La Vuelta a España 2017

Froome should be making them work for it, hopefully he keeps the green.

I've got used to ITV4 highlights commentary.

I know I'm repeating a topic we've had ad nauseam, but fucking hell Carlton Kirby is absolute shit.

He wasn't smiling during the sprint but I'm sure he knew he barely had any chance...

Watching it but with sound off. Kirby does my head in.

Froome on 13th place and keeps green?

Froome was in the bunch sprint! They're trying to work out if he beat Trentin to the green jersey.

Fisticuffs if so?

11th.

11th and keeps the Jersey

No gifts

He's done it! Came in 11th! What a mad cunt. Trentin must be furious, I can't wait to hear some angry Flemish-Italian.

2 points. Ooofff.

Fisticuffs if so?

Nah, hammering frozen sausages in his lawn

Kelderman nips back past Contador to take 4th in GC too.

I'd love it if Zakurin had fannied about and got knocked off the podium too.

The Cannondale rider in the sprint took a terrible line and nearly wiped out Magnus CN as well.

He was pretty cool in the intwrviews btw (Trentin). I wonder what was Froome's actual thinking behind this? He also grabs white jersey too

He's actually doing more justice to the jersey by wanting to fight for it.

The jerseys at the Vuelta are pretty fucked anyway, the combined one is a bit daft and having points for TT finishes means the green not a pure sprinter's jersey.

But at least the green is being seen as worth fighting for.

Can't tell if dick move or panache

If you look at a list of Vuelta points jersey winners over the years, it's a mix of GC riders and sprinters, and Bauke Mollema.

If people want to get outraged about a jersey winner, have a pop at Vilella, who won the KoM jersey through bagging points early in stages and being in the grupetto when the racing started in the mountains.

Oops, I read what you said properly now.

I think the problem is that he can do that, and Froome can win multiple jerseys. I think it shows more that the jerseys aren't accurately awarding particular attributes properly rather than the fact people are playing the system.

If they're doing the multi-jersey thing, they should bring back the split jerseys they had in the 70s that looked supercool on Merckx.

Panache.

Good on Froome for fighting for it and just think what people would say if it was the other way around.

I think they should just resurrect cycling's revered custom on on-bike consumption of beer, brandy, cigars and strychnine to inject some interest.

Chris Froome can wear every jersey there is but he's still as endearing as someone else's post-curry fart in the sauna.

Trentin was very sanguine about it, 'it is what it is', although he did bemoan the fact he won four stages and didn't get the jersey. But the points jersey is for the most consistent rider, not the best sprinter, and unlike the Tour the Vuelta don't constantly manipulate the scoring system so the rider they would like to win it does.

Such saltiness towards Froome and Sky on Twitter and cyclingnews, I do think the only doping they are up to is the financial side, packed with such climbing talent. Plus they come to a GT to win, not bringing a team with sprinters or luxury stage hunters like GVA or Barguil. If they win a stage it will be in a TT or in pursuit of the GC, no other team is that focused towards the overal, look how bad BMC and Quikstep were in supporting their GC men in the Tour. Plus they always have a top climber like Poels, Landa or Porte before as first Lieutenant. It doesn't make for pretty riding but by heck it is effective and I admire the single-mindedness and the organisation.

Plus all the hand-wringing over riders like Kwiato and Moscon suddenly climbing with, and the dropping the best specialist climbers (because classics riders are only allowed to be good at the classics) is pure hyperbole: they aren't climbing to get to the top, or finish with the GC contenders, they are there to set a pace at threshold for a distance then they drop off. Sky are also very clever the way they rotate their squad and give riders days off in the bunch.

So lazy to just say they are dopers and that is what the difference is. Its not, they are on a different level than the rest with tactics, talented domestiques and a slick GC-winning machine.