Vuelta A Espana 2016 the MN Peloton contemplates another glass of Rioja to go with the tapas

[FelicityLemon]

Despite the Olympics still in full swing it is time to turn our attention to the Vuelta.

www.lavuelta.com/la-vuelta/2016/us/parcours-general.html

The stages

1 Team time trial Saturday, August 20th Ourense, Laias Health Resort / P. N. Castrelo de Miño 27.8 km

2 Flat Sunday, August 21st Ourense Thermal Capital / Baiona 160.8 km

3 Hilly Monday, August 22nd Marín / Dumbría. Ezaro Viewpoint 176.4 km

4 Hilly Tuesday, August 23rd Betanzos / San Andrés de Teixido 163.5 km

5 Flat Wednesday, August 24th Viveiro / Lugo 171.3 km

6 Hilly Thursday, August 25th Monforte de Lemos / Luintra. Ribeira Sacra 163.2 km

7 Hilly Friday, August 26th Maceda / Puebla de Sanabria 158.5 km

8 Flat Saturday, August 27th Villalpando / La Camperona. Valle de Sabero 181.5 km

9 Hilly Sunday, August 28th Cistierna / Oviedo. Alto del Naranco 164.5 km

10 Mountain Monday, August 29th Lugones / Lagos de Covadonga 188.7 km

• Rest day Tuesday, August 30th Oviedo / Oviedo

11 Flat Wednesday, August 31st Colunga. Jurassic Museum / Peña Cabarga 168.6 km

12 Hilly Thursday, September 1st Los Corrales de Buelna / Bilbao 193.2 km

13 Hilly Friday, September 2nd Bilbao / Urdax-Dantxarinea 213.4 km

14 Mountain Saturday, September 3rd Urdax-Dantxarinea / Aubisque - Gourette 196 km

15 Mountain Sunday, September 4th Sabiñánigo / Sallent de Gállego. Aramón Formigal 118.5 km

16 Flat Monday, September 5th Alcañiz / Peñíscola 156.4 km

• Rest day Tuesday, September 6th Castellón / Castellón

17 Mountain Wednesday, September 7th Castellón / Llucena. Camins del Penyagolosa 177.5 km

18 Flat Thursday, September 8th Requena / Gandía 200.6 km

19 Individual time trial Friday, September 9th Xàbia / Calp 37 km

20 Mountain Saturday, September 10th Benidorm / Alto de Aitana. Air Force Squadron 193.2 km

21 Flat Sunday, September 11th Las Rozas / Madrid 104.8 km

Apparently it is going to be a tough one: Too brutal for sprinters: Teams prepare their climbers for mountainous Vuelta a España
Read more at www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/#iLVQdFMS6pFLb4wQ.99

SPOILER

Can I just say while I am disappointed Stybar didn't win, I do have the consolation of Calmejane in my Velogames team.

You've got Rolland Pan haven't you? That's more points than most today.

They are bruising stages, not pulling any punches and letting them settle into the first week at all. And Lopez .

Yeah, yeah, whatev's Fliss.

Indeed MrS - handing over this massive lantern to DA

Love the way we are working together, like a chain, so Felicity moves to the front of the chasing pack and DA has a break, whilst in pursuit of Saffa.

Or I could be over-thinking this.

I've slipped down a place every day. So I guess that works. Not in a way that makes me happy though.

www.wheelsuckers.co.uk/page/lantern-rouge

Waves to all!

I didn't get my team sorted, and haven't seen much of it. Sodding school holidays, interrupting my cycling viewing.....

Evening Cordelia!

Tough day in the saddle, and wtf to that bollard? Like, no-one saw that at all? Beggars belief and all of that.

And I mean, is Bakelands even riding?? Has he been spotted?

Great result even though I couldn't pick any etixx riders so as not to jinx them so my virtual team is sacrificed for real
life. Still needs must as they say.

Oooh, nice win there. I forgot the rules again, are we allowed to do spoilers? My team is happy anyway

I think we said spoilers are okay - it's up to folk to avoid stuff if they want to but posting in the moment is part of the frisson, n'est-ce pas?

esp IF your dd got maths GCSE today.

Are we allowed spoilers if your DC got maths and english and the other grades required for their preferred sixth form option?

Cool then, whoop Yates, awesome victory. Plus he's on my team.

Still no one managed to get a stick in the spokes of Valverde then?

Yep! That's all good MrSlant ! Dd joins your ds in that cohort. We are raising the next generation of smartarses!

SY rode in style didn't he? Not seen the velo thing yet but am hoping to not have to carry that lantern into tomorrow.

I still have the lantern. Bloody thing's getting a bit heavy now.

Well done to miniMrS and miniPan on their GCSE results

Sorry DA. I think you need to swing it around over your handlebars from side to side to give your arms either side a rest. But of course be careful to not give Valverde a slam as you do it....

Bakelants points today! I haven't actually seen him but they are giving him points for something

He isn't that mini but thank you DA. All geared up to do the sixth form of cycling now.

Gutted you are having to heft the lantern rouge but it will probably be enhancing your training, core stability and all that, marginal gains .

That Chaves bloke. Doesn't he know that having a "winning smile" brings with it a slight expectation that you might actually win something at some stage? For crying out loud.

Same goes for Boswell, Roland, Gilbert and Bertie. You'll be back in remedial class if you don't buck your ideas up.

I'm taking the positives MrS, I'm sure it's character building. It's certainly brought me back down to earth after the heady heights of the Tour!

My youngest DS was referred to as 'miniAlpaca' on a thread about exam results recently. It made me laugh as he's 6'3", so like your DS he's not exactly mini! His ambition was to be taller than his older brothers, and he's super chuffed that he's managed it . I don't think he's stopped growing yet, he's just turning 19 so could stretch a bit more - but I hope he fills out as he's so skinny you could miss him if he was standing sideways.

Do they keep going until 19 I was kind of hoping we'd levelled out at 6'2" he already struggles getting into his bedroom without bashing his head and nearly knocked himself out on the car deck of the ferry! I don't think the other two are going to reach the giddy heights of over 6 foot, are all yours tall, must be hard to get any light in the room if they are all home!

I am currently feeling very sorry for Contador. Not something I ever thought would happen. Gutted for LL Sanchez as well, so near and then all his hard work was over.

This could be the most boring stage of the tour. As Ned B indicates on the parcour...wait, wait, wait......GO!!!!!!!

What's happening? Just got settled with DS1 ready for his sportive tomorrow, 120k, he'll be fine, right? Horseshoe pass just a small hill compared to the ones on south Wales I'm sure .

What's the goss from stage, umm, today's stage then?

Just seen a photo one of ds' cycling friends has posted, who is was doing the Junior Tour of Wales. He had an altercation with a pothole and the pothole won . The photo was of his x-Ray with a really bad break of his collarbone

And cycling friends wonder why I'm more relaxed about ds playing rugby than cycling glossing over the fact that he broke his collarbone playing rugby and is currently sitting out 3 weeks after a concussion last Saturday

prettybird that's not very helpful . He is stuffing his face with porridge/bagels/bananas now and downing that horrible SIS drink anyway. Actually, I'm more worried about his bike frame than his collar bone if he has a bad fall .

We tried to get hold of one of those new helmets that help cancel out brain twisting and concussion (MIPP?) but could only find mountain biking ones, a bit annoying really.