Author Topic: TdF has cobbles, Giro has Strada Bianchi, Vuelta has...  (Read 11419 times)

David Martin

  • Thats Dr Oi You thankyouverymuch
TdF has cobbles, Giro has Strada Bianchi, Vuelta has...
« on: 20 August, 2015, 02:46:55 pm »
.. a beach, and the riders aren't happy.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/vuelta-a-espaa-riders-question-conditions-of-dirt-bike-path-team-time-trial-course/

Are they serious? it seems like a joke, any team after the first will be seriously hampered when the dirt path cuts up.


"By creating we think. By living we learn" - Patrick Geddes

Mr Larrington

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Re: TdF has cobbles, Giro has Strada Bianchi, Vuelta has...
« Reply #1 on: 20 August, 2015, 03:21:02 pm »
The TdF, as any fule kno, hav cobblestones
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Satisfying the Bloodlust of the Masses in Peacetime

Re: TdF has cobbles, Giro has Strada Bianchi, Vuelta has...
« Reply #2 on: 20 August, 2015, 08:14:51 pm »
Yes, but it's 'only' the Vuelta. If it mattered, why is this a surprise? Imagine the TdF TTT route only being checked out by the teams 2 days before it were ridden.

PS - I've loved watching the Vuelta over the past 3 or 4 years.

Cudzoziemiec

  • Ride adventurously and stop for a brew.
Re: TdF has cobbles, Giro has Strada Bianchi, Vuelta has...
« Reply #3 on: 20 August, 2015, 10:12:56 pm »
I'd love to think this is a deliberate attempt to enliven the stage by testing riders in a variety of conditions (though it seems odd to choose a team time trial for that) but sadly I expect it is simply a cock up.
Riding a concrete path through the nebulous and chaotic future.

Si_Co

Re: TdF has cobbles, Giro has Strada Bianchi, Vuelta has...
« Reply #4 on: 21 August, 2015, 01:51:58 pm »
TTT now neutralised for GC. Just a race for the stage now so the big guns will be cruising.

Re: TdF has cobbles, Giro has Strada Bianchi, Vuelta has...
« Reply #5 on: 21 August, 2015, 02:55:13 pm »
Seems strange the UCI or teams don't seem to approve a route until the day or two before turning up. It seems particularly common on the Vuelta. I seem to recall the Madrid city centre final stage being neutralised some years ago because the riders weren't happy with the narrow roads being used.

For anyone going out of their way to watch it will be a disappointment watching the best riders in the world sitting up and cruising past. I could imagine the uproar if Chelsea V Man Utd was reduced to them knocking the ball gently to each other
Duct tape is magic and should be worshipped

Riggers

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Re: TdF has cobbles, Giro has Strada Bianchi, Vuelta has...
« Reply #6 on: 21 August, 2015, 03:18:15 pm »
Does seem daft.

I stayed recently at Vejer de la Frontera, and they'll finish there on Tuesday. All I can say is, after racing all day, the last thing I'd be looking forward to is a hilltop finish. Couple of the roads leading in to town are devilishly steep. There's one in particular that, if they were to take, would have me walking not long after the initial rise. It's a real stinker. My guess is they'll the less steep one, because there's a convenient car park area to house all the necessary TV/radio stuff, etc.

The stinker of a hill (https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@36.2589262,-5.9615847,3a,90y,270.19h,77.72t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sVDUNNhvcMFZzYRffvm7Evw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!6m1!1e1)
It says '10%', but that's bollocks.

The less stinky hill (https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@36.2534912,-5.9806946,3a,75y,28.56h,82.58t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s3w33PzKqep_gwgH3_tkyTg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656) and this one will allow final attacks to be made.
Certainly never seen cycling south of Sussex

Re: TdF has cobbles, Giro has Strada Bianchi, Vuelta has...
« Reply #7 on: 22 August, 2015, 01:06:20 pm »
I guess good they've neutralised the stage but it differs make one wonder about common sense of ride organisers. That finish is gonna be difficult. I remember trying to cycle a bit of Bexhill's promenade a few years ago (one of the cycle-friendly bits) and it was next to impossible with even a few mm of sand. Admittedly we were on folding bikes not proper racing bikes, but…

Dibdib

  • Fat'n'slow
Re: TdF has cobbles, Giro has Strada Bianchi, Vuelta has...
« Reply #8 on: 23 August, 2015, 07:54:44 pm »
Well there's one thing it doesn't have...

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αdαmsκι

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David Martin

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Re: TdF has cobbles, Giro has Strada Bianchi, Vuelta has...
« Reply #10 on: 23 August, 2015, 08:31:37 pm »
Yup, naughty nibbles nobbled for nabbing a nudge from the team car.. There is a sticky bottle, and there is a sticky jet rocket. That one was really taking the piss.
"By creating we think. By living we learn" - Patrick Geddes

Re: TdF has cobbles, Giro has Strada Bianchi, Vuelta has...
« Reply #11 on: 23 August, 2015, 09:13:30 pm »
Yup, nibbles nobbled for nabbing a nudge from the team car.. There is a sticky bottle, and there is a sticky jet rocket. That one was really taking the piss.

A bit of a clue as to the nature of Nibbles and his team.

mcshroom

  • Mushroom
Re: TdF has cobbles, Giro has Strada Bianchi, Vuelta has...
« Reply #12 on: 23 August, 2015, 10:06:16 pm »
Ooh, I saw it mentioned on the highlights show but they didn't have the decision then.

Nice to have cycling back on ITV4. Not so good having the silly Wasabi ad back though
Climbs like a sprinter, sprints like a climber!

Re: TdF has cobbles, Giro has Strada Bianchi, Vuelta has...
« Reply #13 on: 23 August, 2015, 11:05:38 pm »
Nibali being a sneaky f*cker? Surely not!

Re: TdF has cobbles, Giro has Strada Bianchi, Vuelta has...
« Reply #14 on: 24 August, 2015, 12:17:40 am »
You'd think he'd have learnt from the TdF incident (which established he's a lying git) that those noisy things hovering overhead have cameras in them!

The sound of one pannier flapping

Re: TdF has cobbles, Giro has Strada Bianchi, Vuelta has...
« Reply #15 on: 24 August, 2015, 07:13:43 am »
Chaves has a winning smile, doesn't he.

Re: TdF has cobbles, Giro has Strada Bianchi, Vuelta has...
« Reply #16 on: 24 August, 2015, 09:25:41 am »
Chaves has a winning smile, doesn't he.

Indeed, what a great sight to seem someone so transparently pleased at their victory. Plus the mixture of Colombian Spanish accented English and the Aussie "mate"  :thumbsup:
We are making a New World (Paul Nash, 1918)

David Martin

  • Thats Dr Oi You thankyouverymuch
Re: TdF has cobbles, Giro has Strada Bianchi, Vuelta has...
« Reply #17 on: 24 August, 2015, 09:51:14 am »
You'd think he'd have learnt from the TdF incident (which established he's a lying git) that those noisy things hovering overhead have cameras in them!



Yebbut they won't be following a lone rider off the back, will they? Yes they will if he is an overall contender..
"By creating we think. By living we learn" - Patrick Geddes

Riggers

  • Mine's a pipe, er… pint!
Re: TdF has cobbles, Giro has Strada Bianchi, Vuelta has...
« Reply #18 on: 24 August, 2015, 12:03:22 pm »
Hasn't Chaves got a lovely smile!! He was so pleased to win. Obvs.  ;D
Certainly never seen cycling south of Sussex

Re: TdF has cobbles, Giro has Strada Bianchi, Vuelta has...
« Reply #19 on: 24 August, 2015, 01:54:21 pm »
You'd think he'd have learnt from the TdF incident (which established he's a lying git) that those noisy things hovering overhead have cameras in them!

Quite.

And yet he's complaining that being prevented from finishing the race is too severe a punishment?!

I'm really beginning to not like this guy very much.

http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/racing/vuelta-a-espana/vincenzo-nibali-my-punishment-was-too-severe-this-happens-in-every-race-188113

citoyen

  • Occasionally rides a bike
Re: TdF has cobbles, Giro has Strada Bianchi, Vuelta has...
« Reply #20 on: 24 August, 2015, 06:28:01 pm »
As Inrng rightly pointed out, there's a difference between getting a quick tow to help you catch up with the peloton after a crash (to which a blind eye is usually turned) and using motorised assistance to drop a large group of other riders.

Nibali is a twerp.
"The future's all yours, you lousy bicycles."

Re: TdF has cobbles, Giro has Strada Bianchi, Vuelta has...
« Reply #21 on: 24 August, 2015, 09:13:28 pm »
https://twitter.com/daniellloyd1/status/635540632753336320

His Strava ride got flagged, apparently ;D

Re: TdF has cobbles, Giro has Strada Bianchi, Vuelta has...
« Reply #22 on: 25 August, 2015, 09:13:28 am »
I love it how he points out that Froome did the same thing in the Giro a few years back (and you can imagine the mumbling over the "anda, si, 'e gotta disqualificazione for eeta...")

Numpty.  :facepalm:

Si_Co

Re: TdF has cobbles, Giro has Strada Bianchi, Vuelta has...
« Reply #23 on: 25 August, 2015, 09:44:38 am »
Yup, naughty nibbles nobbled for nabbing a nudge from the team car.. There is a sticky bottle, and there is a sticky jet rocket. That one was really taking the piss.

Somewhat akin to this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EftXTnM2AQ

To be honest its about time the UCI got a bit serious about this and magic spanners, the penalties seem to be too variable and its only a problem when it can't be hidden....UCI in ostrich mode again.

Its not like he held the car to avoid the time cut, re-joined the gruppetto, bridged to the peleton and then won the sprint, allegedly.  :demon:

Re: TdF has cobbles, Giro has Strada Bianchi, Vuelta has...
« Reply #24 on: 25 August, 2015, 01:00:25 pm »
My favourite: