2016 Vuelta a España General thread

neris

So the Tour is barely over and before GT withdrawl symptoms kick in thought I,d get started on the next big race which cant be any more boring then the last 3 weeks. Teams have been announced but no riders yet. Rumours that Froome, Contandor and Quintana will take part and also Nico Roche for a bit of Irish interest. The race is mainly taking part in the Northern parts around Galicia and the Basque country with a few stages on the east coast and the finish in Madrid.

Running from Saturday August 20th to Sunday September 11th 2016, the Vuelta will be made up of 21 stages and will cover a total distance of 3,277.3 kilometres (before ratification).

7 flat stages (2 with high-altitude finales)
12 hill and mountain stages
1 individual time trial stage
1 team time trial stage
Distinctive aspects of the race

29,4 km individual time trial
39 km team time trial
51 summits
2 rest days

Teams chosen to participate in the 2016 Vuelta a España

Ag2r La Mondiale (FRA)
Astana Pro Team (KAZ)
BMC Racing Team
Cannondale Pro Cycling Team
Etixx - Quick Step
FDJ
IAM Cycling
Lampre – Merida
Lotto – Soudal
Movistar Team
Orica GreenEDGE
Team Dimension Data
Team Giant – Alpecin
Team Katusha
Team LottoNL – Jumbo
Team Sky
Tinkoff
Trek – Segafredo
Caja Rural – Seguros
Bora – Argon 18
Cofidis, Solutions Credits

omri

Any of the time trials is uphill ?

irishrover99

Whoo. Looking at the map/route you would think the organizers had an issue with the deep south of Spain. They really are sticking to the Northern regions this year.

neris

irishrover99 wrote: »

Whoo. Looking at the map/route you would think the organizers had an issue with the deep south of Spain. They really are sticking to the Northern regions this year.

last few years were in the south, was a fair bit in andalucia last year

dastardly00

omri wrote: »

Any of the time trials is uphill ?

Nope.

Stage 1 TTT:



Stage 19 ITT:

Pudsy33

Very excited, I think both Irish lads can go very well here

happytramp

Pudsy33 wrote: »

Very excited, I think both Irish lads can go very well here

Is Martin doing the vuelta?

pelevin

happytramp wrote: »

Is Martin doing the vuelta?

I'd not have thought so. I'd have guessed his priorities for the rest of the season would/should be the Olympics road race and Lombardia, with the other classics or semi-classics like San Sebastian & the Italian ones leading into Lombardia an interest also.

Pudsy33

I'd expect so, considering he hasn't raced much to this point.

Edit: Good points above, forgotten about the Olympics. I hope he does the Vuelta though

pelevin

Though with Dan's constitution a bit fragile compared to others in 3 week racing, might be considered pushing things him lining up for the Vuelta after his Tour presumably pushed his reserves very deep.

http://www.paddypower.com/bet/cycling/vuelta-a-espana?ev_oc_grp_ids=52381

Contador third favourite behind the 2 likely lads at 4/1 seems generous. Kruijswijk 22/1 after his Giro could be a but more of a contender than those odds suggest. Nico Roche is 400/1! Any e/w backers?

happytramp

pelevin wrote: »

Though with Dan's constitution a bit fragile compared to others in 3 week racing, might be considered pushing things him lining up for the Vuelta after his Tour presumably pushed his reserves very deep.

http://www.paddypower.com/bet/cycling/vuelta-a-espana?ev_oc_grp_ids=52381

Contador third favourite behind the 2 likely lads at 4/1 seems generous. Kruijswijk 22/1 after his Giro could be a but more of a contender than those odds suggest. Nico Roche is 400/1! Any e/w backers?

I'd take Contador at that... I'd have thought that he's the clear favrouite by a mile.

pelevin

What I'd have thought too.

happytramp

It's strange that it looks like we may never see a 100% Contador go head to head with a 100% Froome in a GT.

godtabh

based on this I think Roche isnt even in consideration other than a dom

http://www.skysports.com/cycling/news/15264/10512941/chris-froome-set-to-race-vuelta-a-espana-says-sir-dave-brailsford

neris

Orica are putting Chaves and Simon Yates in

dastardly00

Random stat I just read...
Only two riders have won both the Tour and Vuelta in the same year: Jacques Anquetil in 1963 and Bernard Hinault in 1978. Back then the Vuelta was held in late spring, before the TdF.

neris

Weepsie wrote: »

You'd think Yates will be well up for this due to his ban and seeing his brother do brilliantly at the TdF

he,d a win in some one day race there over the weekend but dont know what the field was like.

neris

No Purito for the Vuelta

http://velonews.competitor.com/2016/08/news/rodriguez-bids-spain-farewell-in-surprise-announcement_416665

Lusk_Doyle

TVG to lead BMC again!?!

Wtf is with these guys and their faith in him?

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/phinney-excited-by-prospect-of-racing-vuelta-a-espana-with-van-garderen/

SwissToni

Best Grand Tour of the year always more exciting than the TDF.

MPFGLB

Lusk_Doyle wrote: »

TVG to lead BMC again!?!

Wtf is with these guys and their faith in him?

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/phinney-excited-by-prospect-of-racing-vuelta-a-espana-with-van-garderen/

Not only that but Roche will be riding for him next year...I guess its beause the team target the US market and he is the best US GC man at the mo (I think)

MPFGLB

SwissToni wrote: »

Best Grand Tour of the year always more exciting than the TDF.

Nealry every race this year was more exciting that the Tour

dastardly00

Regarding TVG, maybe if he is 'shown up' in the Vuelta and performs poorly, his ranking within the team may fall. It could be beneficial for Nico in terms of his chances of leading the team (behind Porte). Not that I wish any rider to have a poor performance!

Lusk_Doyle

MPFGLB wrote: »

Not only that but Roche will be riding for him next year...I guess its beause the team target the US market and he is the best US GC man at the mo (I think)

Yea I get the reason why for marketing but how far can a dead horse be flogged?

GetWithIt

Lusk_Doyle wrote: »

Yea I get the reason why for marketing but how far can a dead horse be flogged?

2 words.

Tyler
Farrar

Lusk_Doyle

GetWithIt wrote: »

2 words.

Tyler
Farrar

Has a great sprint. Like Heinrich Haussler. For the last 5 years. Still never gets a result oddly enough!

Steve SilverMint

SwissToni wrote: »

Best Grand Tour of the year always more exciting than the TDF.

Agreed it's been a fantastic tour the past few years.

CrowdedHouse

Roche out due to illness

godtabh

CrowdedHouse wrote: »

Roche out due to illness

where did you see that?

CrowdedHouse

godtabh wrote: »

where did you see that?

http://www.stickybottle.com/latest-news/team-sky-announce-nicolas-roche-forced-out-of-vuelta-a-espana/

godtabh

Just saw it here as well

http://www.teamsky.com/teamsky/home/article/88280#1D44KhKwGCX7UY0q.97

Hager

I wonder would the diagnosis have been the same if he wasn't leaving at the end of the season.

68 lost souls

Devastated for Roche, Vuelta was lining up to be his A race this year and unfortunate to get stricken down in Rio. Had to happen someone out there sad it's our Nico

Is Froome in or out for this? Wasn't expecting him to ride but they weren't ruling him out last I saw

dastardly00

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Is Froome in or out for this? Wasn't expecting him to ride but they weren't ruling him out last I saw

He is planning on taking part.

godtabh

dastardly00 wrote: »

He is planning on taking part.

Taking part maybe competing maybe not

pelevin

Having raced the Olympics as well, I now don't expect Froome to be really up there. Would guess he'd have needed that downtime to be competitive.

terrydel

Air con is a curse on humanity.
I've always thought that the damage it does is untold.

MPFGLB

Very bad luck for Roche Based his season around this race and was going very well Had 2 mechanicals in Rio and finished ok especially with one mechani cal where almost a minute behind peloton. Its esp unfortunate if you look at the parcours and the field No valverde purito pinot quintana Most Sky tired or injured inc Froome Landa Henao Poels not riding Only really Contador Chavez Talansjy TJVG Gesink Mal. Such a missed opportunity for Nico best opportunity in a long time

godtabh

His last tweet of him arriving in Madrid Airport and he looked grand. All smiles with his saxo mechanic (and some one else)

Brian?

I'm remortgagin my house and sticking it on Contador to be honest. Barring a crash, who's going to challenge him?

Teejay? Chavez? A knackered Froome?

godtabh

Brian? wrote: »

I'm remortgagin my house and sticking it on Contador to be honest. Barring a crash, who's going to challenge him?

Teejay? Chavez? A knackered Froome?

If I was to pick from that 3 to challenge Froome I'd go with Chavez. I think Orica have come a long way in 12 months as a GC team

MPFGLB

godtabh wrote: »

His last tweet of him arriving in Madrid Airport and he looked grand. All smiles with his saxo mechanic (and some one else)

Sickness comes on very quickly especially if very thin

RobFowl

Hager wrote: »

I wonder would the diagnosis have been the same if he wasn't leaving at the end of the season.

Note withdrew after speaking to Sky medical staff, not being seen or examined by same.
A case of severe BMCitis I fear.

Lusk_Doyle

RobFowl wrote: »

Note withdrew after speaking to Sky medical staff, not being seen or examined by same.
A case of severe BMCitis I fear.

Nothing a strict diet of holey cheese and toblerones won't fix.

MPFGLB

RobFowl wrote: »

Note withdrew after speaking to Sky medical staff, not being seen or examined by same.
A case of severe BMCitis I fear.

Its a bloody shame Still prefer he is going to BMC even if no Vuelta is the cost as I think it is indeed

godtabh

MPFGLB wrote: »

Sickness comes on very quickly especially if very thin

I wouldnt have thought so if you are blaming the air con in Rio.

Hager

My impression of Brailsford is that he takes the attitude of if you're not 100% with me then you're against me. As soon as he knew that Nico would not be re-signing he cut him adrift.
Even before he left for Rio Nico said that he didn't know if he would be a riding the Vuelta but looking back with the benefit of hindsight the writing was on the wall as early as his non selection for the Tour.

godtabh

Hager wrote: »

My impression of Brailsford is that he takes the attitude of if you're not 100% with me then you're against me. As soon as he knew that Nico would not be re-signing he cut him adrift.
Even before he left for Rio Nico said that he didn't know if he would be a riding the Vuelta but looking back with the benefit of hindsight the writing was on the wall as early as his non selection for the Tour.

I would agree with that assessment.

C3PO

pelevin wrote: »

Having raced the Olympics as well, I now don't expect Froome to be really up there. Would guess he'd have needed that downtime to be competitive.

Don't understand why Froome would even start the Vuelta if he's not going to be competitive - what's to be gained?

Burial.

Brian? wrote: »

I'm remortgagin my house and sticking it on Contador to be honest. Barring a crash, who's going to challenge him?

Teejay? Chavez? A knackered Froome?

Miguel Angel Lopez! I got him e/w at 33/1 a while back.