Monthly Archives: August 2015
2015 La Vuelta stage 10
An overnight rain I. Valencia did nothing to cool temperatures but it did make for a striking sky over the beach this morning. Valencia officially speaks Spanish and Valencian so there was an additional emcee on hand this morning alongside Juanma. The sign on window had been open for probably 15 minutes before … Continue reading
2015 La Vuelta stage 9
The town of Torrevieja, site of the ninth stage's start, isn't much itself but the beach certainly is gorgeous. At the Tour de France, it was Cyril Gautier who was usually the first rider to sign on. At the Vuelta, his teammate Jerome Cousin has been taking that distinction. Stephen Cummings. When … Continue reading
2015 La Vuelta stage 8
Today's stage was always a question mark. The profile was a long downward slope with two short, sharp peaks in the last 36km where the peloton would hit La Cresta del Gallo twice. It would be a tough climb, but would it be tough enough for the break to stick, or would it all come … Continue reading
2015 La Vuelta stage 7
Let’s get right to it. The Alto de Capileira is located in the mountainous La Alpujarra area: 18.7km with an average gradient of a modest 5% only because the middle 5km are virtually flat. Otherwise it’s more in the neighborhood of 6% with a max of 14% in the penultimate kilometer (though I walked it and … Continue reading
2015 La Vuelta stage 6
It was apparent from the word go that it just wasn't going to be the kind of morning that would yield a ton of autographs. No bother. I stayed at the podium for awhile and then wandered around the buses for the bulk of the time. BMC's 8 remaining riders arrived together. Movistar … Continue reading
2015 La Vuelta stage 5
Today was never going to be a pretty stage. The 167km route took the peloton from Rota through dry scrub land and even though the intermediate sprint was in Sevilla, the organizers for some reason decided to travel though bland streets in the new part of town, bypassing the historic center completely. The finish town … Continue reading
2015 La Vuelta stage 4
Markel Irizar, the first rider at the sign on podium this morning, spotted a friend in the crowd. But first he had to sign autographs for kids from the local cycling club. Geoffrey Soupe. He, too, was pulled in by the kids. Jasper Stuyven. Nick Roche. Roche arrived just … Continue reading
2015 La Vuelta stage 3 departure
I arrived so early that the truck which doubles as the sign on stage hadn't even started to set up yet! So I wandered down to the vacant beach for a little stroll. Is it time to put up the start line? Nah. The teams could hardly have parked any closer to the … Continue reading
2015 La Vuelta stage 3 arrival
Today the public transport gods smiled upon me and I was able to get to the finish in Málaga with no problem. Hizzah! Here's the gist of the stage in 50 words or less: an inevitably doomed break was caught in time for the sprint teams to establish their lead out trains as the … Continue reading
2015 La Vuelta stage 2
Stage 2, the first road stage of this year's Vuelta, departed from Alhaurín de la Torre. I'm guessing there was once a slightly more impressive tower around here which inspired the town's name (this one isn't much taller than I am!). Oh, la Vuelta. It's so relaxed here in every conceivable way. While I … Continue reading