Vuelta stage 10 - Bradley Makes Room for Froome

I know we've all been enjoying the Vuelta, but it's worth remembering that there are other professional cycling races available. One of these is the USA Pro Cycling Challenge, which just finished up on Sunday and was won by little Levi Leipheimer.

Although I may live in the USA, like Pro Cycling and enjoy a challenge, I failed to muster much enthusiasm for the race. There were tough stages and big names, but much like the Tour of California, the USA PCC suffers from being on at the same time as a real race. I did make a few attempts to watch some of the action, but the high altitude and presence of trees made my already jerky computer feed all but unwatchable.

It seems the race should be back next year, so maybe they'll have those difficulties ironed out and I might give a fuck. But probably not.

Anyhooze, back to the Vuelta. Here's how the league looked heading into the individual time trial today.

And here's how it looked after the time trial today.

So no big changes in the Tour de Pance top ten. But the same can't be said about the Vuelta top ten.

The eagle-eyed among you will notice that after the time trial, it's none other than Wiggins side-kick, Chris Froome who is leading the race, thanks to a great ride against the clock.

Bradley didn't do badly. But he was 23 seconds slower than his team-mate today, and now slots into third spot behind Jakob Fuglsang. With 2 riders in the top 3, things are looking good for Team Sky. However there's still a lot of racing to come, and plenty of quality riders within a few minutes of the lead. Everybody on the Vuelta will be having a nice rest-day tomorrow. The action starts again on Wednesday with another mountain-top finish. I'd imagine there'll be some teams looking to put Sky under pressure.

Vuelta Weekend Roundup

It's been a busy weekend at the Vuelta, so lets get on with it.

Fist of all, here's the scores after stage 7. Looks like I just stayed ahead of the Roulers.

Stage 8 featured a brutal finish, that was as steep-as-a-steep-thing. Just as I, and plenty of other people thought, it was the sort of finish that suited Joaquim Rodriguez.

So J-rod took the leaders jersey, and my team did enough to keep me at the top of the table. And now it seems I have a new team snapping at my heels, as Hombre Ariba! have moved into second.

Stage 9 today was another uphill finish. So surely another chance for Rodriguez to shine?

Well no. It was to be a day for young Dan Martin of Garmin-Cervelo, who earned his first Grand Tour stage win.

As the road went up, some big names began to struggle. First it was Igor Anton in trouble. Then went Scarponi, J-rod and Van Den Broeck. The small group that made it to the finish may have been led in by Martin, but it was second placed Bauke Mollema who took over the race lead, by 1 second from Rodriguez.

Bradley Wiggins was strong today. Working away at the front, he took back some of the time he lost during that disastrous team time trial. Tomorrow we've got the big individual time trial, and over 47km, there could be some big gaps. As long as he didn't do too much today, it could be a chance for Bradley to take back more time. And maybe take the race lead, as he sits only a minute behind Mollema. Also hoping to do well against the clock tomorrow will be Menchov and Nibali, while the likes of Tony Martin and Cancellara will be hoping to take the stage win.

Vuelta Stage 7 - Kittel Kicks Ass

I said yesterday that Tyler Farrar might do something today. Well it turns out I was right, although crashing at over 60kph is probably not what he had in mind when he set off this morning.

As Farrar lay in the road, Marcel Kittel took his first grand tour win, which I imagine is probably the first of many in the young German's career. Peter Sagan came in second, proving, as if there was any doubt, that he's another star of the future.

Good news for the Bile Beans and even better news for the Roulers, who also sneaked Petacchi into the top ten. I don't see any scores right now, but I reckon it's going to be tight at the top between the Bile Beans and Roulers.

Apparently today was a bit easier on the bunch, as the temperatures have dropped a bit from earlier in the week, when they were in the high 30's (that's Centigrade folks, I may live in the US, but I refuse to understand Fahrenheit). Unfortunately things here in Atlanta are still chuffing hot.

Although I'd love to cool down by riding my bike around Spain. Today I had to work in a small bicycle shop with no air conditioning. To make an uncomfortable day worse, I seemed to have forgotten my undercrakers when packing my messenger bag this morning. From now on, I'm going to make sure I have some of these on me.

Onto tomorrow then. Stage 8 has some of them hills going on. I'm tipping J-Rod for another stage, which should put some distance between the Bile Beans and the Roulers.

Vuelta Stage 6 - Liquigas Leap Away; Roulers Roll Up

I got some of what I wished for on today's stage, as Peter Sagan took the win in Cordoba. He looked delighted to be on the podium.

It didn't go down quite the way I thought it would though. Instead of a select group of sprinters fighting it out for  the win, it was half of the Liquigas team and Pablo Lastras. The Liquigas boys did some fancy riding on the final descent and stayed away to the line. Nibali could have done with the time bonus for first place. But after some impressive team-work before the line, Lastras nearly got the better of them. Young Sagan has got some fast legs though, and got to there first.

In the Fantasy realm, the Bile Beans remain in the lead. But it was a good day for the Roulers, and they've moved up to second place and are looking dangerous.

Stage 7 could be a sprint. Then again it might not be. I noticed Garmin seemed to be doing plenty of work today, so maybe they think Tyler Farrar can do something. Garmin certainly won't be working for Thor Hushovd, as he's not been selected for the Vuelta. Seems the team management isn't too chuffed that he's off to BMC next year and will be taking all his UCI points with him. It's a bit of a bummer if you picked Thor for your team -Rubber and Cloudmakers, I'm looking at you!

Stage 5 - J-Rod Rams It Home

Can I pick them or what? If we overlook the fact that I already knew the result, I think you'll agree that my selection of Joaquim Rodriguez for the win today was inspired.

J-Rod won the stage, but Sylvain Chavanel hangs on to the race lead.

And Igor Anton continues to spend his time hanging on to the back of the bunch, and looking like a man who is not going to earn me many points.

Things might not all be going the Bile Beans way, but they are going well enough when we take a look at those Velogames scores.

After our brief visit to the mountains, we're back on the plains tomorrow. More opportunities for the sprinters, but HTC are unlikely to do a lot of chasing, so it might be a day for a breakaway. Also it looks like there's a bit of a lump going on in the finish, but it's all downhill from there. My dream finish will have Sagan, Degenkolb, Kittel and Sutton in the top 5 - I'm not too fussed about the order.

Vuelta Stage 4 - Moreno the Mano; Cav Cracks

Time flies when you have a young child, a 3-day a week job at a bike-shop, and a blog to maintain. Add some Dirty Mustache action to the equation, and I'm sure you'll forgive my lateness in keeping you updated on events in the Vuelta. I did consider lumping stages 4 and 5 into a combined post, but I've decided to do them separately..... So here we go with stage 4.

It was a hilly one. And it seems it was a bit too hilly for Mark Cavendish. Maybe he was suffering from the heat, maybe he was sick, maybe he is a crappy climber. Whatever the reason, he called it a day on stage 4. He was using the Vuelta as part of his build-up for the World Championships at the end of September, and now faces a long time without any race miles in his legs. Cav's HTC team has already lost Matt Goss, so it looks like the HTC sprint train will be working for their young German sprinter John Degenkolb - good news for me then! The Copenhagen course was rumored to suit the Manx Missile, and he'll have good support from a strong GB team. Lets hope he can get his shit together in the next few weeks and have a good try at getting that Rainbow Jersey.

Another man who didn't look too happy was Igor Anton. He was part of the Bile Beans strategy for Velogames domination. But alas, it looks like he's not got the legs he had last year when he was all set to win the race before a crash put him out of action.

We know who who didn't win, but who did? Why Daniel Moreno of course.

It wasn't enough to take the jersey though, and the race lead went to Sylvain Chavanel.

All of the action made the mini-league look like this.

Stage 5 has a tough finish. I think Joaquim Rodriguez might do well.

Vuelta Stage 3 - Lastras Firstras

I guess my powers of prediction have grown weak. My tips, Peter Sagan and John Degenkolb, were nowhere to be seen today. Instead, we had a plucky breakaway of four, and they managed to stay ahead of the pack all the way to the finish. Pablo Lastras rode clear on the final climb, and held on, ahead of a ragged chase from the remaining three escapees.

It looks like no one has picked Lastras, so biggest score of the day went to "Big Andy Racing", thanks to Andy's selection of Sylvan Chavanel . I don't know much about "Big Andy Racing", but I think I'm a bit the wiser after using a popular search engine.

Big Andy may have done well today, but the Bile Beans are still on top.

Lastras holds the race lead, but things are about to get tricky on Stage 4. Yes, there's some big hills coming up, and those that fancy winning the race will have to be on form tomorrow, if they don't want to lose time up Sierra Nevada.

Vuelta Stage 2 - Rubber's Lead Erased, Beans Bounce Back

Alrighty. Lets get those Stage 1 scores out of the way first. Although I don't wish to dwell on them too much, as the Bile Beans under-performed. Sorry, if you're not in the top ten, I can't fit you on the results.

So yesterday, I left you with the hope that Chris Sutton and Marcel Kittel would do well today. The Gods of Fantasy cycling must have been reading. For today, Chris Sutton won, and Marcel Kittel was third.

And Danielle Bennati's sixth place was enough to earn him the race lead, after time bonuses. So the Red Jersey stays with the Lay-O-Pard Trek team.

Mostly good news for me then, and the Bile Beans are now top of the table, ahead of bean-themed-upstarts "Full Beans!".

The Grand Tour organisers seem to be doing their best to put a stop to the winning antics of Mark Cavendish, by making the final kilometers a bit tricky. He may be the fastest sprinter in the world, but if there's too many corners or hills on the run-in to the finish, he can come unstuck. It should be another sprint tomorrow, but that hill near the finish might suit someone like Peter Sagan or Jon Degenkolb, rather than the Manx Missile.

Vuelta Stage 1 - Lay-O-Pard Lay-Down Best Time

Well the Vuelta a España is now off. And I've gone and picked the Bile Beans for this year's race.

The race started with a team time trial, around the delightful town on Benidorm and starting at the beach.

I was thinking Team Sky would do quite nicely today, but I guess I was wrong. Apparently they had a bit of a crash going on, but I didn't see it on the TV - so as far as we know they stopped for ice-cream or a pint.

It wasn't just Sky who had a bad day, there seemed to be fair number of incidents as riders left the start-ramp, with Jani Brajkovic being amongst the victims. I blame those pretty girls they had to start the riders off. They were very distracting.

So the stage went to the Leopard Trek team, (or Lay-o-pard Trek as they like to call themselves). The Liquigas Team of defending champion Vincenzo Nibali were not far behind, but for the time being Jakob Fuglsang has the race lead.

George must still be a-working on the scores, but I'm guessing they'll be along soon. I'm in no great hurry though, as today the Bile Beans were none too impressive. Fingers crossed I'll do better tomorrow, when we can expect to see the first of the bunch sprints.

In the name of economy, I had to pass on Mark Cavendish, so I'm hoping that a combination of Chris Sutton and Velogames bargain Marcel Kittel can earn me some points.

Tour of Spain to hit Mountains and Plains

Hello again. The Vuelta a España is nearly upon us, so it's time to put on my special blogging hat for the last Grand Tour of the year, which starts in Benidorm on Saturday.

I've not been posting much as of late, as I've been a bit distracted by a recent arrival here at the Pance house .....I'm sure you'll agree that's a pretty big cucumber I grew in the garden.

I better get back to work though, as I need to start making big cash from the blog in order to buy one of those new-fangled thought controlled bikes.


Young Craig is now over three weeks old, and due to my amazing parenting skills can now pretty much look after himself. So, unless he comes to me wanting to borrow some beer money or something, I'm hoping I'll have a few moments to keep you up to date with events of Fantasy Vuelta significance.

If you feel like doing your homework before you pick your team, you should probably brush up on the route and main contenders over at Cycling News. Or you can just jump right in and pick that team at Velogames and then join the Tour de Pance mini league. Speaking of which, the Tour de Pance mini league is now set up and open for entries....

League Name: Tour De Pance 

League Code: 18210829