Seriously. Is it almost September? This was not the agreement, this was supposed to be an endless summer. And all you A-Holes down there in the Antipodes are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, enjoying longer days and shorter nights. I don’t need to tell you where you can take that, but it’s dark and it smells. I have no patience for the changing of seasons when it means I’m going to be benching Number One and busting out the headlight.
I’m not going to lie to you; the Vuelta is my least-favorite race of the year. Part of it is the parcours-it’s hard enough to get excited about flat sprint stages in the Tour, but these stages in central Spain that go down a straight freeway for hours are just too much for my brain to find interesting. Hey look! There’s another shrub! Wasn’t he a President at one point? There will be some redeeming points of the race, I’m sure, and the shit-steep climbs they dot along the route are certain to be highlights of the season. But after you do the math, this is the grand tour with the weakest field, the worst route, and-most damning-the strongest signal that Summer is coming to an end on the half of the world that matters.
I can’t be bothered to sort out the route and what stages are going to matter, but I’ll tell you this: for the last few years, the winner of the Vuelta VSP has won the VSP GC. A few years back, @Marcus complained that he only lost the VSP because @Nate used the second Rest Day Swaps to his advantage to take the win, but after heavily increasing the penalties, he kept losing. Typical of a man who posts photos of his todger on a Cycling site. (@Nate, your win was clean according to the VCI.) Speaking of which, at worst the Vuelta will distract from Pat McQuaid and his bid for losing the UCI Presidency.
He has a strong lead in the 2013 Anti-V competition, however.
Check the start list, get your picks in, and don’t Delgado this baby; it could be your ticket to the shop apron. Bon chance.
[vsp_results id=”26944″/]
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This could get interesting. I can't wrap my head around Horner fighting for GC on a grand tour.
@Beers
The Dude has got to be on something.
Coming into this race he had no team for next year and was lamenting that he still wanted to race even though he'd be 42 and that he really had to have a good result or he would not have a team next year.
He has nothing to lose and has always been such a fuck'in goofball I totally would not put it past him to be doing something as he knows if he does not produce here, he will not be racing next year anyways so fuck it, who cares of he gets caught. Chance a big result and hope not to get busted.
Oh well, makes for exciting racing!
@frank See my, I'm sure, much hated, "Come the FUCK ON everybody, he HAS to be doping" post above.
Wish I had that CPT Picard meme where he is doing the whole "Oh come on people" pose.
A couple thoughts I've had about Old Man Horner's performance, based mostly around the fact that I really like the guy, so I'm thinking from that aspect:
1.)This parcours is ideal for a climber like him. He lost a bundle of time in the ITT, but for the TTT he had Faboo to haul him around. He performs well in the lumpy races, winning Pais Vasco a couple years back.
2) Due to his knee issue, he has many fewer race miles in his legs this year. Everyone he is riding against already has a GT in their legs. Perhaps he's just fresher and that helps him to recover better on these tough stages.
@Buck Rogers
From zero to hero out of the blue.....I hope this is a final blast from him pre-retirement but really? Surely if it was possible at his age Jensy would be doing this?
@Deakus
Sorry to open this can of worms, guys! But, for me, it comes down to what I said above: The guy is desperate. He is DYING to ride next year and has not team and will be 42 for FUCK's SAKE. He has nothing to lose. Hell, after further reading he was supposedly #15 in the redacted thingy for the Lance Armstrong investigation and will not admit it when everyone else did. Besides, the guy has always been out in left field.
Oh well, RACE ON!
@Buck Rogers
Okay. I think I said something like this about one thousand posts ago. This too comes from a, "I just like the guy perspective." Horner didn't ride for Armstrong during the EPO hey-day. He rode for Cadel Evans. Horner wasn't given the nod for the US Olympic team. USA cycling didn't like him. I'd like to think the fact that he is such a goof freed him up from some things. Or, at the least, no one trusted him with the drugs or any organized program. Anyway. I'm operating under the presumption that he is clean right now. He's finally off the leash.
Today's stage reminded me how lonely it can be in the leader's jersey. Nibali and lieutenants fending off attacks from multiple riders, first to isolate him. Then J-Rod attacks and Nibali fails to respond, the others sensing blood in the water, attack him one by one. The question is, as Purito pointed out post race, whether this is Nibali's lone jour sans of if he's getting worn down.
Well, he hasn't put 5 minutes into the favourites on a climb yet, so I'll give Horner the benefit of the doubt. Shame Basso hasn't learned how to dress for poor weather yet.
Henao out Horner in
VSP PICKS (2nd Rest Day Swaps):
1. Valverde
2. Horner
3. J-Rod
4. Nibali
5. Dan Martin