Vuelta 2008

jonjungel said:

Evans will not start.

Aha. Thanks, I had missed that. :o Still his knee bothering him?

Powerful Pete said:

Aha. Thanks, I had missed that. :o Still his knee bothering him?

No, he is going under the knife for that Asschinectomy he has needed for years.

Gesink will make his grand tour debut. He could very well achieve a top ten spot.

jonjungel said:

I'm sure that Sastre will go for GC only, like he's done the last few years. Apart from Sastre, I don't think anyone from CSC's Tour de France line-up will start the Vuelta.

Evans will not start.

Silence-Loto has sended conflicting information about Evans. First I received a press release that said Evans would start, 2 days later that he would not start. I guess thats why a lot of media reported he would start.

cyclingheroes said:

Gesink will make his grand tour debut. He could very well achieve a top ten spot.

It will be interesting to see how he goes. I presume he will be team leader for Rabo.

Crankyfeet said:

It will be interesting to see how he goes. I presume he will be team leader for Rabo.

Yes Gesink will be the Rabo captain.

The Vuelta consistently year after year (ok, maybe not last year) offers the best and most exciting racing. The spaniards just LOVE to attack.

As for Contador, I pick him to win..but I can't remember the last time someone was good in the Giro and the Vuelta.

EvilJediJ said:

The Vuelta consistently year after year (ok, maybe not last year) offers the best and most exciting racing. The spaniards just LOVE to attack.

Hmmm, did you watch last year?

Dullest GT since Lance used to romp away with the Tour.

Jan the man said:

Hmmm, did you watch last year?

Dullest GT since Lance used to romp away with the Tour.

I could agree that the problem with last Vuetla was that it was hard to a real stage to test Menchov. Without a real mountain stages it will be hard to find a real action.
However, I think this year's route doesn't look much better either -it has Angliru but apart from that other final climbs (Rabssa 16.4km @ 6.2%, Beret 6.3km @ 6.3%, Fuentes de Invierno 13.4km @ 6.1%) are nothing special as well. The climb of final ITT is of average diffuculty (8.1km @ 6.8%). You can hardly find difficult penultimate climbs as well.

It looks like Popovych will lead Silence-Lotto. Anyone want to place bets that when riding for himself he performs much better than in the TdF?

guncha said:

I could agree that the problem with last Vuetla was that it was hard to a real stage to test Menchov. Without a real mountain stages it will be hard to find a real action.
However, I think this year's route doesn't look much better either -it has Angliru but apart from that other final climbs (Rabssa 16.4km @ 6.2%, Beret 6.3km @ 6.3%, Fuentes de Invierno 13.4km @ 6.1%) are nothing special as well. The climb of final ITT is of average diffuculty (8.1km @ 6.8%). You can hardly find difficult penultimate climbs as well.

Starting with the 2004 edition, the Vuelta has gone downhill. Many of the routes have been garbage. Contrast that with the Giro, which just keeps getting better and more interesting routes. Sad.

What happenned to Samuel Sanchez? Too tired from the Olympics? He could have given Alberto a go, his TT was looking good.

Bro Deal said:

Starting with the 2004 edition, the Vuelta has gone downhill. Many of the routes have been garbage. Contrast that with the Giro, which just keeps getting better and more interesting routes. Sad.

After the Tour and the Giro, Vuelta wouldn't be able to attract even this kind of competition with more demanding parcours.

Bro Deal said:

Starting with the 2004 edition, the Vuelta has gone downhill. Many of the routes have been garbage. Contrast that with the Giro, which just keeps getting better and more interesting routes. Sad.

don't really agree with this. the first week in this year's and many of the past giro editions suffer from the old tour problem, mediocre rolls until they hit the hills. even if the scenery of the vuelta is a bit monotonous, the spanish riders go hell bent for every stage win (friere gave it hell until he blew in the mountains) and i have to give the organisers high marks for podium girl selection.

Bro Deal said:

It looks like Popovych will lead Silence-Lotto. Anyone want to place bets that when riding for himself he performs much better than in the TdF?

Popo hates Evans' guts.

cyclingheroes said:

Yes Gesink will be the Rabo captain.

Cyclingnews actually has Freire as the captain but i guess when the road goes up Gesink will probably be the captain🙂

cyclingnews.comvuelta08Open ↗

Contador will [censored] this in.

If anyone challenege him, I reckon Cunego after a disappointing tour will be up there. I see Cunego top 3.

Classification

1. Contador
2. Kloden
3. Cunego
4. Leipheimer

Let's face it, Astana have been preparing for this race. They take it and 3 of their main riders will fill the top 5 - 6 positions.

i dont expect much from kloden or levi, they will work 4 contador, dont rate levi and havnt seen much to impress fro kloden. im picking a top 3 of contador, sastre and valverde. gesink mosquera and igor anton will be good to watch also

I don't know about Cunego. He just does not seem to be able to ride with the fast guys in the mountains anymore. And combine that with his impressive bad luck streak this year and I doubt he will be a podium finisher at the Vuelta this year.

Andrija said:

After the Tour and the Giro, Vuelta wouldn't be able to attract even this kind of competition with more demanding parcours.

Riders dope to win. They don't dope because of hard racing. Crappy route steals the excitement.