jyl

Where are the top riders not at the TDU?. Maybe at the Tour de San Luis.

Tour de San Luis 2016 - Argentina Jan 18 to 24. Stage 1 is a short TTT. Stage 2 is a sprint stage. Stage 3 looks like a punchy stage with a climb and then a fast descent to the line, I'm not sure how selective that last climb or how twisty the descent will be. Stage 4 is a MTF, the final climb is about 730 m vertical in 9.6 km. Stage 5 is lumpy with an uphill finish. Stage 6 is another MTF, 1310 m vertical in 17.4 km. Stage 7 is a sprint stage in San Luis.

I've read about this race, but have never watched it, because AFAIK it's never been available on TV for Norte Americanos. But this year, I think the stages will be streamed live on Youtube. That's if Google Translate is not leading me astray.

Not sure there is a complete start list, but confirmed riders include Nibali, Quintana, Sagan, Gavira, Viviani, Talansky, Majka.

Tour de San Luis 2016 preview - Cycling Weekly

I'm looking forward to seeing the countryside, as well as the race. I've never been to South America.

jyl

Here is a very good preview.

CyclingQuotes.com 2016 Tour de San Luis preview

jyl

EQS won the TTT, with Movistar at 8 sec and Astana at 18 sec.

This puts Quintana and Nibali in good GC position. 2015 winner Diaz is at 58 sec with his Pro-Conti team. Talansky and Uran are also a minute down, as Cannondale didn't do a good TTT. The local racers and Pro-Conti teams were at a disadvantage to the WT teams in the TTT. EQS doesn't have a GC threat but sprinter Gavira could wear the leaders jersey if he wins a stage 2 sprint.

jyl

Gavira won the sprint for stage 2. EQS led him out well and i don't think he was ever really challenged. Not totally sure about that, because there was no overhead camera. But he spent most of the sprint looking behind him, so it must not have been too close . . .

Compare the sprint competition at TdSL and at TDU. In Argentina there are Sagan, Viviani, Gavira. In Australia there are Swift, Ewan, Renshaw, Farrar. Maybe I'm overlooking someone.

So, kind of a thin sprinter field at either race, but if you combined them, we'd have something.

Who would you put your money on? Gaviria or Ewan?

jyl

Watching the live stream for stage 3 was bizarre. It looked like a beautiful climb, irregular twisties and hairpins, gnarling up the ridge of a crappy mountain. From the helicopter, I could see lots of motorcycles amidst the riders. None of those motorcycles had video cameras, or they couldn't relay images to the helicopter. So the helicopter shot was all we got.

The cameraman must have thought he was making a scenic movie, because he never zoomed in. The riders were anonymous little dots, colors sometimes discernible, but no numbers or faces. There was no timing information, no gaps, no kilometers to go. That's a blue dot - must be Movistar, but who?. Those fluo yellow dots must be Tinkov riders, but again, no idea who. The local and Pro Conti kits are unfamilar (to me), so for half of the dots, I couldn't even figure out what teams they were on. The whole thing became increasingly abstract, like a slow motion game of Pong. Eventually I got bored and found something more exciting to do. I think I trimmed my toenails or fed the cats.

Anyway, a local rider (Sepulveda) won the stage by almost a full minute - no, he wasn't a breakaway survivor, he started the stage with the others and attacked midway up, then rode away. Janier Acevedo of Jamis was second, there was a third, and Quintana was fourth. Dayer Quintana, that is, about 1:30 down. Big brother Nairo finished some 2 minutes down. Nibali finished over 5 minutes back.

Still, the top five on GC are covered by a minute, with Sepulveda the only non-WT rider in there, at #1 . The TTT really gave the WT teams a leg up. I'm rooting for Sepulveda to win the race. Doing it with the TTT deck stacked against him will be a pretty cool feat. Has there been a star WT rider from Argentina before?. Could he become the first?

jyl

Big crash and carnage, several riders injured, at least a couple taken to the hospital, one staying for observation and another out of the race with a fracture. But the top of the GC is unchanged, as all the contenders were among the forty-odd riders involved. Maybe a pre-race inspection of the road would have been a good idea.

Edit: Adriano Malori (Movistar) is in an induced coma. Skull fractures.

jyl

Weird that Viviani's leadout man would challenge him to win the sprint. They combined to cut Sagan off, squeezing him between them as they came together and touched shoulders at the line. Not a clean sprint. I suppose Viviani had only himself to blame for not being able to beat his leadout man, but Sagan might well feel aggrieved.

jyl

Lot of bad injuries lately. Malori is still hospitalized, although apparently conscious and able to eat or at least drink. Gavaria apparently has only a hairline break so he's lucky.

But a group of Giant riders was head-on'd by a car while training in Spain. Degenkolb and Haga had significant injuries, sounds like they'll miss the first part of the season at least, and a few others have lesser injuries. The driver was a 73 y/o English lady, driving on the wrong side of the road.

mprelaw

Or, at least, the right side of the road for her, in the wrong country.

jyl

Apparently she had homes in both UK and Spain, spending six months in each, so she should have been familiar with driving on the right side. Perhaps she won't have a Spanish drivers' license much longer.

Degenkolb will miss the entire Classics season. Not sure about Haga. Barguil and the others seem to have escaped with lesser wounds.