Vuelta talk - spoilers allowed

[ny biker]

So the Vuelta starts today. Should be an interesting race. I think I'm hoping one of the Schlecks will win. Would also like to see Sastre have a good result.

Let the TTT begin...

[malkin]

I've been having false starts about this for the last 3 weeks!
I'm excited!

[redrhodie]

Where are you watching?

[Possegal]

Where are you watching?

I'm watching on Universal Sports.

[malkin]

Universal Sports here too.

[redrhodie]

Thanks. I found it free here:http://www.cyclingfans.com/node/1306 and caught the last couple of teams. Can't wait for more!

[malkin]

It's going to be HOT!

[Crankin]

We just discovered we had Universal a few weeks ago, by accident. Comcast added it, without any fanfare.
Watching the ttt today was awesome, especially after having been in Sevilla in May. I can imagine the party that went on after it was over, given what I saw after the local team won a semi-final soccer match. Also, the local Andalucia team that went last in the race today is the team our tour leader/owner rides with.
It's nice to be able to watch this on TV, although I miss having it in HD.

[pll]

I loved that it started with a team time trial.

[malkin]

I think the announcer boys didn't get quite enough sleep last night.

[ny biker]

I just watched the end of stage 4. What a steep hill!!

It's interesting to see a grand tour that isn't all about the sprinters in the first week.

[pll]

I miss the commentary of Bobke, Phil and Paul...

[Crankin]

I've enjoyed watching some of it so far, but the production quality seems amateur-ish. The announcers are sitting in a booth, not even at the race? That's what it seems like. They are fine announcers, but I also miss Phil, Paul, and Bobke. And the picture quality of the actual race is pretty poor.
It is fun to see different riders, though.

[ny biker]

I've enjoyed watching some of it so far, but the production quality seems amateur-ish. The announcers are sitting in a booth, not even at the race? That's what it seems like. They are fine announcers, but I also miss Phil, Paul, and Bobke. And the picture quality of the actual race is pretty poor.
It is fun to see different riders, though.

They're not at the race, but then the Versus guys are also sitting in a booth and commentating on what they see on a screen and hear over race radio. Sometimes they're on another continent when doing so. FWIW that's how Speed TV covers Formula One and other motor races -- announcers in their HQ watching on a screen.

I am really missing the high def pictures that you get on most races on Versus. And although I also prefer Phil and Paul (over Bob and that other dude on Versus) I try to remind myself that the Universal guys have not been doing this nearly as long as P&P, who have had many years to hone their skills.

[malkin]

Another not-particular-fan of Gogulski here, although I was relieved to hear him say that Thor was riding in the Norwegian road race champion's jersey rather than "the blue plus with red" as he had described it earlier in the week.


really, I think gogulski is a sign of the coming zombie invasion

[Possegal]

So apparently Saxo Bank sent Andy Schleck and Stuart O'Grady home from the Vuelta for breaking the 'no alcohol' rule. Andy just doesn't seem like a rule-breaker to me. :)

[Bike Chick]

According to the team boss, they were both out late having a beer:eek:

Wonder what Schleck and O'Grady's story is???

http://velonews.competitor.com/2010/09/news/riis-explains-decision-to-remove-schleck-o%e2%80%99grady_139158

[Eden]

According to the team boss, they were both out late having a beer:eek:


The HORRORS.... good grief, they are cyclists not monks....

ok, sure rules are rules, still seems like shooting the team in the foot to me.

[Possegal]

The article I saw quoted Andy as saying - it's true, I had a drink. :) He also said he thought the punishment was extreme but that Riis was the boss and what he says goes. The story also pointed out that both O'Grady and Schleck are leaving the team, which I thought was sort of tossing out there a possible connection? Though maybe that was just me looking for a more sinister explanation.

[redrhodie]

I thought that too (their leaving was a big part of this). The thing I thought was funny is that they are allowed to drink with dinner, but not after. Craziness. Almost sounds like a blue law.

[TrekTheKaty]

No Alberto. No Radio Shack. Now they've sent Andy home? Oh, well. We don't get that channel here anyway.

[pll]

Re Schleck and O'Grady, I think there is a delicate balance within a team that is disbanding. First, while cyclists are not monks, during a major tour, they are at work and their physical performance is essential -- it's the reason they get paid to ride. Going out for a drink showed there was no serious commitment to the rest of the team, in particular to help Frank Schleck. Second, breaking the team rules was clearly a challenge to Riis.

Overall, it's interesting to see other riders and teams take the lead in a tour. It's my first time watching the Vuelta, so I'm enjoying the landscape as well. I'm happy that the Nike machine that marks the roads is absent (I hate seeing those mechanical marks) -- let the people who made the trip to be there paint the road. The TV camera work seems a bit amateur, especially in sprint finishes, and the motorcycles and cars are sometimes dangerously close to the riders.

[malkin]

I've lost interest in watching since the Saxo silliness.
I still follow, but I don't have to watch anymore.

[pll]

It's becoming a really exciting race! Today's stage has me on the edge of my sofa....

[pll]

Today's stage at the Bola del Mundo climb was incredible, worth watching again. Loved the Vuelta routes and the fact that it has more 'mixed' stages, that are neither pure mountain or pure flat. Anyone else has been following it?

[malkin]

Still following. That climb today was really somthing!

[ny biker]

I recorded it to watch later. It's been an interesting race so far, but with guys who are not so famous.

[channlluv]

I thought today's finish was really exciting -- a 20% grade, really? -- but why did Fabian leave yesterday?

Roxy

[malkin]

I think he was just done.
Is he going to the World's?

[channlluv]

That's what DH said, that he's done and he may be concerned about coming in third in the time trial -- if something's wrong, he'd want to go work on with only two weeks to train for the World competition. That makes sense, but the announcers were saying he just left without talking to anyone, including the team director, which doesn't make sense to me.

I really like watching him ride.

Roxy

[pll]

I think there are two things at play, from what I have read: Cancellara seems to be fatigued and may not participate in the Worlds and, second, he is leaving Riis' team (no new team announced yet).

[ny biker]

Wow. I just watched today's stage. What a great finish. Hats off to Mosquera for a great effort, and to Nibali for coming back like that. Especially since Nibali looked pretty cooked for a while.

They were all close to falling over at the finish line. The Tour de France gets all the big hype but both the Giro and the Vuelta have great racing on amazing terrain.

[pll]

I was impressed, too. Nibali is young, 25 years old, and he won several stages of the Giro in support of Ivan Basso. Not only did he recover during the climb yesterday, but in the two earlier stages he showed poise: he had a flat during the time trial, and took some time form Mosquera in stage 19, which meant hanging out at the front with the sprinter trains.

I liked watching the lesser known riders, without the hype. It also shows relative luck: Mosquera rode most of his career for small teams that don't get invited to major tours. His first Vuelta, he placed 5th in 2007, and also top 5 in 2008, 2009, 2010... So he has some legs. I hope he gets a good contract as Xacobeo might disband because of the Spanish fiscal situation. Like several teams there, it receives support from the regional government, Galicia in this case.

[ny biker]

Tyler wins!!

[pll]

Especially since Nibali looked pretty cooked for a while.

I have to share the following picture, from the Spanish newspaper El País:

http://www.elpais.com/recorte/20100919elpepidep_9/LCO340/Ies/Nibali_subiendo.jpg

If that's not suffering, I don't what is. Great job by Tyler today. And in Madrid, to boot.