Vuelta a España 2024 🇪🇸

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Very well said Debs - couldn’t agree more. A real shame.

Peter

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It’s been a good tour for the Aussies especially after a disappointing Tour de France.

Think it’s going to be tough for Ben to hang on but stranger things have happened.

As usual thanks for the great thread.

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Wednesday 4th August 2024

Stage 17 : Arnuero - Santander (141.5km)

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Today’s stage is plausibly a take-it-easy day for the GC, let the breakaway go and get home as long as no one in the break is a threat to GC.

After gaining on O’Connor bar 5 measly seconds Roglič will be feeling he has taken back control, but no need to strike today, this is a short race with just a pair of 2nd category climbs in the middle. So my bet is Ben O’Connor will get a reprieve from losing the red jersey, with three very difficult stages to come over the next three days before the time trial final, there is no need for team Red Bull BORA hansgrohe to sweat it today.

The sprinters will be interested today, if they can scamper over those two climbs (not long but very steep in places so no gimme) …Kaden Groves looks to have the Green Jersey in ownership all the way to Madrid however they will be looking for the glory of a sprint finish stage win if all goes to plan,

But odds on a breakaway get home finish of some sort.

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Great race today and a very entertaining final climb and finish. Wonderful to see Ben fight his way to the finish line and keep the Red jersey even if only a 5 second lead.

Terrible to see the first crash of Wout at the start of the race, then great to see him work is way into the break away a short time later and then take the top sprint points over the two climbs.

The second crash was bad news and I was surprised he could manage to get on his bike and attempt to continue.

With the increased technology for the bikes and the enhanced training technics for the riders it is amazing that they continue to race on some of these roads with moss and moisture at the high rates of speed that they can reach while descending these hills/mountains. It like asking race car drivers to drive on tracks with pot holes, bumps and oil slicks.

Entertaining for sure to watch but the danger level on some of these roads is amazing.

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Medical update

Wout van Aert has not suffered any fractures from his crash in La Vuelta. The three-time stage winner had to withdraw due to severe knee pain caused by a deep wound. That wound requires intensive care. Wout will travel back to Belgium to continue his recovery.

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Marc Soler yesterday’s stage & combative award winner takes this morning’s Selfie!

Jersey wearers:

:red_square: Ben O’Connor :australia: Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale
:green_square: Kaden Groves :australia: Alpecin-Deceuninck
:large_blue_circle: Jay Vine :australia: UAE Emirates
:white_large_square: Carlos Rodríguez :es: Ineos Grenadiers

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Weather : 20ºc with 18 km/h crosswinds at start of race :partly_sunny:

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Two non-starter abandonments today:
Sander De Pestel :belgium: Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale
Michael Woods :canada: Israel Premier Tech (feeling fatigue)

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141 riders on today’s Start-line

Stage 17 is Underway!

:es:

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STAGE 17 RESULTS : ARNUERO - SANTANDER

  1. Kaden Groves :australia: Alpecin-Deceuninck, in 3:32:14
  2. Pavel Bittner (Cze) dsm-firmenich PostNL
  3. Vito Braet (Bel) Intermarché-Wanty
  4. Pau Miquel (Esp) Equipo Kern Pharma
  5. Corbin Strong (NZl) Israel-Premier Tech
  6. Victor Campanaerts (Bel) Lotto Dstny
  7. Edward Planckaert (Bel) Alpecin-Deceuninck
  8. Mathis Le Berre (Fra) Arkéa-B&B Hotels
  9. Arjen Livyns (Bel) Lotto Dstny
  10. Xabier Berasategi (Esp) Euskaltel-Euskadi, all at same time

All 141 riders finished Stage 17

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:red_square: GENERAL CLASSIFICATION AFTER STAGE 17

  1. Ben O’Connor :australia: Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, in 68:41:14
  2. Primož Roglič (Slo) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, +5s
  3. Enric Mas (Esp) Movistar, +1:25
  4. Richard Carapaz (Ecu) EF Education-EasyPost, +1:46
  5. Mikel Landa (Esp) Soudal Quick-Step, +2:18
  6. David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ, +3:48
  7. Carlos Rodríguez (Esp) Ineos Grenadiers, +3:53
  8. Mattias Skjelmose (Den) Lidl-Trek, +4:00
  9. Florian Lipowitz (Ger) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, +4:27
  10. Pavel Sivakov (Fra) UAE Team Emirates, +5:19

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Stage 17 results caused no top positional changes except below:

:green_square: POINTS CLASSIFICATION AFTER STAGE 17

  1. Kaden Groves :australia: Alpecin-Deceuninck, 222 pts
  2. Pavel Bittner (Cze) dsm-Firmenich Post NL, 106 pts :arrow_up: (up from 5th)
  3. Harold Tejada (Col) Astana Qazaqstan, 95 pts :arrow_down: (down from 2nd)
  4. Pablo Castrillo (Spa) Kern Pharma, 93 pts :arrow_down: (down from 3rd)
  5. Max Poole (GBr) dsm-firmenich PostNL, 86 pts :arrow_up: (up from 6th)

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Ben’s still hanging tough and another good day for the Aussies

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Thursday 5th September 2024

Stage 18 : Vitoria-Gasteiz - Maestu-Parque Natural de Izki (179.5km)

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Probably another breakaway stage-hunter fest and, unlike yesterday, they will most likely escape to the finish.
The real testers come tomorrow and Saturday so the GC group may ride reserved today.

The Puerto de Herrera (1st cat climb) has a couple of steep ramps but isn’t long enough to really tear the jersey peloton apart. Ben has every chance to hold on to that narrow lead another day :sweat_smile:

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After yesterday it seemed like a calm day of racing. Nice to see the breakaway dangle out front until they got swept up in the end. Congratulations to Kaden on the win and to Ben for keeping the Red jersey for another day…

Looking forward to tomorrow…

Life is Sweet!

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A smiling Jay Vine takes this morning’s Selfie!

Jersey wearers:

:red_square: Ben O’Connor :australia: Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale
:green_square: Kaden Groves :australia: Alpecin-Deceuninck
:large_blue_circle: Jay Vine :australia: UAE Emirates
:white_large_square: Carlos Rodríguez :es: Ineos Grenadiers
with
:medal_sports: Xabier Isasa :es: Euskaltel - Euskad (Stage 17 combative award winner)

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Weather : presently dry with threat of showers / 16.6ºc very light 4 km/h winds

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:large_blue_circle: A total of 32 points are to be divided in the best climbers classification today.
The maximum number of points a rider can score is 15 points.

Alto de Rivas de Tereso at 81.5 km = 5,3,1
Puerto Herrera at 134.3 km = 10,6,4,2,1

MOUNTAINS CLASSIFICATION AFTER STAGE 17

  1. Jay Vine (Aus) UAE Team Emirates, 56 pts
  2. Marc Soler (Esp) UAE Team Emirates, 42 pts
  3. Pablo Castrillo (Spa) Kern Pharma, 37 pts
  4. Filippo Zana (Ita) Jayco-AlUla, 27 pts
  5. Marco Frigo (Ita) Israel-Premier Tech, 26 pts

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DNS : Corbin Strong :new_zealand: Israel - Premier Tech

140 riders on today’s Start-line

Stage 18 is Underway!

:es:

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STAGE 18 RESULTS : VITORIA-GASTEIZ - MAEZTU-PARQUE NATURAL DE IZKI

  1. Urko Berrade :es: Equipo Kern Pharma, in 4:00:52
  2. Mauro Schmid (Sui) Jayco-AIUla, +4s
  3. Max Poole (Gbr) dsm-firmenich Post NL,
  4. Aleksandr Vlasov Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe,
  5. Oier Lazkano (Esp) Movistar,
  6. Ion Izagirre (Esp) Cofidis,
  7. Mathias Vacek (Cze) Lidl-Trek,
  8. Pablo Castrillo (Esp) Equipo Kern Pharma, +7s
  9. Pau Miquel (Esp) Equipo Kern Pharma (finished 3rd but relegated to 9th place)
  10. Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Visma-Lease a Bike, +11s

DNF : Rein Taaramäe :estonia: Intermarché - Wanty (abandoned not feeling well)

139 riders finished Stage 18

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:red_square: GENERAL CLASSIFICATION AFTER STAGE 18

  1. Ben O’Connor :australia: Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, in 72:48:46
  2. Primož Roglič (Slo) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, +5s
  3. Enric Mas (Esp) Movistar, +1:25
  4. Richard Carapaz (Ecu) EF Education-EasyPost, +1:46
  5. David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ, +3:48
  6. Carlos Rodríguez (Esp) Ineos Grenadiers, +3:53
  7. Mattias Skjelmose (Den) Lidl-Trek, +4:00
  8. Florian Lipowitz (Ger) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, +4:27
  9. Pavel Sivakov (Fra) UAE Team Emirates, +5:19
  10. Mikel Landa (Esp) Soudal Quick-Step, +5:38

:green_square: POINTS CLASSIFICATION AFTER STAGE 18

  1. Kaden Groves :australia: Alpecin-Deceuninck, 226 pts
  2. Pablo Castrillo (Spa) Kern Pharma, 115 pts
  3. Pavel Bittner (Cze) dsm-Firmenich Post NL, 106 pts
  4. Max Poole (GBr) dsm-firmenich PostNL, 105 pts
  5. Pau Miquel (Spa) Kern Pharma, 100 pts

:white_large_square: YOUTH CLASSIFICATION AFTER STAGE 18

  1. Carlos Rodríguez :es: Ineos Grenadiers, in 72:52:39
  2. Mattias Skjelmose (Den) Lidl-Trek, +7s
  3. Florian Lipowitz (Ger) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, +34s
  4. Max Poole (Gbr) dsm-firmenich PostNL, +1:05:42
  5. Matthew Riccitello (USA) Israel-Premier Tech, +1:07:26

:large_blue_circle: MOUNTAINS CLASSIFICATION AFTER STAGE 18

  1. Marc Soler :es: UAE Team Emirates, 57 pts
  2. Jay Vine (Aus) UAE Team Emirates, 56 pts
  3. Pablo Castrillo (Spa) Kern Pharma, 37 pts
  4. Filippo Zana (Ita) Jayco-AlUla, 27 pts
  5. Marco Frigo (Ita) Israel-Premier Tech, 26 pts

:small_orange_diamond: TEAMS CLASSIFICATION AFTER STAGE 18

  1. UAE Team Emirates in 217:49:31
  2. Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, +44:46
  3. Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, +1:28:40

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:large_blue_circle: An odd situation in yesterday’s Stage 18 with two UAE team-mates contesting the Polka Dot jersey. Present wearer of said jersey Jay Vine didn’t appear in the breakaway but UAE team-mate Marc Soler did and collected enough KOM points to pip the lead by 1 point. On the other hand they maybe working it together with Jay Vine taking the easier day today in preparation for the two back-to-back mountain stages to come…(?) We will see.

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:white_large_square: Stages 19 and 20 will decide which under 26 rider in the top 10 GC will ride into Madrid wearing the White Jersey, while both rivals Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull) and Carlos Rodríguez (INEOS) seem to have their good and bad days, Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) has been far more measured and consistently gaining time and looking likely to pounce ahead on that classification lead.

:red_square: Todays showdown for GC leadership is on a difficult summit finish with 5km of unrelenting 10%+ gradients.
Ben O’Connor has two challenging issues with this ascent; firstly to hold on to the Red Jersey and the other to retain a podium position on GC, both look in jeopardy with not only Roglič but also the likes of Mas and Carapaz breathing down his neck.

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Friday 6th September 2024

Stage 19 : Logroño - Alto de Moncalvillo (173.5km)

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With tomorrow’s seven times category climbs slog-fest mountain stage there remains a need for the GC peloton to measure the pace today, and this stage is fairly easy terrain until the summit finish which for the final 10km will be half very hard, and half hell itself :smiling_imp:

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I can’t believe he’s hung on as long as he has, but he’s still in front and anything can happen.

Looking forward to 2 late nights.

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Just finished watching the replay and nice to see KERN’s Urko Berrade capture the win. If is teammate kept up the effort all the way to the finish line it might have been 1st and 2nd instead of 1st and 3rd. Always nice to see the underdog take a stage never mind taking three.

Looking forward to the next three day…

Yahoo… Life is Sweet!

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Kaden Groves takes this morning’s Start-line Selfie!

Jersey wearers:

:red_square: Ben O’Connor :australia: Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale
:green_square: Kaden Groves :australia: Alpecin-Deceuninck
:large_blue_circle: Marc Soler :es: UAE Team Emirates
:white_large_square: Carlos Rodríguez :es: Ineos Grenadiers
with
:1st_place_medal: Urko Berrade :es: Equipo Kern Pharma (Yesterday’s Stage Winner)

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Today’s summit finish:

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Weather : 20ºc at start of race with very light tail/cross wind :partly_sunny:

139 riders on the Start-line

Stage 19 is Underway!

:es:

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STAGE 19 RESULTS : LOGROÑO - ALTO DE MONCALVILLO

  1. Primož Roglič :slovenia: Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, in 3:54:55
  2. David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ, +46s
  3. Matthias Skjelmose (Den) Lidl-Trek, at s.t.
  4. Enric Mas (Spa) Movistar, +50s
  5. Mikel Landa (Spa) Soudal Quick-Step, +57s
  6. Carlos Rodríguez (Spa) Ineos Grenadiers, at s.t.
  7. Eddy Dunbar (Irl) Jayco-AlUla, +1:01
  8. Sepp Kuss (USA) Visma-Lease a Bike, at s.t.
  9. Richard Carapaz (Ecu) EF Education-EasyPost, +1:03
  10. Florian Lipowitz (Ger) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, +1:23

All 139 riders finished

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:red_square: GENERAL CLASSIFICATION AFTER STAGE 19

  1. Primož Roglič :slovenia: Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, in 76:43:46
  2. Ben O’Connor (Aus) Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale, +1:54
  3. Enric Mas (Spa) Movistar, +2:20
  4. Richard Carapaz (Ecu) EF Education-EasyPost, +2:54
  5. David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ, +4:33
  6. Matthias Skjelmose (Den) Lidl-Trek, +4:47
  7. Carlos Rodríguez (Spa) Ineos Grenadiers, +4:55
  8. Florian Lipowitz (Ger) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, +5:55
  9. Mikel Landa (Spa) Soudal Quick-Step, +6:40
  10. Pavel Sivakov (Fra) UAE-Team Emirates, +7:39

:green_square: POINTS CLASSIFICATION AFTER STAGE 19

  1. Kaden Groves :australia: Alpecin-Deceuninck, 226 pts
  2. Max Poole (GBr) dsm-firmenich PostNL, 118 pts
  3. Pablo Castrillo (Spa) Kern Pharma, 117 pts
  4. Primož Roglič (Slo) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, 108 pts
  5. Pavel Bittner (Cze) dsm-Firmenich Post NL, 106 pts

:white_large_square: YOUTH CLASSIFICATION AFTER STAGE 19

  1. Mattias Skjelmose :denmark: Lidl-Trek, in 76:48:23
  2. Carlos Rodríguez (Esp) Ineos Grenadiers, +8s
  3. Florian Lipowitz (Ger) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, +1:08
  4. Matthew Riccitello (USA) Israel-Premier Tech, +1:08:07
  5. Max Poole (Gbr) dsm-firmenich PostNL, +1:20:24

:large_blue_circle: MOUNTAINS CLASSIFICATION AFTER STAGE 19

  1. Marc Soler :es: UAE Team Emirates, 57 pts
  2. Jay Vine (Aus) UAE Team Emirates, 56 pts
  3. Pablo Castrillo (Spa) Kern Pharma, 37 pts
  4. Primož Roglič (Slo) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, 28 pts
  5. Filippo Zana (Ita) Jayco-AlUla, 27 pts

:small_orange_diamond: TEAMS CLASSIFICATION AFTER STAGE 19

  1. UAE Team Emirates in 229:44:30
  2. Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, +37:44
  3. Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, +1:25:43

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I’m surprised Ben hung on for 2nd, I fell asleep with 5kms to go and they were talking about holding 4th.

There’s no stopping Primož Roglič.

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Stage 19 had the predictable ending, not many brave enough to join the breakaway with tomorrow’s tough mountain roller coaster to come, but a limited breakaway of five with some talent too, to include 20 year old Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates) the present youngest competitor in this tour (after the abandonment of Joshua Tarling / INEOS Grenadiers on Stage 9) but with only five strong they couldn’t make enough time and were caught at the base of Alto de Moncalvillo.
However, for his efforts young Isaac del Toro won the Stage 19 combative Award :medal_sports:

Max Poole (Team dsm-firmenich PostNL) achieved 5th place in the intermediate sprint which gains him 10 points and moves up to 2nd position in the Points Classification, but a huge 108 points behind the Green Jersey leader, Kaden Groves.

Lidl-Trek get themselves a jersey wearer with Mattias Skjelmose scoring a 3rd Stage position just behind David Gaudu, the two of them 46 seconds behind Stage winner
Primož Roglič who re-gained the Red Jersey, and Mattias Skjelmose gains the White.

Stage 19 produced no changes to the top 3 KOM positions but Primož Roglič moves up to 4th position after the stage win gained him 10 points.
With the sheer amount of points on offer all the top twenty KOM positions are theoretically capable of winning the Mountain Classification outright tomorrow.

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