La Vuelta 2022: ‘Quiet periods is what we want’ – Dan Lloyd explains ‘spectacle’ now more likely

Updated 22/08/2022 at 11:43 GMT

Eurosport expert Dan Lloyd believes a quieter start to La Vuelta may lead to a bigger “spectacle” late in the race since the general classification contenders are still close together. There was little action in the two sprint days in the Netherlands prior to the bunch sprints, which were won by Sam Bennett, but it might be a good thing for the overall race according to Lloyd.

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Dan Lloyd believes the quieter periods during La Vuelta’s three days in the Netherlands could create a bigger “spectacle” later in the race.

Prior to the final sprint finishes in both stages at the weekend, there was a lack of action due to a lack of wind which many felt was needed to spice up the racing in the middle of each stage.

Nearly all the general classification contenders are within 33 seconds of Primoz Roglic who is the leading rider of those expected to fight for the overall win.

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“If you look back and think what will we remember about Denmark [at the Tour de France], we will say, ‘it was magnificent and the crowds were humongous, it was a fantastic atmosphere,” Lloyd said on The Breakaway.

“Maybe at the time of watching it we were like, ‘I expected a bit more of a spectacle than this and not a lot of racing was going on’.

“Over the course of three weeks we will forget there was a long period today when there wasn’t a whole lot happening.

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“In many ways that’s what you want because if you do have a lot of wind and it splits the peloton into pieces and half of the GC riders are three or four minutes down then it doesn’t create the spectacle later on in the race.”

This year’s La Vuelta and Tour de France started outside of the countries where the race is traditionally held.

Denmark hosted the Grand Departe of the Tour, whilst the Netherlands held the opening three stages of La Vuelta.

It means there is an early rest day, on Monday, which Adam Blythe thinks will play into some riders’ hands.

“For me, there must be a point for the GC riders where they take into [account] fatigue,” said Blythe.

“Normally they do nine stages for the first part of the race and a lot of them will like that, and a lot won’t.

“A lot of riders will like doing three days, having a rest then having three six-day blocks. But I think that nine-day period at the start really tires a lot of riders out in the past.

“Now they get so much more recovery than what they normally do, that a lot of riders will like that.”

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