La Vuelta a España - Stage 3 - Mijas/Málaga *SPOILERS*

Melodeon

Type: High Mountain/Sprint
Distance: 158.4Km
Start/Finish: Mijas/Málaga

Stage map:


Profile:


Main Climb - Puerto del León - Category 1:


Veloviewer of Puerto del León (Experimental, may not be actual climb! )


Finale:


The General Classification after Stage 2:


Preview (© cyclingnews.com):

A first opportunity for the sprinters

With no fewer than nine summit finishes on the menu and a number of other significant days in the mountains besides, there isn’t a lot for the sprinters to pick over during these three weeks. Consequently, the peloton’s speedsters won’t want to pass up on this opportunity for some elbows-out action.

The bulk of today’s climbing comes early on but there’s a tricky ascent into the old city of Málaga half a dozen kilometres from home that will add a touch of uncertainty. This will offer a chance for a last-minute escape attempt but comes far enough out for the sprinters’ teams to organise themselves and chase it down before the mad dash for the line.

LIVE TV:
Eurosport 2 - 3.00pm

HIGHLIGHTS:
ITV4 - 7:00pm
TG4 - 7:45pm
British Eurosport - 8:00pm

GetWithIt

Nico wears the combined jersey today - though is actually third in that category.

Definitely the best worst jersey in the peleton.

godtabh

Nibs for the win. Probably cover it in less than 2 hours. Sprinters wont have a chance.

MPFGLB

Nibali reminded me of Speedy Gonzalas in the vdeo...one minute he is there , the next he is gone. Te riders behind him must not have believed their eyes You have to take a double look to believe it

Beasty

My vote is cast - perhaps a little more in hope than expectation ....

GetWithIt

The group with him seemed to stall just as he grabbed a lift. If they'd maintained their pace it may not have looked so bad and he might even have got away with it.

Pudsy33

Peter Sagan

GetWithIt wrote: »

The group with him seemed to stall just as he grabbed a lift. If they'd maintained their pace it may not have looked so bad and he might even have got away with it.

They stalled because they where in disbelief as to what was happening I'd say.

neris

there must be a boardsie down on the costa who can get along the route and grab a few photos

dastardly00

Peter Sagan

Paolo Tiralongo has abandoned the race.

Melodeon

Caleb Ewan

I've added a Veloviewer image of the main climb today to the OP.
I'm not entirely certain I've gotten the correct mountain though, so treat it with some caution

godtabh

dastardly00 wrote: »

Paolo Tiralongo has abandoned the race.

Dont know why he started today. The pain must be unreal and once he begins sweating it would be a lot worse

Daroxtar

Melodeon wrote: »

I've added a Veloviewer image of the main climb today to the OP.
I'm not entirely certain I've gotten the correct mountain though, so treat it with some caution

They have the list of climbs here http://veloviewer.com/climbs

MPFGLB

If Dumoulin wins today (or is in top 3) he could wear Red ...Must be a major incentive for a young rider like him

vistafinder

GetWithIt wrote: »

The group with him seemed to stall just as he grabbed a lift. If they'd maintained their pace it may not have looked so bad and he might even have got away with it.

Ahh in fairness they looked like they were having trouble holding his wheel as it was what else was going to happen when the plonker grabbed onto the car.

retalivity

Peter Sagan

Currently in Valencia...it is scorching, 34 degrees and that's a few hrs north of today's stage. Heat could be a factor today.

Off to find a bar to try and watch the stage...

MPFGLB

retalivity wrote: »

Currently in Valencia...it is scorching, 34 degrees and that's a few hrs north of today's stage. Heat could be a factor today.

Off to find a bar to try and watch the stage...

Soem people have a terrible life :rolleyes:

Lashing down here in London all day...not just a shower

pelevin

retalivity wrote: »

Currently in Valencia...it is scorching, 34 degrees and that's a few hrs north of today's stage. Heat could be a factor today.

Off to find a bar to try and watch the stage...

Valencia Spain or Valencia Kerry?

68 lost souls

Caleb Ewan

Reckon a lot of the time in the gap will be made up if the intermediate sprint is contested well.

pelevin

Only saw the clip of the incident which got Nibali dq'd. Seems very little focus around on what happened in the peloton after what was a major & very serious crash. From what I saw mentioned seems that Sky & then Movistar & Katusha pushed on hard straight after the crash. Is that how it was?

retalivity

Peter Sagan

pelevin wrote: »

Valencia Spain or Valencia Kerry?

No 'T' in the one where I am!

lennymc

pelevin wrote: »

Only saw the clip of the incident which got Nibali dq'd. Seems very little focus around on what happened in the peloton after what was a major & very serious crash. From what I saw mentioned seems that Sky & then Movistar & Katusha pushed on hard straight after the crash. Is that how it was?

it looked like they were pushing on, there was the crash, and they just kept pushing on. Some people have suggested it was karma for when Nibali pushed on in the tour when someone else was in trouble.

pelevin

lennymc wrote: »

it looked like they were pushing on, there was the crash, and they just kept pushing on. Some people have suggested it was karma for when Nibali pushed on in the tour when someone else was in trouble.

It's an easy thing to talk about karma though but in terms of parallels im o the incidents are worlds apart in scale. A very minor mechanical incident & a guy of no gc importance over 8 minutes down - Nibali - attacked, uncoincidentally or not, & where Sky made no effort to chase him at all afterwards. Here otoh was a crash involving lots of riders, with serious injuries for some. The etiquette I thought after such an incident is to really ease up for a while. Nibali was 'just' one of those many riders but sounds like, considering teams seemingly came to the front like Movistar & Katusha to drive things on after the crash, it was a conscious effort to take advantage of the misfortune.

Otoh on the tit-for-tat karma scale, I actually agree with Tinkov in terms of for example seeing it as payback for Astana policy, coming from the team directors, to en masse attack Contador after his mechanical in the Giro. That was much more something to get excited about than the TdF incident.

MPFGLB

Kelly in good formthis afternoon

"He was one of the good guys....not all commentators are Carlton"

Darkglasses

Danny van Poppel

Today's stage was my first snooze of the season. Not great countryside really.

Eamonnator

Today is my first day listening to Kirby, Jaysus, he does go on.

"battered not fried"

neris

jaysus is it really that hard for carlton to know what division the football team are in. they were the only match in la liga on friday night

godtabh

sagan. Fair play

neris

yay sagan finally won a stage in a tour

Eamonnator

Deadly

xxyyzz

Bouhanni seems to fall down an awful lot.

pelevin

neris wrote: »

jaysus is it really that hard for carlton to know what division the football team are in. they were the only match in la liga on friday night

I think anyone who knows f all about the great mass-mind-controlling cesspit of pro football deserves to be congratulated rather than criticised!

pelevin

MPFGLB wrote: »

Kelly in good formthis afternoon

"He was one of the good guys....not all commentators are Carlton"

Who was he talking about?

Eamonnator

pelevin wrote: »

Who was he talking about?

An East German commentator, who retired to Spain.

neris

cancellara gone

isitraining

Peter Sagan

Fabian Cancellara out, again. Bad year for him.

neris

youve got to love sagans interviews

pelevin

Eamonnator wrote: »

An East German commentator, who retired to Spain.

Well, whoever he was or is, one of the good guys anyway!

lissard

Peter Sagan

Lots of DNFs today (25), seems pretty high for just stage 3. Guess yesterday's crash left a lot of riders in poor shape.

Eamonnator

lissard wrote: »

Lots of DNFs today (25), seems pretty high for just stage 3. Guess yesterday's crash left a lot of riders in poor shape.

Where did you get that figure?

Procycling has 1 DNS and 2 DNFs for today"s stage

http://www.procyclingstats.com/race/Vuelta_a_Espana_2015_Stage3

lissard

Peter Sagan

Eamonnator wrote: »

Where did you get that figure?

Procycling has 1 DNS and 2 DNFs for today"s stage

http://www.procyclingstats.com/race/Vuelta_a_Espana_2015_Stage3

Cycling news tour tracker. Might come with a health warning an hour after the stage finish.

lissard

Peter Sagan

lissard wrote: »

Cycling news tour tracker. Might come with a health warning an hour after the stage finish.

You're right it was completely wrong. Only a small number of DNFs contrary to my earlier post.

neris

Itv highlights showing bouhani getting a tow off the team car but only a hundred swiss franc fine

Pudsy33

Peter Sagan

neris wrote: »

Itv highlights showing bouhani getting a tow off the team car but only a hundred swiss franc fine

Ok but there is blatantly a difference. One got a tow after he had crashed and was behind the peloton getting water. He gained no advantage.

The other used his car to break away from the group that he was with.