Vuelta, stage 1

Today's stage 1 (not a prologue) was only 7km but bang! the Vuelta doesn't
pussyfoot around and the first categorized hill (Cat 3) came only 2.3 km
into the race. Take that, Tour and Giro. The stage was schizo: two
technical turns within the first hundred meters leading to a narrow and
surprisingly nasty climb, maybe topping out at a double-digit grade,
followed by a screaming descent with wide and open views intercut with two
tricky corners. You could see that the two parts called for different
strengths; a lot of the riders who did well climbing up to the Alto de la
Alhambra lost big time on the descent.

Beloki hit the ground at the second turn. Ouch. He took forever to get up,
then reluctantly took to his bike, then realized the brake lever was
snapped off and had to wait for the spare bike to come off the roof of the
car.

Landis hit the top of the climb way in arrears in maybe 100th place, but
screamed down the descent to climb up into the 40's.

Sevilla finally looks old enough to get a drink in a bar without getting
carded.

Big time gaps by the end of the first stage.

Robert Chung wrote:
The stage was schizo

As are Americans
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050826/...dc_1&printer=1

(Wait! Should I have crossposted to alt.politics?)

--
E. Dronkert

Ewoud Dronkert wrote:
Robert Chung wrote:
The stage was schizo

As are Americans
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050826/...dc_1&printer=1

(Wait! Should I have crossposted to alt.politics?)

Try alt.obvious.examples.of.a.bell.curve
or
alt.newspapers.tail.end.of.summer.we.need.some.fil ler.material

R

"Ewoud Dronkert" a écrit dans le message de
news: ...
Robert Chung wrote:
The stage was schizo

As are Americans
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050826/...dc_1&printer=1

Very true. I'd guess that this particular area of schizophrenia devides
along red state/blue state lines.

Robert Chung wrote:

Today's stage 1 (not a prologue) was only 7km but bang! the Vuelta doesn't
pussyfoot around and the first categorized hill (Cat 3) came only 2.3 km
into the race. Take that, Tour and Giro. The stage was schizo: two
technical turns within the first hundred meters leading to a narrow and
surprisingly nasty climb, maybe topping out at a double-digit grade,
followed by a screaming descent with wide and open views intercut with two
tricky corners. You could see that the two parts called for different
strengths; a lot of the riders who did well climbing up to the Alto de la
Alhambra lost big time on the descent.

Beloki hit the ground at the second turn. Ouch. He took forever to get up,
then reluctantly took to his bike, then realized the brake lever was
snapped off and had to wait for the spare bike to come off the roof of the
car.

Landis hit the top of the climb way in arrears in maybe 100th place, but
screamed down the descent to climb up into the 40's.

Sevilla finally looks old enough to get a drink in a bar without getting
carded.

Big time gaps by the end of the first stage.

I think the three of us who still give a **** about actual racing should
make a splinter group. Maybe we can call it rec.bicycles.racing.no.really.

Anyway, Beloki wasn't the only one to hit the deck. Jose Ivan
Gutierrez, the Spanish ITT champion, also fell in the same corner. But
he was just 22 seconds slower than Menchov in the end, so maybe the
'adrenaline theory' works for some riders and not others. It's highly
likely that Beloki just got spooked and turned off the motors.

Menchov's win was highly unexpected, and should make MrBookmaker.com's
stocks rise a few percentage points. He now must be counted among the
favorites.

I don't know if it has been mentioned yet, but this year, there is no
TTT. There are just the three ITTs, and the total length of those
stages is rather paltry. But there are seven mountaintop finishes. I
don't think there's any doubt what kind of rider this Vuelta was made
for, and frankly, all the better. GTs should always be influenced by
the ITT gaps, of course, but they shouldn't by any means replace the
high-mountain action that has made the sport's legends. The ITTs were
crucial in this year's Tour; now the pendulum has swung the other way.

-Sonarrat.

In article , sonarrat
wrote:

Anyway, Beloki wasn't the only one to hit the deck. Jose Ivan
Gutierrez, the Spanish ITT champion, also fell in the same corner. But
he was just 22 seconds slower than Menchov in the end, so maybe the
'adrenaline theory' works for some riders and not others. It's highly
likely that Beloki just got spooked and turned off the motors.

Well, Beloki could have hit harder than Gutierrez, But I can't help thinking
that hat crash on the way to Gap really messed with his head. Too bad, the guy
just can't seem to get around it.

Menchov's win was highly unexpected, and should make MrBookmaker.com's
stocks rise a few percentage points. He now must be counted among the
favorites.

I don't know about that - do you think he can hang on to the end? His best GT
finish has been 11th in the '03 TdF. It'd be nice to see him do well here,
though.

I don't know if it has been mentioned yet, but this year, there is no
TTT. There are just the three ITTs, and the total length of those
stages is rather paltry. But there are seven mountaintop finishes. I
don't think there's any doubt what kind of rider this Vuelta was made
for, and frankly, all the better. GTs should always be influenced by
the ITT gaps, of course, but they shouldn't by any means replace the
high-mountain action that has made the sport's legends. The ITTs were
crucial in this year's Tour; now the pendulum has swung the other way.

Go, Roberto.

--
tanx,
Howard

Butter is love.

remove YOUR SHOES to reply, ok?

Howard Kveck wrote:
In article , sonarrat
wrote:


Anyway, Beloki wasn't the only one to hit the deck. Jose Ivan
Gutierrez, the Spanish ITT champion, also fell in the same corner. But
he was just 22 seconds slower than Menchov in the end, so maybe the
'adrenaline theory' works for some riders and not others. It's highly
likely that Beloki just got spooked and turned off the motors.

Well, Beloki could have hit harder than Gutierrez, But I can't help thinking
that hat crash on the way to Gap really messed with his head. Too bad, the guy
just can't seem to get around it.

It is very sad that one of the most courageous riders in the peloton was
undone by a simple failure of his machine. There is still no real
replacement for the pre-crash Beloki.

Menchov's win was highly unexpected, and should make MrBookmaker.com's
stocks rise a few percentage points. He now must be counted among the
favorites.

I don't know about that - do you think he can hang on to the end? His best GT
finish has been 11th in the '03 TdF. It'd be nice to see him do well here,
though.

I think that he may be able to hang on to a high placing. I say that
not only based on his past performances, but also based on the fact that
today he accomplished something he has never accomplished before as a
professional - he won a time trial. A rather unusual one, but a time
trial nonetheless. And he did it against a deep field of riders, many
of whom were particularly suited to the course's characteristics (I'm
thinking mainly of Danielson).

I don't know if it has been mentioned yet, but this year, there is no
TTT. There are just the three ITTs, and the total length of those
stages is rather paltry. But there are seven mountaintop finishes. I
don't think there's any doubt what kind of rider this Vuelta was made
for, and frankly, all the better. GTs should always be influenced by
the ITT gaps, of course, but they shouldn't by any means replace the
high-mountain action that has made the sport's legends. The ITTs were
crucial in this year's Tour; now the pendulum has swung the other way.

Go, Roberto.

He is looking great - as always, he comes into shape at just the right
time for the Vuelta. I left him out of my podium predictions, but on
some level I know that he has the formula for the Vuelta down pat.

-Sonarrat.

Robert Chung wrote:
Today's stage 1 (not a prologue) was only 7km but bang! the Vuelta doesn't
pussyfoot around and the first categorized hill (Cat 3) came only 2.3 km
into the race. Take that, Tour and Giro. The stage was schizo: two

The Vuelta. I think I've heard of it -- isn't that a Continental 2.2
race held in Spain somewheres?

sonarrat wrote:

Menchov's win was highly unexpected, and should make MrBookmaker.com's
stocks rise a few percentage points. He now must be counted among the
favorites.

If winning a 7 km prologue makes one a favourite, how come Thierry Marie
never won a grand tour?

sonarrat wrote:

It is very sad that one of the most courageous riders in the peloton was
undone by a simple failure of his machine. There is still no real
replacement for the pre-crash Beloki.

Please explain how melted road tar represents a mechanical failure.