Yesterday provided plenty of excitement with seven attacks from Alberto Contador during the short final climb and sprint for the line.
Stage 4 brings a ski station summit finish but it’s a more gradual affair, a road wide enough to ensure visitors can reach the estación de esquí with ease. By contrast it won’t be easy for the riders but that’s because the pace will be high.
If only the weather forecast was accurate. Riders in the Vuelta a España can look online or in the newspaper and see temperatures of 32°C (90°F) quoted for today… but these temperatures never reflect the reality of the road cyclist.
Instead the road is far hotter. This imposes a greater strain on riders who must drink many litres during the race. Here’s a look at the real temperatures and the ways to cope with the heat.
After a team time trial and a sprint finish now it’s time for a summit finish. Yes, it’s only Stage 3 but the finish of today’s stage will be explosive and exciting and forces riders to show their cards very early in the race.
A sprint finish looks likely as the race heads across the Navarra region on a largely flat route. But if a sprint seems the most probable scenario, the identity of the winner is far from certain and given this, it’s possible that a determined breakaway exploits this uncertainty to stay away.
The 2012 Vuelta a España opens with a 16.5km team time trial in the evening. The profile is flat but it doesn’t tell the full story.
Alberto Contador is the predicted winner, for some the question is merely the margin of his victory. Certainly he has had time away with his suspension but this is was not the normal two year ban, instead he has only missed six months of racing, enough time to get in plenty of training without losing too much racing speed.
But luckily this is sport and as the race winds around northern Spain this year we can expect plenty of surprises and besides, if Contador rides away, who can follow him?
The race offers a diverse field with several top Spaniards but a strong international presence and the chance to salvage the season for several riders and teams alike.
The story of Fatima Yvelain has gone viral. She’s a French athlete who tested positive for EPO but came up with a great excuse. As it was athletics I didn’t put the story on here but thought it was still worth sharing via tumblr.
When asked to explain the positive test, she claimed heavy rainfall on the day of race had caused water to stream over hidden medical waste somewhere near the course. As she ran, the EPO-laced rainwater splashed onto her shorts, thus contaminating her urine when she later provided a sample at the doping control.
Just like the Tour de France there’s now link at the top of the page for a Vuelta a Espana guide. You will find stage summaries, information on time bonuses and mountain classifications plus plenty more, including a start list that will appear once the definitive version is available.
You can download the stages of the 2012 in Vuelta a España for your electronic diary organiser, phone, computer
inrngVueltaCalendar.ics [right-click to save, see below for more tech support]
Sep Vanmarcke’s win in the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad race last Saturday was a breakthrough for the Belgian rider but in hindsight only a matter of time. Here is a quick look at his past performances in order to help us assess where he goes next.
He started in a club famed for its champion riders and now he could join them as a top Flandrien. There’s also a look at his spectacular crash in the Vuelta last year.