Crucial, vital, decisive – pick your adjective. Today’s 36.7km time trial is an important stage and a chance to reshape the overall classification before a series of summit finishes.
So Far So Good
If a stage race an exercise in taking riders and placing them into a chronological hierarchy the Vuelta still has a long way to go. One time trial and two summit finishes done and there’s still plenty to decide.
Roads to Ride: The Chartreuse Trilogy
Not one but three climbs. Why a trilogy? Simply because if you climb the first you can keep going, riding an Alpine sine wave across the Chartreuse range to follow a legendary race route.
Legendary? Yes because this has decided the result of the Tour de France several times. Many have not heard of this and the Chartreuse Trilogy is falling of the radar. Proof that a road’s status is dependent on regular visits by the Tour?
Vuelta Stage 9 Preview
The first high altitude finish of the Vuelta. At first sight this looks like one of the toughest stages of the race with the distance and altitude, a finish close to 2,000 metres above sea level. But it’s a ski station finish with moderate gradients and the slope eases before the line. It’s still a summit finish showdown but cleverly it won’t provide the definitive selection.
Vuelta Stage 8 Preview
A day for the sprinters. The first week’s felt like it’s been reserved for the sprinters and rightly so as there’s no point fixing the overall classification from the start. All this is set to change but for now a flat stage with a high speed finish.
The Tour de l’Avenir’s Past and Present
Esteban Chaves, Moreno Hofland and Rohan Dennis wear the leaders’ jerseys in a race. A glimpse of the future? No, it’s a scene from the past: the 2011 Tour de l’Avenir. The race is on this week. There are several stage races for U-23 riders that matter but none more so than this one. It’s length, international field and mountainous profile make it an essential rendez-vous. If it didn’t exist we’d have to invent it.
Vuelta Stage 7 Preview
The race heads north and heads for new regions. A “transition stage” yes but a subtle finish awaits. As the profile shows today offers an uphill finish, no summit finish but a test between the sprinters and the puncheurs.
Vuelta Stage 6 Preview
It’s time to head inland for the first summit finish. The road to Cumbres Verdes is short but steep enough to be selective and enough to start filtering the contenders from the pretenders.
Thanks to Trek
Every site sponsor gets thank-you note and Trek have been here in July and August with a promotion for the new Emonda frame.
There’s also a reminder about the supporter caps and your chance to win one below too.
Vuelta Stage 5 Preview
So far we have a variety of sprint finishes with wins for Nacer Bouhanni, Michael Matthews and John Degenkolb. Today’s stage offers a classic flat route with few surprises in the finish, a day for the pure sprinters.