Posted on 26/07/2016 14:58
Starts on Saturday 20 August, with a 29km time trial, followed by about 5 days of relatively flat stages, then into the mountains. And in typical Vuelta style, there aren't an awful lot of flat roads after that!
It's too early for teams to be announced, but a number if riders have already thrown their hats into the ring.
Anyone care to chose a rider now, before all the good ones go? 
Posted on 26/08/2016 09:02
Results after Thursday's stage:
1st Darwin Atapuma
2nd Alejandra Valverde (Pliers)
3rd Chris Froome (Kennine)
4th Nairo Quintana (IanH)
5th Esteban Chaves (TtDA 2)
10th Simon Yates (with the curse of Runrig hovering over him)
11th Daniel Moreno (Nellie)
12th Alberto Contador (TtDA)
101st Tejay Van Garderen (Goldie)
Rtd Miquel Angel Lopez (Runrig)
And guess what today's stage is? Why it's a lumpy, bumpy one again 
Three cat3 climbs, but the finish comes 18k after the final climb, so the breakaway (and surely there will be one!) will after to survive a descent and a long, flat 7k run to the finish.
Posted on 26/08/2016 20:23
Results after Thursday's stage:
1st Darwin Atapuma
2nd Alejandra Valverde (Pliers)
3rd Chris Froome (Kennine)
4th Nairo Quintana (IanH)
5th Esteban Chaves (TtDA 2)
10th Simon Yates (with the curse of Runrig hovering over him)
11th Daniel Moreno (Nellie)
12th Alberto Contador (TtDA)
101st Tejay Van Garderen (Goldie)
Rtd Miquel Angel Lopez (Runrig)
And guess what today's stage is? Why it's a lumpy, bumpy one again
Not the sort of breakaway you were expecting I guess Ian. However you were correct in that they would be caught, and that it would end up in a sprint finish. And even that had another surprise winner and a nasty crash just before the finish. It looks possible that Contador might not be able to continue tomorrow, more's the pity. The top positions haven't changed, but Valverde gained 4 seconds for finishing 3rd.
Posted on 26/08/2016 20:51
Yes, yet another bad fall for Alberto.
He was saying that it hurt at the finish and that was a bad sign, to be hurting while still 'hot'.......it usually starts to hurt later.
I know what he means (
) so not it's not promising for him.
Poor old Atapuma wasn't getting much support in the red jersey.......the team are looking after the favourites.
Posted on 26/08/2016 22:46
Great win by Ben Yates, his first GT stage victory. He really pulled that one out of the bag, and moved himself into the top 10 in the standings.
Ben?
Maybe Simon or Adam?
Sorry, Ben Yates is some-one I know....and he's not a cyclist!!
I thought that was probably the case!
Posted on 27/08/2016 08:26
Results after Friday's stage:
1st Darwin Atapuma
2nd Alejandra Valverde (Pliers)
3rd Chris Froome (Kennine)
4th Nairo Quintana (IanH)
5th Esteban Chaves (TtDA 2)
10th Simon Yates (with the curse of Runrig hovering over him)
11th Daniel Moreno (Nellie)
12th Alberto Contador (TtDA)
101st Tejay Van Garderen (Goldie)
Rtd Miquel Angel Lopez (Runrig)
All as yesterday.
But I think things will change today.......
Posted on 27/08/2016 08:29
An unusual stage today......165km of near flat and then a wall!
A cat1 climb at the finish, which goes up to 25% in places.
This climb featured in 2014 and the stage was won by Ryder Hesjedal, with Chris Froome taking time from Alberto Contador. Well, Ryder isn't here this year and Alberto might struggle to even start today? Even if he does, is he likely to be in a fit state to defend his position on a climb like this?
Will the Columbians show what they are made of? Will Valverde make his bid for the red jersey?
More importantly, will Pliers win the CT prize? 
We will have to wait and see......
Posted on 27/08/2016 18:23
An unusual stage today......165km of near flat and then a wall!
A cat1 climb at the finish, which goes up to 25% in places.
This climb featured in 2014 and the stage was won by Ryder Hesjedal, with Chris Froome taking time from Alberto Contador. Well, Ryder isn't here this year and Alberto might struggle to even start today? Even if he does, is he likely to be in a fit state to defend his position on a climb like this?
Will the Columbians show what they are made of? Will Valverde make his bid for the red jersey?
More importantly, will Pliers win the CT prize?
We will have to wait and see......
I see you've overtaken me today, Ian!
Thought you would
Posted on 27/08/2016 20:42
Another surprise winner, Serguy Lugatin, and Quintana certainly surprised Froome on the final bit of the climb. Now leads the race from Valverde & Froome. Contador had a good day as well beating both Froome & Valverde by 8 secs. I'll leave it up to Ian to publish new list.
Another Brit did well today, Scott Thwaites finishing 7th only 1' 11" behind the winner, & 3'30" in front of Quintana.
IanH