![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/CORVOS_00038291-001.jpg\")
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News & Racing<\/a><\/p>\n Do you want to see a bunch of pro cyclists in a state of deep relaxation? Of course you do. <\/p>\n Cor Vos<\/p>\n To be a professional cyclist is, at some fundamental level, to exist in a state of physical discomfort. The essence of the job description is to endure more pain than the next rider; to keep going when your precisely calibrated, tightly coiled body is screaming at you to stop. It\u2019s rare, in the confines of a bike race, to see a moment of complete surrender to relaxation. It\u2019s rarer still to see that every single day of a Grand Tour.\u00a0<\/p>\n But that\u2019s exactly what\u2019s going on at the Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a. As is usually the case, the Vuelta is making up for its relative lack of cachet with some old tricks, like cramming a bunch of sadistically climby stages in. But there\u2019s a new trick this year \u2013\u00a0a little zone at stage starts with a Big Comfy Sofa for the riders to sit in as they wait for sign-on.\u00a0<\/p>\n What kind of sofa, I hear you ask? I think, in the biz, it’d be described as an eight-seater with two chaises. Deep seats that basically mandate a slouch, with a slightly greater level of recline at the back than you’d probably expect. Hardy greige fabric; powder-coated alloy frame. You know, the kind of Big Comfy Sofa you’d expect at the Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a. <\/p>\n Because this is professional sport, it is naturally also a branding opportunity. The BCS is provided to the riders\u00a0\u2013\u00a0to the world, I suppose\u00a0\u2013 courtesy of Paradores, a fancy Spanish hotel chain with 98 branches across the country (and one in Portugal). There\u2019s a press release<\/a>, because of course there is, with Paradores promoting its guiding belief: “Behind every curve, an emotion. After every kilometer, a story. And at every destination, a Parador. Because La Vuelta isn’t just traveled, it’s also felt, lived, and savored.\u201d<\/p>\n Escape Collective is 100% membership-funded, with no advertising and no affiliate links in our product reviews. Our important work in the field of sofa-related cyclist observation is only possible through your support, so please join us as a member.<\/p>\n So what does it look like to feel, live and savour the Vuelta? Courtesy of the riders of the Vuelta, we know exactly that: the Paradores sofa makes them boneless. They melt into its cosy embrace like a wheel of cheese into a fondue pot. They become extra cuddly. They are transformed from elite athletes to Lycra-clad children with floppy limbs. For a few minutes before each stage of the Vuelta, they are the visual manifestation of comfort. <\/p>\n Don’t believe me? Let’s take a look. <\/p>\n This post is for paying subscribers only Already have an account? Sign in<\/a><\/p>\n Did we do a good job with this story?<\/p>\n \n \ud83d\udc4dYep![\"Iain](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Iain-Treloar-150x150.jpg\")
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“Si, il divano.”<\/p>\n![\"CTA](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/CORVOS_00038287-002-1.jpg\")
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