I'm not one to disregard tradition.
As you probably know the last Grand Tour of the season kicked off this weekend as the Vuelta started with a Team Time Trial with a start ramp over the sea. With early favourites lined up and eager, including Rodriguez and Valverde as the main challengers to Nibali, it was a first opportunity to put some time into each other. It was the Italian's Astana team that took first blood in the team ride, and then Nibali rode into the early race lead on stage two, following a career-high win from Ireland's Nicholas Roche.
Stage three saw Nibali drop to second as Chris Horner on the Radioshack team rode to an impressive mountain top win and into the red jersey.
I guess it shows the status of cycling in Britain that ITV 4 are showing race highlights despite there being very little direct British interest. Luke Rowe and Andy Fenn are riding, but will be playing strongly supporting roles in the event, and the only real local hope for a GC ride is the Garmin Sharp leader Dan Martin. He's Irish but his accent and home town are firmly in the UK and he might just get some stage wins. It's like watching the Tour in the 90s all over again.
In other news I have a video of the Whip-off form Crankworx for you, with all the messing about on bikes that the pros can still enjoy:
As Enduro sweeps the world there are some spectacular events it allows. Check out the preview for the Trans Provence later in September:
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