Vuelta a Espana 2019

[Zviedrs]

Place for everything around and about Vuelta
Feel free to comment on your GC favorites, potential surprises or young riders etc.

August 24 - September 15

[JoJoJo]

Here are the odds for tour winner via oddschecker -> any thoughts?

Primož Roglič (Slovenia) Jumbo Visma: 9/4
Miguel Ángel López (Colombia) Astana: 3/1
Richard Carapaz (Ecuador) Movistar: 7/2
Steven Kruijswijk (Netherlands) Jumbo-Visma: 9/1
Nairo Quintana (Colomnia) Movistar: 16/1
Alejandro Valverde (Spain) Movistar: 18/1
Tao Geoghegan Hart (Great Britain) Ineos: 22/1
Esteban Chaves (Colombia) Mitchelton-Scott: 25/1
Rafał Majka (Poland) Bora-Hansgrohe: 27/1

[Sagan97]

(08-20-2019, 04:40 AM)JoJoJo Wrote:  Here are the odds for tour winner via oddschecker -> any thoughts?

Primož Roglič (Slovenia) Jumbo Visma: 9/4
Miguel Ángel López (Colombia) Astana: 3/1
Richard Carapaz (Ecuador) Movistar: 7/2
Steven Kruijswijk (Netherlands) Jumbo-Visma: 9/1
Nairo Quintana (Colomnia) Movistar: 16/1
Alejandro Valverde (Spain) Movistar: 18/1
Tao Geoghegan Hart (Great Britain) Ineos: 22/1
Esteban Chaves (Colombia) Mitchelton-Scott: 25/1
Rafał Majka (Poland) Bora-Hansgrohe: 27/1

Roglic again being the top choice - can he carry the favorite's label better this time?

[Sagan97]

Carapaz is out ...

[Sagan97]

Came back from the weekend trip to watch highlights. What a disaster for Jumbo yesterday, but Rolic came back in style today. Very happy for Quintana!! Astana has one win and one loss (Lopez & Co fell behind on 2nd stage).

[JoJoJo]

Roglic receives +1 from me today -> strong comeback after the fiasco on Saturday and he managed to open gap behind with Lopez, Valverde, Chaves, Majka and others ...

[Zviedrs]

Did anyone see Euskadi Murias team car crashing into a house corner during the TTT recon?

[JoJoJo]

Vuelta has always been the most unpredictable out of the 3 grand tours -> not gonna predict anything yet

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(08-26-2019, 05:51 AM)Zviedrs Wrote:  Did anyone see Euskadi Murias team car crashing into a house corner during the TTT recon?

ah yeyes I noticed an anime video on twitter about it but can't find it anymore
Emirates also went down

[BRMatt]

What happened to the UAE team, specifically Gaviria? Did they crash in the TTT as well?

I had Gaviria down to win today's stage, but he was nowhere to be found.

The curse of riders who leave DQS seems to be following him this season.

[JoJoJo]

(08-26-2019, 10:20 PM)BRMatt Wrote:  What happened to the UAE team, specifically Gaviria? Did they crash in the TTT as well?

yes I watched them hit the tarmac in a group crash similar to Jumbo -> but not bad today for Gaviria with top3 finish

[Zviedrs]

@"BRMatt" I've read that a broken garden hose is to blame for Jumbo's crash, and UAE went down on the same corner ...

[Sagan97]

Madrazo's win was quite something, eh? Never heard of this guy to be honest.

[Zviedrs]

(08-29-2019, 05:18 PM)Sagan97 Wrote:  Madrazo's win was quite something, eh? Never heard of this guy to be honest.

Yeah, quite a surprise, but that's what often happens at Vuelta

It seems that we have four GC contenders crystalised so far: Roglic, Valverde, Quintana, Lopez ... two Movistar guns, that's dangerous.

[BRMatt]

Valverde could do this!

Cycling is a crazy game. Between crashes and dips in form of other top contenders, a 39-year old may run out as the winner of this year's Vuelta. With Movistar's stacked deck and riders who didn't seem to be quite on top of their game at the Tour (Quintana's stage win notwithstanding), I suppose it was inevitable that one or more of their riders would come to the fore at the Vuelta.

If Valverde pulls it off, between him and 61 year old Horner's win (I might be slightly exaggerating here!) a few years ago, the average age of Vuelta winners will be...old.

[Zviedrs]

(08-30-2019, 04:12 PM)BRMatt Wrote:  If Valverde pulls it off, between him and 61 year old Horner's win (I might be slightly exaggerating here!) a few years ago, the average age of Vuelta winners will be...old.

Still not sure how Horner pulled that off.

[Sagan97]

Huuuge win for Pogočar today. He's been showing impressive results this season at the age of 20.
Will this be an impressive "goodbye Movistar" tour for Quintana? He opened some space there.

[BRMatt]

(09-01-2019, 06:28 PM)Sagan97 Wrote:  Huuuge win for Pogočar today. He's been showing impressive results this season at the age of 20.
Will this be an impressive "goodbye Movistar" tour for Quintana? He opened some space there.

Yes, Pogocar was impressive. I'd forgotten about his Tour of California win when he appeared on the Vuelta start list. While ToC is not a Grand Tour, it is a World Tour race, and so he's already got that on his palmares before he can legally drink here in the U.S.

Hard to know about the long-term prospects for Quintana in this Vuelta. He certainly looks strong, although Roglic should win the maillot rojo in the time trial. Can he hold off Q for two more hilly weeks? Hard to know. That's why this is such an exciting stage race!

[Zviedrs]

Marc Soler must be pissssssed about what happened! Movistar told him to wait for Quintana when spaniard was in a decent position to fight for a stage win ... strange and polarising move from them considering that Quintana is leaving at the end of season + he'll have trouble stopping Roglic from winning GC after tomorrow's 36km ITT. But we'll see what happens tomorrow.

[Sagan97]

(09-02-2019, 06:50 AM)Zviedrs Wrote:  Marc Soler must be pissssssed about what happened! Movistar told him to wait for Quintana when spaniard was in a decent position to fight for a stage win ... strange and polarising move from them considering that Quintana is leaving at the end of season + he'll have trouble stopping Roglic from winning GC after tomorrow's 36km ITT. But we'll see what happens tomorrow.

The question is: how much others will lose to Roglic tomorrow? I strongly doubt he'll end up not winning the stage.

[Nikko]

(09-02-2019, 04:52 PM)Sagan97 Wrote:  

(09-02-2019, 06:50 AM)Zviedrs Wrote:  Marc Soler must be pissssssed about what happened! Movistar told him to wait for Quintana when spaniard was in a decent position to fight for a stage win ... strange and polarising move from them considering that Quintana is leaving at the end of season + he'll have trouble stopping Roglic from winning GC after tomorrow's 36km ITT. But we'll see what happens tomorrow.

The question is: how much others will lose to Roglic tomorrow? I strongly doubt he'll end up not winning the stage.

As you predicted, it all came together It's the first season when I've watched more than a. single stage of Vuelta.
The former ski jumper now has a solid lead with + 1:52 Valverde; +2:11 Lopez, +3:00 Quintana