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 I could attend both events in Valencia Saturday.

Last Sunday, when we went to Valencia, all of the shops were closed since it was the end of August (Spain is closed in August as the Spaniards are on vacation). Thus, with the wife wanting to shop and two sporting events in Valencia the day was set.

Time Trials
The event in Valencia was an individual time trial – meaning rather than spending 5 minutes watching the leaders and the peloton, cyclists ride individually on a course throughout the city. If you are a cycling aficionado this is the best way to watch every rider as they are not bunched up with the rest of the tour. The event started at 1:20 pm and finished around 5:30 pm.

However, if you are the Ultimate Sports Wife and enjoy spending less than one minute watching the riders during a regular stage, then this is not the event for you. Thus, Nicole decided she would not brave the rain and instead shop at the El Corte Ingles we parked at (0.02 euros per minute) for the event. But Nicole had the last laugh as she was able to watch a section of the time trial from the 8th floor of the El Corte Ingles rather than stand in the rain by the finish line as I had done.

The Race
The seventh stage consisted of a 30 kilometer time trial that started and finished on Valencia’s Formula 1 street circuit. Since I was unable to see the entire course when I attended the Formula 1 event two weeks ago, this gave me an opportunity to see the finish line – which was one of the reasons I walked in the rain to see the main area.

Fabian Cancellara won the stage and kept the gold jersey for one more day finishing the 30-kilometers in 36:41 – way ahead of the other competitors. David Millar, who placed second, was 32 seconds behind Cancellara, third place Bert Grabsch was 36 seconds slower and fourth place David Herrero was 40 seconds behind.