La Vuelta

[tenacious1]

Stage 1 TTT surprises

Sky and Garmin were not fast. Millar didn't even finish with his team. I wonder if he had a mechanical?

Froome, meanwhile, admitted that he had "hoped for better" but warned that the race is still long. But if Sky were way off their hopes of a top-three finish with a 27 second time loss and eleventh place, Garmin-Sharp's 18th place represented an unexpected setback for Dan Martin and Ryder Hesjedal in a discipline where traditionally the American squad have shone far more brightly.

Moviestar was first putting Valverde and Quintana in good position.

[wherestheportojohn]

Wish we had free access to all things Univision.
Cycling.
Track and field.

*sigh*

[tenacious1]

psst . . . Spartacus is racing.

[wherestheportojohn]

psst . . . Spartacus is racing.

in the Vuelta? What about prepping for the Worlds? (I didn't miss that, did I?)

[tenacious1]

The Vuelta is the best prep for worlds. Chances are he'll pull out after two weeks or so.

[tenacious1]

Dan Martin took second on today's stage. 

[Mrtambourineman]

Is Micheal Mathews out of the Vuelta?  He was in the lead at the end of stage 5 and now he's nowhere to be seen on the rankings after stage 6.

[tenacious1]

He's still in. He lost 13 minutes today.

In fact, all 198 who started are still in the race. I can't remember a grand tour not losing any riders in the first 6 stages. That's a pretty cool stat.

[tenacious1]

36k TT today. We'll see if Froome can claw back some time.

[tenacious1]

Velonews has a photo essay on the La Vuelta first week in case anyone wants to see what they've missed.



The opening ceremonies were on an air craft carrier? http://velonews.competitor.com/2014/09/gallery/photo-essay-blazing-saddles-vueltas-hot-first-week_343501

[ctjim]

Quintana crash !!!
Contador in red jersey !!!!!!

[tenacious1]

   I saw he lost about four minutes. Is he okay?

Froome didn't go that well either.

Tony Martin first. Cancellara third. Is this a preview of worlds?

[tenacious1]

Quintana's analysis of his ride: "I'm screwed."

  I appreciate the honesty.
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/quintana-loses-vuelta-a-espana-lead-in-near-catastrophic-crash

[ctjim]

The crash didn't look that bad, all things considered. Musta hurt, though.
He definitely picked the wrong time to tighten his shoe.

I agree he's screwed. It's going to be really hard to make up four minutes on el pistelero in the mountains. He said he's going to help Valverde now.

[tenacious1]

His "I'm screwed" comment and volunteering that he's working for his teammate are turning me into a fan. He seems pretty down to earth.

[tenacious1]

I jinxed him. 

Movistar rider quits on stage 11

Nairo Quintana has abandoned the Vuelta a Espana on stage 11 after suffering his second crash in as many days. The Movistar rider crashed heavily on stage 10 during the individual time trial and dropped out of the top ten as a result.

Quintana started today's stage saying that his ankle and hip were hurting him but climbed off after approximately 20km of racing after being involved in another crash. He has been taken to hospital for checks.

The Giro d'Italia winner was lying 11th overall, 3:25 behind race leader Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) after the time trial stage. Alejandro Valverde is now Movistar's sole team leader for the Vuelta a Espana.

For complete live coverage from today's stage, click here.

[ctjim]

aw, that's too bad.

[ihop]

 

[tenacious1]

The crash that took out Quintana must have been really bad. It took out Morabito, too -- a dislocated shoulder plus he was run over by a race motorcycle. http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/morabito-out-of-vuelta-a-espana-due-to-motorbike-incident

And Pinot is out with a fever.

ETA: Quintana is having surgery for a displaced fracture of his scapula.

[ihop]

That was a bad crash.