Stage 21 :: Sunday September 20, 2009
110.2km :: Rivas-Vaciamadrid - Madrid

The closing stage of the 2009 Vuelta. A rolling parade to Madrid with the typical closing circuit on the streets of the city.

I haven't had a chance to really watch the race other than tuning in to Universal about 15 seconds before a couple of sprint finishes, consequently, I haven't had time to play around much in the live threads.  But from all of us here at the Stage Preview, thanks for taking the time to read and comment and participate in this lovely thing called PodiumCafe.

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Stage 20 :: Saturday September 19, 2009
27.8km :: Toledo ITT

Is it done and dusted? Probably, barring some catclysmic performance in the top rankings of the sort only capable by a mutant Mencov/Rasmussen hybrid.

But we can't stop here. This is bat country.

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Stage 19 :: Friday September 18, 2009
179.8km :: Ávila - La Granja de San Ildefonso

One more stage before the denoument of this tour, and it's a nice one. Several rated climbs including two trips up the Puerto de Nevacerrada. Now maybe it's just because I'm listening to The Rite of Spring in the background, but this has a feel of a highnoon showdown to it. I'm not saying someone looked at Samu and decided to make the last stage with climbs tailor made for him, because they didn't; it doesn't actually descend all the way to the finish line. Just most of the way.

When Caisse d'Espargne reached the new world, Valverde burned their bikes, as a result, his men were well motivated. It is also my understanding that Robert Gesink would have liked to have seen Montana.

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Stage 18 :: Thursday September 17, 2009
165.0km :: Talavera de la Reina - Ávila

A saucy win for Roux! Nice to see FdJ at the sharp end of the race. Hopefully, we can now put the majority of Frinky's Zz's to bed and get some more interesting racing going. We have some categorized climbs tomorrow and the return of the dreaded Vuelta loop race course.

All I know is, this Valverde character comes out of thin air in the middle of a [goshdarn] alley while his buddies are flying around on wires cutting everybody to shreds, and he just stands there waiting for me to drive my truck straight through him?! With light coming out of his mouth!

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Stage 17 :: Wednesday September 16, 2009
193.6km :: Ciudad Real - Talavera de la Reina

I'm stuck under a time crunch to do a cell phone invoice cost analysis. All things considered, dead flat transition stages across Spain are more fun than that. No time for screen shots or witty banter... let's just get straight to those who know about these things, shall we?

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Stage 16 :: Tuesday September 15, 2009
170.3km :: Córdoba - Puertollano

A flat stage is in store for you. A couple of Cat.3 climbs on this one, some ridge running and plateau uh... planing?!? Anyway, it's totally a sprinters/breakaway stage. I'm not as up on the current placements of sprint competition contestants, so I don't know if those teams would allow a breakaway to succeed, but after the weekend, this would be a good time for it. Expect it to be pretty piano, I'm guessing

Are you aware that in the Arab city of Córdoba were two miles of public lighting in the streets when London was a village? I know it, because someone said it in a movie once, so it must be true. The only thing more authoritative than things said in movies is things written on Wikipedia!

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Stage 15 :: Monday September 14, 2009
167.7km :: Jaén - Córdoba

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.  No use repeating myself, eh?

Jaén to Córdoba.  Everytime I read Córdoba, I can only hear Alec Guiness pronounce while wearing a big fake nose.  This upcoming bit is a rolling stage, with only the Alto de San Jerónimo to provide any real test of the rider's legs.  Of course, they ride it twice as the finish is a 64km circuit through Córdoba (interm. sprint) and then climbing up to Geronimo and circling back down again, twice.

I suppose it's sort of a classics-y type ride and I think there's a classics-y type rider at the front of this thing now isn't there.  More's the piti...

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Stage 14 :: Sunday September 13, 2009
157.0km :: Granada - La Pandera

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Vestibulum rhoncus semper sem, vel hendrerit elit bibendum nec. Morbi eu sollicitudin est. Quisque blandit aliquam risus et lobortis. Fusce sodales, magna non blandit accumsan, metus odio ultricies est, a auctor diam odio non neque. Aenean condimentum volutpat justo ac vehicula. Curabitur in odio a odio aliquam laoreet a sit amet quam. Cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus.

Quisque ut nulla ipsum. Donec tempus orci vel dolor semper non ornare purus fermentum. Sed sit amet ultricies dolor. Ut et ligula sem. Proin vehicula aliquam augue, vitae pharetra justo commodo quis. Integer mollis iaculis diam, non fermentum ligula cursus vel. Duis risus nisl, tincidunt a pellentesque vitae, pulvinar at ligula. Ut eget condimentum felis. Fusce ornare arcu non odio tincidunt non tincidunt lectus elementum.

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Stage 13 :: Saturday September 12, 2009
172.4km :: Berja - Sierra Nevada

Well, I guess Garmin finally discovered they could set a waypoint on "Stage Win", eh? One would have though a guy with sideburns like Vaughters would have figured that out a long time ago. Must have been all the burritos getting in the way of rational thought.

A rough route today, but if you thought there were a mountain or two on course for stage 12, well, tomorrow you'll get a full cycle, wash, rinse, repeat. Two Cat.3 climbs, two Cat.1 climbs and a summit finish up a Cuervo Especial (Spanish for "Horse Category") climb.  ¿Puede usted oler lo que está cocinando la Roca!?

1. Cat.3 Alto de Berja :: 840m (495m elevation gain over 9.8km - avg 5.1%)
   
2. Cat.1 Puerto de La Ragua :: 2100m  (1540m elevation gain over 24.6km - avg 6.3%)
3. Cat.3 Puerto de los Blancares :: 1300m (310m elevation gain over 8.7km - avg 3.6%)
   
4. Cat.1 Alto de Monachil :: 1505m (685m elevation gain over 8.6km - avg 8.0%)
   
5. Cat.Es Alto de Sierra Nevada :: 2380m (940m elevation gain over 16.9km - avg 5.6%)
   

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