Vuelta: Kashechkin and Gomez Marchante crack, Valverde and Vino get their handbags out
Published by Halverde on 9/12/2006 at 17:41.
You've got to hand it to the Vuelta, it's never a predictable race. Sixteen stages in and the gap between first place and third place is still a mere minute and forty two seconds. And with Vino and Sastre on exactly the same time, it's looking likely that the organisers are just going to turn them all back when they reach Madrid and make them do another lap of the country to sort it all out.
Not really, that's a daft idea -- it'd overrun into the World Championships. Anyway, the constant battle for overall Vuelta victory has been overshadowing pretty much everything else in the race. The time trial in which Vino was expected to take a pile of time out of Valverde's lead didn't prove fruitful for the Kazahk -- he took a tiny 8 seconds, the same amount of time that Balaverde earned from the previous stage's time bonus. They don't call Valverde "El Imbatido" for nothing, Vino.
But Vino hadn't learned this lesson over the rest day -- he spent today's stage trying to drop the Green Bullet. Knowing that Vinokourov is exactly the kind of rider who'll let you work on the front until you tire and then attack you relentlessly, Valverde refused to cooperate with Vino when they broke away from the other main contenders. As a result, Vino called Valverde a workshy dago, then Valverde did an impression of Borat.* And it all escalated from there, really. Their reasonably aggressive stalemate would've been much better viewing if they hadn't slowed down enough to let chubby Tom Danielson catch up, but you can't have everything your own way. Here's the latest odds for the overall:
Alejandro Valverde
Since when has a 1'42 lead in a grand tour looked insurmountable? Since DerailedUK's joint favourite rider took the lead, that's when. The only way Valverde could possibly lose this race is if he winds Vinokourov up so much that Astana's Kazahkstani oil barons take out a hit on him. It's not very likely, but you might still want to put a little bit of money on Vino for the win. You know, just to be sure.
Odds for victory: 2/11
Alexandr Vinokourov
Despite the fact that he's stocky, selfish and frightfully aryan, Vino appears to be hugely popular with cycling fans. We appreciate that he's almost single handedly dismantling the catenaccio racing style, but he just reminds us of a particularly obnoxious preteen attacking everyone on a club run. Oh Vino, were you never hugged as a child? Or were you hugged too much?
Odds for victory: 4/1
Carlos Sastre
Poor Sastre. Even in his breakthrough year, he's had to spend it in the shadow of Valverde. It's a problem that must only be antagonised by the fact that the combativity jersey and CSC shorts serve to make him look exactly like Valverde has since he picked up the ProTour leader's jersey. Unless he cracks on a grand scale, Sastre should finish on his second grand tour podium of the season -- but how can he cope with the fact that he'll never, ever be Spanish cycling's favourite rider?
Odds for victory: 9/1-10/1
DerailedUK thinks that there's ways to make money from cycling without coming up with ridiculously named energy drinks. That's why we've teamed up with Berfair to let YOU get the best odds on cycling betting. If you follow the link and click "join now", we'll make money and so will you (provided you don't do something daft, like bet a wadge on Iban Mayo being anything more than mediocre). Winners always welcome at Betfair!
* We made that bit up, we're sure neither rider would resort to racial slurs.
Not really, that's a daft idea -- it'd overrun into the World Championships. Anyway, the constant battle for overall Vuelta victory has been overshadowing pretty much everything else in the race. The time trial in which Vino was expected to take a pile of time out of Valverde's lead didn't prove fruitful for the Kazahk -- he took a tiny 8 seconds, the same amount of time that Balaverde earned from the previous stage's time bonus. They don't call Valverde "El Imbatido" for nothing, Vino.
But Vino hadn't learned this lesson over the rest day -- he spent today's stage trying to drop the Green Bullet. Knowing that Vinokourov is exactly the kind of rider who'll let you work on the front until you tire and then attack you relentlessly, Valverde refused to cooperate with Vino when they broke away from the other main contenders. As a result, Vino called Valverde a workshy dago, then Valverde did an impression of Borat.* And it all escalated from there, really. Their reasonably aggressive stalemate would've been much better viewing if they hadn't slowed down enough to let chubby Tom Danielson catch up, but you can't have everything your own way. Here's the latest odds for the overall:
Alejandro Valverde
Since when has a 1'42 lead in a grand tour looked insurmountable? Since DerailedUK's joint favourite rider took the lead, that's when. The only way Valverde could possibly lose this race is if he winds Vinokourov up so much that Astana's Kazahkstani oil barons take out a hit on him. It's not very likely, but you might still want to put a little bit of money on Vino for the win. You know, just to be sure.
Odds for victory: 2/11
Alexandr Vinokourov
Despite the fact that he's stocky, selfish and frightfully aryan, Vino appears to be hugely popular with cycling fans. We appreciate that he's almost single handedly dismantling the catenaccio racing style, but he just reminds us of a particularly obnoxious preteen attacking everyone on a club run. Oh Vino, were you never hugged as a child? Or were you hugged too much?
Odds for victory: 4/1
Carlos Sastre
Poor Sastre. Even in his breakthrough year, he's had to spend it in the shadow of Valverde. It's a problem that must only be antagonised by the fact that the combativity jersey and CSC shorts serve to make him look exactly like Valverde has since he picked up the ProTour leader's jersey. Unless he cracks on a grand scale, Sastre should finish on his second grand tour podium of the season -- but how can he cope with the fact that he'll never, ever be Spanish cycling's favourite rider?
Odds for victory: 9/1-10/1
DerailedUK thinks that there's ways to make money from cycling without coming up with ridiculously named energy drinks. That's why we've teamed up with Berfair to let YOU get the best odds on cycling betting. If you follow the link and click "join now", we'll make money and so will you (provided you don't do something daft, like bet a wadge on Iban Mayo being anything more than mediocre). Winners always welcome at Betfair!
* We made that bit up, we're sure neither rider would resort to racial slurs.
