Say, this week is flying by! Happy Thursday and thanks for opening up The Cipher. We've got some great stuff on the site today, including new staffer Rachelle Hampton's first Defector blog!
-Maitreyi |
There Is Still No Escaping Colleen Hoover
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'ESPN Bet' Is A Black Hole
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How Chennedy Carter Reclaimed Her Superstar Pedigree
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Two Things We Liked On The Internet Today:
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It's Vuelta a España time. The third, final, and silliest Grand Tour of the men's road season is here, beginning with a short, flat time trial in Lisbon on Sunday after the Tour de France Femmes wraps up. The Vuelta is always one for the climbers, to an even more extreme degree than its Italian or French counterparts. That's especially true this year, with 36 time trial kilometers bookending a brutal series of climbs, a bunch of good in-between stages, and exactly one stage organizers are calling flat.
The Vuelta is the least prestigious of the Grand Tours, despite its difficulty, as it comes at the end of the season on skillet-hot Spanish roads after almost everyone in the pro peloton has already ridden the races they came into the season targeting. Some riders, like defending American champion Sepp Kuss, came into the season with the goal of winning the red jersey, though more often, the Vuelta is the last chance saloon. Riders who endured broken seasons, or riders looking for a contract next year come to Spain looking to redeem themselves. Teams also send younger prospects to test themselves, and riders who raced in support at the Tour or Giro get the chance to race for themselves. The dynamic often makes for unpredictable racing, even if fewer of the big names are here.
The prime contenders this year are Kuss, Primoz Roglic, and whoever the hell emerges as the leader from UAE. Former teammates Kuss and Roglic each planned to race the Tour de France this year, only for Kuss to catch COVID and Roglic to crash out in the first week. The course suits Kuss, the far worse time trialist, and while he won the Vuelta a Burgos, his form is somewhat uncertain. Ditto for Roglic. The Slovenian broke several vertabrae in the Tour, and the course gets so hard so fast in Spain he won't have any time to ride his way into shape before the decisive stages start. Joao Almeida and Simon Yates both put together spectacular rides at the Tour in support of Tadej Pogacar, though the UAE rider I have my eye on is 20-year-old Mexican phenom Isaac Del Toro. IDT has been a total crusher through his two pro seasons in Europe, and I don't think it's out of the question to expect huge things from him here in Spain. Unlike his rivals, he's spent months training for this race specifically.
Below the big three teams, Trek are bringing a cool lineup (do Tao Geoghan Hart' legs still work?), eccentric pet-murderer Antonio Tiberi will lead Bahrain, Richard Carapaz will bring his fantastic Tour form in to have a go, and Thymen Arensman and Carlos Rodriguez will try to remind the world that Ineos still fields a cycling team. It's gonna be fun, and silly, and I can't wait.
- Patrick Redford
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Tonight's WNBA Games, Ranked |
1. Mercury-Sky (8 p.m. Eastern, Prime Video)
2. Mystics-Fever (8 p.m. Eastern, League Pass)
3. Liberty-Sparks (9 p.m. Eastern, ESPN)
That is all.
- Maitreyi
Photo: Tom O'Connor/NBAE via Getty Images |
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