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The week in numbers: w/e 11/9/11

September 12, 2011 2 Comments

Marsh scored 141 on debut, surpassing his father's Test best

141 – In his debut Test innings Australia’s Shaun Marsh scored 141, surpassing his father Geoff’s top score of 138, which he accumulated over a 50-Test career.

13 – The top four men’s singles seeds at the US Open (Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Andy Murray) all reached the semi-finals, only the 13th time in history this has been achieved at a Grand Slam tournament in the Open era.

4 – Andy Murray reached the semis at all four Grand Slams this year, the first time he has achieved this. Having reached the final in Australia, he lost his semi-final matches at the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open.

0 – Sets lost by Serena Williams in reaching the US Open final. However, she lost 6-2 6-3 to Australian Sam Stosur.

2 – Stosur became only the second Australian woman to win the US Open singles title. (Margaret Court won five times between 1962 and 1973.) She is also the first Australian winner of any of the four Grand Slam women’s singles titles since Evonne Goolagong at Wimbledon 1980

Vettel has already all but clinched his second F1 title (image courtesy of Wikipedia)

112 – Points advantage of Sebastian Vettel over his nearest challenger, Red Bull teammate Mark Webber, after the German clinched his eighth win of the season at the Italian Grand Prix at Monza. There are only 150 points still available, meaning Vettel could clinch his second consecutive Formula 1 drivers’ title in Singapore in two weeks’ time.

5 – The five world champions currently on the F1 grid occupied the first five places at Monza: Vettel, Jenson Button, Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher.

9 – Overall Vuelta a España winner Juan José Cobo was the ninth different rider to wear the red leader’s jersey during this year’s race, one more than the previous record of eight in 2008.

19 – Runner-up Chris Froome actually completed the 21-stage course 19 seconds faster than Cobo, but the Spaniard had a net 32-second gain in time bonuses to take victory by 13 seconds.

1 - Ashley Young‘s goal in England‘s 1-0 win over Wales was the only shot on target of the entire match.

0 – England are the only side yet to concede a goal from inside the area in Euro 2012 qualifying.

Toseland was forced into retirement after his hand injury (image courtesy of Wikipedia)

30 - Age of double World Superbike champion James Toseland, who retired last week after being left permanently disabled by a crash which damaged his right wrist in March.

500 – Mark Cavendish‘s victory at stage one of the Tour of Britain was the 500th win for HTC-Highroad since the team’s formation in 2008. The most successful squad in the sport during that period is disbanding at the end of this year.

3 – Three Warwickshire batsmen scored centuries in the same innings (Ian Westwood 171, Jim Troughton 151, Rikki Clarke 126) as Nottinghamshire were defeated by an innings and 114 runs at Liverpool.

11 – Ryan Sidebottom recorded match figures of 11 for 98 in Yorkshire’s six-wicket win over Somerset at Headingley.

2 – Alistair Brownlee secured his second world triathlon title in three seasons after winning the event in Beijing. Brother Jonathan was third, but finished as the overall runner-up.

Rookie Cobb made an immediate impact with an NFL record-tying kick return (image courtesy of Wikipedia)

108 – In the opening game of the 2011 NFL season on Thursday night, Green Bay Packers rookie wide receiver Randall Cobb returned a kickoff 108 yards for a touchdown, tying the all-time NFL record. He also caught a 32-yard touchdown pass as the Packers defeated the New Orleans Saints 42-34.

12 - Green Bay‘s win means the defending Super Bowl champions have won their last 11 season openers. The last opening day loss was by the Denver Broncos in 1999.

422 – Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton passed for 422 yards (with two TDs and one interception) in the 28-21 loss to the Arizona Cardinals. This was a record total for a rookie quarterback on his NFL debut, and tied the best single-game total by a rookie.

59 – Seconds between the San Francisco 49ers’ Ted Ginn Jr returning first a kickoff 102 yards and then a punt 55 yards for touchdowns in the 49ers’ 33-17 win over the Seattle Seahawks.

The Premier League in numbers

15 – Tottenham‘s 2-0 win at Wolves broke a run of 15 winless away games in the Premier League in the month of September, dating back to 2001.

Six goals in two games for Rooney

4 – Wayne Rooney‘s hat-trick in Manchester United’s 5-0 win at Bolton made him the fourth player in Premier League history to score consecutive hat-tricks (after Les Ferdinand, Ian Wright and Didier Drogba).

18 – Manchester United have scored 18 goals in their opening four league game, a new Premier League record.

7 – Chelsea‘s 2-1 win means they have now won on each of their last seven visits to Sunderland.

6 – Sergio Agüero‘s hat-trick in Manchester City’s 3-0 win over Wigan gave him six league goals so far this season, the same as teammate Edin Džeko. 15 of the 20 Premier League teams have scored fewer than six goals.

4 – Norwich have now conceded a penalty in four successive Premier League games. Declan Rudd saved it, but West Bromwich Albion nonetheless won 1-0.

The Rugby World Cup in numbers

4 – Jonny Wilkinson missed four successive kicks during England’s 13-9 win over Argentina.

6 – Argentina’s Felipe Contepomi and Martín Rodríguez combined to miss six of nine kicks in the same match.

Winger Goneva got off to a flying start with four tries

4 – Tries scored by Fiji winger Vereniki Goneva in his country’s 49-25 victory over Namibia.

3 – Namibian fly-half Theuns Kotze kicked three drop goals against Fiji. No other player has yet kicked one.

21 – New Zealand-born James Arlidge scored all of Japan’s points in the 47-21 defeat by France (two tries, one conversion, three penalties). At one point in the second half Japan closed to 25-21 before France pulled away.

815 – Defending champions South Africa fielded the most-capped starting XV in rugby union history in their narrow 17-16 victory over Wales, with a combined total of 815 caps.

(Some statistics courtesy of Opta Sports, The Times, StatManJon, Infostrada, nfl.com and rugbyworldcup.com.)

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Vuelta a España review: Five rising stars to watch in the future

September 12, 2011 4 Comments

The 2011 Vuelta a España concluded in Madrid yesterday with Peter Sagan claiming his third sprint finish of the race and Juan José Cobo safely defending the red leaders’ jersey he had worn since the pivotal Angliru stage the previous Sunday. The British Sky pair of Chris Froome (a mere 13 seconds behind) and Bradley Wiggins completed the general classification podium, while Bauke Mollema and David Moncoutié secured the points and mountains classifications – for the latter it was his fourth consecutive win in the competition.

Coming late in the season and as the least prestigious of cycling’s three Grand Tours, the Vuelta is often a showcase for younger riders to prove themselves. At 30, Cobo’s success is likely to be the pinnacle of his career – his only previous stage race triumph of any note was the Tour of the Basque Country back in 2007 – joining the likes of 2001 and 1991 winners Ángel Casero and Melcior Mauri as ‘home’ champions who failed to convert their Vuelta triumphs into sustained international success. But here are five riders, all aged 25 or under, who had already made their mark in lesser races but seized the opportunity to move into the limelight in a Grand Tour for the first time. Watch out for all of them in the future.

Kittel followed up his Tour of Poland success with a win on stage 7

Marcel Kittel (Skil-Shimano)

The 23-year old German sprinter is in his first year as a professional, but quickly established himself in the winner’s circle with a stage at January’s Tour de Langkawi before taking four more victories at last month’s Tour of Poland. At the Vuelta, he claimed the bunch sprint on stage seven in a finish marred by a dramatic crash at the front of the bunch in the closing metres.

Blessed with an electric finishing kick, he forms one of a trio of powerful top-class German fast men alongside the established André Greipel (Omega Pharma-Lotto) and 22-year old John Degenkolb, who will join him at Skil-Shimano next season from HTC-Highroad at the forefront of a new generation of up-and-coming sprint talent.

Martin won from a select group of five at La Covatilla (image courtesy of Petit Brun/Flickr)

Dan Martin (Garmin-Cervélo)

Cycling is written into the DNA of the 25-year old, who is the nephew of Tour de France, Giro d’Italia and world champion Stephen Roche and cousin to AG2R’s Nicolas Roche. A climber capable of launching and sustaining prolonged attacks, Martin turned pro with Garmin-Cervélo in 2008 and has gradually built his reputation in the peloton with a number of wins in minor races including the overall at last year’s Tour of Poland.

This year was Martin’s second attempt at the Vuelta – he finished 53rd in 2009 – and he regularly showed impressive form and aggression in the mountains en route to a 13th place finish. He won stage nine at the summit at La Covatilla after outsprinting an elite group of five which contained the final top four (Cobo, Froome, Wiggins and Mollema). He also finished third and fourth on the vertiginous summit finishes at Sierra Nevada (stage four) and Peña Cabarga (stage 17), amassing enough points to finish fourth in the King of the Mountains competition. Martin looks set for a bright future as both a climber and an overall GC contender.

Four top four finishes (and six other top tens) won the points classification for the consistent Mollema

Bauke Mollema (Rabobank)

Now in his fourth year as a pro, the 24-year old Mollema is one of three talented young Dutch climbers on the Rabobank squad. Robert Gesink (25) enjoyed his breakthrough last year in finishing sixth at the Tour de France, while Steven Kruijswijk (24) has featured at the Giro, where he finished ninth this year after placing 18th in 2010.

Mollema had a disappointing Tour de France (he finished 70th) after placing ninth at Paris-Nice and fifth at the Tour de Suisse, but showed both strength and consistency in the mountains at the Vuelta. Although he did not win a stage, he finished in the top four four times among a total of ten top ten placings – enough to win him the green points jersey – and was second only to Martin at La Covatilla. Fourth overall in Madrid (just 2:03 behind Cobo), he is a good enough time trialist to be considered a serious GC contender, and could certainly form part of a formidable two or three-pronged attack alongside Gesink and Kruijswijk in the future.

Sagan won three stages at his first Grand Tour (image courtesy of Wikipedia)

Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale)

The Slovakian sprinter is still only 21, but already has two years of professional experience under his belt and a palmarès any rider would be proud of. Among others, he has won stages at the Tour de Suisse, Paris-Nice, Tour of California and Tour de Romandie, and added overall wins at this year’s Giro di Sardegna and Tour of Poland.

Sagan capitalised on Mark Cavendish’s early withdrawal to take three sprint wins at the Vuelta – Joaquim Rodríguez was the only other multiple stage winner, with two – claiming victory on stages six and 12 before edging out his rivals at the final gallop in Madrid. Sagan relies as much on power as he does acceleration – he is more of a Thor Hushovd or Erik Zabel than a Cavendish or Greipel – but undeniably has a nose for victory. Hampered only by the fact his Liquigas team are generally more focussed on the general classification, he looks set to become a major player in the sprints for several years to come.

Taaramäe crowned a consistent 2011 with victory on stage 14 (image courtesy of Wikipedia)

Rein Taaramäe (Cofidis)

In his fourth year with Cofidis, the 24-year old Estonian has developed into an all-round rider who combines time-trialling skills with strong performances in the mountains. 2011 had already been a breakthrough season for him, with impressive early season showings (third at the Critérium International and fourth at Paris-Nice) propelling him to 12th overall at the Tour de France, boosted by a tenth-place finish in the individual time trial.

Off the back of the Tour a sustained challenge at the Vuelta was always unlikely, but an impressive seventh at La Covatilla was then trumped by an outstanding victory on the summit of La Farrapona, when he was the only survivor of a 17-man break to claim his first Grand Tour stage, and his first international win of any type in over two years. Hopefully this will boost him to even better performances next season, as he possesses the all-round skills to develop into a genuine Grand Tour contender.

Honourable mentions

Finally, a quick mention for three other riders who caught my eye over the last three weeks.

After Wiggins cracked on the Angliru on stage 15, the Kenyan-born Chris Froome took up the mantle of British hopes and pushed Cobo all the way to Madrid, eventually succumbing by just 13 seconds. (Paradoxically, in real time he actually covered the course 19 seconds faster than Cobo but lost out due to time bonuses.) Nonetheless second overall equalled the best ever result by a Briton at a Grand Tour for a rider who has largely spent his career as a domestique rather than a protected rider. The 26-year old is out of contract with Sky at the end of the season and is likely to attract interest from several other teams looking to strengthen their rosters for 2012.

Tony Martin dominated the individual time trial around Salamanca, winning by 59 seconds, to add to his time trial victory at the Tour de France. In 2011 alone he has won a total of six ITTs and the overall at Paris-Nice, while serving as a key member of Cavendish’s HTC-Highroad lead-out train. In addition to now being a serious challenger to the pre-eminence of Fabian Cancellara in the time trial discipline, he is also a decent enough climber in the medium mountains who could further develop as a serious GC contender in the week-long races, as well as targeting a good top 20 finish at the Grand Tours.

Finally, Vacansoleil’s 23-year old Wouter Poels is yet another promising Dutch rider – perhaps more of an all-rounder than a pure climber – who was able to follow-up a pair of second-place finishes with 17th overall. I suspect he may not quite have the climbing legs of a top GC contender, but he could certainly profit in the week-long tours, the classics and as a breakaway specialist.

Anyway, that’s the end of the Grand Tours for 2011. Bring on the World Championships next week!

General classification:

1. Juan José Cobo (Geox-TMC) 84:59:31

2. Chris Froome (Sky) +0:13

3. Bradley Wiggins (Sky) +1:39

4. Bauke Mollema (Rabobank) +2:03

5. Denis Menchov (Geox-TMC) +3:48

6. Maxime Monfort (Leopard-Trek) +4:13

7. Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale) +4:31

8. Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Omega Pharma-Lotto) +4:45

9. Daniel Moreno (Katusha) +5:20

10. Mikel Nieve (Euskaltel-Euskadi) +5:33

Points classification:

1. Bauke Mollema (Rabobank) 122 pts

2. Joaquim Rodríguez (Katusha) 115

3. Daniele Bennati (Leopard-Trek) 101

4.  Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale) 100

5. Juan José Cobo (Geox-TMC) 92

Mountains classification:

1. David Moncoutié (Cofidis) 63 pts

2. Matteo Montaguti (AG2R La Mondiale) 56

3. Juan José Cobo (Geox-TMC) 42

4. Daniel Martin (Garmin-Cervélo) 33

5. Daniel Moreno (Katusha) 32

Link: Vuelta a España official website

Vuelta a España posts

Vuelta a España preview

Team time trial winners & losers

Stage 2 recap & analysing the sprints

Chavanel leads as heat picks up in GC competition

Rodríguez floats like a butterfly, stings like a bee

Debut wins for Sagan and Kittel promise open 2012 sprints

Rodríguez soars then stumbles in the mountains

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The week in numbers: w/e 28/8/11

August 29, 2011 Leave a comment

1 – England‘s Test world ranking after the 4-0 series whitewash of India. They were ranked just fifth in the world 12 months ago.

Bresnan - a talisman?

10 – England have now won all 10 Test matches in which Tim Bresnan has played. In those 10 matches he has taken 41 wickets and averaged 45 with the bat.

4 – For the first time in its 66-race history, cycling’s Vuelta a España had four different wearers of the race leader’s red jersey in its first four stages.

4 – Number of Premier League teams who were knocked out of the Carling Cup by lower league opposition: Sunderland, Norwich, QPR and Swansea.

8 – England have all eight of their Champions League and Europa League teams still in their respective competitions. They are the only country to still have all their entrants intact.

0 – By contrast, for the first time since European club competitions began in 1955, there will be no teams from Scotland left on September 1.

14 – Arsenal‘s 2-1 win at Udinese (3-1 on aggregate) marked their 14th successive qualification for the main Champions League tournament. Only Manchester United (16) and Real Madrid (15) have longer active streaks.

10 – Arsenal‘s victory meant they have won all 10 of their matches in Champions League qualifiers – five home wins, five away wins.

Chanderpaul outscored the entire Yorkshire team

193 – Runs scored by Warwickshire’s Shivnarine Chanderpaul in their innings and 58 run victory over Yorkshire at Headingley. The hosts could manage only 127 as an entire team in their second innings.

4 – The England football team’s latest FIFA ranking, up two places from sixth. They are now ranked higher than Brazil, Argentina, Italy and Portugal. (No, I don’t understand it either.)

12 - Sebastian Vettel‘s ninth pole position of 2011 at the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps means that Red Bull have now claimed the front spot on the grid at all 12 races this season.

92 – Vettel won the race – his seventh win in 12 grands prix in 2011 – to extend his championship lead to 92 points. There are a maximum of 175 still available in the remaining seven races.

6 – Kenyan athletes finished 1-2-3 in the only two finals on day one of the IAAF Athletics World Championships in Daegu to sweep the medals in the women’s marathon and 10,000 metres.

21 – After world record holder Usain Bolt was disqualified for a false start in the men’s 100 metres final, Yohan Blake became the youngest ever men’s world 100m champion at 21. However, his time of 9.92s had been bettered 15 times in previous World Championship finals.

8 – A Rachel Yankey double for Arsenal Ladies set up a 3-1 win at Liverpool to clinch the inaugural Women’s Super League. It is their eighth league title in a row, their 13th overall since 1993, and completed their eighth league and FA Cup double.

The Premier league in numbers

49 – There was a total of 49 shots in Manchester United‘s 3-0 over Tottenham on Monday night. The last game to see more efforts on goal was United vs Sunderland in April 2006, which had 50.

Di Santo scored as many goals against QPR as he had in his first 57 league games

2 – Goals scored by Franco Di Santo in Wigan’s 2-0 win over QPR. He had scored two goals in his previous 57 Premier League matches.

3 – Blackburn missed two penalties in their 1-0 home defeat by Everton, their third defeat in a row this season. The last time they their opening three top-flight games was in the 1947/48 season – also including defeats to Wolves and Everton – at the end of which they were relegated.

10 - Liverpool’s 3-1 win over Bolton was their tenth consecutive top-flight win against these opponents, equalling the club record (also ten in a row versus Derby, 1977-97).

62 - Chelsea‘s 3-1 win over Norwich was their 62nd league consecutive game undefeated against a promoted side.

101 – Juan Mata‘s debut goal for Chelsea came in the 101st minute of the match.

Džeko bagged four goals at White Hart Lane

4 – Edin Džeko became the first player to score four times in a Premier League game this season in Manchester City’s 5-1 win at Tottenham. He had scored just three times in his previous 17 league appearances for the club.

10 - West Bromwich Albion‘s 1-0 defeat meant they have failed to beat Stoke in their last ten meetings.

115 – Arsenal‘s 8-2 defeat by Manchester United marked only the second time they had conceded eight times in a league game. The previous occasion came in 1896, 115 years ago, an 8-0 defeat against Loughborough in the old second division.

3 – Carl Jenkinson‘s red card meant Arsenal became the first Premier League side to have players sent off in each of their first three games. (Gervinho was dismissed at Newcastle, with Emmanuel Frimpong seeing red against Liverpool. Alex Song also received a retrospective ban after the Newcastle game.)

3 - Only three Premier League teams are undefeated in both the first three games of both this and last season. Manchester United and Chelsea are two - Wolves are the other after their 0-0 draw at Aston Villa.

(Some statistics courtesy of Opta Sports, The Times, StatManJon and Infostrada.)

There will be no ‘Week in numbers’ next week as I am on holiday. Normal service will be resumed the week after.

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Vuelta a España: Rodríguez soars then stumbles in the mountains

August 28, 2011 2 Comments

A pair of tough climbing finishes – the first a short punchy ascent, the second a long hard slog to the summit of a first category mountain – were supposed to resolve the picture at the top of the general classification of the Vuelta a España. Instead, they have only served to muddy the waters, with Sunday’s finish on top of Sierra de Béjar leaving exactly one minute separating 13th place from new leader Bauke Mollema, and with the title credentials of Joaquim Rodríguez hanging on the outcome of Monday’s individual time trial around Salamanca.

Stage 8: Talavera de la Reina to San Lorenzo de El Escorial, 177.3km

Rodríguez moved to the top of the standings with a dominant win in San Lorenzo

Rodríguez had put himself firmly in the box seat with a coruscating attack on the final 2.4km climb of stage eight in San Lorenzo, which featured 200 metres of vertical gain and ramps of 27% and 28% in the final kilometre. The Spanish Katusha climber – the overwhelming favourite for the stage – jumped off the wheel of Lampre’s Michele Scarponi on one of the steepest sections with around 500 metres to go and pulled out a nine-second advantage by the finish.

Scarponi finished second with Mollema and Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Omega Pharma-Lotto), with the rest of the general classification contenders scattered further down the hill. Defending champion Vincenzo Nibali was 32 seconds back (52, after taking time bonuses into account). Sylvain Chavanel conceded the red jersey to Rodríguez after finishing 63 seconds down. Sky’s Bradley Wiggins was in a group of 11 GC men including Juan José Cobo (Geox), Janez Brajkovič (RadioShack) and Marzio Bruseghin (Movistar) 20 seconds behind the winner, whose advantage at the head of the overall standings over teammate Daniel Moreno stood at 32 seconds.

Stage 8 result:

1. Joaquim Rodríguez (Katusha) 4:49:01

2. Michele Scarponi (Lampre-ISD) +0:09

3. Bauke Mollema (Rabobank) same time

4. Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Omega Pharma-Lotto) s/t

5. Jakob Fuglsang (Leopard-Trek) +0:12

Stage 9: Villacastín to Sierra de Bejar La Covatilla, 183km

However, if the San Lorenzo climb was tailored perfectly to Rodríguez’s punchy characteristics, today’s finish on Sierra de Béjar – 18.2km with several sections over 10% in its second half – was certainly better suited to those capable of sustaining their power for the best part of 30 minutes. A four-man break had initially pulled out a huge advantage with two survivors – Omega Pharma’s Sebastian Lang and Vacansoleil’s Pim Ligthart – starting the final climb with an advantage of around 3½ minutes.

Mollema moved into the overall lead by just one second

Having caught Lang with less than 7km to go, there then followed one of the most exciting passage of racing seen in any of this year’s Grand Tours. A sequence of attacks by GC contenders shredded the peloton and left Rodríguez blowing hard towards the back of the group. In quick succession, Rein Taaramäe (Cofidis), Kevin Seeldraeyers (Quick Step), Nibali and finally Daniel Martin (Garmin-Cervélo) put in big efforts off the front which upped the overall pace and sapped the legs of the less powerful riders.

Martin’s attack, which came with just over 5km to go, initially looked like being decisive. But having dropped his cousin Nicolas Roche (AG2R), Nibali eventually dragged the other leaders back up to him. By now Rodríguez was clearly at his limit, and when Sky’s Chris Froome hit the front to keep the tempo high for his team leader Bradley Wiggins it proved to be too much for the red jersey, who fell away just inside 3km and started to drop back rapidly. With opportunity knocking, Wiggins took over the pace-setting at the front, riding several tough climbers – including Nibali – off his wheel with an impressive sustained burst he has rarely if ever displayed in the high mountains. Only in the final stretch, as Martin launched a sprint in a bid for victory and the 20 bonus seconds that only Mollema could follow, did Wiggins tail off. For Martin, it was his first Grand Tour stage win.

However, the British champion’s effort had achieved its objective, with a pained Rodríguez crossing the line 50 seconds after Martin and conceding the overall lead to Mollema by a single second. The 24-year old Dutchman is good value for the red jersey, having been the most consistent performer in the race so far in a season in which he caught the eye when placing fifth at the Tour de Suisse in June, a year after placing 12th at the Giro d’Italia.

Nibali is a further eight seconds back, with Wiggins still outside the top ten in 13th, but now only 60 seconds behind the red jersey.

Dan Martin savours victory at the end of a punishing climb on Sierra de Béjar (image courtesy of Graham Watson)

Individual time trial will shake up the order

With the top of the general classification compressed again, tomorrow’s 47km individual time trial takes on additional importance. Fabian Cancellara and Tony Martin will be expected to dominate, although after nine punishing days of intense heat and tough climbs we may see some surprising results.

We will certainly see Rodríguez struggle – he lost six minutes in last year’s time trial over a similar distance, and will probably consider himself happy if he can limit his losses to three tomorrow. Similarly, Scarponi (18th at 1:54 behind) and Van Den Broeck (5th, 0:27) are also likely to struggle and concede large chunks of time which will knock them down the order.

Wiggins now stands just 1:00 off the race lead

Perhaps the most intriguing men to watch out for will be Geox’s Denis Menchov(21st, 2:18), a two-time Vuelta winner, and Wiggins himself. Both are top-class time trialists who could easily make up two to three minutes on the majority of riders around them, and both have performed strongly on the big climbs to date. Do not be surprised if either or both catapult themselves into the top three tomorrow night, a position both men are certainly capable of defending in the days to come. My money is on Wiggins to post a top-ten time against the clock – normally I would expect top-five, but I expect today’s effort will cost him some time tomorrow – which should be enough to put him into the red jersey heading into the first rest day. How long he will be able to defend it for is another matter, but it would be a significant achievement nonetheless.

After a week’s racing which has frequently seen temperatures topping 40°C, the competition for the red jersey is also hotting up. The next week – culminating in next Sunday’s ascent of the Angliru – should definitely reduce the field of genuine contenders to a mere handful.

Stage 9 result:

1. Daniel Martin (Garmin-Cervélo) 4:52:14

2. Bauke Mollema (Rabobank) same time

3. Juan José Cobo (Geox-TMC) +0:03

4. Bradley Wiggins (Sky) +0:04

5. Chris Froome (Sky) +0:07

General classification:

1. Bauke Mollema (Rabobank) 37:11:17

2.  Joaquim Rodríguez (Katusha) +0:01

3. Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale) +0:09

4. Fredrik Kessiakoff (Astana) +0:18

5. Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Omega Pharma-Lotto) +0:27

6. Daniel Moreno (Katusha) +0:35

7. Jakob Fuglsang (Leopard-Trek) +0:37

8. Kevin Seeldrayers (Quick Step) +0:42

9. Haimar Zubeldia (RadioShack) +0:42

10. Juan José Cobo (Geox-TMC) +0:46

Points classification:

1. Joaquim Rodríguez (Katusha) 74 pts

2. Bauke Mollema (Rabobank) 62

3.  Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale) 50

4. Daniel Martin (Garmin-Cervélo) 48

5. Pablo Lastras (Movistar) 48

Mountains classification:

1. Daniel Martin (Garmin-Cervélo) 25 pts

2, Matteo Montaguti (AG2R La Mondiale) 23

3. Daniel Moreno (Katusha) 20

4. Chris Anker Sørensen (Saxo Bank-Sungard) 15

5. Koen De Kort (Skil-Shimano) 14

Link: Vuelta a España official website

Vuelta a España posts

Vuelta a España preview

Team time trial winners & losers

Stage 2 recap & analysing the sprints

Chavanel leads as heat picks up in GC competition

Rodríguez floats like a butterfly, stings like a bee

Debut wins for Sagan and Kittel promise open 2012 sprints

Filed under Cycling, Vuelta a España Tagged with , , , , ,

Vuelta a España: Sagan and Kittel debut wins promise end to Cavendish domination

August 26, 2011 2 Comments

Contrasting maiden Grand Tour stage wins by a pair of Vuelta a España debutants – Peter Sagan and Marcel Kittel - punctuated what should have been a relatively quiet couple of days for the big names, but turned out to be anything but. A late team attack by the Liquigas team of defending champion Vincenzo Nibali on Thursday’s stage was followed by a crash within sight of the finish today to leave many riders cursing a combination of unexpected time losses and crash injuries.

Stage 6: Úbeda to Córdoba, 196.8km

Stage six to Córdoba saw a four-man break reeled in by the peloton with 27km remaining, just before the final second-category climb. Stuart O’Grady (Leopard-Trek) set a fierce pace on the front which soon had several riders hanging on desperately at the back, including the now familiar sight of a struggling Igor Antón. It’s safe to say now that the Euskaltel-Euskadi leader’s general classification hopes have vanished.

Defending King of the Mountains David Moncoutié predictably popped off the front to collect maximum points over the summit and was joined early on the subsequent descent by Tony Martin (HTC-Highroad), David de la Fuente (Geox-TMC) and Kevin Seeldraeyers (Quick Step). However, with just under 10km to go to the finish, Liquigas launched a pre-planned attack, with four men – including 2010 champion Vincenzo Nibali – breaking away from the bunch at speeds touching 90kph and flying past the Moncoutié group. Only stage three winner Pablo Lastras – who had previously won in Córdoba back in 2002 - was able to go with them as the Liquigas attack put clear daylight between themselves and the other GC contenders.

Having executed their plan to perfection, you would imagine that in the final few kilometres there would have been a communication from the Liquigas team car to its four riders saying something along the lines of:

Right, we want Vincenzo to get as many bonus seconds as possible, ideally the 20 seconds for the win. So let’s set him up for the sprint. If he can’t beat Lastras, make sure none of you finish ahead of him so he gets second place and 12 seconds. Okay, everybody got that?

Sagan won a stage on his Grand Tour debut (image courtesy of Wikipedia)

But no. As the lead quintet approached the finish, the four Liquigas riders seemed unclear what to do and as Lastras opened up his sprint Sagan shot forward to cover the move and at least ensure the stage victory stayed within the team. Lastras crossed the line two lengths behind as Nibali, Valerio Agnoli and Eros Capecchi all looked at each other and, having already shot themselves in one foot, promptly put a bullet in the other as Agnoli took the four bonus seconds for third ahead of his team leader. It was, quite simply, a comedy of basic errors at the end of a superbly executed tactical move.

The key GC contenders all finished in one of two groups, either 17 or 23 seconds behind – red jersey Sylvain Chavanel was in the first of these – meaning a Nibali victory would have effectively doubled his gains and earned him enough time to put him into the overall lead.

At 21 years 203 days, Sagan claimed his first Grand Tour stage on his debut, making him the youngest winner at one of the three biggest races of the year since Heinrich Haussler at the 2005 Vuelta.

Stage 6 result:

1. Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale) 4:38:22

2. Pablo Lastras (Movistar) same time

3. Valerio Agnoli (Liquigas-Cannondale) s/t

4. Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale) s/t

5. Eros Capecchi (Liquigas-Cannondale) s/t

Stage 7: Almadén to Talavera de la Reina, 187.6km

Today’s stage had ‘bunch sprint’ written all over it, and first year pro Marcel Kittel delivered not only his own maiden Grand Tour stage victory but a similar first for his Skil-Shimano squad in their sixth year of racing. However, the finish was marred by a massive high-speed crash near the front in the final 100 metres when Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Cervélo) drifted right as Michał Gołaś (Vacansoleil-DCM) edged to his left beside him. The two touched wheels, immediately went down heavily, and set off a domino effect which sent several other riders tumbling to the ground.

A first Grand Tour win for both Kittel and Skil-Shimano

Earlier, a four-man break had built a lead of nearly nine minutes, but on a flattish day with a predominantly downhill final 40km a mass finish was always going to occur. With the sprinters’ teams all jostling for position, Skil-Shimano moved decisively to the front under the flamme rouge and provided a strong lead-out for Kittel, who held off yesterday’s winner Peter Sagan by a bike length as the carnage unfolded behind him.

Leading contenders Vincenzo Nibali, Joaquim Rodríguez, Michele Scarponi and Jurgen Van den Broeck all came down in the crash – none appeared to suffer anything more than cuts and bruises – but red jersey Sylvain Chavanel was able to pull up in time to avoid being unseated. Farrar did not remount for several minutes and was taken to hospital immediately afterwards with muscular and tissue injuries to his left leg, but reportedly no broken bones. However, it seems likely he will be forced to abandon.

The crash held up more than half the peloton, but because it occurred in the final 3km everyone in the bunch received the same time. Even without the accident, Kittel would have won anyway as he was in pole position already. Chavanel retains his 15-second lead over Daniel Moreno, with both Nibali and Rodríguez in close attendance. That is likely to change after tomorrow’s finish in San Lorenzo, which features ramps of 27% and 28% on a climb which rises 200 metres in the final 2.4km.

An end to Mark Cavendish’s sprint domination?

For the past four years, the combination of the world’s fastest pure sprinter, Mark Cavendish, and cycling’s best lead-out train in HTC-Highroad have dominated the bunch finishes in every major race they have entered. Cavendish alone has won a remarkable 30 individual stages in nine attempts at the three Grand Tours in that period, while André Greipel added six more before leaving for Omega Pharma-Lotto last winter.

Degenkolb's departure from HTC-Highroad will add to the competition next year

However, HTC-Highroad is disbanding at the end of this season, and Cavendish and arguably the finest collection of sprint talent the sport has ever seen are being scattered across the professional peloton. That roster includes Matt Goss (winner of Milan-San Remo), lead-out man extraordinaire Mark Renshaw, and 22-year old John Degenkolb, who won twice at the Dauphiné and will be joining his compatriot Kittel at Skil-Shimano next year.

Cavendish has yet to confirm who he will ride for next year – Sky are assumed to be his most likely destination – but no matter where he goes he is unlikely to have the kind of well-drilled train that the likes of Renshaw, Goss, Tony Martin and Bernhard Eisel guaranteed him. The Manxman will still win races next year – and plenty of them – but the break-up of his team means the stranglehold he has had on flat stages, where his rivals have generally been racing only for second place, will be broken. That can only be a good thing for the sport.

Already this year we have seen Greipel, Farrar and Edvald Boasson Hagen win their first Tour de France stages, and the addition of Sagan and Kittel to the winner’s circle at Grand Tours will ensure a broader spectrum of potential winners at the biggest races next year.

At 23, Kittel is in his first season as a professional, but announced his presence immediately with a victory at January’s Tour de Langkawi. But it was at the Tour of Poland earlier this month where he really sprang to prominence, winning four stages with devastating final bursts. His win today was equally impressive.

The 21-year old Sagan is already in his second year, and emerged as the overall winner at the Tour of Poland after two stage wins and some dogged defensive climbing on the hillier stages. The Slovakian is well suited to finishes requiring power as well as speed, and had already enjoyed a hugely successful 2011 before the Vuelta, winning three stages at the Giro de Sardegna, one at the Tour of California and two at the Tour de Suisse. He is also a two-time stage winner at Paris-Nice.

The elite group of sprinters will soon be saying goodbye to veteran stalwarts such as Alessandro Petacchi and Robbie McEwen but now includes newcomers Kittel and Sagan. Add to that the established Greipel and Farrar, powerful classics men such as the Norwegian pairing of Thor Hushovd and Boasson Hagen and a number of others who are not quite in that top bracket but are all potential big race winners on their day – Degenkolb joins the likes of Daniele Bennati and J J Haedo in this category – the sprinters’ field looks deeper and stronger than it has done for several years. Bunch sprints in 2012 should be quite a sight to behold.

Stage 7 result:

1. Marcel Kittel (Skil-Shimano) 4:47:59

2.  Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale) same time

3. Óscar Freire (Rabobank) s/t

4. Daniele Bennati (Leopard-Trek) s/t

5. Lloyd Mondory (AG2R La Mondiale) s/t

General classification:

1. Sylvain Chavanel (Quick Step) 27:29:12

2. Daniel Moreno (Katusha) +0:15

3. Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale) +0:16

4. Joaquim Rodríguez (Katusha) +0:23

5. Jakob Fuglsang (Leopard-Trek) +0:25

6. Fredrik Kessiakoff (Astana) +0:41

7. Maxime Monfort (Leopard-Trek) +0:44

8. Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Omega Pharma-Lotto) +0:49

9. Sergio Pardilla (Movistar) +0:49

10. Marzio Bruseghin (Movistar) +0:52

Points classification:

1.  Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale) 50 pts

2. Joaquim Rodríguez (Katusha) 48

3. Pablo Lastras (Movistar) 48

4. Daniel Moreno (Katusha) 41

5. Marcel Kittel (Skil-Shimano) 41

Mountains classification:

1. Daniel Moreno (Katusha) 20 pts

2. Chris Anker Sørensen (Saxo Bank-Sungard) 15

3. Koen De Kort (Skil-Shimano) 13

4. David Moncoutié (Cofidis) 10

5. Daniel Martin (Garmin-Cervélo) 10

Link: Vuelta a España official website

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Vuelta a España preview

Team time trial winners & losers

Stage 2 recap & analysing the sprints

Chavanel leads as heat picks up in GC competition

Rodríguez floats like a butterfly, stings like a bee

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