Purist Vuelta

Just thought I’d start a topic for discussing the options for purists ahead of the year’s final grand tour.

Going by the Giro the top scorers were J-Rod and Hesjedal by a mile who went after the Maglia Rosa early and kept up the fight till the very end, the likes of De Gendt only got going towards the end and didn’t score nearly as heavily. Other than Cavendish it wasn’t worth having any sprinter as they were all outscored by the likes of Uran and Henao with solid, but unspectacular, totals. Pozzovivo came out on top in the DS stakes through sticking with the GC guys for most of the race although Tiralongo was worth a pick early on.

For the Tour the sprinter’s scored more heavily and Sagan in particular was a must have with 550 points. Gripel and Goss also scored well but the real stars were Froome and Wiggins who’s time trial heroics got them a tidy haul of points backed up by solid mountain finishes to see them finish on 367 and 475 respectively, well ahead of Evans, Nibali and TJvG who all came out with roughly 300 points a piece. Voeckler also scored in the same region and Pinot was by far and away the highest scoring DS.

Plans for the Vuelta? Stick to the climbers, there are less flat stages for sprinters and more summit finishes for the big climbers. I think like the Giro a couple of contenders will go for the lead early, Rodriguez and Cobo maybe, and look to hold off Contador and Froome. Contador is an enigma as he may be anonymous over the first week or two and look to ride into some form, that might work for the win but won’t bag lots of fantasy points.

So, who do you think are the must have’s? Who’s going to get points on the board early and try to keep it up and who’s going to coast under the radar before making a late, De Gendt-esque, charge for the line?

Also, will you be picking Uran/Henao for your team given that Froome is clearly the favoured rider or is Henao worth a punt as a cheap rider with the potential to keep up with the lead group?