Vuelta A Espana - Spolier Thread

[jyl]

Don't come here until you know the day's results, unless you don't mind spoilers.


O yeah - Chris Horner, the 41 y/o American, has pulled with within 3 seconds of leader Vincenzo Nibali in the Vuelta. Took 25 seconds today, 22 second on the previous mountain stage. Two mountain stages left, really tough ones.

Of course, the skeptics are swirling - how can a geriatric super-domestique jsut coming back from knee surgery be doing so well, etc.

Horner has no contract for 2014 - I'm curious to see if Trek renews him now. They already have an oldie-but-goodie in Jens Voight, but they are an American bike company so maybe they wouldn't mind another one.

By the way, Horner is an Oregonian - lives in Bend.

[emcon5]

[greglepore]

Pretty amazing stuff watching Nibali slowly crack.

[jyl]

And watching Valverde get dropped then fight back to take time - he's done that in 2 or 3 stages now.

[CurtEgerer]

It's impossible for us 'old guys' not to root for Horner. The guy is a climbing machine!!

[T77911S]

horner is amazing.
has to be one of the smartest guys racing and by far the one that loves riding a bike the most. you can hear it when he talks about riding. i hope he does well.

sad case though. i think he got "black listed" back in the 90's.

i look back on a lot of guys that dropped out of racing when they were still young or still riding good, like moniger or that guy that dropped out of the postal squad and in now head of a really good team, (not that he was a great rider), frankie andreu andothers and wonder if it what due to how many were doing drugs and they did not want to. maybe horner was not willing to follow the "unofficial" team rules on drugs?

[Joe Bob]

Originally Posted by emcon5

Tour of Spain, bicycle racing.....

[gatotom]

Vuelta A Espana is a grueling bike race, killer mountain stages.

Am rooting for my hometown favorite, Tyler Farrar, know he can't win overall but a stage win would have been nice, top 5 in 3 stages maybe the final stage.

[jyl]

Horner has the lead by 3 sec. Tomorrow is the hardest climb of the race on the Angliru, then a flat stage into Madrid. Does Horner risk blowing up on the 24% grade to get a more comfortable lead on Nibali? Or does he play it safe and cool? He has been a very smart tactical rider in this race, cool to watch the chess game between the top four riders.

[Flieger]

24% That is get off, lay the bike down, and crawl up the hill for me.

[jyl]

Agree.

I think I've never climbed a 24% grade, unless it was on a mountain bike, in the 24 ring, for a very brief time.

There is a 47 mile, 8000 vertical foot ride here called the Ronde de PDX that hits every one of the steepest climbs in West Portland. I think the steepest is 23%. I've been too scared to try that ride. Too shameful to show up on a mountain bike, but my road bike's lowest gear is 39 x 26. I cannot imagine RACING up a 24% grade.

[CurtEgerer]

The good news: it's a downhill finish!

The bad news: getting there

[jyl]

Holy moly that was a finish.

[CurtEgerer]

Outstanding job!

[greglepore]

thanks for the link-amazing. Hope he's clean.

[Gene Wilkes]

awsome ride for Horner!

[jyl]

Asked about how the celebration in Madrid will be:

“I am too old to party!” he said. “The only place I feel good is when I am on the bike. You’re never really comfortable until you’re into that first hour of the bike. The bike is the zen.”

[jyl]

Very interesting pre-race interview. He had it figured out.

2013 Vuelta a Espana: Chris Horner Interview | Cycling Videos and News | Universal Sports

[CurtEgerer]

This guy has been uploading some of the EuroSport coverage on YouTube over the last few weeks, some stages with an hour+ of coverage:
luismoshcyclingTV/videos

[CurtEgerer]

Great headline on CyclingNews:

"Chris Horner wins 2013 Vuelta a Espana - First American Grand Tour winner since LeMond"