La Vuelta a Espana 22/8 - 13/9 2015 (here be spoilers)

[smutchin]

Excellent! Frank Schleck just said a naughty word live on telly.

 

[SWSteve]

I know it's the whole point of the race, but Spain is beautiful.

 

[Mattonsea]

I know it's the whole point of the race, but Spain is beautiful.

It looks great , luckily going there next year.

 

[themosquitoking]

I love how Spain looks and think the green green grass of home is a bit over rated really. Grass that green needs a lot of watering see.

 

[Pro Tour Punditry]

I am going somewhere hot for summer hols next year - no idea where yet, Cycling coverage throws up so many possibilities. And the adverts on Eurosport don't help. But because I am a doddery old git I forget what looks nice and will probably end up in some shitehole like England.

 

[Mattonsea]

Corsica was tempting after 2013 Grand depart.

 

[SWSteve]

I am going somewhere hot for summer hols next year - no idea where yet, Cycling coverage throws up so many possibilities. And the adverts on Eurosport don't help. But because I am a doddery old git I forget what looks nice and will probably end up in some shitehole like England.

Maybe forget hot and go to Reine in Norway. Somehow stumbled across it and it looks incredible. Girlfriend and I aim to go one day

 

[Pro Tour Punditry]

Maybe forget hot and go to Reine in Norway. Somehow stumbled across it and it looks incredible. Girlfriend and I aim to go one day

There will be too many pale people there. You'll think you are in Ireland.

 

[Dogtrousers]

Maybe forget hot and go to Reine in Norway. Somehow stumbled across it and it looks incredible. Girlfriend and I aim to go one day

The Lofotens are beautiful. The weather can be a bit variable.

 

[HF2300]

... then you might be able to pick which Irish accent you can handle, they're not all the same for example a Dublin accent comes with great responsibility, ..
think carefully before taking on the Irish accent, the power and adulation can break a weak individual....

Is there a development ladder, novices being restricted to junior accents while only those with considerable experience and gravitas are allowed the most powerful and devastating ones...?

 

[rich p]

Give it a rest you lot - it ain't the tea thread...


...p.s. I'm going to Portugal next week

 

[HF2300]

How much say do they have compared to the sponsors though? For example, would Froome be allowed to skip the Tour de France to ride the Giro and Veulta next year considering he is the defending champion?

Given the 'status' of the Tour de France, I would have thought the various sponsors would have something to say if most of the top riders decided to target other grand tours.

From what's been said in similar discussions previously, here and elsewhere, the top riders have considerable clout in deciding their programme and objectives for the year, but inevitably the team's and sponsors' aims have to be accommodated as well - after all, they pay the wages. Those objectives might depend on markets, headline sponsor nationality, and so on. Domestiques have to pretty much go where they're sent, I think. There will be a whole lot of calculations that come into play.

 

[HF2300]

I think we'd know if it was a moto incident, I can't imagine they'd keep quiet about it. It's interesting that that early out he didn't have anyone nearby, sounds like he needed protecting if someone nerfed him in to the barrier.

Think I was being a bit tongue in cheek. I'd imagine it was an inadvertent nudge from the side or a touch of wheels.

 

[HF2300]

IIRC, there's a UCI plan to change the Giro and Vuelta to 2 week races. My memory may be playing tricks and ASO may have other opinions.

There was discussion of it, but nothing definite, I think, and I CBA to look it up.

There is, I got the rule book on the TdF once and the positioning and roles of each vehicle are very set and defined. Plus bear in mind a very small proportion of that number are with the peleton.

But yes, it seems it needs better control.

Don't know if it's just me but it seems to me it's the behaviour of the vehicles, and particularly the motos, that's worse rather than the numbers. In Broekman's big crash the other day a yellow moto - I think it was actually medical assistance - tried to push through instead of just parking up behind the crash and at one point was actually nudging riders out of the way with his fairing.

Cookson was interviewed about it by Matt Rendell and was saying the riders felt there was a lot less respect in the peloton than there used to be, riders v. motos and riders v. riders. Unfortunately he came across rather as though he was trying to deflect attention from the moto incidents by deflecting it onto poor rider behaviour - I hope that was unintentional.

There seem to be a lot more motos tangled up in the peloton, cutting in and out between the riders and so on in recent years. Perhaps the rules about moto position in the convoy, distances from riders, pulling over to get out of small gaps rather than cutting through, etc. should be tightened / enforced, or the rules for licencing (& penalising) drivers looked at.

Give it a rest you lot - it ain't the tea thread...
...p.s. I'm going to Portugal next week

Now there's a language to be treated with respect.

 

[mjr]

...p.s. I'm going to Portugal next week

Me too. What's it like cycling there? Is there a good thread with tips?

I've stayed in a nice place off grid in inland Catalonia and did some cycling from it: PM me if you want their contact details.

Is the rule about wearing helmets and hi vis when cycling in rural Spain new, not applicable to Catalonia or was it just that everyone I saw ignored it in 2013? Is there an exception for racing or should everyone except Tinkoff Saxo be fined for the hi vis bit?