La Vuelta (Tour of Spain) and The Tour of Britain

[Pan]

Taking a leaf out of my new biking hero Sylvan Chavanel, it seemed a good idea to lead from the front.
Vuelta starts this Saturday, and many of the usual suspects will be in there. The course looks quite climby, so Team Sky have opted for their Columbian rider Sergio Henoa Montoya as leader, tho' an old warrior will be the sprint king.
Useful links are:
A course guide
and
The Start List by Team
As far as I can tell, Eurosport are carrying live action and ITV4 are showing highlights, tho I think that may well be from the action the day before.
The Tour of Britain starts the day the Vuelta ends, 15th September.

Sooo, if you like most things in lycra and whizzing along a road, this is the place for you. As NicholasTeacozy reckons, it's like chess on hundreds of wheels. If you're intrigued but don't know your peloton from your domestique, drop in and someone will no doubt help out.

I have been pretty pro-Horner, based on how well he was doing, and his age - but all that changed last night, when he did that interview, and told us at home how we had seen a sporting achievement we would never see again in our lifetimes - and he repeated it! I wanted to reach through the tv and slap a bit of modesty back into him!

Prettybird - will you be able to spectate the rugby match from the car or the club house? Preferably with some sort of hot beverage?

Dh and ds2 usually go to watch the first and last stages of the Tour of Britain, but this year, a combination of dh's work, and the fact that ds2 has just gone off to university, and lectures start tomorrow has meant that going to today's stage was never going to be a real possibility. And if dh went down to see the final stage, that would mean that, because he'd be away from home most of the previous week and then has meetings in London on the following monday and more later on in the week, he'd basically be away from home for the best part of two weeks, and he thinks that's not fair on me or the dogs - especially the dogs.

Well you always have to think of the dogs SDTG . We probably won't make it to Caerphilly although a little bit of me is still thinking 'maybe, if it looks doable on Wednesday I could make a plan' but I don't want DS1 to miss lessons and it's something I've always done with Bil and I think it would be too sad with him in hospital.

I don't even think I can bear to watch todays Vuelta, the urge to slap that smug man is still too strong!

SDTG - one of the best good things about ds' rugby club is the big picture windows overlooking the pitches and the comfortable seats right beside them

I am very glad to hear it, prettybird - I shall stop worrying about you Catching Your Death of Cold. Do they do a good latte and slice of cake?

There will be cake stand (which I may even end up manning) and the bar does good coffee - but no cake or cappuccino for me as I'm back on low carb Boot Camp.

You must have super-human self-control! Manning the cake stall, whilst going low-carb? I couldn't do it!

Oh no!

Sorry, my earlier post was to pretty birds tt cancellation post.

Yup, a good winner should be modest about his achievements and above all give his team the credit they deserve for helping him to get there. To listen to Chris Horner you'd imagine he did it all on his own.

The other thing about CH was that he kept his shape and focus all the way up. His front wheel wasn't wobbling at all. (unlike the young French winner who was all over the road) So the sudden collapse was fairly inauthentic.

The weirdy glass platform at the TTT start does seem a very loooong time ago, doesn't it? and quite a few memorable rides, esp TM and his epic escapado effort and the almost stand-stills on the climbs. It's been fab to watch and gas about in the Espanol MN peloton.

The right man won this tour. Although I have to say his speech yesterday was crass and graceless, he has been the outstanding rider and deserves the plaudits. I don't care if he's been 'helped', I think his legs are just 6000km fresher than the others.

I've probably enjoyed the Vuelta more than the Tour for some perverse reason, possibly because a 41 year old won. Not long now till the Giro...

oh I agree NT re the performance and yes I think day-for-day I've enjoyed this tour more than any other, incl count back Tours to 2003.

Having said that my fav tour is the one I take to work each day. I'd like to see CH take on loads quite a few bags of sugar to even up the weight differential, age a few years, put his change of clothes, lunch, work-related papers and tool kit in a big rucksack, have no team car or domestiques to support him, battle rush hour traffic and hills and still ride so elegantly. Then he gets to wear a proper jersey.

On Vuelta catchup after a weekend away and YY fab race and lots of discussion re CH's win. The race is second to us loving Jens though ;)

@jensie
"If your legs are hurting, it's up hill. If they are not hurting, it's downhill. Life is already complicated enough."
" yes many riders will be having a relaxed evening".

Priceless.

Yes - I loved that bit too!

I am just waiting for dh and ds3 to finish searching for ds3's wallet, and then I can watch the first stage of the Tour of Britain.

I love Jensie, I might have to change my allegiance over from Cav, as Jens is a lot little closer in age to me. Plus I like a man who can talk to me and I sense Cav probably wouldn't do so well at conversation. He is still very pretty to look at though. I loved it when Jens was so scathing toward the French man who won the penultimate stage, no need to cry indeed .

Did you see the rider who was on his 7th consecutive tour? Chapeau to that man, 9,000k a year racing for two years, his legs must be rock and his arse like corned beef.

I'm sure you could take CH in an equal fight Pan, don't worry about bags of sugar, the 'fit to cycle a tour' look is very unattractive in a man, skinny arms, urgh. Wiggins' ankles give me the creeps, thank goodness he is putting some weight on to go back to the track.

Didn't quite go to plan for Cav last night then. The TV coverage of the finish was appalling, most of it had half a blurred person on the screen so you couldn't see the riders.

And so it begins:

www.theguardian.com/sport/2013/sep/16/chris-horner-vuelta-doping-test

Innocent mistake or more sinister? The one thing I hate about cycling is how quick you are lead towards scepticism.

And yy I love that Jens quote! Funny man.

Is the sport beyond 'innocent mistakes'? Even in my die hard optimism I can't see how the testers failed so miserably in these circs., esp with the questions being asked about how a tour could be won by someone years older than the next oldest tour winner.
What the articles I've read today don't tell us is whether he was eventually tested at all.

and I reckon prettybird's ds could take CH on an equalised run. (how that could be managed I've no idea, but I'd still like to believe it.)

Clicky link. Authorities have a long history of blaming others for their fuck ups. By simply reading what they had would've saved a lot of bother.

Can't remember from Hamilton's book if hotel switching was a technique? Besides, the teams plan to meticulous detail over the weeks (because of course they have to) so a hotel change on the last day is at the v least odd, in my only partially-informed opinion.

My cynical little brain has been working it over all day and I bet they left it to the last moment to change the information so even though they have proof it was sent it wouldn't register in time for the people in America to react and tell their Spanish colleagues. There was a telling 'we asked USDEA to comment but of course due to the time difference they haven't had time to get back to us' in one of the articles. Why was his wife so far away? I do wonder if the 'leak' of this information was calculated.

Lost - I'll take your Wiggos ankles and raise you Chris Froomes upper arms. I always annoy DH by always commenting on his skin and bone biceps.

Just finished watching the last of the Vuelta. Love Jens. If you follow him on twitter you will know that in between times in the studio he went geocaching round London. His hobby.

Hope Gary and his jazz hands have a nice rest he looks knackered.

Onto TOB now!

I share a hobby with Jens.

Maybe he'll stop off at my cache next year, don't suppose he'll have time though!

it was quite a two-worlds collide seeing Quintana going up the Honister Pass in the rain. I hope the weather improves - ITV were saying the av speed yesterday was 23 mph and we've had water-related crashes already.