Roglič and Thomas crashed, together. Pretty normal GC day then.
It's my first time being able to watch the Vuelta on GCN+.
I have a question though. Is the timing/graphics always this bad? Both stages so far any gaps or times seem to be pretty random and may or may not relate to the race.
They’re Eurosport’s pictures via the (Spanish) host broadcaster, so essentially they get what they’re given. Timing inconsistencies were probably down to the weather.
And having no idea when the leaders or the peleton reached the 9km mark? Or the gap between them?
It's seemed a bit random compared to the Tour and the Giro. Yesterday as well there was a lot of confusion over the timings, but given the fact they were riding in the dark that's probably the least of their worries.
First stage TTT was an utter farce. Any club 10, let alone CTT event would have failed the risk assessment. They were lucky to only lose the one rider. 6/8 down on one corner could have seen a whole team depart early. Yesterday was better but still a little mad. Fairytale ending though
Just watched Remco's latest YouTube video reconning today's stage. Not much to learn about the stage but the number of Ineos riders he is meeting... Is he taking the piss by including them in the videos? 🤣
That wasn't what I expected...
Are we allowed spoilers here, before any angry people show up not wanting to know what happened in the race of the threads title!!
It wasn't unexpected. Apart from the bit after the finish.
I don't think that was even much of a surprise given the way the organisers have handled it so far.
I don’t think that was even much of a surprise given the way the organisers have handled it so far.
Looked entirely his own fault to be honest - did he hit his own soigneur? Hell of an impact...
No, think it was an Arkea swanny.
Looked to me like there was so much clutter in his field of vision that he just assumed it would be safe to go right. They'd blocked the left side with security and Vuelta helpers, which was the obvious option.
Great win though - clearly they didnt expect that pace at the line when they planned it out!
It was stupidly windy at the top as well.
https://twitter.com/eurosport/status/1696167630531424594?t=PtpQYIdzuqQA1qd_R9tGZw&s=19
Looked like he was so busy celebrating his win he didn't actually bother to do things like look where he was going or "slowing down".
Minor details.... 🙄
GCN is starting to publish some decent written coverage.
GCN is starting to publish some decent written coverage.
Yes, they're broadening their coverage a bit rather than trying to direct everyone to their app. Worth reading their full race reports, most of which at the moment are about the still-farcical safety elements of racing in the pitch dark and pouring rain...
Tomorrow is an easier day, 185km directly south from Andorra to finish at Tarragona on the coast just down from Barcelona. Listed as hilly rather than a mountain stage and *should* - assuming the weather plays ball and doesn't cause more neutralisations - end in a sprint.
Another big crash, 3.8km to go.
Tiny lull in the build up, bunch swelled up then had to shift left and riders went into the police motorbike parked to highlight the traffic calming bollards.
🙄
OOOOFTTTT That's a brutal finish !
FFS, that was chaos again. Argy bargy on the sprint and then the rider giving it all the shoulder barging led into a big left hander and slid straight into the barriers.
Karma I suppose.
Struggling to get into this Vuelta i must admit, not sure if it is the bad organisation or the weather, should be a great tour in theory with the number of GC favourites there, but just not feeling it yet at all.
My velogames team is struggling, losing Eddie Dunbar and Oscar Onley and Geraint Thomas isn't in the top 10 (yet).
scud - I know what you mean. The Tour of Britain starts on Sunday and I'm more excited about that.
I'm looking forward to ToB to, always good seeing the likes of WvA on british roads.
should be a great tour in theory with the number of GC favourites there
Stage 1 and 2 were a bit of a let down, but if the end of the Andorra stage is anything to go by, it's going to be a good GC battle.
Big climbing day today and the first summit finish of the race.
Vingegaard is 37" back on GC and probably the best climber in the race.
I'm a bit confused at the moment with JV, it seems like Kuss, Rog and Vingo are all in for the GC, Vingo seems to be leading out at times, which you wouldn't usually do if you're set for GC win... but do you just let all 3 have free-reign and see who's got the power in days like these... or do you actively pick one of them and the other 2 sit on front as is the fairly usual thinking
^^
Possibly bluff and double bluff, make the rest of the teams wonder which JV rider to follow?
I think it's better racing than the old days of: here is our team leader/GC contender, here are his cannon fodder.
Gives teams a degree of leeway in who to work for if one of the potential GC guys has an incident plus adds a degree of mystery to it.
I'll have it on in the background - see what happens.
Looks to me like the plan of JC is (or was) to support Roglic. But with the added statement of “if Rog can’t respond, then it’s up to Kuss / Vin to see where they finish”. Being racers they will likely follow orders but hoping for their own chance to appear.
I think today could be the day where the GC sorts itself out, so who is the main player for JV? Is G goosed? Can Remco climb with the worlds best? Tomorrow is a “rest” day for GC, so I can see some riders going all in today. 4000 metres of climbing today, the final climb being 11.5kms at 7.5%.
Well I picked the wrong sprinter for my Velogames team (Dianese), Dunbar was my cheap GC pick so it's not going well. I've got Remco though, and hoping that my semi-random "they'll want to get in breaks" picks will come good later.
Looking forward to today, I'm off work this week and next so hoping for some decent stages to watch.
My team Lantern Rouge are near their pre destined position.
I went for Van den Berg on the theory that he's up and coming and can climb a bit.
He crashed on sprint 1 and was way down the pack on sprint 2
Berenetxea was in the break on day 2 at least
other than that, only Remco is doing anything right now...
Remco is great but I can't see him staying with Vingagoago in the big mountains.
I had Vingagoago in my Le Tour team, he got less points than Pog and I am pretty sure Vin won. I should read how points are scored some time!!
If pog didn;t win he was usually second, plus he got points for white jersey which Remco hol ds in the vuelta
wow. 42 in the break. FORTY TWO! Inlclding Lenny Martinez, Sepp Kuss, Jasha Suterlin and Mikel Landa, if I can follow the poor information we get from GCN
the break has split again but the front group has almost 7 minutes on the peloton
Jay Vine has withdrawn after a crash 🙁
peleton are closing on them so fast now that you do wonder about the accuracy of those timings. I mean its dropped a minute in 2 minutes.
the information in general is absolutely dire in this race. The stuff coming from the race organisers is bloody awful to start with, then we have Carlton and Sean trying to interpret it...
mind you, the peleton are certainly getting a shift on
then we have Carlton and Sean trying to interpret it…
Yes, well, dat is certaintly a challenge but dey are mahkin' de calculaaa-shun
"Jay Vine slided out at a real fast pace"
It's "slid" Sean, "slid". And "quickly" is a perfectly acceptable word.
Yes, well, dat is certaintly a challenge but dey are mahkin’ de calculaaa-shun
It must be vaaiiir diffickholt...
Well i think that answered some JV team questions! Glad for the winner, always the bridesmaid not the bride on many stages...
Well i think that answered some JV team questions! Glad for the winner, always the bridesmaid not the bride on many stages…
Did it.... maybe Kuss is getting the chance to win the overall and has just thrown them a curve-ball 😀
I meant more in terms of the way they have been bigging up Remco in commentary last few days, but all of a sudden we have not one, but three JV riders that all seem stronger in the mountains..
At least it has made it more interesting, personally i'd love to see Kuss get a run at GC, it must be in the back of his mind if he could do it, looks fresh for someone who has ridden all 3 tours to, and seems like a real nice guy.
Im not sure what bit is 'more interesting' today showed me that it's basically a JV 1/2/3 if they want it... there's simply no-one here who's going to trouble them that i can see
It's looking as though Remco could have suffered an injury or two during his winning stage 'run through', when hitting the Soigneur.
My Velogames team is in dire straits :o)
Lumpy - but overall downhill - start today getting out of the mountains then a completely flat run along the coast for a predicted sprint finish
Kaden Groves again?
Very likely. Wouldn't be surprised to see Ganna have another crack at it as well; the lad's got some engine on him.
I think we might even manage this pace on the tandem, they're very much having a lovely recovery day aren't they
Mind you it doesn't seem to have stopped G falling off and needing attention...