2011-08-20 - Vuelta a Espana: dates / route

Can't believe there are not any threads on Froome! What a time trial, what a mountain stage yesterday. Now he has achieved what no other Brit has ever done (I think) - red jersey in the Vuelta. Big mention to Wiggins as well who having broke the field yesterday, put in another top time trial.

I suggested Wiggins a few days ago for the title, I think he is in an amazing position. Wednesdays finish is on a cat 1 climb - but tFriday, Saturday and Sunday are the killer stages.

Nope.
http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/latest/345056/the-british-riders-to-have-led-one-of-the-grand-tours.html

I was a bit disappointed with the first week, the Sky time trial on the opening stage didn't help and then a few aimless stages.

But yesterday popped, and we all knew today was going to be a Brits day - we just didn't know it would be Froome. Suddenly this tour is alive again, and moreover, some of the favourites have been blitzed, Scarponi, Lastres and Rodriguez have got a lot of work to do.

My money is still on Wiggins.

andy.w

I knew there would be someone out there to put me right. Good article that.

Wright, David Millar and Cavendish all won on the opening day and held whilst the next couple of stages were not that tough.

Robert Millar is Scottish and they want independence, so I am not counting him.

Wikipedia tells me that Wright was born in Bishop Stortford but raised in Belgium - he even says his English was very poor as French was his first language. It's in Wikipedia so it's true.

So there we have it, the first three don't count because they won too early, Millar (R) doesn't count because he probably doesn't want to be British.

And Wright was basically a French speaking Belgium.

So technically I was correct. Froome (born and raised in England - if you count Kenya) as being the first not Scottish Brit to wear the Red Jersey.

I think you will find I got out of that predicament with sound logic and faultless reason.

No need to apologise.

Cavendish is also Manx, not british.

There you go, correcting me again.

Where were you when I was doing my GSCDs?

Dropping E's.

Amazing stuff from Froomey! Remember his Barlowold days, amazing to see how far he has come and how far he could still go. Not to overshadow Wiggo's great ride though,and it takes the pressure off him slightly. Could be like Nibali and Basso in last year's Giro which didn't do either of them any harm. My 18-1 bet on wiggo is looking pretty good!

andy.w

I knew there would be someone out there to put me right. Good article that.

Wright, David Millar and Cavendish all won on the opening day and held whilst the next couple of stages were not that tough.

Robert Millar is Scottish and they want independence, so I am not counting him.

Wikipedia tells me that Wright was born in Bishop Stortford but raised in Belgium - he even says his English was very poor as French was his first language. It's in Wikipedia so it's true.

So there we have it, the first three don't count because they won too early, Millar (R) doesn't count because he probably doesn't want to be British.

And Wright was basically a French speaking Belgium.

So technically I was correct. Froome (born and raised in England - if you count Kenya) as being the first not Scottish Brit to wear the Red Jersey.

I think you will find I got out of that predicament with sound logic and faultless reason.

No need to apologise.

Please use google, or just read the BBC, or any artical about yesterdays race for that matter. Froome was born and raised in Kenya and SA. Its in wikipedia so its true.

[ame]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Froome[/ame]

Interesting. Just watched the highlights of the ITT which raises all sorts of questions: In the Vuelta context, Wiggins or Froome for Sky leadership? It seems to me that they'll stick with Wiggins but I'm massively impressed by Froome. After his efforts for Brad yesterday I'd have expected him to be cooked and looking for an opportunity to recover today but instead it was brad who was struggling towards the close!

Also interesting is what does this tell us about the upcoming TT world championships? Presumably Cancellara, Martin and Wiggins are all in the Vuelta specifically to prepare for the worlds so will Cancellara be pissed with that performance or has he been working harder in the Mountains than Martin?

Froome was raised in Kenya, went to school in South Africa but speaks almost normally and as he is winning he is resoundingly English.

As stated only two posts above Clive. ;)

You omitted the two important points that I made at the end of my post.

PinkGottiMobbs

My original comment was:

*So technically I was correct. Froome (born and raised in England - if you count Kenya) as being the first not Scottish Brit to wear the Red Jersey.*

I was well aware Mr Froome is Kenyan. I was attempting, using what I thought was obvious sarcasm and banter, to justify a false remark I made earlier about Froome being the first Brit to wear the red shirt at the Vuelta.

It really is a shame when you have to go to lengths to explain yourself.

PinkGottiMobbs

My original comment was:

*So technically I was correct. Froome (born and raised in England - if you count Kenya) as being the first not Scottish Brit to wear the Red Jersey.*

I was well aware Mr Froome is Kenyan. I was attempting, using what I thought was obvious sarcasm and banter, to justify a false remark I made earlier about Froome being the first Brit to wear the red shirt at the Vuelta.

It really is a shame when you have to go to lengths to explain yourself.

Is this Immigration control or a cycling thread?

This is LFGSS, my friend.

Hyperbole,

Just a bit of lighthearted fun.

In light of an amazing day, British cycling apart, does anyone want to throw in any predictions for the rest of the race.

I am not sure whether it is heart or head, but I feel like this could be Wiggins' Tour. He stayed out of trouble in the first week, and a few of the other pre-race contenders are now languishing. Tomorrow's stage finish is tough, followed by really tough mountain days on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

I think he can do it.

it is all very close at top of GC.. brilliant tactics and efforts by Sky after a poor start..
shit coverage from ITV4/spanish TV still, can someone sack that aussie commentator please....

i've been equally impressed with Fuglsang and Kessiakoff as well..
would love to see either Wiggins or Froome win it this year.

expecting plenty of action/drama this week finishing with stage 15 and this..
http://www.steephill.tv/players/aso-profile/?race=vuelta-a-espana&stage=15&year=2011&src=http://www.lavuelta.com/11/imgrecorrido/15_perfil.gif&finish_src=http://www.grassyknolltv.com/2011/vuelta-a-espana/15uk.jpg

Fantastic ride from Froome (who had spent a matter of weeks in the UK prior to signing for SKY and didn't even know what Fish and Chips were!), throws up some interesting questions over leadership. SKY are releasing several riders and after 1 1/2 seasons of ill health and poor form must have been a contender to leave. If so, would be interesting interesting to know if he has signed for another team already and how that effects things.

I'm suspicious of any rider who suddenly finds superb form when he's without a contract for the following season. One hopes that Froome's form is due to solid training rather than anything else.

If he has signed a deal already, and his agent suggested he hasn't the other day, then he's a fool as his value has at least doubled in the past week. It'll be interesting to see how he does in the remaining ten days or so of the Vuelta.

But equally, 10 days ago he would have been struggling for a contract, certainly at pro-tour level so he probably would have signed anything going.

Must admit that I share your cynacism but his illness over the last 2 seasons has been well documented so hopefully it's nothing more than good health and hard training. (And as I type that I realise that my optimism borders on niavity)

I like to believe that teams like Garmin, Highroad, BMC and Sky are really tough on ensuring clean riders. I do hope that that is the case.

Bmc?

Apart from the obvious two, who are you suspicious of at BMC?

All the riders who've tested positive whilst riding for them! Plus the dodgy soigneur caught by the Belgian police with 200 vials of EPO enroute to him.