Vuelta talk - spoilers allowed

[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 PaÃ*s:



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