Category: Vuelta a Espana
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Steve Cummings breaks the break and wins a stage of the Vuelta
There are several reasons why the day’s break is such an important part of bike racing. In most cases, the sheer hope-over-logic glorious bone-headedness of the enterprise is hugely pleasing (even if it is, in reality, largely motivated by a desire to increase sponsors’ exposure). There’s also the fact that it gives worthy, overlooked riders…
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Joaquim Rodriguez likes the Vuelta a Espana and its summit finishes
Long climbs have a ‘Dear Lord, when will it end? I’m so very, very tired of experiencing pain’ quality to them. However, short and steep can’t be beaten for pure agony. Pain is rationed in a long climb. It’s intense and seems unendurable. However, when the road kicks up to 20 or 30 per cent,…
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Chris Froome looks a bit wobbly
Not on his bike, you understand, although it would be totally forgivable – those time trial bikes are too damn narrow. They should do time trials on shopping bikes and Raleigh Choppers to keep everyone safe. No, what I actually mean with that title is that Froome’s Vuelta ambitions look a bit shaky after yesterday’s…
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Purito Rodriguez is a crafty bugger
Joaquim ‘Purito’ Rodriguez is making me talk like a police captain from a derivative Eighties film of late. “Damn it, Rodriguez – what are you doing?” I hear myself say in a grizzled over-the-top American accent. It’s a rhetorical question, because what Purito is clearly doing is ‘going for the win’. He is doing this…
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Joaquim Rodriguez can sprint uphill
If the finish is short and steep, look for a strong short-arse. Joaquim Rodriguez sprints uphill with precisely no respect for gravity. They said he’d win stage six and he did. Sprinting uphill is a demented thing to do. On the flat, you push the pedals until it feels like someone’s doused your thighs in…
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Ian Stannard leads the peloton
You’ll hear that phrase a lot if you watch much bike racing. The man’s basically a locomotive. Yesterday, Alejandro Valverde fell while wearing the red jersey. Sky were trying to take advantage of some cross-winds at the time. It was immediately clear that no-one was going to slow down, but we didn’t really fear for…
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The urgency of the Vuelta
Bloody hell, my five riders to watch have already become three. Juan José Cobo lost almost a minute and will now support Alejandro Valverde, who’s in the red jersey; while Thomas De Gendt’s almost three minutes down. The Vuelta doesn’t muck about, does it? The Tour de France has frenetic cycling from the start, but…
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Five riders to watch at the 2012 Vuelta a Espana
It’s the Vuelta tomorrow. After so much excitement, it’ll be good to have some cycling to follow where I don’t have too much vested in the outcome. Eurosport’s David Harmon says he likes the air of melancholy that pervades the Vuelta. It’s a slightly sad sort of a race, coming after the Tour and marking…