Vuelta a España 2013 - General race thread **Spoiler tags required**

dastardly00

Hola mi amigos, it's time for the last Grand Tour of the season, the Vuelta a España!

Everyone will be glad to hear that the 68th running of The Tour of Spain has, similar to the last few years, a very mountainous route, with the peloton having to face a whopping 11 summit finishes :eek:
Although last years winner Alberto Contador (Saxo-Tinkoff) is not defending his title, there are some top-class riders taking part. The 2013 Giro d'Italia winner Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) has entered, along with the 2009 Vuelta winner Alejandro Valverde (Movistar), multiple grand tour podium finisher Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha), 2013 Volta a Catalunya winner Dan Martin (Garmin-Sharp), Sergio Henao (Sky), 2013 Giro d'Italia Young Rider winner Carlos Bentacur (AG2R La Mondiale), the current World Road Race champion Philippe Gilbert (BMC), the current World TT champion Tony Martin (OPQS) and multiple Classics winner Fabian Cancellara (Radioshack Leopard) to name but a few!

The route:
The Vuelta starts this Saturday, August 24th, and runs up until Sunday September 15th. There is a total of 21 stages, and the riders will cover a total distance of 3,358.9 kilometres. The race is made up of the following stages: 6 flat stages; 13 mountain stages (including 29 mountain passes and hills); 1 team time-trial stage (27 km); and 1 individual time-trial stage (28 km).




The Contenders:
All the teams have yet to announce their finalised line-ups, but check here for an up-to-date start list. The 2013 Giro d'Italia winner Vincenzo Nibali is the pre-race favourite, and after having won the Vuelta back in 2010, he is the man to beat. He skipped the Tour de France, so he's well rested after his grand tour win in Italy earlier in year. And Astana have named a very strong team for the race, with Brajkovic Fuglsang, Tiralongo, Grivko and Tanel Kangert and Iglinsky all ready to help Nibali. The only negative for Nibali is that he may be out of form, but having clocked up some miles in his legs from the recent Tour of Poland and Vuelta a Burgos, he will only get better as the race goes on.

Joaquim Rodriguez has managed to finish on the podium of his last 3 Grand Tours, but has never been on the top step. Maybe this will be his year? After finishing last year as the No. 1 ranked rider, Purito has had a slightly indifferent 2013. He has been very consistent, with podium finishes at the Tour de France, Liege-Bastogne-Liege and the Volta a Catalunya, but he only has 2 stage wins to his name (at the Tour of Oman and Tirreno-Adriatico). Importantly, Rodriguez has spent time this year in the wind tunnel improving his TT ability. That should really be beneficial to him in the Vuelta considering that there aren't as many overall GC contenders that are TT specialists in the race. Oh actually, maybe I should tell the story as to why he is called Purito ..... :pac:

Team Sky will have Sergio Henao as their team leader for the Vuelta. The 25 year old has had an impressive 2013, given the fact that he is rarely team leader, with mountain-top stage wins at the Volta ao Algarve and Vuelta al Pais Vasco, and a 2nd place finish in La Fleche Wallonne. Sky's strength in depth is really evident when you look at some of the domestiques that Henao will have at his disposal. He'll be helped out by the Giro runner-up Rigoberto Uran, and also by Vasil Kiryienka, Christian Knees, and Dario Cataldo; none of whom took part in the TdF this summer. Rigoberto Uran is probably a stronger GC rider than Henao, but he seems to be paying the price for deciding to leave Team Sky at the end of the season (for OPQS).

Alejandro Valverde has been Mr. Consistent this season with impressive finishes in the Classics (2nd in Amstel Gold and Classica San Sebastian, 3rd in L-B-L, and 7th in La Fleche Wallone), in stage races (7th overall in the Critérium du Dauphiné and 9th overall in the Tour de Romandie) and a solid 8th place in the TdF (despite losing a bucket load of time thanks to a mechanical and the cross-winds). Valverde has the full support of his Movistar team since Quintana hasn't entered the Vuelta, and with domestiques such as Eros Capecchi, Beñat Intxausti, and Sylwester Szmyd to call upon, he won't be too far off the top step of the podium.

The young Colombian Carlos Bentacur who rides for AG2R has had a fantastic 2013 so far, finishing 5th in the Giro, including 3 2nd place stage finishes, and eventually winning the Young Rider's competition after an epic duel with Majka. He also came 3rd, 4th and 7th in La Fleche Wallone, L-B-L and the Tour of the Basque Country respectively. Unfortunately, AG2R have chosen a relatively weakened team for the Vuelta compared to the TdF squad, and this will surely have an effect on Bentacur's overall GC chances. In saying that though, Bentacur will definitely feature in the mountains and has the ability to win a stage or two.

Team Saxo-Tinkoff are strong favourites to repeat their performance from the TdF, and win the team classification. They have Amstel Gold winner Roman Kreuziger, who also finished 5th in le Tour (and could have finished higher if he didn't have to work for Bertie), Also there is the Polish sensation Rafal Majka (7th in the Giro, and recently 4th in the Tour of Poland), and of course Nicolas Roche who audaciously said he was aiming for a Top-5 placing. Nico does perform well at the Vuelta, finishing 7th, 12th, 13th and 16th in his 4 attempts, but it's hard to see how he can finish even in the Top-10 this year considering he's not the sole team leader. He has lost some weight coming into the race, so it'll be very interesting to see what effect this has. The Saxo squad also contains Chris Anker Sørensen, Nicki Sørensen, Michael Mørkøv, Matteo Tosatto, Evgeny Petrov, and Oliver Zaugg.

Betting Odds: V Nibali 9/4; J Rodriguez 5/2; A Valverde 4/1; S Henao 11/1; S Sanchez 14/1; C Bentacur 14/1.
D Martin is 40/1 and N Roche is 80/1.

Live TV coverage and highlights on Eurosport, and daily highlights on ITV4.

Finally, for a bit of craic, don't forget to enter the Velogames fantasy cycling game. Darkglasses has set up a Boards league, check out this thread.

catweazle

What do ye think of Betancurs chances for a podium, he fought hard for me in the Giro for a top 5 finish. Will the Giro lads have a natural advantage over the Tour competitiors with the greater recovery

I am surprised Uran is not leading the Sky challenge as he was far stronger than Henao in the Giro, perhaps a pointer to who they reckon might stay with sky next year

Darkglasses

catweazle wrote: »

What do ye think of Betancurs chances for a podium, he fought hard for me in the Giro for a top 5 finish. Will the Giro lads have a natural advantage over the Tour competitiors with the greater recovery

Betancur's definitely got the talent, he's as good a climber as anybody and this is a good parcours for him, and not the strongest field. However, I just don't think he has the team to deliver him to a win. He's also going to lose a shed-load of time in that long ITT. It does take in a Cat 3 climb, but he's struggled badly in longer TTs as opposed to shorter ones in the past.

Top 5 but not a winner for me.

Darkglasses

It's also no help to Betancur that Ag2r haven't sent Kadri and Gadret, they would be very useful to him.

catweazle

Is he the acknowledged team leader this time, I think himself and little pozzi were joint leaders in the giro

AnotherView

I reckon J-Rod will win this ....(unless of course I have just given him the kiss of death)

Expect also a stage win from Dan and a very good showing from Nico

Darkglasses

catweazle wrote: »

Is he the acknowledged team leader this time, I think himself and little pozzi were joint leaders in the giro

It's him and Pozzovivo again.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/betancur-and-pozzovivo-lead-ag2r-la-mondiale-at-the-vuelta-a-espana

Rovi

Anyone know if there's an Official Programme available in the shops for this, similar to the Tour one for the last few years and the Giro for the first time this year?

Dcully

Really looking forward to this.

Reginald P. DuM

Off we go again, another 3 blissful weeks of cycling madness.. 11 hilltop finish lines, easy to see how none of the big sprinters are getting involved... Looking forward to the daily threads from OP, the dubious tipping from Darkglasses and the sight of Nibali breaking them all in the final week to claim his Giro/Vuelta double.. Vamos!

bazermc

Anybody know who is doing the commentary for Eurosport.

Is David Harmon back or will we have Kirby again??

AnotherView

bazermc wrote: »

Anybody know who is doing the commentary for Eurosport.

Is David Harmon back or will we have Kirby again??

Its Mr Kirby :eek: and Brian Smith

Reginald P. DuM

That means no SK.... Disappointing

Dcully

Aww was hoping for SK

Hard see past Nibali,Valverde,Rodriguez,Kreuziger for GC.
Elsewhere Uran will be chomping at the bit in the mountains i feel after his fine showing in the Giro and not running with sky in tdf.

bazermc

Reginald P. DuM wrote: »

That means no SK.... Disappointing

Well he will be in Waterford on Sunday

Glass Prison 1214

With Paddy Power Kreuziger is 50/1 and Mollema is 80/1. I reckon there's a bit of value there for betting each way.

AnotherView

Glass Prison 1214 wrote: »

With Paddy Power Kreuziger is 50/1 and Mollema is 80/1. I reckon there's a bit of value there for betting each way.

Ok bet for top 5 but I don't think either will win

I think a stage win for Dan the man is a good bet ...bet odds are low though

Also a good GC placing for el Nico is a good bet ...probably better odds

Sanchez and Nieve are also good bets, as is Brajovic for top 10

AnotherView

Good news

Sean Kelly will be in the commentary box from Monday onwards

themandan6611

reckon Dan will be top 6

dastardly00

Nico's first diary entry:
http://www.independent.ie/sport/other-sports/nicolas-roche-id-be-disappointed-if-i-didnt-finish-in-the-top-10-or-better-29524647.html

And Dan's diary will be in the Times from Monday onwards.

manafana

for mad irish fans boyles offering 6/1 both roche and martin come top 10 not for me mind.

Arroyo is my dark horse to win the vuelta

Will their be a stage 1 thread?

Reginald P. DuM

I agree I think both Roche and Dan will struggle to hit top 10, 6's very skinny, or stingy more like.. A stage win for Dan is very likely however. Best of luck to both.

dastardly00

manafana wrote: »

Will their be a stage 1 thread?

It's here

manafana

dastardly00 wrote: »

It's here

merci

dastardly00

Saxo-Tinkoff are doing backstage videos for the Vuelta on their Youtube channel. Similar idea to Orica-GreenEdge, but probably not as much craic!

Itziger

If I were a betting man and had a good few bob (and knew how Betfair worked!), I'd lay Roche all day long. Can't see him coming in Top 6 or 8. Might just about squeeze into Top 10. What's each way for this, top 3?

catweazle

Itziger wrote: »

If I were a betting man and had a good few bob (and knew how Betfair worked!), I'd lay Roche all day long. Can't see him coming in Top 6 or 8. Might just about squeeze into Top 10. What's each way for this, top 3?

I would agree with you , I would be very doubtful he would make top 10 either. Theres an awful lot of strong climbers in this race

catweazle

Is there time bonuses for this race?

AnotherView

Well I think you will be surprised by Nico

And 6/1 is not a bad bet for both Irish in top 10......however I think Martin will not do top 10 as he is saving himself (wisely IMO) for Worlds and Lombardia (and he is not the most robust rider)

There are good climbers in the Vuelta true but a lot are not 'match fit' and others may have had a long season already so its more open that you'd expect

Itziger

Good question on the time bonuses, don't know tbh. Important as there's only one Individual TT. On Betfair Roche is 5/1 to finish in top 6. Poor value. His only chance would be for Kreuziger to have a major early problem and the team to back him to the hilt.

Darkglasses

catweazle wrote: »

Is there time bonuses for this race?

Yes, for all finishes. 20, 12, and 6 seconds for the top 3.

AnotherView

There are time bonuses

Itziger

Glass Prison 1214 wrote: »

With Paddy Power Kreuziger is 50/1 and Mollema is 80/1. I reckon there's a bit of value there for betting each way.

Kreuziger at 50 is worth 2 yo-yos. Thing is, they price it up like a horse race. Like, there are lads at 500/1 who would need 140 riders to fall off the side of a mountain to have any chance.

pelevin

From a quick look at Ladbrokes the most enticing bets there seem on the KOM front, generally featuring the GC contenders but much more generous comparative odds.

http://sports.ladbrokes.com/en-gb/Cycling-c110000020#

Admit never to have heard of second fav, Amets Txurruka . . . wondering is it likely to be like the Tour with the odds stacked in favour of a top GC rider mopping up enough points to beat the guys who end purely focused on the KOM?

catweazle

Darkglasses wrote: »

Yes, for all finishes. 20, 12, and 6 seconds for the top 3.

Ok Betancur it is for me so, either a top 3 or 6 whichever I can better odds on betfair. I remember him him being very strong on the mountain sprint finishes in the Giro

manafana

pelevin wrote: »

From a quick look at Ladbrokes the most enticing bets there seem on the KOM front, generally featuring the GC contenders but much more generous comparative odds.

http://sports.ladbrokes.com/en-gb/Cycling-c110000020#

Admit never to have heard of second fav, Amets Txurruka . . . wondering is it likely to be like the Tour with the odds stacked in favour of a top GC rider mopping up enough points to beat the guys who end purely focused on the KOM?

Txurruka is very in the mold of a Moncoutie, very strong on his day, rides for spains 3rd team which gave him a bit of chip on his shoulder

dastardly00

pelevin wrote: »

From a quick look at Ladbrokes the most enticing bets there seem on the KOM front, generally featuring the GC contenders but much more generous comparative odds.

http://sports.ladbrokes.com/en-gb/Cycling-c110000020#

Admit never to have heard of second fav, Amets Txurruka . . . wondering is it likely to be like the Tour with the odds stacked in favour of a top GC rider mopping up enough points to beat the guys who end purely focused on the KOM?

Txurruka has had an impressive season so far. Can't remember exactly but I think it was the Tour of the Basque Country in which he was pretty much in the break every day and won the KOM.

gordongekko

Darkglasses wrote: »

Yes, for all finishes. 20, 12, and 6 seconds for the top 3.

is it not 10, 6 and 4

Darkglasses

gordongekko wrote: »

is it not 10, 6 and 4

I'm unsure, I had read in places like GCN and cyclingnews in the run-up to the Vuelta that it was 20, 12 and 6. Then Brian Smith said in the commentary today that it was 10, 6 and 4 like you said. Neither is infallible, but I guess if the commentators are still saying it's 10, 6 and 4 tomorrow then that's correct.

gordongekko

Darkglasses wrote: »

I'm unsure, I had read in places like GCN and cyclingnews in the run-up to the Vuelta that it was 20, 12 and 6. Then Brian Smith said in the commentary today that it was 10, 6 and 4 like you said. Neither is infallible, but I guess if the commentators are still saying it's 10, 6 and 4 tomorrow then that's correct.

I was watching highlights on itv4 and im pretty sure that's what they said.

Darkglasses

Velonews report that it's 20, 12 and 6 here : http://velonews.competitor.com/2013/08/vuelta-a-espana/course-preview-the-2013-vuelta-is-one-for-the-climbers_299876

Inrng report that it's 10, 6 and 4 here: http://inrng.com/2013/08/vuelta-jerseys/

Clear as mud as usual.

pelevin

Put a fiver at 10/1 on Betancur yday for KOM. Disastrous opening TTT good news maybe on that front! Though to add while a traditional part of the sport I find it very unfair GC riders on smaller teams like AG2R virtually guaranteed to lose time, & maybe plenty of it, to the bigger teams in that way. It more or less says to win Grand Tour, you've got to join the big money teams.

AnotherView

Dan Martin lost a lot of time yesterday also...But I do not see it as any great loss because it can take pressure off for GC and he can ride for stage wins in last week and be at top form for Worlds.....(I worry about his health and 3 week grand tours)

Astana look mighty...not just Niabali but Brajkovic, Fulsang, Grivko, Kangart, etc...such a strong team

mahoo

Good interview with Dan on velonation talking about his prospects. Maybe hold the bets on him for the first week! Worlds very much his focus

http://www.velonation.com/News/ID/15322/Dan-Martin-Interview-My-ambition-is-to-be-world-champion-Im-not-going-to-stress-about-GC.aspx

Brian?

Sean Kelly back to do co commentary tomorrow. Lovely.

manafana

pelevin wrote: »

Put a fiver at 10/1 on Betancur yday for KOM. Disastrous opening TTT good news maybe on that front! Though to add while a traditional part of the sport I find it very unfair GC riders on smaller teams like AG2R virtually guaranteed to lose time, & maybe plenty of it, to the bigger teams in that way. It more or less says to win Grand Tour, you've got to join the big money teams.

he reported as saying he didnt want race here, likely he does little till final week

pelevin

manafana wrote: »

he reported as saying he didnt want race here, likely he does little till final week

I know, heard that bit of news here too late for me poor fiver.

Rovi

Perhaps everyone else has long since seen this, but I've just noticed that the Vuelta route book is available to download:
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BzDEK1vYnwstZ3hNYTNfOFhsTVU

It's very beautiful and has loads of lovely maps and graphics and all, but it's almost entirely in Spanish, of course.
Anyone know if an English language version exists anywhere?

at1withmyself

For any UPC customers the Vuelta has been accessible the past few evenings for the highlights. My guide is still saying program not available but picture & sound working perfectly. Better picture then watching online although its just the highlights.

dastardly00

at1withmyself wrote: »

For any UPC customers the Vuelta has been accessible the past few evenings for the highlights. My guide is still saying program not available but picture & sound working perfectly. Better picture then watching online although its just the highlights.

Eurosport or ITV4?

at1withmyself

dastardly00 wrote: »

Eurosport or ITV4?

Sorry - ITV 4