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Pakistan betting scandal only a symptom of cricket’s wider disease

August 31, 2010 5 Comments

One of the things that makes sport such a compelling spectacle is the knowledge that you are watching teams or individuals striving to produce the best possible performance they can and defeat their opponents.

Or so we are led to believe.

The exposure of the doping culture which is prevalent in many sports has done much to undermine fans’ belief in their idols, but at least it can be rationalised that they are still trying to win, albeit by illegal means. The same goes for gamesmanship or plain and simple cheating which we have increasingly come to accept as commonplace.

But what about when individuals commit deliberate acts which diminish their team’s or their own performance: the jockey who eases up on his ride, the striker who intentionally misses the target, or the bowler who knowingly over-steps the crease to deliver a no-ball?

Even if the transgression is an apparently minor one, what effect does this have on the way we view sport?

That is the question at the heart of the furore which has engulfed a Pakistan cricket team which hardly has a gleaming record in such matters.

The allegations

Mohammad Asif

Mohammad Amir

Four Pakistan players – captain Salman Butt, wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal and bowlers Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif – were placed under investigation for spot-fixing events in competitive matches. (Akmal has now been dropped from the police investigation.)

Allegations in the News of the World centre on three no-balls delivered during England‘s innings at Lord’s – two by Amir, one by Asif – which are said to have been ‘arranged’ by cricket agent Mazhar Majeed in exchange for £150k. Majeed has since been released by the police on bail, without being charged.

Video footage of the three incidents, particularly in the case of the two Amir deliveries, appears damning. The bowler clearly over-steps by a full boot-length on each occasion, a huge margin of error for a professional bowler.

In addition, the Pakistan team is already under investigation for suspicious incidents in matches on their winter tour of Australia, in which they lost all three Tests and all five one-day internationals.

Butt’s response to the latest scandal fell some way short of an outright denial:

These are just allegations. Anybody can say things about you, that does not make them true. They include quite a few people, they are ongoing and we will see what happens.

The players were booed by their own supporters at Lord’s on Sunday, and some threw tomatoes at the team coach to register their disappointment and disgust at the front-page revelations that nobody associated with the game ever wanted to see again.

Pakistan’s dubious history

On the face of it, being whitewashed in Australia is not in itself a reason for automatic suspicion – England lost the last Ashes series down under 5-0 – but eyebrows were certainly raised during the series at certain idiosyncratic incidents.

Wicketkeeper Akmal dropped four catches in the second Test at Sydney, a match which Australia won by just 36 runs. And Amir dropped a simple catch off Australian captain Ricky Ponting during the third Test in Tasmania.

Of course, neither of these events is proof of any wrongdoing – Amir is not the first player to spill a straightforward catch, and Akmal is hardly the best gloves-man ever (he has kept wicket poorly this summer too). It is important not to read meaning into events which may have none, as England captain Andrew Strauss said on Sunday:

With these sorts of allegations, you start questioning things you shouldn’t be questioning.

Nonetheless, when both events at Lord’s and other dubious chapters in Pakistan’s cricketing history are taken into consideration, the weight of circumstantial evidence would trouble even the broadest of shoulders.

Asif was implicated for ball-tampering in the infamous 2006 Oval Test (which Pakistan forfeited in protest), and subsequently served a one-year ban for using the prohibited drug nandrolone.

A previous major investigation into match-fixing, conducted by Justice Malik Mohammad Qayyum at the instigation of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) in 1998, led to captain Salim Malik and bowler Ata-ur-Rehman being banned for life. (The bans were subsequently rescinded.) Serious but unsubstantiated concerns were also aired over senior players such as Wasim Akram and current England bowling coach Musthaq Ahmed.

Qayyum told The Times:

The current situation is very unfortunate. It is very shocking. Is it surprising? No.

Not just Pakistan

While Pakistan certainly have the most notorious reputation when it comes to match or spot-fixing, they are by no means the only ones to have been involved in cricketing corruption.

South Africa captain Hansie Cronje is perhaps the best-known such case. He was dealt a life ban in 2000 after an investigation following a recorded phone call with Sanjay Chawla, a representative of an Indian betting syndicate.It transpired Cronje had accepted several payments over a period of four years to influence the result of matches, and had also offered teammates bribes to deliberately under-perform. India captain Mohammed Azharuddin and batsman Ajay Sharma also received permanent bans as a result of the investigation.

At least three players – including Australia’s Brad Haddin – are known to have reported being approached by individuals trying to set up spot-fixes during last year’s Twenty20 World Cup.

And Australian all-rounder Shane Watson has come forward today to reveal that he was invited for a drink by a member of a betting syndicate during last summer’s Ashes series:

It happened a couple of times in London and I just went and told [team manager] Steve Bernard. It was an Indian fan, or that’s what I thought it was. I didn’t think too much more of it until I found out a bit more information that he was actually one of the illegal bookmakers that was trying to get involved.

Nor is such activity restricted to international cricket. Currently two Essex players – one of them Pakistan leg spinner Danish Kaneria - are under investigation for suspected offences similar to those alleged at Lord’s. Other county players are also known to have been approached by Indian ‘businessmen’.

How does this happen?

There are a number of factors which mean that cricket – and Pakistan in particular – is particularly susceptible to betting corruption.

Firstly, cricket’s demographics and structure both encourage spot-betting on a huge variety of micro-events which do not directly influence the match result. The sport’s immense popularity in India and Pakistan, coupled with the huge (and illegal) unregulated gambling industry in India, means there is big money to be made and lost on cricket betting. From the runs scored by a batsman or conceded by a bowler (either in total or over a particular timeframe) to the number of lbw’s, dropped catches, no-balls or wides, if you can place money on it, there is someone who will offer you a price on it.

Pakistan’s cricketers are also more susceptible than most.

From an economic standpoint, the team’s centrally-contracted players are only paid around £25k pa – marginally more than the minimum wage for a senior county cricketer – which compares poorly with up to £400k for England’s team. Add in personal endorsements and the riches on offer in the IPL (which Pakistan players cannot participate in) and the sport’s superstars such as Sachin Tendulkar can easily earn in excess of £5m in one year. The temptation to accept a payment from a bookie is therefore a compelling one. (This is why county cricket is also a common target for corruption, with the added benefit of having a lower and less-scrutinised profile than international matches.)

It should also not be forgotten that many of the nation’s cricketers are from under-privileged backgrounds, and a financial inducement of even a few thousand dollars can make an enormous difference for the players and their families. Mohammad Amir is a prime example, the youngest of seven children from an impoverished family, who grew up playing ‘tape cricket’ (a common form of the game using a tennis ball wrapped in electrical tape).

In addition, the international team is effectively homeless and nomadic since the terrorist attack on the Sri Lanka team bus in Lahore in March of last year, increasing the players’ vulnerability and the opportunity for external contact. And there is also the feeling that match-fixing is almost an accepted part of the country’s cricketing culture, with the rewards far outweighing the perceived risks.

Speaking about Amir, former captain Ramiz Raja said:

I blame the people who got an innocent 18-year old thinking in a devious manner. It is that and the unhealthy atmosphere around the team. I blame the leadership, by which I mean management, the atmosphere in the dressing room, the entire cricket culture back home. They all think they can get away with it.

The consequences

The various authorities are now scrambling to complete investigations into the Lord’s affair, and also the winter tour of Australia.

A PCB enquiry is ongoing, with Pakistan’s Federal Sports Minister Ijaz Jakhrani calling its outcome “a matter of honour and dignity”. The ICC has also promised it will complete an initial investigation before Pakistan’s next match against England (a Twenty20 game) on Sunday, although it is unclear exactly how rigorous this can be.

ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat told BBC Radio 5 Live:

The reputation of the game has been tarnished and it is something we must make right. There is no question that people’s confidence will have been swayed. We’re busy with the Metropolitan Police and hope, before the weekend arrives, we can get to some sort of a conclusion.

We are working hard, but it’s important to remember that an individual is innocent until proven guilty. At the moment, it is appropriate that the game continues. We shouldn’t let everyone suffer because of a couple of individuals that might have got caught up in corrupt practices.

The vast majority of players are not guilty of any such behaviour. We shouldn’t let a couple of individuals, a few players, bring the entire game to a standstill.

Responses from the cricketing community – players, media and fans alike – have ranged from outrage (many) to sympathy (a few).

Strauss is one of those who has come down quite clearly on the side of making an example of any wrongdoers:

If someone is found categorically guilty, the only way for me is for you to not be able to play international cricket again.

Former captain Michael Vaughan agreed:

The game has to be cleaned up. This is the chance to change the game forever and stamp this kind of thing out.

Others from outside the English game, including former Pakistan captain-turned-politican Imran Khan agree:

If these allegations are true then there should be exemplary punishment. If the players are found guilty they should be shunted out of the team [and] replaced by others.

Certainly, past precedent would suggest that life bans are likely for any players found guilty.

Former England captain Mike Atherton, now The Times’ cricket correspondent, points to the case of the 18-year old Amir and the opportunity this presents to purge Pakistan’s cricket culture of its disease of corruption:

Amir’s rehabilitation should be at the heart of the cleansing of Pakistan cricket. The brilliant young bowler is not the cause of the problem but the most tragic consequence of it.

Regardless, it is vital now that any investigations and subsequent punishments do not shy away from meeting the issues head on. Writing on the BBC Sport website, cricket correspondent Jonathan Agnew says:

The investigation, for the good of cricket, has to be thorough and absolute. The game cannot afford for this to be swept under the carpet and if that means Pakistan, when this tour comes to an end, must serve a temporary exile from international cricket then so be it.

In the meantime, the tour continues, although it is unclear whether Butt, Akmal, Amir and Asif will play again. Pakistan play Somerset on Thursday, and are still scheduled to play two Twenty20 matches and five one-day internationals against England.

The moral question

This story will run and run for at least the next several days, with our perspectives on it no doubt changing as new evidence is made public. But the fundamental question I posed at the beginning of this post remains: even if the transgression is an apparently minor one, what effect does this have on the way we view sport?

To say that the full extent of Pakistan’s alleged deception was to concede three inconsequential no-balls in a match England won by an innings and 225 runs is a facile and ignorant argument, not least because England were on the ropes at 102/7 before Jonathan Trott and Stuart Broad staged their world record eighth wicket partnership. What if one of those no-balls, if bowled ‘properly’, had dismissed Trott or Broad early in their stand? What if it had struck the batsman’s head, unsettling him for a future wicket-taking delivery? What if the ball had reared up unexpectedly, planting a seed of doubt in the mind and geeing up the other bowlers? What if? What if? What if? No one delivery in a cricket match can be considered to be a wholly independent event, just as a single move in chess inevitably has repercussions on the rest of the game.

So much of sport is about winning (or losing) the battle in the mind that it is hard to believe that a player consciously committed to under-performing in one aspect of his game would not also be subconsciously affected at least slightly in others, and at the highest level it is these marginal differences that often make all the difference.

What was the cost to Pakistan of those three no-balls? Just three runs? I don’t think so.

There is also the question of whether the suspected players (or conceivably others) also committed other acts of falsification which remain undiscovered, a point raised by former England captain and Sky commentator Nasser Hussain in the Daily Mail:

I find it hard to believe that we’re just talking about a few no-balls. I’m furious with Pakistan for going down this road again. My hope is that, if the allegations are true, the authorities are strong.

The reality is that the breadth of corruption extends far beyond this match, the Pakistan team and the players under investigation. The News of the World‘s allegations only scratch the surface of a far bigger problem. But starting with the visible tip of the iceberg is as good a place to start as any.

I am indebted to The Times, and in particular correspondents Mike Atherton, Simon Barnes, Christopher Martin-Jenkins, Ashling O’Connor and Matthew Syed, from whose reports the facts and quotes for much of this post have been drawn. Any errors in this article are strictly my own.

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Gilbert breaks Martínez’s heart to win Vuelta’s first mountain stage

August 31, 2010 4 Comments

Classics specialist Philippe Gilbert won a thrilling finish to stage three of the Vuelta a España in Málaga, as breakaway leader Serafín Martínez was denied a first professional win after being swallowed up with just one kilometre to go.

On a day featuring the Vuelta’s first serious climbs, a break of seven riders including Martínez escaped on the opening ascent of the second-category Puerto de Ojén and built a lead of nine minutes. As the group hit the lower slopes of the first-category Puerto del León, about 50 km from the finish, it began to splinter and Xacobeo Galicia‘s Martínez seized the opportunity to launch a successful solo attack.

Katusha, riding for Joaquim Rodriguez, responded by driving the chase at the front of the peloton, shelling several riders out of the back including, surprisingly, Andy Schleck.

Serafín Martínez (image courtesy of Guy Dedieu)

The chase group nibbled away at Martínez’s lead on the long descent into Málaga, but with two kilometres to go he still had a lead of around 25 seconds as he approached the stage’s sting in the tail, an uncategorised 1.8 km hill with a 100-metre ascent. But as he laboured up the climb after his day-long exertions his pursuers, featuring most of the main GC contenders, leapt across the gap and sped past him just as he passed under the flamme rouge. Spent and heartbroken within sight of his maiden race win, Martínez slid backwards and would eventually coast across the line in 67th, nearly two minutes down.

Liquigas‘s Vincenzo Nibali was the first of the contenders to attack, but Gilbert almost immediately counter-attacked and sped away from the pack, with only Rodriguez able to keep him within his sights. But the Belgian Omega Pharma-Lotto rider was able to comfortably hold him off on the steep final section and savour his second Grand Tour stage win (his first at the Vuelta).

Euskaltel-Euskadi‘s Igor Anton was 13 seconds down in third, with Nibali and Lampre‘s Slovenian rider Grega Bole a further two seconds back, continuing a fine 2010 which has seen him win a stage at the Critérium du Dauphiné and place second overall at the pre-Vuelta Tour of Poland.

Stage 3 winner Philippe Gilbert

Gilbert’s win should have come as little surprise, having won April’s Amstel Gold classic on a similar (though slightly steeper) final ascent of the famous Cauberg hill, and finishing third at Liège-Bastogne-Liège, but it was a hugely impressive acceleration by him in the final kilometre, which left everyone else bar Rodriguez gasping in his wake.

The winning margin was enough to give Gilbert the leader’s red jersey, 14 seconds ahead of Rodriguez. All the other top contenders (except for Andy Schleck, who is riding only in support of his brother Fränk anyway) are within a minute of the leader; we are unlikely to see any significant gaps appear until Saturday’s first big mountain stage.

Gilbert was delighted to have captured both the stage and the race lead after a tough day in the saddle:

I was dropped in the last three kilometres of the Puerto del León. I lost maybe 30 seconds but I didn’t panic because I had studied the course really well.  On the downhill I took a lot of risks to come back. When I made it across to the bunch I quickly moved to the first 20 positions to avoid any crashes.

I managed to start the final climb in the first five positions. I accelerated 600 metres from the finish line. It’s a similar climb to the Cauberg in the Amstel Gold race.

I came to the Vuelta to gear up for the World Championships and with the ambition of winning a stage. The second goal is already reached. The surprise comes from the fact that I get the red jersey as well. It’s a nice surprise because it’s my first leader’s jersey in a Grand Tour. Now I’ll do my best to respect this jersey.

A disappointed Martínez at least had the consolation of taking the polka dot jersey as the leader of the mountains classification. He said:

I was creeping at the end but with five kilometres to go I thought I’d win because I heard on the radio that I had a 1:30 lead, but I looked back and madre mia! the dream fell out.

The polka dot jersey is a consolation prize and I’ll try to keep it as long as I can but the main goal of our team remains to win a stage.

Former race leader Mark Cavendish was dropped on the first climb and finished 25 minutes down, but he will live to fight another day with his priority remaining sprint stages and the points competition.

Stage four to Valdepeñas de Jaén today is an undulating affair with three medium mountains and a similarly tricky uncategorised hill to tackle in the final two kilometres. It could well be another day for the Classics specialists. What price a Gilbert double?

Stage 3 result:

1. Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto) 4:06:12′

2. Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) +0:03

3. Igor Antón (Euskaltel-Euskadi) +0:13

4. Vincenzo Niabli (Liquigas) +0:15

5. Grega Bole (Lampre) same time

General classification:

1. Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto) 8:55:56′

2. Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) +0:14

3. Kanstantsin Sivtsov (HTC-Columbia) +0:22

4. Tejay Van Garderen (HTC-Columbia) +0:26

5. Vincenzo Niabli (Liquigas) +0:28

Points classification

1. Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto) 25

2. Yauheni Hutarovich (FDJ) 25

3. Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) 20

4. Mark Cavendish (HTC-Columbia) 20

5. Igor Antón (Euskaltel-Euskadi) 16

Mountains classification

1. Serafín Martínez (Xacobeo Galicia) 13 pts

2. David Moncoutié (Cofidis) 6

3. Niki Terpstra (Milram) 5

4. Egoi Martínez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) 5

5. Mickael Delage (Omega Pharma-Lotto) 3

For up-to-the-minute news, results and analysis of the race, visit either the official Vuelta website or the always excellent steephill.tv.

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The week in numbers: w/e 29/8/10

August 30, 2010 4 Comments

Rubens Barrichello: 300 races and still going strong

300 – Rubens Barrichello competed in his 300th Formula 1 race at the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps, having entered his first in 1993. In that time, the 38-year old has won 11 times and set 14 pole positions. Yesterday, starting from seventh on the grid, he retired after an accident at the end of the first lap as Britain’s Lewis Hamilton won and took over the lead in the drivers’ championship.

3 – With 13 of 19 races completed, Lewis Hamilton (182 points) leads Mark Webber (179) in the drivers’ championship by just three points.

20 – French side Auxerre were drawn in the same Champions League group as Real Madrid, AC Milan and Ajax, who have won the European Cup/Champions League 20 times between them (respectively nine, seven and four).

2 - Aston Villa were knocked out in the final playoff round of the Europa League by Rapid Vienna, 4-3 on aggregate after losing their home leg 3-2. They were eliminated at the same stage by the same side last season too.

3 – Bournemouth were 3-0 up within 28 minutes at home to Notts County in their League 1 encounter on Saturday, and still 3-1 up in the 91st minute. The game finished 3-3.

54 – Years since Britain’s women’s basketball team last reached the European Championship finals, which will be held in Poland next year. After losing their opening qualifying game, they won their last five, clinching qualification with a 77-59 win over Germany on Thursday night.

1:41.01 – David Rudisha broke the 800 metres world record for the second time in eight days, clocking 1:41.01 in Rieti.

England vs Pakistan

Mohammad Amir: 50 Test wickets

50 – At 18 years and 136 days, Pakistan bowler Mohammad Amir became the youngest bowler to reach 50 Test wickets during the first innings of the fourth and final Test at Lord’s on Friday. He finished with a return of 6-84. Sadly, he now finds himself a key player in the betting scandal which overshadowed the match, which England won yesterday to clinch a tarnished series 3-1.

0 – Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood and Eoin Morgan were all dismissed for ducks, the first time ever that England‘s numbers four, five and six have been dismissed without scoring in an innings (and only the fifth time in Test history).

332 – Jonathan Trott and Stuart Broad put on a world-record 332 runs for England’s eighth wicket. Trott finished with 184, Broad 169.

1,000 – Trott and Broad both passed 1,000 career runs during their innings. Trott reached the milestone in his 23rd Test innings, the same as Mike Atherton and Kevin Pietersen. (The record is 12, by Herbert Sutcliffe.)

Stuart Broad scored 169 to rescue England after a first innings collapse

1 – It was Broad’s maiden Test hundred, making him and his father Chris the first father and son to complete Test centuries for England. His score of 169 was also higher than any of his father’s six Test hundreds (his best was 162).

3 – Pakistan were bowled out for 74 in their first innings, their second-lowest ever total against England. Their three all-time lowest scores have come during this series (80 in the first Test, 72 in the second Test).

17 – Number of wickets that fell on Saturday: England’s last three first innings wickets, the whole of Pakistan’s first innings, and then the first four of their second as England enforced the follow-on.

404 – Trott was the highest run-scorer in the series, scoring 404 runs at an average of 67.33. His total was over 150 more than the next best batsman, Broad (250).

1 – Trott was the only one of England’s six specialist batsmen to average over 30 in the series (although both Broad and wicketkeeper Matt Prior also did). Lack of form and an alarming tendency for batting collapses remains a major concern ahead of the Ashes.

184 – Umar Akmal was Pakistan’s best batsman, with just 184 runs in the entire series – the exact number of runs scored by Trott in his single innings at Lord’s.

23 – James Anderson was England’s leading wicket-taker, with 23 – one more than Graeme Swann.

The Premier League week in numbers

11 – Although they won 2-1 at Blackburn, Arsenal have now conceded a goal in their last 11 away games in all competitions.

540 – Chelsea have now gone 540 minutes since they last conceded a Premier League goal.

18 – Wigan‘s win at Tottenham broke a run of 18 Premier League games without a win in London (four draws, 14 defeats) since winning at West Ham in December 2006.

Wayne Rooney scored his first goal since March

1,114 - Wayne Rooney‘s first-half penalty in Manchester United’s 3-0 win over West Ham ended a goal drought of 1,114 minutes for club and country extending back to March.

5 – Manchester United have now won their last five league games against West Ham, scoring 13 and conceding none.

1 – Central defender Roger Johnson scored his first goal for Birmingham in his 41st game for the club, but it was not enough to secure a win as they let slip a two-goal lead against Bolton in a 2-2 draw.

4 – Bolton goalkeeper Jussi Jääskeläinen was sent off for the fourth time in his Premier League career.

9 – Liverpool have now beaten West Bromwich Albion in all nine of their Premier League meetings, scoring 25 and conceding none. Dating back to the old First Division, they have now won twelve straight league games against West Brom.

18 – Everton won 18 corners in their 1-0 defeat at Aston Villa, the most by one team in a Premier League match since Liverpool gained 19 against Stoke in September 2008.

(Some statistics courtesy of @OptaJoe, @optajim, @OptaJean and @StatManJon.)

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Hutarovich goes from worst to first to stun big guns

August 29, 2010 Leave a comment


After the novelty of last night’s team time trial (won by HTC-Columbia), normal service was resumed with the first road stage of the 2010 Vuelta a España. While I – and the rest of the cycling world – was watching for the trio of Mark Cavendish, Tyler Farrar and Alessandro Petacchi to contest stage two’s sprint finish in Marbella, Française des Jeux‘s Belarusian sprinter Yauheni Hutarovich stunned everyone in the final 50 metres to take his maiden Grand Tour win. It was a remarkable victory out of left field for a rider whose only prior claim to fame at a Grand Tour was being the last finisher – the lanterne rouge – at the 2009 Tour de France. From worst to first in one fell swoop.

FDJ's Yauheni Hutarovich wins stage two of the Vuelta (image courtesy of Graham Watson)

Although today was officially designated as a flat stage, with just one third-category climb, it nonetheless featured a series of progressive ascents from an altitude of  just 60 metres above sea level at the start to a peak of over 1,100 metres. The obligatory break went away early, with a four-man group of Javier Ramírez (Andalucia-Cajasur), Mickaël Buffaz (Cofidis), Johnnie Walker (Footon-Servetto) and Mickael Delage (Omega Pharma-Lotto) quickly establishing a lead of seven minutes to sweep up the mountains points and intermediate sprints. But an HTC-Columbia-led peloton swept them up with about 12 km to go, setting up a bunch finish which no one team was able to drive.

With Bernhard Eisel, Cavendish’s most senior man on a relatively inexperienced squad (in Grand Tour terms), suffering from cramp at the back of the pack, Columbia were unable to exert any measure of control. Lampre, Cofidis and Liquigas all took brief turns at the front, but entering the final 500 metres there was no significant organisation. Garmin-Transitions‘ Farrar jumped out of Petacchi’s wheel with about 250 metres to go, and Cavendish immediately leapfrogged them both, only for Hutarovich to come out of seemingly nowhere to claim the win by half a length.

Hutarovich is an excellent sprinter who has had an impressive 2010, and entered the Vuelta in good form. Today was his fifth win of 2010, including a stage at the recent Tour of Poland. But he had never previously won a sprint in company as exalted as this, and for him to beat three stars as big as Petacchi, Farrar and Cavendish in one go exceeds anything he has previously achieved by some distance.

For Cavendish to lose in this manner came as something of a shock, as his success rate in contested sprints over the past couple of years is pushing 90%. It’s easy to point to reasons such as the draining effect of today’s gentle but sustained climbs on the legs, or the absence of a lead-out man, or maybe even that he was blind-sided unexpectedly. But the fact is he is more than capable of freelancing a sprint on his own (as he demonstrated so adeptly at the Tour), and he had already disposed of Farrar and Petacchi with some ease. There is perhaps an argument that says he may need a couple of days to shake the rust from legs which have not raced in anger since the Tour, but the fact is he and the others were beaten fair and square today by a rival in the form of his life. Congratulations, Yauheni!

After the stage, no one seemed more surprised by his victory than the man himself:

Sure, it was a little bit of a surprise, It’s my third Grand Tour and it’s just my first Grand Tour stage victory. I wanted to come here to win a stage, so of course I am very content. I couldn’t believe when I was going to win — I could see Cav had some problems in his sprint. I saw it was my moment and I went 100%.

I am a sprinter and I live for the sprints. Now I am finding my way among the big sprinters. To beat Cavendish, who is the best sprinter in the world, is something exceptional.

Cavendish retains the race leader’s red jersey for now, but he will be hard-pressed to defend it on tomorrow’s stage, which includes the first-category climb of Puerto del León.

EDIT: It has since been revealed that Cavendish was ill during the stage, vomiting several times on the road. It says everything about the man and the sport he competes in that not only did he continue to the end, but finished second nonetheless. Amazing.

Stage 2 result:

1.  Yahueni Hutarovich (Française des Jeux) 4:35:41

2.  Mark Cavendish (HTC-Columbia) same time

3.  Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Transitions) s/t

4.  Alessandro Petachi (Lampre) s/t

5.  Manuel Cardoso (Footon-Servetto) s/t

General classification:

1. Mark Cavendish (HTC-Columbia) 4:49:35

2. Kanstantin Sivtsov (HTC-Columbia) +0:12

3. Peter Velits (HTC-Columbia) +0:12

4. Tejay Van Garderen (HTC-Columbia) +0:12

5. Matthew Goss (HTC-Columbia) +0:12

Points classification

1. Yauheni Hutarovich (FDJ) 25 pts

2. Mark Cavendish (HTC-Columbia) 20

3. Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Transitions) 16

Mountains classification

1. Mickael Delage (Omega Pharma-Lotto) 3 pts

2. Javier Ramírez (Andalucia-Cajasur) 2

3. Johnnie Walker (Footon-Servetto) 1

For up-to-the-minute news, results and analysis of the race, visit either the official Vuelta website or the always excellent steephill.tv.

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Cavendish leads as Vuelta team time trial lights up Seville night

August 28, 2010 2 Comments

The 75th anniversary edition of the Vuelta a España kicked off this evening with a spectacular floodlit 13km team time trial around the streets of Seville, won by the HTC-Columbia team.

I know many purists would have me hung, drawn and quartered for saying so, but I like team time trials. I know it potentially penalises a good rider who has a weak team, but so what? Even though cycling races are won by individuals, no one rider can win a race entirely on their own. Just as even the best F1 driver is nothing without the support of a good team to give him a good car, the same is true in cycling.

Therefore the team time trial is an acknowledgement of the fact that even the best riders need to have a good team around them, and is a rare opportunity for an entire nine-man squad to taste glory collectively, rather than it being focussed on one or two star riders.

It also makes for a great visual spectacle and an interesting technical challenge, as nine individuals work together to achieve the fastest possible time, with a team’s overall time being taken from the fifth rider to cross the line.

Footon Servetto were the first team to start stage one - and also the slowest (image courtesy of Graham Watson)

Tonight’s stage also presented other distinct challenges, not least the unusual experience of racing at night. Tight and twisty at first, the course then opened out into a series of long straights, demanding a combination of cornering ability, accelerating power, aerodynamic slipstreaming and efficient teamwork in order to deliver a fast time.

Some teams are noticeably better than others. The best maintain a smooth, tightly-knit train of nine riders punching as small a hole in the air as possible for as long as possible, with each rider taking approximately equal turns pulling on the front before dropping to the back of the line for a breather. Others are more straggly, allowing gaps to open between riders, or relying excessively on one or two stronger riders.

Mark Cavendish and his HTC-Columbia team were fastest around the 13 km team trial course (image courtesy of TDWSport.com)

HTC-Columbia, the team of British sprinter Mark Cavendish, very much fall into the first category, setting an impressive early benchmark of 14:06.2, at an average speed of 55.3 kph.

Just how good Columbia’s time was gradually became apparent. Sky were well off the pace. Liquigas, winners of the team time trial at the Giro d’Italia (albeit with different personnel), were fast but slightly ragged, and came in ten seconds behind. And Garmin-Transitions, another strong time-trialling squad, struggled throughout and finished only with a group of five, 17 seconds down.

Even Saxo Bank, the team of Fränk and Andy Schleck and world time trial champion Fabian Cancellara, were 12 seconds slower than Columbia – good enough for third, but looking anything like a team as they dribbled across the line in a disorganised rabble.

By the time ‘home’ team Andalucia-Caja Sur, the last team to go, had finished some 49 seconds off the pace, HTC-Columbia were confirmed as the winner of stage one. As the first man across the line for Columbia, Cavendish therefore became the first wearer of the race leader’s jersey, which this year is in the Spanish national colours of red rather than the traditional gold maillot oro.

Cavendish was delighted with what had been a fantastic team effort by Columbia:

The team time trial is my favourite discipline because the whole team gets rewarded – it’s special that way, and at the same time you need to get it one hundred percent right for it to work.

I get to stand on the podium quite a lot, but that’s because of eight other guys’ hard work. Today we all got to stand on the podium and I’m incredibly proud of what my team-mates did.

[The leader's red jersey] it belonged to the whole squad. I’m wearing it on behalf of the team.

The time gaps on this relatively short stage are unlikely to be significant in the final analysis – none of the race favourites are separated by more than 20 seconds – but Cavendish and Columbia will revel in taking the early race lead, and will certainly stand a good chance of defending it on tomorrow’s lumpy but not excessively vertical stage two, which culminates in a long, 30-kilometre descent to the finish in Marbella. Indeed, should it end in a bunch sprint, the Manxman will be the favourite to add individual victory to tonight’s team triumph.

Stage 1 result:

1. HTC-Columbia 0:14:06

2. Liquigas-Doimo +0:10

3. Saxo Bank +0:12

4. Cervelo +0:13

5. Lampre +0:14

6. Garmin-Transitions +0:17

7. Omega Pharma-Lotto +0:17

8. Milram +0:18

9. Katusha +0:20

10. Quick Step +0:23

General classification:

1. Mark Cavendish (HTC-Columbia) 0:14:06

For up-to-the-minute news, results and analysis of the race, visit either the official Vuelta website or the always excellent steephill.tv.

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