monty1104
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Well, it's certainly snuck up on me, but the Vuelta a Espana kicks off Saturday night. This edition has kept the tradition of the race by including a large number of mountain stages (though not quite as many as usual). We also have three time trials (one a team time trial). The final stage into Santiago de Compostella is a short ITT (10km) so but then the race should be decided, however it would be sad to see the race leader have a mechanical or a crash, costing overall victory. I for one am against GT's finishing on a TT for that reason, but I can see the advantages of it. I very much look forward to stage 14 and the climb of La Camperona (also known as "Son of Angliru"). This climb hits 24% at one point. I know some on here don't like climbs like this, but I personally love them.
As far as favourites go, this would be a really open race in my opinion, except for 2 riders; Chris Froome and Nairo Quintana. These two will finish top 2 (barring catastrophe). Other than them, we have 4 experienced riders in Evans, Contador, Van den Broeck and Rodriguez. Of these, I can only realistically see Rodriguez making the podium, but he will have to ride well, as the young contingency of riders is nothing to laugh at. Talansky, Aru, Betancur, Kelderman, Pinot, Uran (not so young, but not that old either), and Yates are all riding. Most of those guys skipped Le Tour, so will be fresh and ready to challenge. Degenkolb and Bouhanni are far and away the quickest sprinters (on paper), but I can't see Sagan losing the green jersey. He is just too consistent.
Predictions:
Podium:
Polkadot Jersey: Jose Serpa
White Jersey: Chris Froome
As far as favourites go, this would be a really open race in my opinion, except for 2 riders; Chris Froome and Nairo Quintana. These two will finish top 2 (barring catastrophe). Other than them, we have 4 experienced riders in Evans, Contador, Van den Broeck and Rodriguez. Of these, I can only realistically see Rodriguez making the podium, but he will have to ride well, as the young contingency of riders is nothing to laugh at. Talansky, Aru, Betancur, Kelderman, Pinot, Uran (not so young, but not that old either), and Yates are all riding. Most of those guys skipped Le Tour, so will be fresh and ready to challenge. Degenkolb and Bouhanni are far and away the quickest sprinters (on paper), but I can't see Sagan losing the green jersey. He is just too consistent.
Predictions:
Podium:
- Chris Froome
- Nairo Quintana
- Rigoberto Uran
Polkadot Jersey: Jose Serpa
White Jersey: Chris Froome