A star-packed field contenders and pretenders for the Vuelta with seven grand tour winners and a long list of rivals. But as any astronomer knows, look up at the stars and you’ll see powerful blue giants also a few white dwarfs.
We watched the Tour de France to see a duel between Chris Froome and Alberto Contador but were denied, now they’re back and there’s Nairo Quintana to contend with. Time to point the telescope to Jerez for a look at who can win the Vuelta.
The closer the race gets the more uncertain the outcome. The year began with Chris Froome as the nailed on certainty but gradually Alberto Contador’s results made people take notice and his ride in the Dauphiné means we could have a three week duel. But now Vincenzo Nibali and Alejandro Valverde are on the up too and the more names we throw into the mix, the closer the contest.
The Climb by Chris Froome
The latest book from the production line of British cycling autobiographies featuring cyclists that are still mid-career but red hot given the Chris Froome vs. Bradley Wiggins stories and unlike the books by Wiggins and Mark Cavendish, this is Froome’s first book.
The rivalry and gossip over team leadership have grabbed the headlines but there’s more, an alternative title could have been “Out of Africa”. For many readers though the big question is whether it explains how Froome burst from caterpillar to yellow butterfly.
Want to see Alberto Contador, Chris Froome and Vincenzo Nibali in action together? You could wait for the Critérium du Dauphiné in June but, as today’s L’Equipe shows, they will all meet up this month in Tenerife for training camps on Mount Teide. Quite probably they will all stay in the same hotel, setting up an intriguing atmosphere with the three great rivals for the Tour de France sitting down for dinner together, albeit at different tables.
It’s easy to spend hours reviewing the tactics in a race but very little time and coverage is given to what a rider’s job really involves: training.
Simon Špilak outsprints Chris Froome to win the Queen Stage of the Tour de Romandie last Friday. The exact same thing happened this time last year in Les Diablerets, just 20km away. With this Froome distanced his rivals and used the final time trial to seal the race overall.
But not everything is the same. Froome’s had different challenges. Here’s a look back at the race with a look ahead to the Giro and beyond.
The race enters the Pyrenees for the first mountain stage but the final climb is not fierce. Instead this is a day when the descent could pick the winner because foul weather is forecast and the riders face a long and chilly ride down the top of the Coll de la Creueta in freezing temperatures. A battle between the big guns isn’t certain but they might feel compelled to turn up the heat… if the stage goes ahead.
I’ll be doing short previews for this races each morning. It’s a great event with a challenging course and, best of all, galactic startlist that seems many big names in action.
Here is the Stage 1 preview along with a quick take on route as a whole, the overall contenders and the Daily Diaz reprised from the Vuelta a Espana.
Who knows what 2014 will bring? There are some signs but it’s often the unexpected events that delight and intrigue. Here are some extrapolations and wild guesses for the year ahead.
Last year I nominated a dozen riders to watch in 2012, from promising neo-pros to Chris Froome and Vincenzo Nibali. It’s been a mixed year and now it’s time to check in on their performances this year, starting with the big names today.
What’s the secret of Team Sky’s success? One element is money as the squad has one of the highest budgets in the sport.
Sky are the only major pro team to publish their accounts and the latest set have just been filed. So here’s a look at the numbers from the headline budget down items like the spend on travel, rider transfers and equipment.