A Few Quick Thoughts on the Vuelta

Here are a couple of thoughts on the Vuelta so far:

• Basso, Valverde, Evans. Right now I like that as a podium. Who wins? I lean towards Evans or Basso, simply because I don’t trust Valverde to not have a bad day. Evans is a solid climber who looks to be on form and has the time trialing chops to make it happen. Basso, to me, looks like he really “gets” the way this race is going to play out. With so many mountaintop finishes, wasting energy going for time bonuses and day-to-day jersey placement is a mistake. The winner of this race will have consistency in the climbs and no bad days. We’ll see how it plays out, but I expect those three to be in mix throughout. As I’ve mentioned elsewhere I’m 100% pulling for Basso to complete the last stage of his redemption tour (although winning the Giro would have been a more fitting prize.)
• What’s up with Tyler Farrar? I thought he was the second fastest guy in the peloton. That’s basically what we saw in the Tour, right? So why isn’t he crushing in this race? After the petty shit they pulled on George Hincapie in the Tour, I don’t want Garmin to win a local race, never mind a grand tour stage, but it’s still a little puzzling that he hasn’t been able to assert himself in this race.

  If he does break through, the internet will split in half because of the hype flowing from the Garmin machine. We get breathless updates if someone finishes ninth on a stage, seeing someone actually win would set Twitter on fire.

  [edited]Of course he finally breaks through just a couple of hours after this post!

• If i had my way, Sammy Sanchez would replace Evans on the podium. Why? Evans is a whiner and Sanchez is fun as hell to watch ride a bike. Hopefully his disappearance the other day was based on his fall the previous day and not on his form.
• Would I have been happy to see crazy Vino win yesterday’s stage? Yeah, a little bit. I’m still not over his fall from grace and I wish he’d show just a little contrition, but the guy has provided so many remarkable moments I can’t help but remember the good times and pull for him a little bit. It’s a very bittersweet feeling however as his positive still pisses me off.