Ken Brown

I have been a fan of the Tour de France since the 80s, but this is the first year I have expanded my interest in racing. It is the first year I have been able to watch the Giro on TV, and now the Vuelta. I am loving it and have started subscribing to Velonews.

As a newby to the Vuelta, I think it makes no sense that it starts in August. It is too hot and most of the competitors from the Tour de France have not had enough recovery time to do another grand tour. Now there is competition from the USA Pro Cycling Challenge. Wouldn't it make sense to start the Vuelta about a month later?

I have been on the 50+ and touring forums here for years, but I am new to this forum so excuse me if this has been a topic in the past.

DXchulo

The Vuelta used to be held in the spring, but the Giro won the battle for that calendar spot. It may have made more sense weather-wise for both races if they did the Vuelta in the spring and the Giro in the late summer, but now we have a tradition that is unlikely to change.

If they pushed the Vuelta back it would interfere with the World Championships. The season is long enough as it is, so there's no reason to push both races back. They have actually been starting the Vuelta a little bit earlier recently so guys who are riding the Worlds will ride the Vuelta as preparation and not drop out early.

The answer to the heat is simple: Man up. The USA Pro Cycling Challenge probably won't exist 10 years from now, so no need to worry about that. As for the short recovery time from the TDF, the same problem exists with the Giro and the TDF. I don't think that is a huge factor, honestly. You could move the Vuelta as far back as you want, but guys like Andy Schleck who only race hard in July wouldn't want to ride it no matter what.

DiabloScott

The Vuelta was in March/April, so it didn't interfere directly interfere with the Giro but it wasn't attracting the biggest names either. Moving to September made a lot of sense in 1995 but then they started pushing the start date back into August and that doesn't make so much sense.

Ken Brown

Thanks for the replies, and the history. The Vuelta seems to be the poor cousin compared to the other two, and there are not nearly as many fans at the side of the roads. It is still very enjoyable to watch, but not quite up to the standard of the Giro and Tour.

triggerracing

I enjoyed watching the Vuelta but wished the coverage of each day had been longer. Kind of a bummer to have stage with 5 big climbs and TV coverage starts after all of them are finished.

YMCA

The Vuelta is not always as brutally hot as this past edition.
Having no rain on any single day didn't help the cause either.
Definitely not normal, but the boys handled things like pros and adjusted to the conditions.