Did everyone got tired of seeing a nearly naked Marcel Kittel on the massage table for the Tour’s VSP page? I know I didn’t. Young Kennaugh will be sporting his British road race jersey and his proper shoe/sock pairing in this Vuelta. Get used to it.
Ladies and gentleman we have a race. We have some Giro winners, we have some Tour de France winners and we have some Vuelta winners all lining up for the 2014 edition.
Quintana won the Giro but wants to prove he is the real deal. Is Malmerde working for him? Froome, he has been training in Sonoma, California. Talansky lives there, maybe they have both been training with egg timer. I think we can count out Horner to repeat or Bertie to do anything other than put some points in his jersey pocket. Carlos Alberto Betancur is here to lose some weight. David Millar is in to show he really deserved to ride the Tour de France. Boonen is here to train for the World Championships. Maybe everybody is here because their boss said get your skinny (or fat, in Betancur’s case) ass to Spain and ride the damn Vuelta.
No matter, the reason you, dear readers are here, is to show your total domination in the VSP. Stare at the start list until olive oil pops out of your tear ducts and stigmata appear on your palms. Redemption, points, the Worlds, spite or orders from the boss are all equally good reasons to get riders on the start list. How many people picked Chris Horner to win last year? Just a moment, I’ll query the VSP generator for archived results.
“Fuck off, I’m full”
The VSP generator is channeling Mr Creosote, that’s not a good sign. The point is, if there is one, this season’s VSP* is hanging in the balance on the Vuelta. Don’t consult the professional odds makers, that is like doping. Who is motivated? Who has a great team? Who does not make too many kit transgressions? Who looks fantastic on the bike? These are the questions.
Who has the answers?
*Prizes are as follows:
[vsp_results id=”30805″/]
I know as well as any of you that I've been checked out lately, kind…
Peter Sagan has undergone quite the transformation over the years; starting as a brash and…
The Women's road race has to be my favorite one-day road race after Paris-Roubaix and…
Holy fuckballs. I've never been this late ever on a VSP. I mean, I've missed…
This week we are currently in is the most boring week of the year. After…
I have memories of my life before Cycling, but as the years wear slowly on…
View Comments
So I re-read the article at the top of this tonight. A query was posed...
"How many people picked Chris Horner to win last year? Just a moment, I'll query the VSP generator for archived results."
One person. Me. But it would take a miracle to save my VSP. And even though I picked Horner, I did such a terrible job with my other picks that I still didn't win the Vuelta VSP 2013.
I think my picks are pretty strong this year, too.
Ruh-roh....Quintana just got dropped and lost 14 secs to the faves. But what an end to the first summit finish!
@Floridian
Valverde over Quintana? Huh. This Movistar team is a great mystery to me. I didn't think Valverde had it in him to ride like that anymore.
@Erik
My thought too, but then my guess is that this may be a one off and in the next few climbs Quintana will be consistent and go into the leaders jersey while Valmerde will fade to support...
@Rob Yup. Seems like Movistar's doing the GC version of the old 1 - 2, sending Valverde up the road early on with the expectation that he'll fade, but meanwhile forcing the other GC guys to chase while Q lurks and conserves energy.
I wouldn't read too much into that finish, I think it was more about forcing Froome and Contador to show their hands, while Quintana can keep his closer to his chest, Sunday looks a lot more selective.
@Rob
This. It's all about consistency and that's why it was impossible to not pick Quintana for the Giro, or Vuelta. Or is it just that poker face that makes you think he's invincible?
Froome (crash out of the Tour and during training for the Vuelta) and Contador (broke his leg just 5-weeks ago. really?), not so much lately.
Regardless, great stage! We got us a race! If nothing else, we have five of the six top GC riders in the world tour and all in good form. It's going to be a great two+ weeks.
What's up with Tommeke in the Vuelta? It seems like he's not contesting the sprints at all. Does he have a cunning plan to ride into ace form for the World Championships? Is his plan more cunning than the foxy Faboo?
@Rob
I have to agree, I don't think Valverde will be around at crunch time in the high mountains. This was just a teaser of what is to come, where Quintana will rise up. Don't count out Froome though - he left the Tour because he couldn't hold onto his bars, not a busted leg like Bertie. Froome made a bit of a case for himself on this finish. I would be surprised if Bertie's knee holds up throughout.
@Floridian
There was a great interview on Eurosport with Valverde and Quintana together on a golf cart. They agreed that Quintana was for the GC, Valverde for a few stage wins. Quintana will smash this in the Mountains, I have no doubt.
Can I put it on the record, following his yet another crash yesterday, that I am coining the phrase "Chris "Dooom" Froome"? His luck this year just sucks.
Clenbutador will fade out too I reckon...