La Vuelta 2022 Thread

La Vuelta starts tomorrow with and exciting format: Team TT. We won’t get to see Pogacar or Quintana but still a good line up of GC contenders:

Remco
Roglic
Yates
Carapaz
Hindley
Lopez
Almeida

I’m looking forward to see the new generation:

Ayuso
Buitrago
Plapp
Hayter
Higuita
Rodriguez

It’s a shame they didn’t approved the original monster climb for La Sierra stage, the only high mountain finish, but overall it’s an interesting route.

Who is your favorite?

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I was hoping to see a Vuelta thread. I tried to find the Pro Cycling thread thinking there’d be discussion about Quintana…

I’m excited for the TTT. Though it won’t have quite the same panache as perhaps a Le Tour one, I love the format!

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Lets hope there are no random hosepipes like the last TTT in 2019 which was the first of Primoz’s random unlucky crashes…women with signs, hay bails etc…if he’s fit he should still win he’s the best GC rider in the race…IF he’s fit :thinking:

Finally the post-tour-blues is over.

My Top 3 predictions:

  1. Roglic
  2. Hindley
  3. Evenepoel

Well, Nairoman won’t get to live out his dreams of a Gerraint Thomas-inspired podium spot, I guess….:man_shrugging:

JV and Ineos are going to make this a two horse race afte today. 23km for a flat TTT is going to produce enough time gaps that “contenders” such as O’Connor and others are going to get eliminated straight off.

I don’t see anyone touching Roglic, TBH…assuming he has healed fully after his Tour mishaps. (And assuming he keeps the rubber side down).

Think Roglic will take the GC but Hindley will push him hard. Not sure on Carapaz. But most of all it will be interesting to see how Evenepoel gets on. For all his success in one week races, I still don’t rate his climbing ability over long climbs in a grand tour. But I do expect him and Quickstep to smash the TTT this afternoon.

I think there is only 1 HC climb in this year’s Vuelta, so that bodes well for his ability.

Whether he can string together 21 days is another question entirely….will be interesting to watch.

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On paper the course really suits Remco. If it weren’t for the uncertainty about his performance over 3 weeks he’d actually be my favorite for the win

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LRCP preview show both picked Remco for the win which was a surprise for me. I think this is based on:

  • Skepticism that Roglic has recovered sufficiently
  • Remco’s dominant win at San Sebastián
  • The lack of big climbs
  • Attributing his poor Giro performance to coming back too soon from his crash

If Primoz really broke 2 vertebrae it’s hard for me to see that not flaring up over 3 weeks.

Eurosports seems to be holding back:

Until Remco Evenepoel proves himself on the centre stage, we’ll opt for the double world champion Julian Alaphilippe.

La Vuelta 2022 team guide: Start list, star riders and race goals for Jumbo-Visma and their rival 22 teams - Eurosport

Hah…I was just thinking on my commute to work today that this could be a great route for JA…only 1 HC climb, QS can keep him close in the TTT and he can turn a good day in a ITT when motivated (see TdF 2019).

Lefevere did drop the odd comment that he doesn’t pay JA to win the Worlds…perhaps that was cryptic hint.

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Yeah but that article doesn’t say that Alaphilippe is their GC pick, just that he is the “star rider”. Right below it says they think QS race goals are a better GC finish for Remco plus some stage wins for Alaphilippe.

Race goals: A more successful Vuelta debut for Evenepoel than his damp squib of a Giro debut last year – although the ingredients look to be there: the Belgian is on stellar form and this is a route that really plays to his strengths. Alaphilippe will also hope to signal his return to Grand Tour racing with a stage win on one of the punchy uphill finishes.

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It’s a strange GC field.

I think TJV wouldn’t be sending Roglic if he wasn’t in shape to contend for the win. You don’t send a multiple GT champion as your leader if he’s not in shape, or close to in shape. Just bad PR all around

Also making GC predictions complicated is the Carapaz departure from Ineos at the end of the season. If their team was fully dedicated to him I’d be prone to put him on the podium, possibly the top step. It’s hard to imagine Ineos screwing up and doing multiple leaders to their detriment - but I see no clear indications on who they are riding for yet, so its really hard to guess

I’d love to see Remco have three week capabilities, but he hasn’t demonstrated them yet. However, almost every climb here benefits riders like him and Roglic - more aero, slightly heavier, riders. There aren’t a ton of climbs that will punish them as long as they can stay in the group.

So…Roglic, Remco, and who knows who from Ineos on the third step.

Vuelta is always a crap shoot, and unless Roglic is in true top form then this seems a wide open field where there are a half dozen or more potential winners

Alaphillipe for GC seems completely mental to me. Would love to see it happen, but Remco is much more realistic IMO.

Commentators are mentioning that the course is technical enough that the strong teams won’t be able to open such monster gaps.

Good on the organizers if this was their plan indeed.

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Certainly looks that way :+1:

Vuelta 2022 Route stage 1: TTT in Utrecht (cyclingstage.com)

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Cool to see riders on streets I know. Tomorrow I’ll try to see them go up the “grebbeberg”, about 30k from my house so a nice break in my Z2 ride.

Anyway, just saw some riders warmup with cotton tips up their nose, anyone know why they do this?

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I assumed they were a type of smelling salt but don’t know for sure: https://youtu.be/CAbB_7iNjFA

They are drenched in menthol and are supposed to open up the airways. Not smelling salts lol.

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I’m mostly just reacting to the Peacock ads which appear even if you have the ad-free premium option. Might have to VPN this.

The TDF coverage offered multiple streaming options, this one is just the Roll/Vande Velde version.

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