Vuelta a España 2017

Image courtesy of   The Guardian

On Sundays, I usually try to amuse my UC Irvine college buddies by sending them video links of funny TV segments that I watch with my caregivers during my daily warm-ups. But today I'm going to bore them!

I could bore my buddies and tell them, how along with Il Giro d'Italia and Le Tour de France, La Vuelta a España is one of the three Grand Tours. And how it was moved from its original spring dates so it would not compete with the Giro; so that roadies could attempt to ride all three Grand Tours in the same year —No rider has ever won all three Tours in the same year. Why? Although 32 riders have completed all three Tours in one season; one could never peak to be able to accomplish the feat— I could bore my buddies and rattle off the names of all seven riders that have won the Giro and the Tour in the same year, but that's what search engines and Wikipedia are for.

I could bore my buddies and let them learn how the main leader and GC winner of La Vuelta wears a gualda jersey (for the color at the center of the Spanish flag) and not a maillot jaune. And how there is an additional combinada jersey.

I could bore my buddies and let them know how on stage 17, for the first time in its history, la vuelta passed the northern Spanish town of Solares, where my mom currently lives (Solares is very close to Santander, the city where my mom was born). La Vuelta just didn't pass through Solares; that bucolic town was picked as the only sprint (and intermediate points) of the day,

I could bore my buddies with the route of stage 18 and links to personal pictures of the salida and the llegada.

I could bore my buddies and let them know how a professional athlete should retire; Pistolero won stage 21 on what is considered to be the most difficult (and is the last) climb of La Vuelta: El Alto de l'Angliru.

But I don't think I'm going to bore my college buddies anymore; Today is historic! Only two other riders have won Le Tour de France and La Vuelta a España in the same year. And now Froomy becomes the third. The win is even more significant because with his first La Vuelta success, he spectacularly broke into the international cycling scene —You can watch the stage live on NBC Sports 10:00am PST. Nothing fun gets going in Spain until later in the day: Local time: Start = 4:45pm. Projected end = 8:30pm. Festivities = Late into the night—

So the obvious question is: Does Chris Froome dope? Well according to this guy (who knows what he's talking about) the answer is yes. And Froome does have a history of doping. [Insert emoticon or emoji here] © What do I think? Maybe! But don't forget about those Osymetric chainrings. As far as I know, he's the only man in the peloton who uses them. Not only are they difficult to get accostumed to; they are hard to push as there is no pedal-stroke dead-spot.

How can anyone talk about cycling and not mention * Lance Armstrong (asterisks like in béisbol, s'il vous plaît!). Maybe if you work for Éditions Philippe Amaury (the conglomerate behind Le Tour de France and La Vuelta a España). We all know he doped! But I always liked the guy. Do you remember that he survived testicular cancer, and that he did it the hard way so that he could remain competitive in a tough sport? Do you know the amount of money that his foundation raised for cancer victims? Did you know that when he started in the Tour, he always took care of his teammates? Like making sure they always had long-term contracts in a sport where you're never sure of a contract or a team for the next year. Like waiting for his full team when three of his nine teammates fell and he only needed five to complete a team time trial stage, thus loosing precious seconds. Or the time when he won a stage and he looked and pointed to the sky because he was dedicating his win to a fallen comrade. Or the many stages that he let his teammates win. And Lance didn't dope to make life easier: He slept in an oxygen deprivation tent to simulate high altitudes. He reconnoitered the Alps and the Pyrenees early in the season when some of the mountain roads were still clogged with snow. He was (¿todavía es?) admired in Spain because how hard he worked in the off-season to prepare for a perfect Tour de France.

But his downfall has now been distilled to 'bullying.' His downfalls were many: Like getting cocky (remember the guy is a Texan!) and returning to the Tour after wining a record and lucky seven Mellow Johnny's; He basically called Oprah a bitch, on national TV. He was ratted out by Floyd Landis, one of his most trusted lieutenants; Nothing will bring you more pain than a Judas in your flock.

I still like Lance; he has charisma and now we know, a wicked sense of humor; he made cycling fun to watch and yes, I consider him to be the ultimate professional. Let's face it, without him, much of the USA would not know about cycling (I'm taking about the years before his doping problems) and would consider the sport just another euro quirk. The only thing that I will never forgive is his breakup with beautiful Sheryl Crow; I guess he couldn't deal with her breast cancer. Word of advice: Don't ever let a woman write a song about you!