Cycling 2015 thread.

Vuelta 2015 Stages
1 Sa 22-8 Puerto Banús – Marbella 7.4 km TTT
2 Su 23-8 Alhaurín de la Torre – Caminito del Rey 158.7 km finish uphill
3 Mo 24-8 Mijas – Malaga 158.4 km hills, flat finish
4 Tu 25-8 Estepona – Vejer de la Frontera 209.6 km flat, finish uphill
5 We 26-8 Rota - Alcala de Guadaira 167.3 km flat
6 Th 27-8 Córdoba – Sierra de Cazorla 200.3 km finish uphill
7 Fr 28-8 Jódar - Capileira / La Alpujarras 191.1 km mountains
8 Sa 29-8 Puebla de Don Fadrique – Murcia 182.5 km hills
9 Su 30-8 Torrevieja – Cumbre del Sol 168.3 km hills, flat start
10 Mo 31-8 Valencia - Castellón 146.6 km hills
Tu 1-9 rest day
11 We 2-9 Andorra la Vella – Cortals d´Encamp (And) 138.0 km mountains
12 Th 3-9 Escaldes / Engordany (And) – Lleida 173.0 km hills, flat finish
13 Fr 4-9 Calatayud – Tarazona 178.0 km hills
14 Sa 5-9 Vitoria – Alto Campoo / Fuente del Chivo 215.0 km mountains, flat start
15 Su 6-9 Comillas – Sotres 175.8 km mountains, flat start
16 Mo 7-9 Luarca – Ermita de Alba 184.0 km mountains
Tu 8-9 rest day
17 We 9-9 Burgos – Burgos 38.7 km ITT
18 Th 10-9 Roa – Riaza 204.0 km hills
19 Fr 11-9 Medina del Campo – Ávila 185.8 km hillsU
20 Sa 12-9 San Lorenzo de El Escorial – Cercedilla 175.8 km mountains
21 Su 13-9 Alcalá de Henares – Madrid 98.8 km flat


So the final GT of the season kicked off yesterday, with a neutralized TTT won by BMC. Race proper starts today. Usual favourites bar Contador who misses the race. Astana welcome Landa back and Aru who with Nibali look very strong. Sky welcome back Nieve and Kiryienka to support Froome.
 
Mark_GrumpyLion said:
The neutralised TT was a bit weird. No Gesink or any dutchmen of note as far as I know. Who is your favourite @RedFish?
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I'm finding it difficult to call this one. I think Quintana is a good shout for the overall. Froome will do well to podium given his tour exploits and an arguably weakened( but still very good) Sky team. Aru is the one I think could really shine. I'll plump for Quintana taking the red jersey, Froome and Aru fighting for 2nd and 3rd.
 
Too bad Quintana couldn't hold on, would've been a nice gap with Froome and the others so early in the Vuelta. Very strong performance from Dumoulin as well.
 
Nibali is gone :( For me, added time as a sentence would've been sufficient.
 
I couldn't watch live today, just watched the recap - amazing how Caleb Ewan trumps Degenkolb and Sagan with such ease! He's only 21 years old, definitely one to keep an eye on.
 
Looking forward to seeing some racing having missed the last 4 stages working nights!

Class ride from Aru today. Froome losing time but still has time to turn it around. SKY riders in good form and if they pull together then Froomey still stands a good chance of finishing on the podium. Such a strong field in this GT!
 
This stage is insane, very irresponsible behaviour from the organisation to include such a crazy stage. If you want a clean tour, you should act accordingly when you design all the routes.
 
RobinLFC said:
This stage is insane, very irresponsible behaviour from the organisation to include such a crazy stage. If you want a clean tour, you should act accordingly when you design all the routes.
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Rodriguez helped design the stage. The riders knew about it well in advance.

Mark_GrumpyLion said:
Froome out after crashing yesterday. Think that's proof that yesterday's stage is just a bit too much.
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He crashed 3 KMs into the stage. How does that prove anything?
 
Such a race is irresponsible and almost useless nonetheless imo, no matter who helped design it. 90% of the viewers only watch the last 50km or even less so it doesn't really matter how the stage looks in the beginning, and yesterday was clearly about entertaining the general public. Everyone bar ten riders probably thinks it's a horrible stage and has to worry about their times, and the ten riders who do love such a stage because they're very good climbers wait until the last mountain to attack because they're scared to get hammered if they go earlier.
 
RobinLFC said:
Such a race is irresponsible and almost useless nonetheless imo, no matter who helped design it. 90% of the viewers only watch the last 50km or even less so it doesn't really matter how the stage looks in the beginning, and yesterday was clearly about entertaining the general public. Everyone bar ten riders probably thinks it's a horrible stage and has to worry about their times, and the ten riders who do love such a stage because they're very good climbers wait until the last mountain to attack because they're scared to get hammered if they go earlier.
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You clearly didn't see the stage did you?
 
So, is Dumoulin actually going to do this? 60k and 2 climbs left for Aru to do it, although the finish is downhill.

Sanchez is up the road, ready to literally give Aru another helping hand:

Not quite as blatant as Nibali, who may as well have got in the car, but I don't know why Sanchez would be passing him water/gel so close to the line.
 
Madthinker said:
So, is Dumoulin actually going to do this? 60k and 2 climbs left for Aru to do it, although the finish is downhill.

Sanchez is up the road, ready to literally give Aru another helping hand:

Not quite as blatant as Nibali, who may as well have got in the car, but I don't know why Sanchez would be passing him water/gel so close to the line.
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I hope Dumoulin is gonna make it, but am sceptical. That incident is pretty shady!
 
Aru will be a deserved winner. I've been really impressed with the super domestiques in this tour. Landa should he sign for SKY will make Froome super favourite again for the tour. Nieve and Roche have done well as has Majka and obviously Doumoulin. I predicted a top 3 of Quintana, Aru and Froome. Can't complain as Purito and Majka have ridden well.
 
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