 News Letter
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‘In the (Time) Zone'
David Olle, Spain +39 333 5959 217
La Vuelta Espana, August 28 - September 19, 2010,
Stage 15, Sep 12, Solares - Lagos de Covadonga 187.3 km
Results stage 15
1 Carlos Barredo (Spa) Quick Step 4:33:09
2 Nicol Sijmens (Bel) Cofidis, le crédit en ligne 0:01:07
3 Martin Velits (Svk) Team HTC-Columbia 0:01:43
General classification after stage 15
1 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Doimo 65:31:14
2 Joaquin Rodriguez (Spa) Team Katusha 0:00:04
3 Ezequiel Mosquera (Spa) Xacobeo Galicia 0:00:39
General Report: Nibali is hanging on to the lead and looking alright at this point. Tomorrow will be crunch day, followed by next Saturday over Navacerrada. The constantly changing lead in this year's Vuelta makes it a fascinating race.
Cuisine report: Fabada Asturiana, a white bean stew made with black pudding, pork and chorizo sausage. The perfect lunch on a rainy day. No doubt an original peasant style dish, now featuring in Michelin star restaurants.
Skippy report: All skips thin on the ground and pleading docile today, wait ‘til Wednesday.
WWDT (What We Did Today) All ready for ride depart at 10.00am (NB the sun didn't rise until 7.52 today) and it started raining. The thick drizzle didn't let up all day. One of those days you're glad you're not a pro. Jumped in the car and headed for restaurant and race viewing at Poo (see photo here) then cut through the hills to Covadonga and caught the race again there.
Tomorrow: Stage 16, Sep 13, Gijón - Alto de Cotobello 181.4 km
If Lagos de Covadonga doesn't inflict enough pain, the Vuelta's queen stage on Monday will complete the job. 180 kilometers from the biggest city in Asturias, Gijón, to the third straight mountaintop finish. Three first category climbs are included: Alto de San Lorenzo, Puerto de la Cobertoria (where Alexandre Vinokourov won a stage in 2006) and the brand new climb Cotobello. Recently discovered for cycling, but a popular place for paragliding, Cotobello has an average gradient of 8%. When these three days of suffering end, we will clearly see who has the legs to win this Vuelta a España and who chooses to withdraw during the rest day.
The Race: La Vuelta Espana, or The Tour of Spain is the third annual 3 week ‘Grand Tour' that follows a similar format to both Italy and France's grand tours. This year it is contained almost wholly in Spain (it visits Andorra briefly), starting in Seville and finishing in Madrid. Cadel Evans gave his best grand tour performance here last year, finishing 3rd, before winning world championships a week later. ‘Twas an impressive performance.
For those in Australia, SBS will show a daily report on La Vuelta Espana, along with a few stages broadcast live, catch them if you can.
Not forgetting our own Topbike TV on digital channel 44, check your local guide for details.
The Writer:
David Olle's cycling reports are used by 3GG Gippsland, ABC radio's 774 DRIVE show in Melbourne, ABC radio 702 breakfast show in Sydney, ABC national overnights and 3RRR FM's Breakfasters. He chats regularly with all. He also created and produces the magazine style TV show ‘Topbike TV' which is seen throughout Australia and New Zealand on community televison. The reports are also published here, www.cyclesportnews.com, along with any photos.
These reports are independent, opinionated, Australian biased, and could miss a day here and there, along with containing the odd error and repeating the odd comment. We make no apology for this.
We aim to send these reports daily, while any worthy bike race is on. You can unsubscribe below, if you desire.
We also run good bike tours.
David Olle
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