La Vuelta 2017 - General chat

neris

Routes out for the Vuelta and the Angliru is back. Starting with TTT in Nimes and usual finish in Madrid.

Running from Saturday August 19th to Sunday September 10th 2017, the Vuelta will be made up of 21 stages and will cover a total distance of 3,297.7 kilometres.

5 flat stages and 1 flat with high-altitude finales stage
8 hill stages
5 mountain stages
1 individual time trial stage
1 team time trial stage
Distinctive aspects of the race

13.8 km individual time trial
42 km team time trial
50 summits
2 rest days
View the route

TheBlaaMan

The Vuelta has always been exciting in recent years, and with Alto d'Angliru on the last competitive day, it might go right down to the wire. These iconic climbs are often neutralised by the main contenders being cautious and simply marking each other, but if it's on the last day that won't be an option for some contenders.

Daroxtar

The stage finishing at the Machucos will be fun. The local name is Collao Espina. It's 9km@7.6% on paper but the profile is completely irregular with ramps over 20% and hairpins at 30%, concrete section and cattle grids and a descent near the top that goes to -18%





http://www.altimetrias.net/Cantabria/CollaoEspina1.gif

neris

That's one of the great things about the Vuelta though. They find these mad obscure paved goat tracks and make a race out of it. There's a bit of adventure and divilment in the route planning

Daroxtar

neris wrote: »

That's one of the great things about the Vuelta though. They find these mad obscure paved goat tracks and make a race out of it. There's a bit of adventure and divilment in the route planning

You know the history of the Angliru? It was a farmers path to mountain top meadows. The route planner heard about it and went off with his altimeter to survey it and couldn't believe how steep it was. He had less than 15%vision so couldn't even really see what he was going to put the cyclists through

There's a few other climbs nearby the Angliru that come very close to matching it for brutality but they don't have sufficient space at the top to put up the staging. You should check out the Gamonitero or Salto La Cabra.
Great read here about climbs they could/should use, a few have made it since the list was published http://forum.cyclingnews.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=21779

Crocked

Daroxtar wrote: »

The stage finishing at the Machucos will be fun. The local name is Collao Espina. It's 9km@7.6% on paper but the profile is completely irregular with ramps over 20% and hairpins at 30%, concrete section and cattle grids and a descent near the top that goes to -18%


http://www.altimetrias.net/Cantabria/CollaoEspina1.gif

That looks like a fantastic climb, it's going on "the list"

Lusk_Doyle

Daroxtar wrote: »

The stage finishing at the Machucos will be fun. The local name is Collao Espina. It's 9km@7.6% on paper but the profile is completely irregular with ramps over 20% and hairpins at 30%, concrete section and cattle grids and a descent near the top that goes to -18%





http://www.altimetrias.net/Cantabria/CollaoEspina1.gif

Perfect ambush country.

Galego

neris wrote: »

That's one of the great things about the Vuelta though. They find these mad obscure paved goat tracks and make a race out of it. There's a bit of adventure and divilment in the route planning

There is no real need for La Vuelta to use these paved goat tracks. There are tons of unused "natural" climbs which are not cul de sacs. It seems to be all about money these days in La Vuelta and which council pays their fees.....

happytramp

Galego wrote: »

There is no real need for La Vuelta to use these paved goat tracks. There are tons of unused "natural" climbs which are not cul de sacs. It seems to be all about money these days in La Vuelta and which council pays their fees.....

Yeah, those goat herders in obscure parts of rural Spain are a real goldmine for race planners.

Galego

happytramp wrote: »

Yeah, those goat herders in obscure parts of rural Spain are a real goldmine for race planners.

That one in the pics above is a hill outside Santander....

D9Male

I think it is a great route. The Vuelta has too often relied on flat stages with short steep "murito" finishes. Here there is genuine variety. Downhill finishes, hilly stages, a cobbled climb and of course some brutal finishes.

My only quibble is that so much climbing may need another 20-30km of ITT to balance it, but I still think it's great.

MPFGLB

Daroxtar wrote: »

The stage finishing at the Machucos will be fun. The local name is Collao Espina. It's 9km@7.6% on paper but the profile is completely irregular with ramps over 20% and hairpins at 30%, concrete section and cattle grids and a descent near the top that goes to -18%





http://www.altimetrias.net/Cantabria/CollaoEspina1.gif

Gosh you'd really need to eb at the front on that first climb and even the second

Positioning is everything as no one can pass


I have liked the short steep climbs and shorter stages at the Vuelta ( while the Giro has the market on the longer climbs)....but it is nice to also mix it up

One reason I liked the shorter steep climbs is they have favoured the Irish riders when they rode and in form....but not the only reason ....

That is a long TT and flat so wonlt favour Dan martin or Esteban Chaves ...but wil favour Froome or Dumoulin
But stage 20 is so hard that you have to be a pure climber and small (just for balance alone) to win...like Ellisone did in 2013
So I suppose they balance each other out ...

I just want stage that allow plenty of attacking and shorter stages allow that ...but like a few long ones too.

neris

Daroxtar wrote: »

http://forum.cyclingnews.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=21779

Some great climbs on that forum. You could see a few riders really struggling if they put a few of those climbs in.

kingdomlad

A couple of us are heading down and staying in Gijon to take in a few stages during the final week. Would anybody here know of any good shops that do bike rental in the area? We don't really fancy bringing our own for 4 days.

D9Male

MPFGLB wrote: »

Gosh you'd really need to eb at the front on that first climb and even the second

Positioning is everything as no one can pass


I have liked the short steep climbs and shorter stages at the Vuelta ( while the Giro has the market on the longer climbs)....but it is nice to also mix it up

One reason I liked the shorter steep climbs is they have favoured the Irish riders when they rode and in form....but not the only reason ....

That is a long TT and flat so wonlt favour Dan martin or Esteban Chaves ...but wil favour Froome or Dumoulin
But stage 20 is so hard that you have to be a pure climber and small (just for balance alone) to win...like Ellisone did in 2013
So I suppose they balance each other out ...

I just want stage that allow plenty of attacking and shorter stages allow that ...but like a few long ones too.

Amazing how cycling has changed that 40km of time trialling is considered to be a lot. The Vuelta used to have at least two ITT, until this decade. Riders like Dan Martin, Majka and Bardet are so lucky not to be operating in previous decades.

Daroxtar

kingdomlad wrote: »

A couple of us are heading down and staying in Gijon to take in a few stages during the final week. Would anybody here know of any good shops that do bike rental in the area? We don't really fancy bringing our own for 4 days.

Contact Martin here
http://bikeasturias.net/bike-hire/

MPFGLB

D9Male wrote: »

Amazing how cycling has changed that 40km of time trialling is considered to be a lot. The Vuelta used to have at least two ITT, until this decade. Riders like Dan Martin, Majka and Bardet are so lucky not to be operating in previous decades.

I imagine its becasue riders are more specialist now...Back in the day top riders for GC tended ot be good at both

Macy0161

D9Male wrote: »

Amazing how cycling has changed that 40km of time trialling is considered to be a lot.

TTT as well. I think in Kelly's book he mentioned doing one that was 150km+! Mind a short TT was nearly enough for Froome last year...

Hopefully Nico gets leadership as a bit of pay back for working for Porte at the Tour this year. I guess it'll depend on Van Garderen goes in the giro.

MPFGLB

Van Gardeten won't be a Vuelta contender I'd say Course at Vuelta does not really suit Dan or Nick but Martin is concentrating on the Tour and Nico id say will give it a good fo but Angriliu stage not ideal for him Lost alot of time there in 2013

TooObvious

kingdomlad wrote: »

A couple of us are heading down and staying in Gijon to take in a few stages during the final week. Would anybody here know of any good shops that do bike rental in the area? We don't really fancy bringing our own for 4 days.

Gotta say, Gijon is a great spot, good value for money, feck all Irish/English to ruin it, and loads of cider! Enjoy it!

Macy0161

MPFGLB wrote: »

Van Gardeten won't be a Vuelta contender I'd say Course at Vuelta does not really suit Dan or Nick but Martin is concentrating on the Tour and Nico id say will give it a good fo but Angriliu stage not ideal for him Lost alot of time there in 2013

Ah yeah, but even a bit more freedom to go for stages (or points jersey?)

neris

Macy0161 wrote: »

TTT as well. I think in Kelly's book he mentioned doing one that was 150km+! Mind a short TT was nearly enough for Froome last year...

Hopefully Nico gets leadership as a bit of pay back for working for Porte at the Tour this year. I guess it'll depend on Van Garderen goes in the giro.

Think it was the tour back in the 50s or 60s had a 200km ITT. Read something in a book about a 200km tt and almost sure it was the tour

Daroxtar

So, two weeks to go. The provisional start list was published today

AG2R La Mondiale

Romain Bardet (Fra)
Nico Denz (Ger)
Alexandre Geniez (Fra)
Alexis Gougeard (Fra)
Matteo Montaguti (Ita)
Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita)
Clement Chevrier (Fra)
Hugo Houle (Can)
Samuel Dumoulin (Fra)
Julien Duval (Fra)

Cofidis, Credits Solutions

Jerome Cousin (Fra)
Luis Angel Mate (Spa)
Daniel Navarro (Spa)
Anthony Perez (Fra)
Stephane Rossetto (Fra)
Anthony Turgis (Fra)
Jimmy Turgis (Fra)
Jonas Van Genechten (Bel)
Kenneth Vanbilsen (Bel)
R Yoann Bagot (Fra)
R Guillaume Bonnafond (Fra)

Astana Pro Team

Fabio Aru (Ita)
Pello Bilbao (Spa)
Sergei Chernetski (Rus)
Laurens De Vreese (Bel)
Jesper Hansen (Den)
Miguel Angel Lopez (Col)
Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz)
Luis Leon Sanchez (Spa)
Nikita Stalnov (Kaz)
R Dario Cataldo (Ita)
R Oscar Gatto (Ita)

Bahrain-Merida

Valerio Agnoli (Ita)
Manuele Boaro (Ita)
Ivan Garcia (Spa)
Javier Moreno (Spa)
Antonio Nibali (Ita)
Vincenzo Nibali (Ita)
Domen Novak (Slo)
Franco Pellizotti (Ita)
Giovanni Visconti (Ita)
R Niccolo Bonifazio (Ita)
R Tsgabu Grmay (Eth)

BMC Racing Team

Damiano Caruso (Ita)
Alessandro De Marchi (Ita)
Rohan Dennis (Aus)
Kilian Frankiny (Swi)
Ben Hermans (Bel)
Daniel Oss (Ita)
Nicolas Roche (Irl)
Samuel Sanchez (Spa)
Tejay Van Garderen (USA)
R Brent Bookwalter (USA)
R Jean-Pierre Drucker (Lux)

Bora-Hansgrohe

Emanuel Buchmann (Ger)
Michal Kolar (Svk)
Leopold König (Cze)
Patrick Konrad (Aut)
Rafal Majka (Pol)
Christoph Pfingsten (Ger)
Pawel Poljanski (Pol)
Andreas Schillinger (Ger)
Michael Schwarzmann (Ger)
R Jan Barta (Cze)
R Erik Baska (Svk)

Cannondale-Drapac

Brendan Canty (Aus)
Simon Clarke (Aus)
Joe Dombrowski (USA)
Davide Formolo (Ita)
Tom Scully (NZl)
Toms Skuijns (Lat)
Andrew Talansky (USA)
Davide Villella (Ita)
Michael Woods (Can)
R Hugh Carthy (GBr)
R Lawson Craddock (USA)

FDJ

Arnaud Courteille (Fra)
Marc Fournier (Fra)
Daniel Hoelgaard (Nor)
Johan Le Bon (Fra)
Tobias Ludvigsson (Swe)
Jeremy Maison (Fra)
Lorrenzo Manzin (Fra)
Sebastien Reichenbach (Swi)
Anthony Roux (Fra)
R Odd Christian Eiking (Nor)
R Cedric Pineau (Fra)

Lotto Soudal

Sander Armee (Bel)
Bart De Clercq (Bel)
Thomas De Gendt (Bel)
Jens Debusschere (Bel)
Tomasz Marczynski (Pol)
Remy Mertz (Bel)
Maxime Monfort (Bel)
Rafael Valls (Spa)
Jelle Wallays (Bel)
R Kris Boeckmans (Bel)
R Sean De Bie (Bel)

Movistar

Winner Anacona (Col)
Jorge Arcas Pena (Spa)
Carlos Betancur (Col)
Richard Carapaz (Ecu)
Ruben Fernandez (Spa)
Daniel Moreno (Spa)
Nelson Oliveira (Por)
Jose Rojas (Spa)
Marc Soler (Spa)
R Imanol Erviti (Spa)
R Gorka Izagirre (Spa)

Orica-Scott

Sam Bewley (NZl)
Esteban Chaves (Col)
Jack Haig (Aus)
Mathew Hayman (Aus)
Christopher Juul Jensen (Den)
Svein Tuft (Can)
Carlos Verona (Spa)
Adam Yates (GBr)
Simon Yates (GBr)
R Michael Hepburn (Aus)
R Roger Kluge (Ger)

Quick-Step Floors

Julian Alaphilippe (Fra)
Eros Capecchi (Ita)
David De La Cruz (Spa)
Tim Declercq (Bel)
Bob Jungels (Lux)
Enric Mas (Spa)
Maximilian Schachmann (Ger)
Niki Terpstra (Ned)
Matteo Trentin (Ita)
R Gianluca Brambilla (Ita)
R Dries Devenyns (Bel)

Dimension Data

Igor Anton (Spa)
Mekseb Debesay (Eri)
Nicolas Dougall (RSA)
Omar Fraile (Spa)
Jacques Janse Van Rensburg (RSA)
Ben King (USA)
Merhawi Kudus (Eri)
Lachlan Morton (Aus)
Serge Pauwels (Bel)
R Ben O'Connor (Aus)
R Youcef Reguigui (Alg)

Katusha-Alpecin

Maxim Belkov (Rus)
Sven Erik Bystrom (Nor)
José Goncalves (Por)
Marco Haller (Aut)
Pavel Kochetkov (Rus)
Alberto Losada (Spa)
Matvey Mamykin (Rus)
Baptiste Planckaert (Bel)
Ilnur Zakarin (Rus)
R Michael Morkov (Den)
R Jhonatan Restrepo (Col)

LottoNL-Jumbo

George Bennett (NZl)
Lars Boom (Ned)
Koen Bouwman (Ned)
Stef Clement (Ned)
Floris De Tier (Bel)
Steven Kruijswijk (Ned)
Bert-Jan Lindeman (Ned)
Juan Jose Lobato (Spa)
Daan Olivier (Ned)
R Martijn Keizer (Ned)
R Antwan Tolhoek (Ned)

Team Sky

Philip Deignan (Irl)
Christopher Froome (GBr)
Peter Kennaugh (GBr)
David Lopez (Spa)
Gianni Moscon (Ita)
Mikel Nieve (Spa)
Wout Poels (Ned)
Diego Rosa (Ita)
Ian Stannard (GBr)
R Kenny Elissonde (Fra)
R Tao Geoghegan Hart (GBr)

Team Sunweb

Warren Barguil (Fra)
Johannes Fršhlinger (Ger)
Chad Haga (USA)
Chris Hamilton (Aus)
Lennard Kamna (Ger)
Wilco Kelderman (Ned)
Soren Kragh Andersen (Den)
Sam Oomen (Ned)
R Bert De Backer (Bel)
R Sindre Skjostad Lunke (Nor)

Trek-Segafredo

Alberto Contador (Spa)
Koen De Kort (Ned)
John Degenkolb (Ger)
Rœben Guerreiro (Por)
Jesus Hernandez (Spa)
Jarlinson Pantano (Col)
Gregory Rast (Swi)
Kiel Reijnen (USA)
Peter Stetina (USA)
R Julien Bernard (Fra)
R Gregory Daniel (USA)

UAE Team Emirates

Anass Ait El Abda (Mor)
Darwin Atapuma (Col)
Rui Costa (Por)
Louis Meintjes (RSA)
Sacha Modolo (Ita)
Matej Mohoric (Slo)
Przemyslaw Niemiec (Pol)
Jan Polanc (Slo)
Federico Zurlo (Ita)
R Valerio Conti (Ita)
R Kristijan Durasek (Cro)

Aqua Blue Sport

Adam Blythe (GBr)
Mark Christian (GBr)
Stefan Denifl (Aut)
Aaron Gate (NZl)
Lasse Norman Hansen (Den)
Michel Kreder (Ned)
Lars Petter Nordhaug (Nor)
Larry Warbasse (USA)
R Conor Dunne (Irl)
R Peter Koning (Ned)

Caja Rural-Seguros RGA

David Arroyo (Spa)
Fabricio Ferrari (Uru)
Luis Mas (Spa)
Sergio Pardilla (Spa)
Rafael Reis (Por)
Jaime Roson (Spa)
Diego Rubio (Spa)
Hector Saez (Spa)
Nicholas Schultz (Aus)
R Miguel Benito (Spa)
R Jonathan Lastra (Spa)

Manzana Postobon Team

Hernan Aguirre (Col)
Hernando Bohorquez (Col)
Juan Sebastian Molano (Col)
Fernando Orjuela (Col)
Juan Felipe Osorio (Col)
Bernardo Suaza (Col)
Ricardo Vilela (Por)
Jetse Bol (Ned)
R Yecid Arturo Sierra (Col)
R Juan Pablo Villegas (Col)

Only notable absentee I can see is Landa, who is flying in the Vuelta Burgos at the moment.

Bambaata

Heading over to see stages 16-20. First time at a grand tour, can't wait!! Pity no Dan Martin but will be good seeing Aqua Blue and glad to see at least Duignan and Roche listed

TheBlaaMan

That's a pretty stellar longlist for the start-list, a few obvious exceptions aside.
No Adam Hansen listed so has decided that 18 (is it?) GT's in a row is enough - that said, there is always room to be shoehorned in the starting list.

TJvG and Nico sharing leadership? TJ went well, eventually, in the Giro, so presumably leadership is his to lose?

All that said, the Sky team looks loaded with capability and it will be hard to see past Froome.

C'mon Bertie !

Macy0161

TheBlaaMan wrote: »

That's a pretty stellar longlist for the start-list, a few obvious exceptions aside.
No Adam Hansen listed so has decided that 18 (is it?) GT's in a row is enough - that said, there is always room to be shoehorned in the starting list.

I think I read on cyclingnews that he has a saddle sore from the Tour.

odyssey06

TheBlaaMan wrote: »

TJvG and Nico sharing leadership? TJ went well, eventually, in the Giro, so presumably leadership is his to lose?

BMC list also has Caruso coming off 11th place in Tour de France and has previous Top 10 in Vuelta; and Sammy Sanchez who has a few Vuelta Top 10s to his name.

So there may be some jostling for position there!
A lot will come down to the early form of the riders I'd say.

brocbrocach

No Sam is a kick in the nuts for him. He'd clean up a few stages here I'd say.

Andy Magic

Where's Dumoulin? These woods would have been perfect for a dump

MPFGLB

odyssey06 wrote: »

BMC list also has Caruso coming off 11th place in Tour de France and has previous Top 10 in Vuelta; and Sammy Sanchez who has a few Vuelta Top 10s to his name.

So there may be some jostling for position there!
A lot will come down to the early form of the riders I'd say.

Yeah and Dennis said he also is looking at GC

Nico did say he is riding GC...but at this rate no one will be a helper !!!


Caruso is a good diesel but lot of the climbs are for those with a bit of speed especialy in the first week...TJ is the same if inconsistent at the moment

and SAMU is good on longer climbs if he has any form

Dennis will be very valuable in the TTT when BMC must be favouries for red jersey...but if Nico has any form better than the dreadful form at Tour he will be the leader ....all things considered the Vuelta is usually where he shines..He is good on the shorter sharp stuff and the heat...And can maybe hang in the longer climbs if he has form

But if Dennis has the red after the first stage who knows

dastardly00

That BMC team looks like it has too many leaders and not enough domestiques.