Vuelta highlights will be on Quest on Freeview, its probably the Eurosport highlights programme.
Should be a scorcher, the swelter?
Looking at the start list - Roglic Vs Pogacar Vs Bernal - that sounds exciting!
Thanks for heads up on Quest coverage.
Pog has given it a miss to focus on worlds, but it does look to be a really competitive field.
Landa and Carthy look to be in good shape; Movistar will be trying to chase down Carapaz as usual; Pidcock is riding ect - looks like it will be a hell of a race.
My money is on Bernal, but it will probably come down to who manages the heat the best, with the caveat that any pure climber will probably 90-120 over Rog coming into the ITT on the final stage.
No ITV 4 this year ?
A win for Rog today (did anyone really expect anything else?), but still all to play for.
I cannot wait for stage 3.
Has anyone managed to find the coverage on Quest? I set the satbox to record and it has recorded 'Border force Poland', I've just found the link on here https://www.discoveryplus.co.uk/show/vuelta-a-espana-highlights?idp=Sonic&a... and it's an antiques programme.
Hope that whatever the problem is they can sort it out.
It was on later than usual last night (10pm?) but is on at 7 tonight.
I'm gutted ITV4 aren't covering it. Only 5 minutes into the first road stage highlights and Kelly et al are doing ma heid in
He’s not that bad…
Shame about Yates today. Nasty crash with about 4K to go (I don’t think Yates went down he was just held up and lost 30s).
Billy and Bernal were towed home by Van Baarle and Rog got through unscathed too.
Interestingly Pidcock dropped off the back in the last 10k. Couldn’t see any mechanical issues so maybe he’s planning to go for stages when he gets his legs back?
Just finished tonight's highlights.
Was it just my telly or did a lot of the camerawork seem low res?
> He’s not that bad…
I can forgive Kelly just about anything because...well, because he's Sean Kelly, the man for whom the term flahute might have been coined.
Carlton Kirby on the other hand makes me want to put my foot through the telly.
Broadly agree. Kelly though is unspeakable, an interminable word salad delivered in a grim monotone. Yes well.....
> Interestingly Pidcock dropped off the back in the last 10k. Couldn’t see any mechanical issues so maybe he’s planning to go for stages when he gets his legs back?
you didnt seriously think pidcock was there for a stab at the GC did you? he is there purely as a domestique and to gain experience at the longer races. with his background, 1 day classics are going to be his forte for years to come, he may never be a GC rider...
> In reply to VSisjustascr.
> you didnt seriously think pidcock was there for a stab at the GC did you? he is there purely as a domestique and to gain experience at the longer races. with his background, 1 day classics are going to be his forte for years to come, he may never be a GC rider...
No - I didn’t think he’d be a GC contender this year.
But… the guy held 300w for an hour weighing 50kg at the age of 16. If a 6w/kg FTP at 16 doesn’t scream GC contender I don’t know what does.
He’s clearly got an incredible engine on him, he’s explosive and he’s light. What more do you want on a GC racer?
I don’t mind Kelly at all; certainly knows his stuff. Kirby I think is quite good for a long sprint stage because he can talk shit for hours on end and can be quite funny, but knows sod all about bike racing. Quite why Rob Hatch doesn’t get the gig I don’t know.
I can’t see why he wouldn’t be a GC contender (although probably not this year)
Just because Kelly was a brilliant rider (sprinter, anyway) it doesn’t make him a natural communicator. I‘m not even sure I can stand him for 3 weeks. It doesn’t matter if he really knows bike racing if no one can listen to him. I spent most of today’s episode thinking how good the Tour coverage is with Millar, Boardman, Kenneugh and Boulting.
On a related note, the coverage of the race itself seems to be sub standard, the camera often focusing on something inconsequential at the back of the pack when there's a break occuring at the front, constant close ups of a riders head ? poor camera angles at the sprints and finish lines and where are the sweeping vistas of the landscapes of the Giro and the Tour, has Spain got nothing to offer scenery wise ? I know we are only a couple of days in but the coverage is a bit rubbish so far, lets hope the racing makes up for it.
And will someone please secretly unplug Sean Kelly's microphone and not tell him, after all silence is golden.
> Quite why Rob Hatch doesn’t get the gig I don’t know.
I'm not keen on him - too fond of spouting platitudes and repeating himself. And his inability to avoid affectation of every accented name I find quickly infuriating
Yes, Hatch is truly grim. Way too melodramatic. And yes well Kelly makes me reach for the pills.
As has been said, the ITV4 team is a couple of laps ahead of the rest. Boulting, now knowledgable and urbane; Millar, an enthusiastic posho puppy dog who's been there, worn the maillot; Kennaugh, insightful, too kool for skool, great find; Boardman, those pills look tempting again, but we'll forgive him because of Gan, Lotus etc.
Yes, he does have a particularly affected way with foreign names (although I’m all for correct pronunciation) and he does have a tendency to say the same thing 3 times like he’s on a police radio. Generally I think he’s the best Eurosport commentator. Matt Stephens is good too.
Agreed... I've lived in France and the only people I've ever heard pronounce words like that are on twee French TV commercials... it drives me nuts! I'm sure he's just making it up as he goes along.
As far as pundits go, I like Millar and Kennaugh, Boardman is OK but kinda just states the obvious. I've got a soft spot for Matt Stevens... a very funny and warm guy. I know he's only on YouTube, but his presence is growing... he did ITV's Giro summaries on YT, but I really like Laterne Rouge with his dry and hilarious Aussie wit.
Just shut up PLEASE !
Great to see Jakobsen get the stage win today. No fear... get back on the horse!
It’s nice to see Intermarche at the front.
Great little team - I can’t help but cheer them on.
Well I think we learnt a lot from today’s stage.
It’s evident that Bernal is the only protected Ineos rider (having Van Baarle’s wheel all the time I.e. same role Ganna had in the Giro).
It’s going to be a climb off between Rog and Bernal.
I’m looking forward to Movistar blowing up spectacularly.
Bernal will outclimb Rog - but will he outclimb him enough to make up to the TT deficit???
Decent stage today. Carthy dropped out which was a massive shame.
Valverde crashed and was forced to withdraw. I’m not the biggest fan of the guy, but you couldn’t help but feel gutted for him.
The GC guys couldn’t be separated despite the 14% slopes - bring on stage 9…
Some attacks by Adam Yates but Roglic not standing for any nonsense, he's looking very strong.
I cannot watch this any more. Signed up to Eurosport on a trial but the commentary is so bad it's not watchable. Just shows how good the ITV4 team is, I guess. I'm out of here, sadly.
Agreed been watching on Quest but haven't bothered last two days. I emailed Eurosport with my views.
I've decided that although Sean Kelley is a hard listen, it's actually constant blather, "listen to me", Kirby that really grates after an hour.
I love all the chit chit. Sure, it can be banal and sometimes repetitive, but if you're into road bike riding you should be well used to that
Being able to find something interesting or original to say in a race where most of the action is condensed into 5 percent of a 5 hour race is bloody difficult.
Quite. What do people expect in a 4 hour race?
You need the chit chat, the facts about the scenery ect.
Are these people having a rant actually watching the race? Do they know anything about cycling?
I suspect not.
Kirby isn't chit chat, though. It's constantly trying to be a smart arse.
Ned Boulting and David Millar manage to commentate for a whole day's racing.
I'd certainly agree that Millar is a cut above. He has superb insight and I could listen to him all day, but I think that's because he's exceptional. He's a superb communicator and obviously knew what he was doing on a bike. To have both those talents is probably pretty rare.
When coverage is on ITV and Eurosport, it's a toss up for me whether to opt for better commentary or no adverts and I usually pick the latter.
20 30 20 30 20 30 20 30 20 30 20 30 , I'll leave you all too work it out but ffs it's killing me
Turty?
Ha ha ha you got it
> I've decided that although Sean Kelley is a hard listen, it's actually constant blather, "listen to me", Kirby that really grates after an hour.
This is what's done it for me. It's hardly surprising that Kelly isn't great, he was always pretty uncommunicative and during his racing career was once said to have nodded in response to questions in a radio interview. Kirby is meant to be the pro in the team though and he's just dire.
I don't really understand why Kelly feels the need to do the commentary, he surely can't need the money?
Curiously, I once got loaned a dvd of a 90 or 00s TdF with Kelly doing the voice over. It was absolutely dreadful when he was following the script but at the end there was a bit with him sitting outside a cafe with a glass of wine just waxing lyrical and that worked really well so maybe people have told him he's good at it?
> Just because Kelly was a brilliant rider (sprinter, anyway)
Have a look at his palmares, he was way, way more than a sprinter.
> This is what's done it for me. It's hardly surprising that Kelly isn't great, he was always pretty uncommunicative and during his racing career was once said to have nodded in response to questions in a radio interview. Kirby is meant to be the pro in the team though and he's just dire.
> I don't really understand why Kelly feels the need to do the commentary, he surely can't need the money?
> Curiously, I once got loaned a dvd of a 90 or 00s TdF with Kelly doing the voice over. It was absolutely dreadful when he was following the script but at the end there was a bit with him sitting outside a cafe with a glass of wine just waxing lyrical and that worked really well so maybe people have told him he's good at it?
So he’s like that Father Ted eurovision commentator in reverse then?
Is it just me or is the GCN+ VUELTA coverage really glitchy? It stutters every few seconds as if it's buffering. The other GCN+ non-race content works fine.
Not a great race this year. Barring any crashes it looks like it's a done deal for Rog which makes for poor viewing. Only saving grace is the scenery and Orla Chennaoui.
Wish they'd ditch the early Tt or replace it with a team tt.
So far Rog has been head and shoulders above anyone else. It's impressive to watch.
The fact that both Primoz and Tadej can boss these Grand Tours with somewhat suspect teams makes it even more impressive. This inevitably leads to accusations from some, which without proof in unfair, but given the history of the sport, perhaps unsurprising.
What a great stage yesterday. Magnus CE put in a great effort but that finish was just brutal. Roglic just unbeatable.
JV can hardly be called a suspect team with the likes of Tony Martin and Tom Dumoulin on their rosta. UAE are punching above their GC weight, though.
I was referring to the domestique capabilities within the teams rather than the quality of individual riders (Sepp Kuss seems a notable exception). It's quite noticeable that you'll see the likes of Ineos or Movistar forming a 4 or 5 man train at the front and the Slovenians seem isolated, but still end up with the Red/Yellow jersey.
The Vuelta can be a great race but I'm afraid I've lost interest this year.
> So far Rog has been head and shoulders above anyone else. It's impressive to watch.
But a bit dull.
Eiking is doing well, do GC contenders not need to attack yet?
Still lots of big mountains to climb though and Vuelta ends on a 33.8km time trial.
Eiking is great. I love seeing Intermarche at the front controlling the race.
But there’s still a few mountain top finishes to come and the TT.
Stage 17 will blow the race apart. Nice to see Bernal riding a bit better.
Yates is riding well too.
Yates has been excellent, I’d like to see him at the giro next year.
But really I’m just waiting for Movistar to blow up.
But I’ve been waiting for 2 weeks and it still hasn’t happened yet… surely they’re going to crack??? How is Mas climbing at a similar level to Rog?
> But I’ve been waiting for 2 weeks and it still hasn’t happened yet… surely they’re going to crack??? How is Mas climbing at a similar level to Rog?
I suspect because Rog has been taking a bit of a back seat this last week. Covodonga will be one to watch. Be interesting to see whether the Ineos pair are really on an up or whether the last few flashy finishes were just that.
Primoz smashed it today. Tomorrow is the "Angliru's Sister"... I think we'll know by this time tomorrow who's gonna be wearing Red on Sunday... if we don't already.
It's the cycling equivalent of Germany winning on penalties - somebody attacks and the Slovenian wins.
Impressive though.
To be fair to Rog the smart thing to do would have been not to work with Bernal in the final valley.
It was pretty brave to work together when he had limited amounts to gain and a lot to lose.
It paid off handsomely in the end as he managed to hold the time gap in the final climb, but Bernal was still chucking down the watts and he got caught. Bravo Rog…
Good to see Bernal having a serious dig, even if it came to nought. Yates ' turn today ?
That breakaway worked together incredibly well to maintain a lead of 30s for the last 20km. Normally I reckon a peleton in full flow catches the breakaway by 10s per km.
Quinn Simmons has put his power data out and it’s a bit mind blowing.
For the full 4.25 race: Normalised power 380w; average power 320w; 4.5w/kg.
For the last one hour: Normalised power 425w; average power 395w; 5.35w/kg.
Just incredible.
Absolutely love Roglič.
I did 370w normalised for just under 8 minutes last night to win my club hill climb. It’s insane how good the pros are.
That’s pretty decent…
Dovers hill is my benchmark for hill climb efforts and I’m still a fair way off the magic 6 minute mark - I need more power and to stop eating crisps.
Pros are another level though. What I’d give to have their power/ weigh that little.
I’ll have to have a good crack at Dovers while I’m (for me) fit and light. I’ve done 6:53 for the “official” segment on Strava I think.
I think that was the Slovenian national anthem on the bagpipes, no wonder Roglic looked a bit perplexed.
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