Vuelta

Chris Froome’s journey from Nairobi to Salamanca

Chris Froome

Yesterday Chris Froome took the overall lead in the Vuelta a España, the first time he’s lead a stage race in the pro ranks. But it’s not the first time he’s worn a red jersey in a grand tour.

He joined the Barloworld team in 2008 and rode the Tour de France in their red colours. You might remember Robbie Hunter winning the sprint into Montpellier, the first African stage winner in the Tour de France. You might remember John-Lee Augustyn rolling down a mountain. Team mate Moisés Dueñas was ejected for EPO use. But amongst all of this Froome finished his first grand tour and better still, he took a promising 14th place in the final time trial.

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Can Cavendish ride the Tour of Britain?

Vuelta abandon

A quick precision on the rules. This afternoon Mark Cavendish has abandoned the Vuelta a Espana this afternoon. With Matthew Goss leaving the race, it’s not ideal for the team nor the riders concerned, especially since both want their say in the World Championships in Denmark.

Some fans were asking on Twitter if Cavendish can now do his home event, the Tour of Britain starts soon and it would be an ideal stage race to build for the Worlds. But there’s a rule forbidding riders who abandon a race from starting another…

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Vuelta guide online

Vuelta logo

The Inner Ring Vuelta guide is online, see the link at the top of the page or click here. Similar to the Tour de France guide, it contains profiles of every stage, a list of riders and more info.

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The jerseys of the Vuelta a España

There are four jerseys in the Vuelta a España. Here’s a quick summary…

Red Jersey

Red jersey
The red jersey is the leader’s jersey. Once gold in colour, in 2010 it became red. In years past it has been orange, white and yellow too. It is worn by the leading rider on the overall classification, meaning the rider who has taken the shortest time to complete each stage in the race. It’s sponsored by Ahorra Energia (“Save Energy”), a government agency.

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The Bulls of Spain

Toro de Osborne

A reader asked via twitter what was the Spanish equivalent of sunflowers at the Tour de France. Just as the Tour de France has pretty clichés of riders rolling past fields of sunflowers, for me the Vuelta a Espana has hilltop bovine hoardings. There’s a story behind this. It starts with vino de Jerez, the fortified wine from the city of Jerez that’s known as sherry in English…

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Mosquera on standby

Mosquera

Ezequiel Mosquera is a Spanish cyclist who finished second in the 2010 Vuelta a España. A climber, he took the stage win on the Bola del Mundo climb and he made the move from the modest Xacobeo squad to the big Vacansoleil squad. Certainly that’s how he’d like to be known.

But things have turned out differently. Mosquera was, like Riccardo Riccò, hired by Vacansoleil in part because of his giant points haul, the Dutch team was busy trying to secure a UCI ProTeam licence. But disaster struck and Mosquera was suspended after anti-doping controls showed both he and then team mate David Garcia Da Peña had tested positive for hydroxyethyl starch (HES) in the Vuelta. Garcia also tested positive for EPO and was subsequently banned.

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Can you recognise Mosquera?

He might have finished second in the Vuelta a Espana to Vincenzo Nibali but would you recognise Ezequiel Mosquera if he walked past you in the street? Here’s a test. Three riders from the Xacobeo Galicia are pictured above, which one is Mosquera? I’m sure some of you will get the answer so here is … Read more

The irresistible rise of Nicolas Roche

Irish eyes are on the road ahead When asked what he’d do if he was French selector for the upcoming World Championships, veteran journalist Jean-Paul Brouchon promptly replied that the first thing would be to make Nicolas Roche a French rider. Roche is half-French already, obviously with a famous Irish father but he spent time … Read more

Airmiles

Thomas Voeckler’s got over 15,000km of racing in his legs this year. But other riders have more miles… air miles. 2010 has seen the sport start with the Tour Down Under, then go to the middle-east, travelling to California and last weekend saw two races in Canada. That’s before the Worlds in Australia. And don’t … Read more

Mas agua, por favor

It’s hot in the Vuelta. Many riders are reporting temperatures well above 40°C (104°F), that’s because the tarmac heats up which in turn warms the air. Oscar Freire reported 49°C. As you’d imagine, riders need to drink a lot. Spanish sports website AS says some teams emptied three ice boxes of 80 bottles each, meaning … Read more

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