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Vuelta a Espaņa & Tour of Britain 2018

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    Vuelta a Espaņa & Tour of Britain 2018

    Getting near to the time for the final Grand Tour of the year, and Britain's biggest (if not necessarily the best) stage race.

    La Vuelta starts on the 25th and runs until the 16th of September. Unlike the Giro and the Tour, the Vuelta's late summer placing means they can get up high early on, so we start with a prologue and reach 1000m above sea level as early as day 3.

    The Tour of Britain starts on Sunday 2nd September and finishes on Sunday 9th.

    Stage one Sunday, September 2 Pembrey Country Park to Newport 175km
    Stage two Monday, September 3 Cranbrook to Barnstaple 174km
    Stage three Tuesday, September 4 Bristol to Bristol 125km
    Stage four Wednesday, September 5 Nuneaton to Royal Leamington Spa 183km
    Stage five Thursday, September 5 Cockermouth to Whinlatter Pass 14km (TTT)
    Stage six Friday, September 7 Barrow-in-Furness to Whinlatter Pass 169km
    Stage seven Saturday, September 8 West Bridgford to Mansfield 223km
    Stage eight Sunday, September 9 The London Stage 77k

    #2
    The roadbook for the ToB has been made available - I think it is on the official website.

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      #3
      Yeah, the ToB manual is here. Enjoyed learning that Yorkshire gets some financial benefit from the race by them staying in our hotels, including one a couple of k from me. Going to stage 7 in some format though a rail strike is threatening to bugger up my rather ambitious plans.

      Vuelta startlist is taking shape, Mitchelton announcing yesterday that both Yates twins will be starting - Simon as leader, Adam in support. We'll get all the GC riders who did the Giro and had a rest in July - Pinot, Aru, Lopez, Bennett - and others looking to either save their season or find some form before the Worlds - Kruijswijk, Valverde, Quintana, Landa (if fit), Nibali (ditto), Porte, Mollema, Zakarin. Sagan said he was doing the race but he looked totally out of condition in the Euros road race on Sunday so there might be a rethink there. Probably won't see many (any) sprinters as usual so there's the opportunity for some rather soft Grand Tour stage wins.

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        #4
        Wonder if Mitchelton-Scott can find room for their new European Champion as well as the Yateses? Trentin has a decent record at the race, the lumpy and tough stages suit him, and he is in great nick.
        Last edited by Kevin S; 14-08-2018, 18:29.

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          #5
          La Vuelta roadbook:
          https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jMb...w63ddIg5I/view

          They continue the pattern of having a Covadonga stage finish in even-numbered years this decade. Last time Quintana won that stage (10), taking the race lead which he held to the end.
          Last edited by Kevin S; 15-08-2018, 10:19.

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            #6
            Sky have announced that both Thomas and Froome are going to ride the ToB. Thomas's participation had been generally expected but Froome is a bit of a surprise, it's the first time he's done this race for absolutely years. They're bringing Poels as well which suggests they fancy a crack at the overall, the spoilsports.

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              #7
              Thomas has ridden it before and will get a deserved lap of honour around the country.
              Is Froome doing it so he hears some cheering for a change? Or is this his farewell to Skeh?

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                #8
                Froome’s ridden it a couple of times before too, though not since 2009.

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                  #9
                  Indeed, it predates him being at Sky. In the 2009 edition he was in the Barloworld team, working for their GC contender - a certain young Mr Thomas.

                  I don't think Froome is going anywhere, but Sky are going to have to do some serious work on keeping everyone happy with their objectives in 2019.

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                    #10
                    What’s their team/plan going to be for the Vuelta now, with Thomas, Froome and Poels on the ToB and Bernal out of action (I presume that’s the case, has it been confirmed)?

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                      #11
                      In any case i might need to get over to Cockermouth so Froome hears some booing

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                        #12
                        Originally posted by Ray de Galles View Post
                        What’s their team/plan going to be for the Vuelta now, with Thomas, Froome and Poels on the ToB and Bernal out of action (I presume that’s the case, has it been confirmed)?
                        They shouldn't have been considering Bernal for Vuelta selection anyway even before his crash, at this stage of his career it'd be too much to do two Grand Tours in a year and there'd be a serious danger of burning him out. Probably be led by Henao, some support for Tao Geoghegan Hart who got a decent result in the recent Vuelta a Burgos and then domestiques such as Elissonde, Lopez, Puccio, De La Cruz etc.

                        Quick Step have picked Viviani, so that's a proper sprinter on the race, and Bora have confirmed Sagan will ride. Majka's their leader.

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                          #13
                          Sunweb have announced the Vuelta team you'd probably have expected them to - Bauhaus for the sprints, Kelderman for the GC.

                          Off-topic I know - but these two races do build up to the world championships - what's the ITT course like in the championships? Another one for Dumoulin?

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                            #14


                            Would think he’s the favourite.
                            Last edited by ursus arctos; 20-08-2018, 20:49.

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                              #15
                              Landa is officially out of the Vuelta, which makes things rather more coherent for Movistar.

                              Strangely, the World Championship website is down, which is why the profile isn’t showing up above.
                              Last edited by ursus arctos; 20-08-2018, 20:51.

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                                #16
                                Tiz have put up last week's races, so I've got time to catch up before the Vuelta.

                                I'll try and get to the London stage of ToB this year, especially as I blinked and missed RideLondon.

                                MS really should pull a stunt where they regularly switch the Yateses, so as to avert a situation like Simon's cracking in the Giro.

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                                  #17
                                  Sky squad for the Veulta :

                                  Jonathan Castroviejo
                                  David de la Cruz
                                  Sergio Henao
                                  Tao Geoghegan Hart
                                  Michal Kwiatkowski
                                  Salvatore Puccio
                                  Pavel Sivakov
                                  Dylan van Baarle

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                                    #18
                                    Jooooooooooy unconfined
                                    It's an opening day short time
                                    Trial.

                                    Van Baarle in the lead with a 9'59", Rohan Dennis the hot favourite.

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                                      #19
                                      Are we going to be plagued with Kirby’s Skyphilia for the whole three weeks?

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                                        #20
                                        So, that massive post Tour of Utah wankfest over Sepp Kuss, then.

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                                          #21
                                          Porte gonna Porte.

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                                            #22
                                            That was a very strange stage.

                                            The peloton exploded on a mild ramp they had already climbed once as if it had suddenly transformed into the Angliru.

                                            The grupetto lost 13 and a half minutes.

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                                              #23
                                              Steepest part on the final climb today is about halfway up, then it flattens out. Would expect to see a Valverde attack on that steep bit.

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                                                #24
                                                Does having both Sky Sports and BT Sports subscriptions enable me to watch Eurosport online or would I need to pay for Eurosport player too?

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                                                  #25
                                                  Rudy Mollard is about to take the red jersey from Kwiato by about a minute.

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