Yet Another Cycling Forum

General Category => Freewheeling => Racing => Topic started by: SoreTween on 28 August, 2018, 07:55:46 pm

Title: La Vuelta 2018
Post by: SoreTween on 28 August, 2018, 07:55:46 pm
What's going on?
And no YACF thread?
Title: Re: La Vuelta 2018
Post by: mattc on 28 August, 2018, 11:10:24 pm
... but a Sky rider still hloding 3 of the jerseys. Bah!   
;)

The Simon Yates interview was interesting - it was like he was desperate to avoid overdoing it early in the race (like in the Giro), and felt daft for letting himself go and accidentally gaining 20secs on the other GC riders!
Title: Re: La Vuelta 2018
Post by: mattc on 28 August, 2018, 11:12:06 pm
p.s. I'm pretty sure that Zwift advert will start to grate as much as the Watchfinder General one!
Title: Re: La Vuelta 2018
Post by: rafletcher on 29 August, 2018, 08:45:35 am

The Simon Yates interview was interesting - it was like he was desperate to avoid overdoing it early in the race (like in the Giro), and felt daft for letting himself go and accidentally gaining 20secs on the other GC riders!

I did wonder if his DS had had a word by then  ;D
Title: Re: La Vuelta 2018
Post by: trekker12 on 29 August, 2018, 09:25:56 am
It seems he was more paranoid about expending too much energy and having another Giro moment. He didn't look particularly spent at the finish though so it seems the rest of the GC were also saving energy too by then. With eight hill top finishes I can understand why they might think that.

BTW,  if you are missing the Watchfinder general ads by the way, they seem to have turned their attention to sponsoring the endless Top Gear repeats on Dave!
Title: Re: La Vuelta 2018
Post by: David Martin on 06 September, 2018, 09:39:06 pm
Numpty at the finish line today. Managed to bring down the first two riders by getting in the way just after the finish.. There is a reason why the road is kept clear.
Title: Re: La Vuelta 2018
Post by: mattc on 06 September, 2018, 10:47:19 pm
Really eoyble few days; the last2 have been my favourite typeof GT stages. Brekaways that stick, racing for the stage win, like a 1-dy race within a race. and today with the sub-plot of a guy riding for his 5 minutes of fame in the leader's jersey.

 Great fun. and  a storm-in-a-teacup about which team should be chasing down the break :)
Title: Re: La Vuelta 2018
Post by: Legs on 10 September, 2018, 12:32:04 pm
If Yates can keep it together until next weekend, it would be the first year since 1964 that all three GTs have been won by riders of the same nationality (Poulidor won the Vuelta, Anquetil the Giro and Tour).
Title: Re: La Vuelta 2018
Post by: mattc on 10 September, 2018, 12:48:04 pm
If Yates can keep it together until next weekend, it would be the first year since 1964 that all three GTs have been won by riders of the same nationality (Poulidor won the Vuelta, Anquetil the Giro and Tour).
I was thinking similar .. except this will be 3 different UK riders!

But I'm not betting my house on Yates yet. It still seems a very open race at this stage.


[and who knew his brother was in this race?? He's been completely invisible, even ITV4 didn't mention him for at least 10 stages. Weren't they rated as much the same potential just a year-or-two ago?  I'm beginning to think MTS got a poor two-for-one deal there :-\

Still, a GT win and maybe they won't care! ]
Title: Re: La Vuelta 2018
Post by: pumpkin on 10 September, 2018, 03:05:17 pm
Adam has had the white jersey in the TdF so he is no slouch. he was second to Thomas this year at the Criterium du Dauphine

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Yates_(cyclist)#Career_achievements
Title: Re: La Vuelta 2018
Post by: Poly Hive on 11 September, 2018, 08:38:00 am
So............ whats the problem with Sky then? Come on fess up get it out there and feel the better for it.

Is it the money?

PH
Title: Re: La Vuelta 2018
Post by: mattc on 11 September, 2018, 12:21:25 pm
So............ whats the problem with Sky then? Come on fess up get it out there and feel the better for it.

Is it the money?

PH
It is mostly the money: I find the Freeview channels give us about as much telly as is reasonable to watch in a week (and all 3 Grand Tours these days :) ).

Why pay more, for shit I mainly won't watch??
Title: Re: La Vuelta 2018
Post by: pumpkin on 11 September, 2018, 12:41:10 pm


PH
[/quote]
It is mostly the money: I find the Freeview channels give us about as much telly as is reasonable to watch in a week (and all 3 Grand Tours these days :) ).

Why pay more, for shit I mainly won't watch??
[/quote]

^This^ Same issue with netflix
Title: Re: La Vuelta 2018
Post by: yoav on 11 September, 2018, 06:18:33 pm
There’s talk of painting a postbox in Cardiff yellow to celebrate Geraint Thomas’ Tour de France win. If Simon Yates wins the Vuelta, will the paint a postbox in Bury red?

😄
Title: Re: La Vuelta 2018
Post by: SoreTween on 11 September, 2018, 08:00:16 pm
I thought Yates looked quite knackered at the end of today's stage. Mindful of how that went after the ITT in Italy has he overcooked?
Title: Re: La Vuelta 2018
Post by: mattc on 12 September, 2018, 01:07:48 pm
I thought Yates looked quite knackered at the end of today's stage. Mindful of how that went after the ITT in Italy has he overcooked?

It was only a 40minute race! No matter how hard he rode, it won't have much impact on his overall fatigue.
Title: Re: La Vuelta 2018
Post by: DuncanM on 12 September, 2018, 01:26:15 pm
The current theory on why he blew up at the Giro is that he buried himself too deep in the TT and in the mountaintop finish 2 days before. As a result of those 2 short 100% efforts, he couldn't do the 95% required for hours at a time during the following days.
Title: Re: La Vuelta 2018
Post by: fimm on 14 September, 2018, 09:44:57 am
There’s talk of painting a postbox in Cardiff yellow to celebrate Geraint Thomas’ Tour de France win. If Simon Yates wins the Vuelta, will the paint a postbox in Bury red?

😄
;D POTD?

If anyone had said in 2008 that in 10 years time there was even the potential for the 3 Grand Tours to have been won by 3 different British riders, would anyone have believed them? Or for there to have been two British riders from two different teams fighting for the stage win and race lead (I'm thinking about Yates vs Froome on the Zoncolan? I think it was?)?

My understanding was that Adam Y has been "resting" in order to be used now in the last few days. I don't think Simon has it won.

Oh, and yesterday's nailed on bunch sprint stage was a predicible as - oh. Or not. ;-)
Title: Re: La Vuelta 2018
Post by: Little Jim on 14 September, 2018, 10:17:23 am
Great finish to a potentially boring day's racing.  I really though that the stage winner had blown it right up to the point where he crossed the line and raised his arms!

It was great to listen to Gaz and Dave at the start of the prog describing how getting in the break was going to be basically a punishment duty for a few riders who had pissed off their DS's and then watching the race unfold.
Title: Re: La Vuelta 2018
Post by: Exit Stage Left on 14 September, 2018, 10:57:49 am

If anyone had said in 2008 that in 10 years time there was even the potential for the 3 Grand Tours to have been won by 3 different British riders, would anyone have believed them? Or for there to have been two British riders from two different teams fighting for the stage win and race lead (I'm thinking about Yates vs Froome on the Zoncolan? I think it was?)?



The best known Vuelta in the UK before the current era of British success was the the 1985 edition, when the race was 'stolen' from Millar. http://www.thewashingmachinepost.net/bob/vuelta.html

Channel 4 coverage of the TdF coincided with English speaking riders breaking through in the Grand Tours.
Title: Re: La Vuelta 2018
Post by: Hot Flatus on 15 September, 2018, 04:59:43 pm
Well there we are.

Barring an accident tomorrow, this will be the first time ever that one nation has won all 3 GTs in one year with 3 riders (I think) and that 5 consecutive GTs have been won by one nation.

Title: Re: La Vuelta 2018
Post by: spesh on 15 September, 2018, 05:08:29 pm
Well there we are.

Barring an accident tomorrow, this will be the first time ever that one nation has won all 3 GTs in one year with 3 riders (I think) and that 5 consecutive GTs have been won by one nation.

Yep, it's the first time with three different riders - two French riders won all three in 1964 (TdF and Giro for Anquetil, Poulidor taking the Vuelta), and two Spanish riders in 2008 (Sastre winning the TdF and Contador winning the Vuelta and Giro).
Title: Re: La Vuelta 2018
Post by: spesh on 15 September, 2018, 05:13:14 pm
And chapeau to Yates, who learned from his experience in this year's Giro.
Title: Re: La Vuelta 2018
Post by: TheLurker on 15 September, 2018, 05:42:10 pm
Well.

I'm having trouble coming to terms with the fact that Britain produces world beaters at anything these days, never mind world beating cyclists.  I'm going to wake up tomorrow and find it's all just a dream aren't I?

Title: Re: La Vuelta 2018
Post by: SoreTween on 15 September, 2018, 07:06:51 pm
Seems he learned the lesson very well indeed and i was flat wrong after the itt.
I can hear the sound of blood pressures rising and phones melting as every newspaper editor in the UK fights to be the first to get a line up with all three.

And Zwift didn't come close to the wank watcher.
Title: Re: La Vuelta 2018
Post by: mattc on 17 September, 2018, 03:02:45 pm
Have any Brits won the two "minor" GTs before Froome/Yates?

Kelly and Roche both raced for R-of-I I think? Anyone before them??

(I don't think we can count the Vuelta win stolen from Robert Millar! )
Title: Re: La Vuelta 2018
Post by: Hot Flatus on 17 September, 2018, 03:11:14 pm
No they havent.

Now we win them all. Incredible.
Title: Re: La Vuelta 2018
Post by: IanDG on 17 September, 2018, 03:12:24 pm
5 GTs in a row.
Title: Re: La Vuelta 2018
Post by: gonzo on 18 September, 2018, 08:19:30 pm
No they havent.

Now we win them all. Incredible.

I still remember when we all laughed when Dave Brailsford said that we could have a grand tour winner within 5 years. I wonder how people would have reacted if he'd said that we'd take all 3 within 10 years?
Title: Re: La Vuelta 2018
Post by: Hot Flatus on 18 September, 2018, 08:33:27 pm
He said a clean British winner.

Two of the four failed dope tests, one getting a ban, the other getting off, another one was central to the DCMS enquiry on doping, and the remaining one once figured predominantly on a UCI ABP 'Index of suspicion', with a score so high it was considered that doping was almost certain.

But yeah, apart from that it's been a sudden, unexpected heyday for British cycling.
Title: Re: La Vuelta 2018
Post by: mattc on 18 September, 2018, 08:40:20 pm
No they havent.

Now we win them all. Incredible.

I still remember when we all laughed when Dave Brailsford said that we could have a grand tour winner within 5 years. I wonder how people would have reacted if he'd said that we'd take all 3 within 10 years?
"Gosh, what an ambitious yet admirable goal!"

I expect.