I asked the question on Facebook at Twitter to find out the general sentiment towards the Vuelta and it seems that I’m not alone (1 being no interest, 5 being Vuelta addiction):

As one person commented “The Vuelta is like foreplay after sex“.

Personally, I think it has nothing to do with the race and everything to do with the awkward timezone overlap between Spain and Australia. Spain’s timezone is the furthest back in Europe and the live coverage did not begin until 11:30pm. That’s just a little too late for this old codger - even on a weekend. That said, SBS’s efforts in bringing us live coverage and highlights is a massive step forward and greatly appreciated.

The World Championships are less than a week away and you DON’T want to miss out on them - no matter how late you need to stay up. The final roster of Aussie riders will be announced today and we have an excellent shot at the rainbow stripes the win with Renshaw, Gossy and Hepburn in the U23 (if he behaves!).

Here is a compilation action with a gallery of Sirotti’s photos I’ve collected throughout the past three weeks.