For the fifth consecutive day, I attended at stage of the Vuelta a Espana. Today, the tour started in Alicante – a 90 minute drive from where the Ultimate Sports Wife and I are staying. As I wrote when the tour was in Valencia, I would normally not drive 90 minutes to attend a cycling race that only lasts a few minutes (especially when there are other stages to attend within a shorter drive). However, Nicole and I wanted to visit Alicante at some point during our …

For the fourth consecutive day, I attended a stage of the Tour of Spain. Today, the tour started in the city of Alcoy – a 30 minute drive from where I am staying. This was the fourth time Alcoy has hosted a stage in the history of the Spanish Tour. The last time Alcoy hosted was in 2004. Even if I had not planned to attend the other stages, I would have definitely attended this one based on Alcoy’s proximity to Benimassot, Spain.
According to lavuelta.com …

Although we would not see the start or the finish, stage 8 was riding through the neighboring towns from where we are staying. We are staying in Benimassot and the next towns to the east are Tollos, then Facheca, then Famorca – three towns which the tour was riding through.
We were in the process of deciding which town to watch the race from when our neighbors knocked on our door at 11 am. They asked if we wanted to watch the tour with them. Of course, we …

Very rarely is there an opportunity to attend two sporting events in the same day while in Europe. Not that two sporting events do not occur on the same day, but getting the wife approval is more difficult. Under normal circumstances, I probably would not drive 90 minutes to attend the Tour of Spain – given the fact the tour was in other areas closer to where we are staying. However, Valencia’s second division soccer club, Levante, had a home match scheduled for Saturday night – meaning …

On a weekend when La Liga is not playing due to World Cup qualifying matches, the perfect distraction is to have the Vuelta a Espana (Tour of Spain) come through our area. The current plan is to attend five consecutive stages within a reasonable driving distance (no more than 90 minutes away).
The first stage within a reasonable driving distance was stage 6, which began and ended in Xativa – a one hour drive from where the Ultimate Sports Wife and I are staying. Xativa hosted its first stage …