vuelta a espana

ednwireland

guess not many people following


how come my spoiler still ends up in the preview stupid boards.

just found this
all the stage profiles
http://forum.cyclingnews.com/showthread.php?p=324664#post324664

great ride from roche, 6th today

tulachmhor

ednwireland wrote: »

guess not many people following


how come my spoiler still ends up in the preview stupid boards.

just found this
all the stage profiles
http://forum.cyclingnews.com/showthread.php?p=324664#post324664

great ride from roche, 6th today

Surely there has to be a vested interest in this race,seeing as it's a Grand Tour and the fact that Irish riders are competing in it.

Personally speaking,I reckon this is as tough a Tour as there is on the ProTour list,especially with the sweltering heat,and the many tough mountain stages.

Not as glamarous as Il Giro or Le Tour,but equally as demanding,if not moreso.

snollup

I'm following it on Eurosport player. Really enjoying it so far.

mo_bhicycle

ednwireland wrote: »

guess not many people following

Would love to follow it but Eurosport showing golf news instead of stage highlights at the moment.

mo_bhicycle

mo_bhicycle wrote: »

Would love to follow it but Eurosport showing golf news instead of stage highlights at the moment.

Wahoo ..... finally on

RobFowl

snollup wrote: »

I'm following it on Eurosport player. Really enjoying it so far.

Ditto

Don't think Deignan's going to finish 9th this year.
Seems to be struggling in every stage so far.
Sky not too lucky so far as well.
Great stage finish today.

Beasty

ednwireland wrote: »

how come my spoiler still ends up in the preview stupid boards.

It always happens with opening posts - unfortunately the preview does not respect spoilers!

The best thing is to have a general opening post, stating perhaps the stage or race details, without any spoilers. Then follow-up with your spoiler post

ednwireland

RobFowl wrote: »

Ditto

Don't think Deignan's going to finish this year.

fixed that for you.
actually i take that back he finished in the bunch yesterday,

doesnt seem to have any form this year, 1m 40 down on the prologue, saw cervelo go off and he was off the back after the first couple of corners, hope he can ride himself into some form and at least finish

19 mins down today ouch

650Ginge

tulachmhor wrote: »

Surely there has to be a vested interest in this race,seeing as it's a Grand Tour and the fact that Irish riders are competing in it.

Personally speaking,I reckon this is as tough a Tour as there is on the ProTour list,especially with the sweltering heat,and the many tough mountain stages.

Not as glamarous as Il Giro or Le Tour,but equally as demanding,if not moreso.

What Irish riders, hope you don't mean Roche? Hope he does well I like him but he is the biggest blow in out there, but born in France to a French mum lives in italy now but had to get English lessons about 4 years ago and hasn't a word of Irish. The guy is French.

ajk24

650Ginge wrote: »

What Irish riders, hope you don't mean Roche? Hope he does well I like him but he is the biggest blow in out there, but born in France to a French mum lives in italy now but had to get English lessons about 4 years ago and hasn't a word of Irish. The guy is French.

I know Blackrock College has a reputation as being rugby focused but I assume that english was a pre-requisite to undertake an education there?

ednwireland

geat ride by gilbert up that final 1km though and rodrigez good early hit by one of the faves

i like talking about the race myself

CompositeJohn

650Ginge wrote: »

What Irish riders, hope you don't mean Roche? Hope he does well I like him but he is the biggest blow in out there, but born in France to a French mum lives in italy now but had to get English lessons about 4 years ago and hasn't a word of Irish. The guy is French.

Comments like this annoy me, the lad was racing underage here!!! Spoke English pretty well from what I can recall....

RobFowl

CompositeJohn wrote: »

Comments like this annoy me, the lad was racing underage here!!! Spoke English pretty well from what I can recall....

+1
He's quite proud about his nationality.
Regarding living in Italy almost every top pro rider lives on the continent.

mo_bhicycle

650Ginge wrote: »

What Irish riders, hope you don't mean Roche? Hope he does well I like him but he is the biggest blow in out there, but born in France to a French mum lives in italy now but had to get English lessons about 4 years ago and hasn't a word of Irish. The guy is French.

I agree, there should be a mandatory Irish exam before selection of the World Championship team ... equivalent to a C in leaving cert honors would suffice. 10 extra points granted in the exam for riders living somewhere on the west coast of ireland, double points if it's an island.

Jawgap

CompositeJohn wrote: »

Comments like this annoy me, the lad was racing underage here!!! Spoke English pretty well from what I can recall....

RobFowl wrote: »

+1
He's quite proud about his nationality.
Regarding living in Italy almost every top pro rider lives on the continent.

mo_bhicycle wrote: »

I agree, there should be a mandatory Irish exam before selection of the World Championship team ... equivalent to a C in leaving cert honors would suffice. 10 extra points granted in the exam for riders living somewhere on the west coast of ireland, double points if it's an island.

Yes, but he spells his name the French way - Nicolas rather than Nicholas.

Just because his dad is Irish; he raced under-age here; went to school here and got a posh-boy D4 accent; and has a better than passing knowledge of GAA, please do not undermine someone's right to begrudge this French-speaking, tri-colour appreciating cyclist's success . - ok, it may the Irish tri-colour, but the French flag is also a tri-colour so who knows what he's referring to when he talks about seeing tri-colours.

Didn't he have some association with Orwell too? That should be grounds for taking his passport from him!

Is the Vuelta on anywhere else apart from Eurosport?

bbosco

snollup wrote: »

I'm following it on Eurosport player. Really enjoying it so far.

Am I being stupid or is it on Eurosport player at the moment? All I can get is a page telling me that the Vuelta is not available on VOD.

Edit: Got it working now in IE. Chrome-MS Silverlight compatibility issue.

emtroche

For anybody that doesn't know, you can get links for viewing races here

http://www.cyclingfans.com/

niceonetom

Awesome finish to today's route.

scooters

What a finish today, Roche up there in the top 10 again today.

Roche now 11th overall

ednwireland

scooters wrote: »

What a finish today, Roche up there in the top 10 again today.

Roche now 11th overall

was just looking at that, another good ride from roche 8th on the stage
sastre the big loser today though

jwshooter

Cracking finish ,24% gradient .. Nicholas is going very well .

c montgomery

Stephen roach was on radio one last week saying that nico's target for the vuelta was a stage win and a top 7 finish. Lets hope he can do it:)

650Ginge

RobFowl wrote: »

+1
He's quite proud about his nationality.
Regarding living in Italy almost every top pro rider lives on the continent.

Look I really like him followed him right through the tdf but when the french cycling federation give him an ultimatium in 2005, he opted for french, the UCI later ruled that he could continue with dual nationality.....at least thats what is on his wiki page...

ktz84

650Ginge wrote: »

Look I really like him followed him right through the tdf but when the french cycling federation give him an ultimatium in 2005, he opted for french, the UCI later ruled that he could continue with dual nationality.....at least thats what is on his wiki page...

He opted for French Nationality because, as I believe it, he had intended to live and work and France after his cycling career had finished and by renouncing his French nationality he was told that this would adversely affect his ability to find employment. When that was ruled wrong and he got to make a free choice he chose to ride for Ireland.

Given Ireland's history of people leaving our shores then what he is planning on doing is hardly something new. He has roots in both countries and both cultures and has dual nationality and that should be recognied not ridiculed.

If it wasn't for dual nationality then I would have British Citizenship as I'm born in that bit of Ireland you left behind oh proud Irish man

bbosco

650Ginge wrote: »

Look I really like him followed him right through the tdf but when the french cycling federation give him an ultimatium in 2005, he opted for french, the UCI later ruled that he could continue with dual nationality.....at least thats what is on his wiki page...

So if you really do really like him, why do you care about the rest (especially when the situation was not as simple as it first sounds - as described above by ktz84)?

RobFowl

650Ginge wrote: »

Look I really like him followed him right through the tdf but when the french cycling federation give him an ultimatium in 2005, he opted for french, the UCI later ruled that he could continue with dual nationality.....at least thats what is on his wiki page...

I think his team at the time put him under extreme pressure to take out French nationality at that time.
At the end of the day he took the pragmatic decision to take a French passport.

It was only later clarified that he could hold dual citizen ship (his team had insisted he couldn't) and since then he's ridden for Ireland.
I suspect from a career point of view he'd be better off financially being French only and would have a much better chance in the worlds etc as would be part of a much larger team (I suspect he'd be a leader on the right courses for the worlds as a French rider).

Dual nationality is becoming almost the norm these days so alot of it comes down to what you feel you are (personally am eligible for a British passport as well but feel nothing but Irish, Mrs Fowl feels both Irish and British and holds a British passport). Old fashioned nationalism really is becoming less and less relevant (IMO).

Jawgap

To borrow a phrase from the famous "Irishman" Arthur Wellesely, Duke of Wellington......

"Just because one is born in a pond, it does not make one a frog":)

Being completely cynical, I would've thought the opportunities for promotion, progression and marketing would be far greater if he opted to be a French rider and present himself as such.

For a start (I think I'm right, but open to correction), he would've placed as the highest finishing French rider in the TdF this year - that would probably have been worth a bit in terms of sponsorship and meant a trip to the Elysee instead of EuroDisney!!

it's not like the footballers - I get the impression he's not riding for Ireland just because he can't get a gig anywhere else.

ktz84

France - Cycling. England - Wimbeldon. Uhm - wouldn't want to ride/play for either. The desperation would be stifling.

Jawgap

For anyone not reading Roche's diary, today's is a classic - nice anecdote at the start before relating his experience in yesterday's stage:-

"Biel walked over the table with a big grin on his face. He had helped himself to a greasy pile of chicken and some tasty looking Spanish tortillas full of cheese and sauces. Just as he sat down and was preparing to tuck into his dinner, the team doctor walked over, whipped Biel's plate from under him and said. "Forget about it. Get something else." Cue even more slagging for poor Biel.":)

ednwireland

yep sort of losing the vuelta highlights are on too early / too late for me (damn the american open tennis)

roche diary - brilliant
http://www.independent.ie/sport/other-sports/cycling-cyclists-have-a-david-blainelike-capacity-to-make-food-disappear-2322971.html

At only 8pc body fat, Biel is by no means overweight. In fact if you saw him walk past, or any of us for that matter, you'd probably say we all need a good feed. But to a cyclist he might as well be morbidly obese and we have been calling him "chubby" since the race began.

The food on the race so far hasn't been anything to write home about. Last night we were at another roadside motel and as we sat down to yet another self-service buffet, Biel walked over the table with a big grin on his face.

He had helped himself to a greasy pile of chicken and some tasty looking Spanish tortillas full of cheese and sauces. Just as he sat down and was preparing to tuck into his dinner, the team doctor walked over, whipped Biel's plate from under him and said. "Forget about it. Get something else." Cue even more slagging for poor Biel.

actually when i was at the tour d'lain i was amazed at how skinny these guys are when you see them next to real people (better strat getting my 50% body fat down )

Beached

Good first week for Nico, a sprint stage today, and then two mountain stages for the weekend. Hopefully he can hang in there in the mountains. I really fear for Phillip Deignan though.
What is expected from Philip Gilbert over the weekend. Can he keep the leaders jersey. I know he is a strong classics rider, but what about the high mountains???

c montgomery

Beached wrote: »

Good first week for Nico, a sprint stage today, and then two mountain stages for the weekend. Hopefully he can hang in there in the mountains. I really fear for Phillip Deignan though.
What is expected from Philip Gilbert over the weekend. Can he keep the leaders jersey. I know he is a strong classics rider, but what about the high mountains???

I really hope so, i have 20 euro on him to finish in the top 10 along with a tenner on him to get a stage victory:D

honkjelly

Saw the Vuelta pass on the top of the climb above Murcia yesterday and in Aspe today. Had the tricolour with me so hope the Irish lads saw it. Amazing how relaxed the police are here, only locking down the road about 15 minutes before the race passed.

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/eWDFNiYWqDBrvqNikH755A?feat=directlink

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/6YXzC9oLCHM1eyfssoiKsQ?feat=directlink

ednwireland

Team Sky quit Vuelta
Eurosport | Sat, Sep 4, 11:01

Team Sky withdraw from the Tour of Spain following the death of their Spanish assistant Txema Gonzalez.


i clicked the headline assuming it was down to there digestive problems then saw the above

sad news

ednwireland

another good ride by roche upto 8th overall great stage great win by moncoutie

snollup

Great end to the stage alright.Thought for a while NR might finish a little further up the field but he did really well to finish where he did. Savage final climb.

ColSheehan

Really fantastic to see Deignan @ the front pushing the peloton on as well during todays stage! Maybe his form is coming back and he could win a stage again?

Nice stage today for Nico as well! Up to 8th 1'19 down on Anton

Morrisseeee

Wow, great finish to today's stage, big moving today, some favs 'blew' up :eek:

greenrocket

where did nico finish, cant view any sports pages at work

thanks

niceonetom

greenrocket wrote: »

where did nico finish, cant view any sports pages at work

thanks

13th in the stage, still holds on to 8th in the GC.

buffalo

He's still at 8th overall, finished 13th today.

manwithaplan

He lost 51 seconds to Anton (the GC leader) on the road today and another 20 seconds time bonus Anton received for winning today's stage. It puts him 2 mins 30 secs down overall - provisional standings now seem to show him 14th on the stage and 9th overall.

Chips Lovell

Anton is having a cracking Vuelta. He seems to be really coming of age this year after some strong showings in previous editions.

Funkyzeit

el tonto wrote: »

Anton is having a cracking Vuelta. He seems to be really coming of age this year after some strong showings in previous editions.

What impressed me most was his maturity in not going into the red trying to follow ME/JR/VN straight away - kept a cool head and paced himself back up.

ednwireland

most importantly

When we arrived in Andorra, my team-mates were looking forward to picking up some gifts for their families. As the stage starts a little bit later on Thursday and shouldn't be as hard as the past couple of days, they planned to have a short walk around the shops and buy some gifts.

But after we eventually found our way to our hotel, we found out that today is a bank holiday in Andorra and all the shops were closed. If you think I was disappointed after the stage, you should have seen their faces.

http://www.independent.ie/sport/other-sports/nicolas-roche-its-disappointing-to-see-my-good-friend-philip-having-to-stop-2331055.html

ednwireland

caaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaveeeeeeeeeeeeeeendish

sorry was in a mtg couldnt do it live

wooohooo great finish took the last corner and left evryone for dead (last winner here malcolm elliot weird eh !

ednwireland

cav again full pelt into a corner 750m from the finish rides hushovd off his wheel - class
where do htc find all these australian leadout men ???????????

Chips Lovell

Cavendish has had a great run the past few days. The way he and Goss took the final corner today and yesterday meant that virtually nobody had a chance against him.

Durnish

I am a novice. What is all this spoiler stuff about?

Chips Lovell

Durnish wrote: »

I am a novice. What is all this spoiler stuff about?

Any discussion of the particular day's stage should be covered by spoiler tags, unless a thread is created to specifically discuss that stage.

You can put the tags on by highlighting the text you've typed and hitting the spoiler button at the top of the editing screen.

godihatedehills

Durnish wrote: »

I am a novice. What is all this spoiler stuff about?

and to show what's under a spoiler highlight it. That one took me a while...