Vuelta a España 2014

[MarieV]

Anyone else following the Vuelta a España 2014?

SPOILER ALERT!

Today's stage was the best one so far! Alberto Contador attacked about 1 km from the finish, with only Quintana keeping up with him, so they dropped Valverde and Froome.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nd3-nBJXtgc

Contador's amazing! After fracturing his tibia 7 weeks ago at the Tour de France, he's not only racing in the Vuelta but in 2nd place, only 3 seconds behind Quintana.

With so many of the top riders crashing and dropping out due to cobbles, rain, etc., the Tour de France wasn't as much fun to watch this year, but with Contador and Froome and the Valverde/Quintana rivalry, the Vuelta's turning out to be the tour to watch. Too bad it's only covered on Universal Sports, which isn't even offered by a lot of cable companies (e.g. Comcast).

[azfiddle]

I don't have cable, so it's harder for me to watch the coverage of the Vuelta than TdF or the races on tour tracker, but I have viewed videos of the last 8-10 km of a few stages, which I find on Steep Hill tv.

I am amazed at how these pros can get back on their bikes so quickly after injuries- Contador and Froome, after their crashes this summer. Nairo Quintana... it is pretty exciting.

[Crankin]

I actually did see that finish. Yesterday, we ordered up to date cable for our I Pad, which we can broadcast through Apple TV onto the TV. The first thing we watched was the Vuelta! The cable for the I Pad only costs 15.00 a month over our internet, nothing like the 200.00+ for hookup to the TV. Of course the customer service person tried to tell DH there was no such thing, but there is!
Yes, I am also amazed how someone can be back on a bike, racing, a month after breaking his tibia.
I think the Vuelta is often more interesting than the Tour de France.

[MarieV]

If you haven't already seen it, the end of Stage 14 was even more exciting than Stage 9!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cU-Vsi0DqFg

SPOILER ALERT!

Not only were there several attacks among the GC contenders, but Chris Froome finally looked like he was back to his TdF 2013 form, the best he's been since his big crash at the Critérium du Dauphiné. There was even a surprise attack at the finish among those in the breakaway. I was so happy for Ryder Hesjedal, especially after his poor luck in Stage 7 when he looked like he'd win the stage, but not only did he have a freak crash for no reason near the end, but then a motorcycle ran over his bike, so he lost minutes waiting to get a new bike.

Of course, the sad news was Nairo Quintana crashing in the individual time trial in Stage 10 and losing 4 minutes and the red jersey to Contador, then abandoning after another major crash in Stage 11. What's with all the major crashes with the GC contenders in this year's Grand Tours? Peter Sagan also abandoned today after struggling through most of the stages, especially the mountain stages, and only getting 3rd in Stage 8 and 4th in Stage 12. It'll be interesting to watch Sagan ride with Contador for Tinkoff-Saxo next year.