves.
Right in the beginning there is a 1st category climb going from sea level at the coast to 1000m. over 20 kms. Since the finish is a sprinters final the teams will need to get their pitch hitters back at the front during the second part of the day, going back to the coast.
Could be interesting.

I am really looking forward to watching tomorrow’s stage. I have done the Ride up to Ronda and through El-Burgo to Coin a few times. It will be cool to watch it being done ‘properly’!

The Sierra Nieves are beautiful!

I’ll be there on the Ronda Road cheering them on tomorrow [emoji1303]


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Sounds great guys.

I am sort of planning to go see the show again at the start in Velez.

Wednesday I will be in Granada at the same side they will be passing but my agenda is not compatible :-(
They will skirt the length of the southern slopes of the Sierra Nevada for close to 100 kms. Again a véry scenic route, not too taxing, The descend though, thát is something else. Not for the faint hearted! 13 kms do descend 1000 metres...

All set to see them come along in a bit from Mijas

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Awesome [emoji1303]

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Nothing better than used bottles scraped off the floor from sweaty skinny men [emoji23]

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It started raining in Benalmadena after all had passed even before the last crossed the line just up the road!

Tomorrow will be the toughest yet, up the Sierra Nevada.

By chance I happened to be in Malaga Saturday evening, a couple of phone camera images.

https://image.ibb.co/i1QcdU/Kwia.jpg

https://image.ibb.co/i1dKsp/Sagan.jpg

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Originally Posted by cbh

By chance I happened to be in Malaga Saturday evening, a couple of phone camera images.

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Nice!!!
Thanks for sharing.

How did you experience it?
I was awed by the spectacle and the organistation alike.
The locals were very positive too about the latter and praised that almost immediately after the event, the city was completely as normal.

Malaga is like my second home; I am in the city a lót and it was véry pleasant experience the alameda, the paseo de las curas, la farola and the malageta without motorised traffic.
The backdrop of the city and the sea with the race going on was all ... well awesome for me.

Today the plan is to go to Velez.

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Originally Posted by Huertecilla

Nice!!!
Thanks for sharing.

How did you experience it?
I was awed by the spectacle and the organistation alike.
The locals were very positive too about the latter and praised that almost immediately after the event, the city was completely as normal.

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Thought it was great, well organised and easily accessible, however much quieter than the equivalent stage of Le Tour.

Another very entertaining stage.
A bit extra for me/us because we know the route and it is fun to recognise on tele.
In general though I find this year´s edition unususally refreshing.
Probably the absence of clear favorites and the indisposition of several other team leaders makes it all way more level.

Obviously it is only the first week and anyone with the goal set on winning will try to just survive it with not too much time lost, but that too just adds to the level playing field.

Tomorrow will be another stage offering lots of opportunities to escape for a wide range of riders.

Anyway

https://boktimg.nl/img/m/kGZnbB.jpg
https://boktimg.nl/img/m/2mxy9o.jpg

A totally crázy day yesterday; they stepped on it from the go, threw a succession of escapes against the mountain slopes and finished 40 minutes ahead of the fastest scedule with a surprising winner.

Today is most likely to be a days of the sprinters.

and another totally unpredictable stage.

Rather a bonus for us as we had done the same route/climbs past Castril three months ago. We had rather more time to see the views. By Jove do they go fást! No wonder that there were so many falls on the descends.

We were out yesterday to see them run through Huescar and on through to Castril.
The Rio Castril has been our swimming spot for the summer, just breathtaking down there.

Missed yesterday´s stage* and then Valverde beats Sagan outright in the sprint.

Up early for the animals this morning and now chilling, waiting to enjoy a short highlights of yesterday and then today´s stage.


* was pedalling from Ganada all the way up to the 11.000+ feet summit of Pico Veleta. Rather unique that; that you can pedal right up to the very top of a seriously high mountain. Breathtaking. Literally.

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Originally Posted by Hewjardon

We were out yesterday to see them run through Huescar and on through to Castril.
The Rio Castril has been our swimming spot for the summer, just breathtaking down there.

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Camped in Castril back in the Spring, beautiful spot.

and again a beautiful and véry hard fought thriller.

Today a rolling rest day with a sprinter´s final after the rest day.

On the straights of the latter part Simone Petilli (UAE Team Emirates) fell hárd. The latest news is that he has been taken to hospital with a skull fracture.

Caught this last week through Marbella, watched them from our roof terrace, very nice surprise to the holiday

Pitch

Today is going to be a tough one. Nothing extreme but the route on the whole is a leg breaker.

Too many fun things to do today, maybe not even time to see the highlights early tomorrow morning :( and will be out on the bicycle myself for the repeat of that.

I like it a lot that Maté still is firmly in the lead of the mountain ranking. He may very well win it as in the last week the GC players will be amassing the points and they have none sofar.

Loving the race this year, it is the first time I have followed it as closely as the TdF and am really enjoying the scenery and the whole laid back feel it has. We have planned a trip to watch the TdF but I think this race would be much more fun and a whole let less bother too. The best riders in the world are riding along empty roads for much of the race so would be easy to find a nice viewing spot before driving through lovely countryside, finding a quiet spanish village for the night and doing it all again the next day :eagerness:

Good plan Mondie.
Imo you nailed it.

Also Spain is rather more rugged, extreme, than France and the cycling equally more awesome still.

That's the way to finish a mountain stage!

Well done...(no spoiler)...



Update: Result...link, for spoiler.

I watched the second half of today's stage on Eurosport, I thought it was Alan Partridge commentating with Sean Kelly! :pig:

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Originally Posted by magirus

I watched the second half of today's stage on Eurosport, I thought it was Alan Partridge commentating with Sean Kelly! :pig:

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Does that change La Vuelta?

Last two days were spectacular agaín. Two thrillers.

Tomorrow ITT over 32 km. Quite an interesting route.
Will shake up the GT a bit I expect.

Looking forward to watching it. ´Just´ need to organize time and place.

this last week of La Vuelta will progress with síx GC competitors within a minute and a half. All good climbers, all with a solid team behind them. Possible with leader Yates having the least backing.

Tomorrow is an ideal Stage for escapes with all teams trying to ´force´ Mitchelton into leading the peloton and them trying to save energy. With Movistar having a double shot, the mutual reproaches about pulling the train will no doubt rekindle.

If De Gendt stays true to form he will try escape again and get the dotted jersey. The chess game between Mitchelton and Movistar will depend on who joins him. There is a handfull more of fast riders within shooting distance of the GC.

Watch the final of today´s stage. Thriller with a só deserved win.

another finish with a twist.

That was some performance from the man in red...link.

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Originally Posted by magirus

I watched the second half of today's stage on Eurosport, I thought it was Alan Partridge commentating with Sean Kelly! :pig:

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Huertecilla

Does that change La Vuelta?

Last two days were spectacular agaín. Two thrillers.

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It was a light hearted joke you humourless idiot.

Not a fan myself of push bike "racing", but I caught a headline today that suggested a Brit, Simon Yate's is in with a good chance of winning the Vuelta this year, go on lad.:eagerness:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by magirus

It was a light hearted joke you humourless idiot.

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Well this personal insults level sure suggests a Brit...

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Originally Posted by Passenger

Not a fan myself of push bike "racing", but I caught a headline today that suggested a Brit, Simon Yate's is in with a good chance of winning the Vuelta this year, go on lad.:eagerness:

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He was simply awesome in the climb yesterday.
Today is another tricky stage and he does not have the strongest team.
If he wins La Vuelta, hé has won it himsélf.

That was impressive. But all change for the overall podium placings...well, two at least. :smile-new:

Véry impressive.

As expected Yates had to do it mainly himself so a déép bow to him indeed.

All in all, I thought the whole of La Vuelta a refreshing change from one team with a single strategy dominating the whole event apart from some crumbs.

De Gendt in the mountain jersey too I find só https://forum.tz-uk.com/images/icons/icon14.png

A Grand Tour I enjoyed more than any.

We could have been stood next to each other in Malaga by the look of your photos Huertecilla. I also watched from the pedestrian zone and from the long straight by the park.
The team parking by the harbour had to be one of the best places to warm up for any sport.

I also rode up the hill to watch at the top of Alfacar for stage 4. Bloody hell that was a big BIG hill.

Superb win by Yates.
I had a late summer holiday this year so didn't watch as much of the Vuelta as I saw of the Giro and TdF but he obviously deserves it. I only saw the last few days but he rode strongly.

Is this the first time all three Grand Tours have been won by three different riders from the same nation?

From a Twitter source:

Countries that have won all three Grand Tours in a single season:

1964 - France
Giro - Anquetil
Tour - Anquetil
Vuelta - Poulidor

2008 - Spain
Giro - Contador
Tour - Sastre
Vuelta - Contador

2018 - Great Britain
Giro - Froome
Tour - Thomas
Vuelta - Yates


Pete

^^^

Impressive that GB did it with 3 different riders.

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Originally Posted by barreti

We could have been stood next to each other in Malaga by the look of your photos Huertecilla. I also watched from the pedestrian zone and from the long straight by the park.
The team parking by the harbour had to be one of the best places to warm up for any sport.

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What a coincidence!!
Glad you enjoyed it.
Yes, só easy to approach, accessible.
The finish through Calle Larios was something special and the spectators drum an impressive added value.

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I also rode up the hill to watch at the top of Alfacar for stage 4. Bloody hell that was a big BIG hill.

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It is my ´back garden´. My cycling world. Hilly indeed. Now imagine the 3364 metres high Pico Veleta; I cycled to the summit the next Saturday.


About the nationalistic stuff. Tsk tsk tsk. Shame on you. There is NO added value in nor from that.
It is individual sports men who performed on a truely áwesome level. THEY did it.
But hey, if that is a straw to clutch, all the best to you.

Back to Yates I think his was by far the most iimpressive performance of the three as his team is not in the same league as Sky. Not by a long run. Also Yates had at best a level playing field.

As to La Vuelta; by far the best GT this year; basically a whole series of very entertaining stages and stage wins. Also Yates winning was not a certain till his ride yesterday.
Several totally awesome individual performances stand out; very emotional ones too. Só deserved.

About today: The bad weather front passing across Spain seems to have passed at least for the moment and Madrid should be under a clear sky this afternoon. The riders só deserve a cheer from the fans! I whish I could be there.

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Originally Posted by Kingstepper

^^^

Impressive that GB did it with 3 different riders.

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The BBC has come up with (link):

British riders have now won nine of the past 20 Grand Tours, a run that started when Sir Bradley Wiggins became the first to win one with victory in the 2012 Tour de France.

Only twice before have riders from the same country won all three races in the same season, but this is the first time it has been done by different cyclists - Chris Froome winning the Giro d'Italia and Geraint Thomas the Tour de France.

And Yates' victory will be the fifth Grand Tour triumph in a row for Britain, with Froome having also won last year's Tour and Vuelta.