Vuelta 2017 - lucky last ?

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MichaelB
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Vuelta 2017 - lucky last ?

Postby MichaelB » Fri Aug 04, 2017 10:41 am

Well, after a cracking Giro (brought back some great memories from my time there last year :mrgreen: ), and a topsy turvy TdF, it's soon time for dry landscapes, hard to pronounce names and dry racing up some brilliant climbs.

The route has some crackers in it, opening with a short 13.8km TTT, and the follows up quickly with some significant climbs as early as Stage 3, steep MTF typ finish on Stage 5 (~300m ascent in 3km), cat 1 climb near the end of Stage 8 with pinches approaching 20%, Stage 11 with 2 x Cat 1 climbs in the last 45km, Stage 14 & 15 have big climbs & heat, lots more mountains and a 42km ITT, and then the Stage 20 jewel, the climb of Alto de L'Angrilu.

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SBS is meant to be broadcasting live too, so triple bonus.

Bring out the Jamon !!!

Orica will have an interesting team, with the plan to have both Yates's as well as Chaves. - Could it be the 1st GT win ?

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Re: Vuelta 2017 - lucky last ?

Postby vosadrian » Fri Aug 04, 2017 1:15 pm

Looking forward to it. For me the GC in the TDF was disappointing but I enjoyed the race for green. Giro was great this year... hopefully something similar for Vuelta! Good to see that Orica seem to be going all in for it.

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MichaelB
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Re: Vuelta 2017 - lucky last ?

Postby MichaelB » Fri Aug 04, 2017 1:22 pm

Wondering what team Sky will end up sending to support Froome ?

Surely Landa can't be going after having done the Giro & Tour ?

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MichaelB
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Re: Vuelta 2017 - lucky last ?

Postby MichaelB » Fri Aug 04, 2017 1:35 pm

Just und the apparent numbers for the climb at the end of Stage 5 - a Cat 3 3.4 kms (AT) 9.75% :shock:
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Last edited by MichaelB on Tue Aug 22, 2017 8:51 am, edited 1 time in total.

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MichaelB
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Re: Vuelta 2017 - lucky last ?

Postby MichaelB » Fri Aug 04, 2017 1:35 pm

Just und the apparent numbers for the climb at the end of Stage 5 - a Cat 3 3.4 kms (AT) 9.75% :shock:
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Re: Vuelta 2017 - lucky last ?

Postby tomness » Fri Aug 04, 2017 2:01 pm

I am looking forward to stage 15, as I rode the same mountain climbs last year. The Alto de Hazallanas is pretty brutal when it ramps up. It would be an excellent spot for a long range attack.

The Alto Hoya de la Mora is a more steady climb, which I quite enjoyed, It is a shame that they aren't going higher up the mountain as it goes up to 3400m. I understand why they are stopping at 2500 as there is a carpark here for all the support & TV crews to set up. The road that goes to the top from here is pretty narrow, and at the top it is very degraded.

I hope it is a cracker.

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Re: Vuelta 2017 - lucky last ?

Postby rodneycc » Fri Aug 04, 2017 2:15 pm

Might be the first one of these I've ever watched live on TV. Looking forward to it.
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Re: Vuelta 2017 - lucky last ?

Postby Thoglette » Fri Aug 04, 2017 4:08 pm

tomness wrote:The Alto Hoya de la Mora is a more steady climb, which I quite enjoyed, It is a shame that they aren't going higher up the mountain as it goes up to 3400m. I understand why they are stopping at 2500 as there is a carpark here for all the support & TV crews to set up. The road that goes to the top from here is pretty narrow, and at the top it is very degraded.
It's a case of "being killed by your own success". It's not just the ever growing TV and team footprint but also the increased number of fans (especially the fan-wits) who'd need to be managed up there. No longer just a handful of people...
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Re: Vuelta 2017 - lucky last ?

Postby biker jk » Fri Aug 04, 2017 9:15 pm

Adam Hansen has not been selected by Lotto-Soudal bringing his record breaking run of 18-consecutive GTs to and end. :cry:

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Re: Vuelta 2017 - lucky last ?

Postby DavidS » Fri Aug 04, 2017 10:33 pm

Very much looking forward to the Vuelta and hoping for some good racing. Long range attacks just don't seem possible in the Tour for GC contenders any more, here's hoping.

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Re: Vuelta 2017 - lucky last ?

Postby biker jk » Tue Aug 08, 2017 8:27 am

biker jk wrote:Adam Hansen has not been selected by Lotto-Soudal bringing his record breaking run of 18-consecutive GTs to and end. :cry:
Amazing. Hansen is doing the Vuelta after all following injury to Valls.

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Re: Vuelta 2017 - lucky last ?

Postby Sharkey » Tue Aug 08, 2017 8:30 am

Alberto Contador has announced he will retire after the Vuelta. Could it be lucky last for him?

End Of An Era: Alberto Contador To Retire After 2017 La Vuelta

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Re: Vuelta 2017 - lucky last ?

Postby march83 » Tue Aug 08, 2017 10:49 am

biker jk wrote:
biker jk wrote:Adam Hansen has not been selected by Lotto-Soudal bringing his record breaking run of 18-consecutive GTs to and end. :cry:
Amazing. Hansen is doing the Vuelta after all following injury to Valls.
Not the way you like to see it happen as Valls has had a pretty unlucky run of outs, but glad to see he's back in there getting his chance to continue the streak. Maybe not being selected originally will light a fire under him and he can chase a stage win (assuming he's given some freedom).

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Re: Vuelta 2017 - lucky last ?

Postby ldrcycles » Tue Aug 08, 2017 11:44 am

When i read the comment about whether Landa would be at the Vuelta my first thought was if Hansen's streak was still going, it's an incredible achievement to get this far.
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Re: Vuelta 2017 - lucky last ?

Postby madmacca » Thu Aug 10, 2017 6:10 pm

Personally, I think each of the Grand Tours should be giving Hansen the combative rider award to wear on the prologue, just for that amazing streak.

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Re: Vuelta 2017 - lucky last ?

Postby find_bruce » Sun Aug 20, 2017 3:35 pm

No real surprise at BMC & Quick-step battling it out for the TTT win, but how good a season are Sunweb having. Nibali (31s) Aru (41s) & Bardet (45s) must be disappointed to lose that much time to Froome.

I laughed when I read Velonews count TJVG as a contender - seriously even TJ's mum doesn't think he can win.

Do I stir Chuck & refer to contador as the token Spanish hope ? :D

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Re: Vuelta 2017 - lucky last ?

Postby MichaelB » Sun Aug 20, 2017 5:42 pm

Nice to see Rohan at the front. How long can he keep it ?

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Re: Vuelta 2017 - lucky last ?

Postby MichaelB » Mon Aug 21, 2017 8:34 am

MichaelB wrote:Nice to see Rohan at the front. How long can he keep it ?
Not long at all it seems. Oh well, still has one for his collection now !!

Stage 3 will be interesting with a parcours like this !! Will someone make a solid breakaway and stay away ?

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Re: Vuelta 2017 - lucky last ?

Postby MichaelB » Tue Aug 22, 2017 8:39 am

I haven't yet watched the stage finish (saw part of it on Foxtel last night) and already, some of the GC guys have lost considerable time.

Won't put any spoilers yet, but liking the results so far !!

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Re: Vuelta 2017 - lucky last ?

Postby find_bruce » Tue Aug 22, 2017 11:58 am

Interesting that of the 17 riders Velonews considered to be contenders, 5 are gone & 4 are heading that way. 3 extras in the top 10 so interesting to see if they can hang on long term.

A huge shake up of the GC & its only stage 3. While the shake up was accurately predicted, I wonder whether the next week will settle down with no major changes in the GC contenders.

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Re: Vuelta 2017 - lucky last ?

Postby MichaelB » Tue Aug 22, 2017 12:49 pm

agree there find_bruce - also that the stage winner only got there because he caught up on the descent. Would have been a very different GC list if it had finished on the climb !!

Looking fwd to some of the other stages.

Froome's helpers seemed to run out of puff, so that is also interesting !!

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Re: Vuelta 2017 - lucky last ?

Postby fat and old » Tue Aug 22, 2017 1:27 pm

I'll hand it to Froomay...he's going for it. Stage 2 dumping his men to go after a "sprint" before the split, and going after points last night on the intermediate....

Good to see Bananito trying. Extra motivation methinks :lol:

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Re: Vuelta 2017 - lucky last ?

Postby RonK » Tue Aug 22, 2017 1:37 pm

No doubt that now Gloom has the red, his team will be doing their best to smother the race.
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Re: Vuelta 2017 - lucky last ?

Postby find_bruce » Tue Aug 22, 2017 2:44 pm

MichaelB wrote:agree there find_bruce - also that the stage winner only got there because he caught up on the descent. Would have been a very different GC list if it had finished on the climb !!
Apparently he didn't listen to Joaquim Rodriguez
If you've got 10 metres of an advantage at the top of the Cornella, then it'll be almost impossible to catch you on the descent

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Re: Vuelta 2017 - lucky last ?

Postby MichaelB » Wed Aug 23, 2017 1:04 pm

Stage 5 tonight with a shortish & steep climb at the end, and plenty of up & down in between.

Chavito looked like he was relaxing following Froomey in St3, so could it be his tonight ?

Another couple of top 10 GC contenders (Majka & Pozzovivo) lost big chunks of time, so a good result is looking hard for them.

Will be interesting !!

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