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Seven stages, seven winners, seven countries as Vuelta shows its cosmopolitan nature

September 3, 2010 2 Comments

After the spectacular, lung-bursting efforts of the uphill finishes on stages three and four of the Vuelta a España, the race has had three relatively quiet days as it travels eastwards across the south of Spain. That’s not to say it hasn’t had its share of drama and surprises in what is turning out to be a particularly cosmopolitan Vuelta, with the first seven stages featuring seven winners from seven different countries.

Here’s a quick review of what’s been happening over the past three days.

Stage 5: Guadix > Lorca

A lumpy stage profile, ending in a textbook sprint finish on a wide, straight road on Lorca – but with an unexpected result, as American Tyler Farrar beat Britain’s Mark Cavendish in a sprint for the first time at a Grand Tour.

Tyler Farrar wins stage five (image courtesy of Graham Watson)

A four-man escape group had leapt away at kilometre zero, with the peloton happy to let them go on another searingly hot day over rolling terrain. The advantage stretched out to a maximum of 6:30 early on, but was gradually reeled back in by the peloton, who swept up the break with just over 13 kilometres to go. While a number of teams, most notably Lampre, jostled for the lead position in the final couple of kilometres, both Cavendish and Farrar appeared to become isolated from their lead-out men, leaving them to fend for themselves.

In a disorganised finish, Cavendish launched his sprint too early, before the 300-metre mark, and as he started to fade in the final 100 metres Farrar swept past him with ease. Knowing the win had eluded him, Cavendish sat up, allowing Euskaltel-Euskadi‘s Koldo Fernández to sneak in for second.

It was the fourth Grand Tour stage for the Garmin-Transitions rider, to add to a win from the Vuelta last year and two at this year’s Giro d’Italia. It was also the first time he has beaten Cavendish head-to-head in 18 months, having come second to him on a number of occasions in between. And he achieved it  despite having been ill overnight.

I was not confident after suffering during yesterday’s stage. Only with 20 km to go I told my teammates that I was up for the sprint.

Of course it’s always nice to win against the best sprinter in the world but it’s even better to win a stage at the Vuelta. I’m very happy. Winning always helps to build confidence. Any other [win] coming after today’s would be a bonus.

Race leader Philippe Gilbert finished safely in the pack to maintain his lead, on a relatively straightforward day when his Omega Pharma-Lotto team put in a good shift to help reel in the escapees.

Stage 5 result:

1. Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Transitions) 5:03:36

2. Koldo Fernández De Larrea (Euskaltel-Euskadi) same time

3. Mark Cavendish (HTC-Columbia) s/t

4. Matteo Tosatto (Quick Step) s/t

5. Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre) s/t

Stage 6: Caravaca de la Cruz > Murcia

Cervelo‘s Thor Hushovd demonstrated the perfect blend of pace and power by winning stage six in Murcia after the ascent of the Cresta del Gallo had sliced the peloton in two 17 kilometres from the finish.

Thor Hushovd proved the strongest of the fast man to win stage six (image courtesy of Graham Watson)

The day’s early break, a three-man affair this time, was never allowed too far down the road and was caught about 20 km from the finish on the ascent of the Cresta del Gallo. Although only a second-category climb, it was enough to split the peloton in half, with an approximately 70-strong lead group leaving most of the pure sprinters, including the previous day’s winner, Tyler Farrar, to trail in two minutes later.

Katusha’s Filippo Pozzato and race leader Philippe Gilbert attempted to slip away early on the fast, technical descent but were hauled back in within a couple of kilometres. Hushovd’s Cervelo team then stamped out any further attacks before Gilbert himself attempted to win from the front in the final kilometre. But Liquigas‘s Daniele Bennati accelerated past him, pulling Hushovd with him, and the big Norwegian repaid the hard work of his teammates by timing his sprint perfectly to claim his third career Vuelta win with some ease. Bennati was second, with Lampre’s Grega Bole third.

It certainly wasn’t a simple win, as I suffered a lot on the last climb, but my teammates did a great job of pulling on the front to keep things together. At the finish, though, I took Bennati’s wheel and won the sprint quite easily. I showed that I’m getting better on the climbs, yet can still win in a sprint.

Gilbert finished sixth in the sprint, giving him the lead in the points classification as well as retaining the red jersey. All the other top men finished safely in the lead group, leaving the top of the GC unchanged.

Stage 6 result:

1. Thor Hushovd (Cervelo) 3:36:20

2. Daniele Bennati (Liquigas) same time

3. Grega Bole (Lampre) s/t

4. Allan Davis (Astana) s/t

5. Filippo Pozzato (Katusha) s/t

Stage 7: Murcia > Orihuela

Alessandro Petacchi claimed his 20th career Vuelta stage win in Orihuela, as Cavendish’s winless streak continued.

A five-man break formed early on in today’s loop around Murcia, at one stage building a nine-minute lead before HTC-Columbia, Lampre and Garmin-Transitions nudged the peloton forward to bring the gap down, completing the catch with five kilometres to go.

No time to enjoy the scenery as the peloton speeds along during stage seven (image courtesy of Graham Watson)

Lampre took control of the run-in in the final two kilometres, stretching the peloton out into a long, thin line. Despite being fairly straight, the finish was not without incident. Several riders had to swerve sharply to avoid a parked truck by the side of the road at 1.5 km, and there were also two small roundabouts to negotiate before the final sprint. The Lampre train dropped Petacchi into prime position to launch his sprint. Mark Cavendish, sitting on his wheel, found himself momentarily boxed in and was forced to soft-pedal for half a second, killing his momentum and forcing him to settle for second. Saxo Bank‘s J J Haedo‘s late charge was enough to secure third.

Petacchi was delighted with his win, having spent much of this week riding himself back into form:

In the finale I felt really good and my teammates were fantastic at bringing to an ideal position for the sprint. It’s always difficult to win sprints but it is particularly difficult to win here because of the number of fast riders that are competing in the Vuelta.

Getting twenty wins in a Grand Tour isn’t easy. My 52 stage wins in the three Grand Tours at the age of 36 shows young riders that you can have a long and successful career.

Cavendish, a self-confessed bad loser, accepted his defeat gracefully:

I was on Petacchi’s wheel and a Quick Step rider came to the front. He was sprinting but not sprinting. It was my problem for being in the box; I should have been out of it if I wanted to go for the win.

My team did a good job, so I’m disappointed. I’m in the points jersey, so that’s okay but I can send congratulations to Petacchi. He’s a great guy.

Including the team time trial, where Cavendish was first across the line for HTC-Columbia, every stage so far has been won by a different rider from a different country: Yauheni Hutarovich (Belarus), Philippe Gilbert (Belgium), Igor Antón (Spain), Tyler Farrar (USA), Thor Hushovd (Norway) and Alessandro Petacchi (Italy).

There were no significant changes in the overall classification, although Cavendish’s second place was enough to give him the green jersey in what is developing into a closely contested points competition, with just six points separating the top four.

Tomorrow sees the race tackle this year’s first category one mountain. The Xorret del Catí is the last of five categorised climbs on the stage, with the summit coming just three kilometres from the finish. We should expect to see some small but significant gaps form between the contenders here, giving us our first clear indication of who has the best climbing legs for the three consecutive beyond-category summit finishes which face the riders in the final week. The race is only just beginning.

Stage 7 result:

1. Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre) 4:36:12

2. Mark Cavendish (HTC-Columbia) same time

3. Juan-Jose Haedo (Saxo Bank) s/t

4. Andreas Stauff (Quick Step) s/t

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

General classification:

1. Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto 27:12:38

2. Igor Antón (Euskaltel-Euskadi) +0:10

3. Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) +0:10

4. Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas) +0:12

5. Peter Velits (HTC-Columbia) +0:16

6. Tejay Van Garderen (HTC-Columbia) +0:29

7. Frank Schleck (Saxo Bank) +0:50

8. Rubén Plaza (Caisse d’Epargne) +0:54

9. Ezequiel Mosquera (Xacobeo Galicia) +0:55

10. Nicolas Roche (AG2R-La Mondiale) +0:58

Points classification

1. Mark Cavendish (HTC-Columbia) 56 pts

2. Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Transitions) 53

3. Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre) 51

4. Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto) 50

5. Igor Antón (Euskaltel-Euskadi) 41

Mountains classification

1. Serafín Martínez (Xacobeo Galicia) 13 pts

2. Dario Cataldo (Quick Step) 8

3. David Moncoutié (Cofidis) 6

4. Xavier Tondó (Cervelo) 5

5. Vladimir Karpets (Katusha) 5

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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Chavanel regains lead as heads of state gather for initial summit meeting

July 10, 2010 6 Comments

Stage 7: Tournus > Station des Rousses (165.5 km)

On the day the Tour de France rolled over its first second-category mountains at the gateway to the Alps, the combination of six increasingly difficult climbs and sweltering 34 degree temperatures proved too hot to handle for most of the peloton. As yesterday’s top two men in the overall standings, Fabian Cancellara and Geraint Thomas, melted away into the background, the heads of state of the race – the yellow jersey contenders – are now starting to take their places at the top of the general classification. But the glory of stage victory today belonged to Sylvain Chavanel, who claimed his second win of this year’s Tour and in doing so reclaimed the yellow jersey he had lost in unfortunate circumstances on stage three.

Lance Armstrong heads (L-R) Alberto Contador, Cadel Evans and Andy Schleck as the 2010 Tour encounters its first serious mountains on stage 7 (image courtesy of Graham Watson)

As expected, the overnight leader in the King of the Mountains competition Jérôme Pineau shot off the front of the peloton in search of points to defend his position, forming an escape group of five which at one point held an advantage of eight minutes over the main field.

The chase was led by Bbox Bouygues Telecom, looking to set up their man Thomas Voeckler for the stage win. In setting such a fierce pace at the front, they gradually shed riders out of the back of the peloton on the fourth and fifth climbs of the day, including yellow jersey Fabian Cancellara.

Yellow jersey Sylvain Chavanel

Bbox’s tempo provided the springboard for Chavanel to leap forward on the final climb of the day, the Côte de Lamoura, overtaking teammate Pineau, the last survivor of the break and soloing on to a well-deserved victory. And while his win into Spa on stage two (on the same roads on which he fractured his skull in April during Liège-Bastogne-Liège) owed much to the good fortune of Cancellara ordering the peloton to neutralise their pursuit of him, today’s win was all down to Chavanel himself.

As Chavanel rode to victory, behind him the chasing group was rapidly whittled down to the heads of state and other top climbers. Cancellara, who had recently been accused of riding with a concealed motor in his bike, was slipping rapidly backwards, any hope of retaining the yellow jersey long gone. If he had a motor today, it was set in reverse; he would finish over 14 minutes behind Chavanel. He admitted:

I was [flat out]. It was too much for me, I couldn’t do it. I’ve had some nice days in the yellow jersey, and tomorrow I’ll go back to my normal one. Things will be quieter, calmer, less stress.

Geraint Thomas too, would relinquish both his second overall position and the white jersey on the Lamoura, losing over five minutes as he ran out of steam in his first experience of riding in such elite company in the mountains. As he said later:

My legs went with ten kilometres to go. I never expected to be in the position I was in – it was good to have a go but I just didn’t quite have it today.

Meanwhile, the trusty old diesel engine of Cadel Evans kept on going, finishing comfortably with the elite group containing all the major contenders and quietly moving up to second overall. But he also recognised that he will need to be on his toes tomorrow, given the likelihood of one of the other contenders attacking:

I think it’ll be another day where the main GC contenders are looking at themselves, testing themselves. We’ll see if someone really wants to lay it on the line and try and blow it apart. Someone like Alberto [Contador] or Lance [Armstrong], it’s probably in their best interest to do that. For me, I’ll see how they go and how I go.

Britain’s Bradley Wiggins also finished comfortably alongside the other GC contenders, and proclaimed himself happy with his performance after moving up to 11th overall:

It was harder than a lot of people expected. There was a bit of a stalemate going on and it turned out to be quite a hard stage but it’s good to get one out of the way.

Today’s shake-out means race favourites Alberto Contador and Andy Schleck are now sixth and fourth respectively, while Lance Armstrong moved up to 14th. The time gaps between the contenders remain unchanged.

Pineau consolidated his position at the top of the King of the Mountains standings, while the green jersey competition remained essentially unchanged, with Thor Hushovd, Mark Cavendish and most of the other sprinters finishing in a raggedy group over 22 minutes after Chavanel.

But the undoubted star of today was the new yellow jersey, who has already provided one of the most heart-warming stories of this or any recent Tour.

I was thinking of only going for the stage win, but the yellow jersey was a bonus. Tomorrow I will do everything to defend it, but I know that the battle will mainly concern Contador, Schleck and Evans. In the midst of it, I’ll always give everything, but if I lose, it does not matter. Right now I’m on my little cloud, I’m floating and I don’t know how else to describe it. But I see that I have great support on the road and everywhere. It warms my heart.

But now the warm-up – and the time for sentiment – is over. The serious mountains of the Tour de France begin tomorrow. Which means that tomorrow one or more of the big guns will finally have to show their hand. It should be explosive stuff.

Stage 7 result:

1. Sylvain Chavanel (Quick Step) 4:22:52

2. Rafael Valls Ferri (Footon-Servetto) +0:57

3. Juan Manuel Gárate (Rabobank) +1:27

4. Thomas Voeckler (Bbox Bouygues Telecom) +1:40

5. Mathieu Perget (Caisse d’Epargne) +1:40

General classification (yellow jersey):

1. Sylvain Chavanel (Quick Step) 33:01:23

2. Cadel Evans (BMC) +1:25

3. Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Transitions) +1:32

4. Andy Schleck (Saxo Bank) +1:55

5. Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana) +2:17

6. Alberto Contador (Astana) +2:26

7. Jurgen van den Broeck (Omega Pharma-Lotto) +2:28

8. Nicolas Roche (AG2R) +2:28

9. Johan van Summeren (Garmin-Transitions) +2:33

10. Denis Menchov (Rabobank) +2:35

Selected others:

11. Bradley Wiggins (Sky) +2:35

12. Roman Kreuziger (Liquigas-Doimo) +3:10

13. Luis-Léon Sánchez (Caisse d’Epargne) +3:11

14. Lance Armstrong (RadioShack) +3:16

17. Levi Leipheimer (RadioShack) +3:39

27. Ivan Basso (Liquigas-Doimo) +4:06

31. Geraint Thomas (Sky) +4:37

58. Fabian Cancellara (Saxo Bank) +13:11

Points classification (green jersey):

1. Thor Hushovd (Cervelo) 118 pts

2. Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre) 114

3. Robbie McEwen (Katusha) 105

4. José Joaquín Rojas (Caisse d’Epargne) 92

5. Mark Cavendish (HTC-Columbia) 85

Climbers’ classification (polka dot jersey):

1. Jérôme Pineau (Quick Step) 44 pts

2. Sylvain Chavanel (Quick Step) 36

3. Mathieu Perget (Caisse d’Epargne) 28

4. Thomas Voeckler (Bbox Bouygues Telecom) 21

5. Rubén Pérez Moreno (Euskaltel-Euskadi) 20

Stage 8 preview:

Start & finish: Station des Rousses > Morzine-Avoriaz

Distance & type: 189 km, high mountains

Prediction: If any day in the Alps is going to create significant time gaps between the yellow jersey contenders, it is this one. Featuring this year’s first two category one climbs, including the climb to the finish at Avoriaz, it has the added encouragement of leading into the first rest day.

The final ascent of Morzine kicks up near the top, which may encourage Alberto Contador or Andy Schleck to test the other GC contenders with one of their trademark accelerations in the final 2-3 kilometres. Equally, this might be an opportunity for someone like Lance Armstrong or Ivan Basso to attack in an attempt to regain time lost over the stage three cobbles. Watch out if Liquigas or RadioShack mass near the front of the yellow jersey group in the early part of the climb. Either way, today’s stage winner is likely to be one of the GC men.

In similar circumstances at Verbier last year, Contador attacked decisively and gained a small advantage, but more importantly laid down a marker to then-teammate Armstrong. It was by no means decisive, but it was significant.

For more reviews and informed comments about the Tour de France, please read any (or all!) of the following excellent blogs:

Marc’s sports blog

Todd Kinsey’s TDF blog

SportPH

Cyclingproject365

Richard Tulloch’s Life on the Road

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Alps preview: The stages

July 10, 2010 1 Comment

With the exception of the prologue and the cobbles of stage three, the focus of the first week in the Tour de France has been largely on the sprinters and the green jersey competition. However, it is now time for the fast men to enter survival mode and take their seats at the very back of the race, as the men whose aim is to battle it out for the race leader’s yellow jersey and the King of the Mountains‘ polka dot jersey are thrust to the fore over four days in the Alps (actually today’s stage seven is in the Jura, but what’s a little geography between friends?)

Here is a quick profile of each stage, and my predictions of what to expect on each day.

Stage 7: Tournus > Station des Rousses (165.5 km)

Saturday’s stage presents the riders with the first real mountains of this year’s race, although nothing too challenging. Despite the summit finish at Station des Rousses, it is likely the top riders will keep their powder dry for tomorrow, as the climb is a fairly steady one with a fairly flat 5 km final section, so there are no real opportunities to open up significant time gaps. Nonetheless, one or more of the contenders may have trouble finding their climbing legs early on, so expect a couple of the top teams to put men on the front to ride a sensible but not too fast tempo and nullify the threat of any attacks.

From a King of the Mountains perspective, expect Quick Step to put a man in the inevitable break to try and keep the jersey within the team for at least one more day (Jérôme Pineau currently leads the classification). Expect the break to include a number of chancers who have an eye on taking the polka dot jersey with a view to keeping it until the Pyrenees. The stage winner could well come from this group, as the GC boys have bigger fish to fry.

Excitement factor: 3/5.

Stage 8: Station des Rousses > Morzine-Avoriaz (189 km)

If any day in the Alps is going to create significant time gaps between the yellow jersey contenders, it is this one. Featuring this year’s first two category one climbs, including the climb to the finish at Avoriaz, it has the added encouragement of leading into the first rest day.

The final ascent of Morzine kicks up near the top, which may encourage Alberto Contador or Andy Schleck to test the other GC contenders with one of their trademark accelerations in the final 2-3 kilometres. Equally, this might be an opportunity for someone like Lance Armstrong or Ivan Basso to attack in an attempt to regain time lost over the stage three cobbles. Watch out if Liquigas or RadioShack mass near the front of the yellow jersey group in the early part of the climb. Either way, today’s stage winner is likely to be one of the GC men.

In similar circumstances at Verbier last year, Contador attacked decisively and gained a small advantage, but more importantly laid down a marker to then-teammate Armstrong. It was by no means decisive, but it was significant.

Excitement factor: 4/5.

Stage 9: Morzine-Avoriaz > Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne (204.5 km)

The Madeleine is the first hors catégorie climb of the year and will undoubtedly put some GC contenders into severe trouble, but they will have an opportunity to recover lost time on the fast 32km descent to the finish, which makes an attack from one of the big guns less likely. Indeed, the rapid descent may present as many challenges as the climb. Relatively poor descenders such as Ivan Basso may struggle to keep contact, particularly if it is wet – he will be relying on Roman Kreuziger to lend a helping hand and pilot him downhill.

A group of climbers will undoubtedly escape early on in search of today’s treasure trove of King of the Mountains points – as the last climb of the day, the Madeleine counts double – and they will probably stay away to the finish. The stage may be set for an exceptionally brave descender to launch a solo attack on the run down to the finish. Linus Gerdemann won a similar stage with a long descent into Le Grand-Bornand in 2007, memorable for his distinctive descending style where he crouched forward over the frame of his bike to create a more streamlined profile.

Excitement factor: 3/5.

Stage 10: Chambéry > Gap (179 km)

The final day in the Alps, and definitely not a day on which we will see any change at the top of the race order as the contenders start to look forward to a series of flat days before they have to negotiate the perils which await them in the Pyrenees.

A group of riders will inevitably escape over the first-category Laffrey and stay away to the finish. The yellow jersey men will be only too happy to let them go, particularly if the current race leader wants to relinquish the jersey so his team does not have to expend energy defending it. It won’t be dull, but there won’t be fireworks either.

Excitement factor: 2/5.

This year’s run through the Alps is a relatively mild one by Tour standards, with the toughest climbs saved for the Pyrenees on the 100th anniversary of the Tour’s first visit. However, there will undoubtedly be an initial selection among the GC contenders, and the King of the Mountains competition will start to take shape.

Neither the yellow nor the polka dot jersey will be won in the Alps, but both could easily be lost. By the end of these four days, we will certainly have a much better idea who is in top form and who is not. Enjoy!

For a guide to the key men to watch in the Alps, please check out my preview here.

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