2012 Tour de France Stage 5, 7/05/12

Part of me wants to post all the articles of the newest information about Lance Armstrong's USADA investigation. The news this morning ruined my day. Maybe I'll post it later...

...for now let's celebrate Andre Greipel's 2nd win:

July 5, Stage 5: Rouen - Saint-Quentin 196.5km

Greipel doubles up on Tour de France stage 5

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/tour-de-france/stage-5/results)

Andre Greipel (Lotto-Belisol) sprinted to victory at stage five of the 2012 Tour de France in the town of Saint-Quentin for his second consecutive stage win. He took advantage of a flat and fast run-in and swooped very late to deny Matthew Goss (Orica-GreenEdge), JJ Haedo (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank) and Mark Cavendish (Sky).

"I'm happy because I won another stage in the Tour de France," said Greipel. "There was a bit of a crash and I was behind it at 3k to go, but Greg Henderson was waiting for me. The Lotto Belisol train was working perfectly today. It was a hard sprint, I think it was one of the hardest sprints I've ever done."

For the second consecutive day the finale was marred by a large crash less than 3km from the finish, with the most high profile victim being points leader Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale), who was well-placed at the time but was forced to check his momentum dramatically as several riders hit the floor around him. Ultimately a downed bike caused the Slovak to tumble, leaving contusions on his left elbow and buttock, but he was more concerned with the lost points toward the green jersey competition.

"I missed a great opportunity, especially for points toward winning the green jersey," said Sagan. "Unfortunately, every time there is a sprint the script is always the same: everyone wants to stay ahead, everyone thinks they have good legs and do manoeuvres that cause crashes. We are at the Tour de France and a victory here is worth a lot, but the risks are just too high. Though the thought that I could have been hurt worse helps me overcome the sorrow."

Garmin-Sharp's Tyler Farrar, his arm dripping blood after being taken down in a squeeze between Tom Veelers (Argos-Shimano) and a Lampre rider, was furious following his second major spill in as many days. He attempted to enter the Argos team bus to have it out with Veelers, but was pulled away by team staff.

Veelers explained via the team's press release: "Tyler wanted to get in the wheel of Koen de Kort, but I was already there. He didn't respect my train, but that's his problem. I get why he’s upset, because a crash is never very pleasant."

Emotions are running high as the pressure is on for the sprinters, who have just one flat stage left tomorrow before the race hits the hills on Saturday. The next possible sprint stage after stage 6 to Metz comes on July 13, when stage 12 hits a plateau after a cat 3 climb near the finish, or the following stage to Le Cap d'Agde.

Cavendish, still smarting from his crash the previous day, did not blame his injuries on the fifth place finish, rather he said he intentionally positioned himself behind in order to get a run at the finish but found himself too far back.

"The final didn't work out quite how we wanted it but the guys were all there and they did a good job," said Sky director Sean Yates. "We upped the ante and next time it will be better. Cav dropped back a bit at the finish and had a bit too much work to do at the end.

"We need to keep this going starting tomorrow and we will look to keep Bradley safe and set Mark up heading into the finish."

After today's stage Sagan adds only 8 points (won in the intermediate sprint) to his booty for the green jersey. The ranking sees him still in first place with 155 points, followed by Goss, who moves closer at 137, Greipel (winner today) at 132 and Cavendish at 119, although Goss said that he doesn't want to gain an advantage because of crashes.

"It's not the way I want to take points, I don't want to gain in the competition because someone has crashed but we did definitely take back quite a lot of points today," Goss said.

Meanwhile, it was another quiet day for the general classification contenders, who steered clear of the sprinters in the finale.

The overall race lead remains with Fabian Cancellara (RadioShack-Nissan), who expects to concede the yellow jersey on the first major uphill finish in La Planche des Belles Filles on Saturday.

"Everything is possible in life if you believe in it. However, in my opinion, from what I’ve seen of the Planche des Belles Filles climb and what I’ve heard about it, it’s a little bit too hard for me," Cancellara admitted.

It was another hectic day in Northern France, with more wind, more narrow roads and nerves. The only abandon of the day came from Marcel Kittel (Argos-Shimano), who finally gave up after nearly a week of fighting gastroenteritis and knee pain.

The majority of the race was dominated by a four-man breakaway, who went clear just three kilometres into the stage. Matthieu Ladagnous (FDJ-BigMat), Pablo Urtasun (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Jan Ghyselinck (Cofidis) and Julien Simon (Saur-Sojasun) rode on the front for over 190km.

Ladagnous took the maximum points at the day's intermediate sprint in Breteuil as the four leaders rolled through the line. Behind, the peloton's green jersey battle continued, with Cavendish getting the better of Goss, Renshaw and Sagan for the points.

The four leaders eked out an advantage of 5:40 but after the sprint the elastic began to contract again, and they were reeled in steadily by the chasing sprinters' teams.

The four kept working together to hold a handful of seconds inside the 3km to go banner, and Ghyselinck panicked: he made a bold attack for the finish line with just over 1km to go. The Belgian could not hang on, however. Urtasun was able to come by, but he, too, was caught and left behind by the marauding pack in the final 100 metres.

Full Results

#	Rider Name (Country) Team	Result
1	André Greipel (Ger) Lotto Belisol Team	4:41:30
2	Matthew Harley Goss (Aus) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team
3	Juan José Haedo (Arg) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank
4	Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne
5	Mark Cavendish (GBr) Sky Procycling
6	Tom Veelers (Ned) Argos-Shimano
7	Oscar Freire Gomez (Spa) Katusha Team
8	Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Lampre - ISD
9	Sébastien Hinault (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
10	Yohann Gene (Fra) Team Europcar

2012 Skoda TdL Stage 4 and Dauphine Prologue

The Skoda-Tour de Luxembourg ended with Jakob Fuglsang 1st overall, and RadioShack Nissan Trek the overall team winner! Frank Schleck was 3rd overall, and Maxime Monfort finished 8th overall. I'd say that Johan Bruyneel should be quite proud of his team.

However, the prologue for the Criterium du Dauphine is a different story. Andy Schleck's came in 102nd in the Individual Time Trial. Then, of course, Schleck had a few words to say about his team manager and how Bruyneel has handled team issues by talking to the press:

June 3, Stage 4: Mersch - Luxembourg 153.5km

Roelandts bests Swift in Luxembourg finale

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/skoda-tour-de-luxembourg-2012/stage-4/results)

Jurgen Roelandts (Lotto Belisol) raised his arms in victory for the first time since the 2008 Circuit Franco-Belge after soloing away from his breakaway companions in the final stage of the Tour of Luxembourg today.

Jakob Fuglsang gave RadioShack-Nissan its first stage race win of the season, coming tenth on the stage and holding onto his two second lead over stage 3 winner Wout Poels (Vacansoleil-DCM), with teammate Frank Schleck taking third overall.

"Luxembourg is my second home so to win the national tour of Luxembourg is important to the team but also to me,” said Fuglsang. “Especially after the difficult spring I had with bad luck and injuries. It’s nice to make a comeback like this. It was the right decision for me to not start the Giro d’Italia and give my knee more time to heal. Now I have this victory and I am very, very happy. The team was riding very strong and I have to thank them.

"The team dedicated themselves to winning, and I really have to thank them all," Fuglsang said. "We had such a strong team here. Working together on all five stages made this possible and I’m so happy it worked out for us.”

The weather on the final stage was so bad that a third of the field abandoned and officials neutralized the general classification at the start of the final circuits with 47km left to race.

"I think the organization made the right decision by ending the GC battle at that point," Fuglsang said. "There was a real risk of crashes and everyone was nervous to stay upright."

Heavy rains pounded the riders as they set out for the final 158km stage from Mersch, but it was no matter to Roelandts, who escaped early into the stage with three companions: Tom Stamsnijder (Argos-Shimano), Damien Gaudin (Europcar) and Jimmy Casper (FDJ-Big Mat). The former Belgian champion claimed the three mountain primes that were on offer, and then rode away from his companions in the final 10km to claim the stage win.

The three escapees were caught by the chasing peloton, from which Ben Swift (Sky) took the sprint ahead of teammate Davide Appollonio and Kristof Goddaert (AG2R).

(Picture from: http://www.radioshacknissantrek.com/gallery/tour-luxembourg-stage-4)

Stage 4 Results

#	Rider Name (Country) Team	Result
1	Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team	2:39:58
2	Ben Swift (GBr) Sky Procycling	0:00:25
3	Davide Appollonio (Ita) Sky Procycling
4	Kristof Goddaert (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale
5	Wouter Poels (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
6	Laurens De Vreese (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator
7	Koen De Kort (Ned) Argos-Shimano
8	Eliot Lietaer (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator
9	Dirk Bellemakers (Ned) Landbouwkrediet-Euphony
10	Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Radioshack-Nissan

 

Overall Results

1	Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Radioshack-Nissan	17:08:40
2	Wouter Poels (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team	0:00:02
3	Frank Schleck (Lux) Radioshack-Nissan	0:00:05
4	Jonathan Hivert (Fra) Saur - Sojasun	0:00:20
5	Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Argos-Shimano	0:00:24
6	Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne	0:00:25
7	Sébastien Delfosse (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Euphony	0:00:28
8	Maxime Monfort (Bel) Radioshack-Nissan	0:00:29
9	Bob Jungels (Lux) Luxembourg
10	Martin Elmiger (Swi) AG2R La Mondiale	0:00:32

June 3, Prologue - (ITT): Grenoble 5.7km

Durbridge wins Criterium du Dauphine prologue in Grenoble

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/criterium-du-dauphine-2012/prologue-itt/results)

Australian rider Luke Durbridge (Orica-GreenEdge) sped to victory in the 5.7km time trial prologue to the 2012 Criterium du Dauphine, holding off a spirited effort from pre-race favourite and defending champion Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky), who was the last man to ride.

Durbridge took the lead from Astana's Andriy Grivko and held onto it for over 90 minutes. Wiggins pushed hard as the wind increased and in the end was only a second down on Durbridge's winning time of 6:38:52.

The prologue has set the race up nicely, with plenty of big names in the top ten. Tony Martin (Omega Pharma-QuickStep), Cadel Evans (BMC) and Simon Gerrans (Orica-GreenEdge) are all in there too.

Conditions definitely favoured the early starters in Grenoble, with the flat course winding through the streets of the city in the foot of the French Alps. Calm and dry conditions deteriorated slightly as the day wore on, with a light shower coming in the middle of the stage and the winding picking up significantly towards the end of the stage. With some tight bends dotted around the course, it wasn’t for the faint-hearted.

It was hardly a surprise, therefore, that half of the eventual top ten set off within the first half an hour of racing. These five included Durbridge, who posted the best time of the three Australians in the top ten.

“I’m speechless,” the 21-year-old said after watching Wiggins narrowly fail to beat his time. “I was lucky with the wind and the rain and it could have gone either way. Sometimes you just need some luck. Wearing the yellow jersey at the Dauphine? I’ll take that. It’s going to take a while for it to sink in.”

Wiggins was happy with the outcome. Despite his narrow defeat he has put himself in an excellent position for the remainder of the race, which begins in earnest tomorrow with a 187km stage featuring six categorised climbs.

"I'm happy enough to finish second but it's about the whole week. I couldn't have asked for better today," Wiggins said.

"It's always the same with prologues. With riders going three hours apart there's always different conditions. The wind changed massively today. Some guys had disadvantages on the course elsewhere at the start and also advantages.
“I'm just pleased it stayed dry really because it's never nice riding a prologue in the rain. It was perfect. I stayed safe and I'm where I want to be at the moment and I'm just trying to enjoy it."

Results

#	Rider Name (Country) Team	Result
1	Luke Durbridge (Aus) Orica GreenEdge	0:06:38
2	Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Sky Procycling	0:00:01
3	Andriy Grivko (Ukr) Astana Pro Team	0:00:03
4	Carlos Barredo (Spa) Rabobank Cycling Team
5	Tony Martin (Ger) Omega Pharma-Quick Step	0:00:05
6	Simon Gerrans (Aus) Orica GreenEdge
7	Paul Martens (Ger) Rabobank Cycling Team
8	Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Omega Pharma-Quick Step	0:00:06
9	Cadel Evans (Aus) Bmc Racing Team
10	Andrey Amador (CRc) Movistar Team	0:00:07

 

Andy Schleck has a dig at Bruyneel at Dauphiné prologue

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/andy-schleck-has-a-dig-at-bruyneel-at-dauphine-prologue)

Belgian newspaper Het Nieuwsblad has reported that RadioShack-Nissan rider Andy Schleck spoke out in frustration at team manager Johan Bruyneel's use of the media in recent weeks at today's Critérium du Dauphiné prologue.

Bruyneel has been outspoken in his criticism of Schleck and his brother Frank since the latter withdrew from the Giro d'Italia during stage 15 with a injuries to his shoulder and neck following a crash. Bruyneel implied publicly that the injuries weren't bad enough to warrant a withdrawal from the race and then later criticised the brothers from Luxembourg for a lack of leadership this season.

He also stated that neither rider, who both finished on the podium at last year's Tour de France, are certain to make it to the start line for this year's race in Bruges later this month. He subsequently stated that he was only using the press as a motivating tool.

"Personally, if I was a manager I wouldn't try to solve problems with my riders through the press," Schleck is quoted in the newspaper as saying. "I would discuss them internally. Maybe Bruyneel was being rushed by the team sponsors, who might be getting impatient."

Schleck finished in 102nd position at today's prologue, 29 seconds down on winner Luke Durbridge (Orica-GreenEdge).

2012 Skoda-Tour de Luxembourg Stage 1

After an amazing RadioShack Nissan Trek showing at the Prologue Individual Time Trial yesterday, where out of 128 riders, all 8 of the RSNT team finished 61st and above: Gregory Rast - 2nd, Jakob Fuglsang - 5th, Maxime Monfort - 22nd, Frank Schleck - 25th, Jens Voigt - 45th, Andreas Kloden - 46th, Linus Gerdemann - 58th, Laurent Didier - 61st. That's a team Johan Bruyneel should be proud of.

Even today, Voigt managed to get a 3 minute solo breakaway, but he was chased down my the sprinters' teams before the finish. However, I'm confused as to why he crossed the finish line over 4 minutes down. The Skoda-Tour de Luxembourg isn't a Grand Tour, so trying to find information on it is next to impossible. But I am still working on it. In fact, if you look at the cyclingnews.com summary below, you can tell it's about half the length of a normal race's summary. But before the race summary, I want to share an article I saw on the RSNT site:

On the giving end of pain

(http://www.radioshacknissantrek.com/news/giving-end-pain)

When it’s time to dish out some pain, who better to deliver the goods than Jens Voigt? The Jensie was waging battle in the Tour of Luxembourg on Thursday, earning himself the most aggressive rider jersey for his heart-felt ‘all in’ attack.

 

“We had a plan from the beginning that we’d let a little group go so we could control the situation,” said Jens Voigt after stage 1.  “We knew the team of the yellow jersey would ride.  We planned to go pretty hard on the last climb with 65k to go. The whole team was together going hard for another 10-15km but we needed a little bit of wind to split things up. 

"I think we did hurt some people but in general it wasn’t working the way we wanted it to.  So Fränk suggested that we back off some to save energy and I could go again.  That’s what I did.  I was hiding in the group for another 5km and then when things slowed down a little bit, that’s when I went." 

The field of 16 teams rode 181km/112mi from Luxembourg to Hesperange on a day with three rated climbs and one sprint point.   An immediate attack put in by Jesus Rosendo of Andalucia from kilometer zero resulted in a successful getaway.  He was joined by Albert Timmer (Argos-Shimano) and the main field let the time advantage to the duo go out to near three minutes.  Once RSNT started riding hard, the duo were caught, setting up the chance for Voigt to make his solo attack soon after.   With an advantage of almost three minutes, victory looked possible for Jens, but the motivated teams of the sprinters brought him back, setting up a group sprint won by Andre Greipel of Lotto-Belisol.  Second and third went to David Appollonio (Sky) and Samuel Dumoulin of Cofidis.  For the overall Jimmy Engoulvent (Saur-Sojasun) continues to lead with Gregy Rast sitting close in second at 3-seconds off the pace.  Teammate Jakob Fuglsang still holds fifth on the GC at seven seconds back. 

Voigt: “I was always alone on my ride but I was all in.  I thought maybe I could take the stage win and the yellow jersey.  I was believing in myself today, especially when the gap was something close to three minutes.  I gave it everything I had.  It felt like the good ol’ days with Jensie off the front, everyone chasing from behind, people hating me because I’m attacking all the time…….It was beautiful.  Like I always say:  ‘It’s better to be on the giving end of pain rather than on the receiving end.’ 

There is more road action to come as the Luxembourg tour continues Friday with stage 2.  The stage begins in Schifflange and ends in Leudelange.  At 184km the profile includes more up and down rollers throughout the day along with three rated climbs before arriving in Leudelange.   

“I think tomorrow is really for the sprinters, but maybe if we do some more work and take the jersey in a few days, then I will be able to attack again.” 

It doesn’t take much to please Mr. Voigt. 

(Picture from: http://www.radioshacknissantrek.com/team/riders/jens-voigt)

May 31, Stage 1: Luxembourg - Hesperange 181km

Greipel takes sprint victory in Hesperange

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/skoda-tour-de-luxembourg-2012/stage-1/results)

Having won three straight stages at the Tour of Belgium last week, Andre Greipel (Lotto Belisol) continued his run of top form with a sprint victory in the opening road stage at the Skoda-Tour de Luxembourg. Davide Appollonio (Sky) finished second behind Greipel, followed by Samuel Dumoulin (Cofidis) in third place for the 181km stage.

Prologue time trial winner Jimmy Engoulvent (Saur-Sojasun) finished safely in the peloton and remains in the general classification lead, as no time bonuses were allotted during today's stage. Grégory Rast (Radioshack-Nissan) and Jonathan Hivert (Saur-Sojasun) hold second and third overall respectively, tied on time at three seconds behind Engoulvent.

The attacks came literally from the gun in the Tour of Luxembourg's first road stage, as Jesus Rosendo Prado (Andalucia) jumped away from the peloton at kilometre zero. The Spaniard was soon joined by Albert Timmer (Argos-Shimano) to form the early break. The duo's advantage was pegged at two to three minutes and their escape continued through the third and final classified climb at 117.9km.

The RadioShack-Nissan team set a strong tempo over the final ascent in hope of splintering the field, and while the team was successful in neutralising the escape their plan didn't break up the peloton as planned. However, several kilometres later, Jens Voigt (RadioShack-Nissan) launched a solo attack and soon found himself with a lead of approximately three minutes over the peloton in the approach to the 16km finishing circuit.

"I thought maybe I could take the stage win and the yellow jersey," said Voigt on his team website. "I was believing in myself today, especially when the gap was something close to three minutes. I gave it everything I had."

The teams of the sprinters, however, increased the tempo in the peloton and caught Voigt inside the final 10 kilometres and set the stage for a field sprint finale.

(Picture from: http://www.wort.lu/de/view/skoda-tour-andre-greipel-gewinnt-erste-etappe-im-sprint-4fc79975e4b0409e8f7a4f48)

Full Results

1	André Greipel (Ger) Lotto Belisol Team	4:53:56
2	Davide Appollonio (Ita) Sky Procycling
3	Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne
4	Romain Feillu (Fra) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
5	Koen De Kort (Ned) Argos-Shimano
6	Sascha Weber (Ger) Team Differdange - Magic-Sportfood.de
7	Roy Curvers (Ned) Argos-Shimano
8	Vincent Baestaens (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Euphony
9	Ben Swift (GBr) Sky Procycling
10	Yohann Gene (Fra) Team Europcar

Vuelta a Espana: Stage 20

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/vuelta-a-espana/stage-20/results)

Leopard Trek’s Daniele Bennati has been a frustrated sprinter at this year’s Vuelta a España but victory beckoned in Vitoria on stage 20 on Saturday afternoon and he ensured he wouldn’t leave the race empty handed with an impressive win in the Basque city.

The Italian prevailed in a long sprint over Enrico Gasparotto (Astana) and Damiano Caruso (Liquigas-Cannondale), who finished second and third respectively, with Garmin-Cervélo rider Sep Vanmarcke fourth and Skil-Shimano’s Koen De Kort fifth.

Bennati recognised how hard today’s stage was for a sprinter aiming for victory and thanked his teammates for their efforts throughout the day, particularly in the final 50km. “Today is the penultimate stage; there’s been a lot of climbing in this stage for a sprinter… But for me it’s a win for the team,” Bennati said immediately after the stage.

The man who won two stages and the points classification at the 2007 edition of the Vuelta did it the hard way, spending much of the day in the 26-man break that formed before dropping back into the protective custody of his Leopard-Trek squad that controlled proceedings in the finale to ensure Bennati claimed a win in this year’s race.

Despite Chris Froome’s calls for an attacking day to chase the general classification lead, the red jersey remained on the shoulders of Juan José Cobo (Geox-TMC) at day’s end, the Vuelta champion elect well protected by his teammates to ensure the Spanish squad would go into tomorrow’s stage with little with which to concern themselves except a celebration.

There had been a 13-second margin between the two heading into the penultimate day, which prompted the Team Sky rider’s claim that he could make something of the day’s offerings but in reality it was going to prove a mountain too high against a Cobo in top condition and extremely motivated to take the biggest victory of his career on home turf.

Last chance hotel

It may have boasted a flat finish but the penultimate stage of this year’s Vuelta still had its fair share of climbing – a brace of first category ascents in addition to a category two and three climb, which offered something for the men desperate to take their shot at a stage win late in the event.

This was reflected in the number of noted climbers getting themselves into the day’s break, which detached itself from the peloton early in the stage, as the overall heavyweights looked to conserve ahead of what promised to be an interesting finale.

With Froome and Cobo separated by the aforementioned 13 seconds, there was the possibility of fireworks near the finish, although 26 men were keen to try their luck the hard way – in the break – before that point.

Those men were: Damiano Caruso (Liquigas-Cannondale), AG2R La Mondiale pair Nicolas Roche and Lloyd Mondory, Jose Vicente Toribio Alcolea (Andalucia Caja Granada), Greg Van Avermaet (BMC Racing Team) and Euskaltel-Euskadi riders Inaki Isasi Flores and Amets Txurruka.

Leigh Howard (HTC-Highroad) was trying his luck in the move again, along with Katusha trio Vladimir Karpets, Eduard Vorganov and Luca Paolini; Lampre - ISD was represented by Marco Marzano, Daniele Righi and Manuele Mori while Leopard Trek’s Daniele Bennati was in the mix, as was Pablo Lastras Garcia (Movistar), Jan Bakelants and Kristof Vandewalle (Omega Pharma-Lotto).

Also present were Matteo Carrara (Vacansoleil-DCM), Robert Kiserlovski (Astana), Rabobank’s Carlos Barredo and Steven Kruijswijk, Saxo Bank-Sungard had Jaroslaw Marycz and Nick Nuyens while Koen de Kort was representing Skil – Shimano and Christophe Le Mevel flew Garmin-Cervélo’s flag.

After 99km of racing the 20-man move had itself a lead of 4:10 but unsurprisingly with 70km until the finish that had dropped to 1:27. That mark dipped below a minute with 55km remaining as it became obvious the peloton was preparing to stretch its legs on the final climb of the day, the category one Puerto de Urkiola.

That was down to 36 seconds, with 52km remaining, and as expected the break was on its knees on the opening slopes of the Urkiola. It was Barredo’s cue to go solo from the leading group, hitting out ahead of his fellow escapees, who were being swamped by the peloton.

The Spaniard had 53 seconds on the peloton with 48km to go to the finish, battling slopes that touched 15 percent in sections and putting in a brave showing on the final categorised climb of this year’s Vuelta. He added 22 seconds to his lead over the peloton during the following kilometres in a sign that he was motivated to throw everything at the stage win.

Carlos runs into flat finale fun

Having crested the Urkiola, Barredo set about consolidating his lead on the descent and subsequent flat run to Vitoria with a slender lead of 36 seconds over the remnants of the break, with the peloton a further minute behind. Trailing him by 43 seconds with 40km remaining was a seven-man group of chasers that included teammate Kruijswijk, plus Kiserlovski, Le Mevel, Roche, Caruso and Txurruka.

Undeterred, Barredo continued his run to the line and with 35km until the finish he still had 27 seconds on the chasing group – not a heavy buffer but a lead he would fight gallantly to protect as Vitoria – and victory – beckoned. That advantage sat at 33 seconds with 31 clicks remaining but the peloton, led by Leopard Trek, had moved to within 20 seconds of the chasers.

The proximity of the peloton to the chasers caused some consternation in the group and before long the septet was caught, the dream over with exactly 30km before the finish. It wasn’t a good sign for Barredo’s chances of staying away but with about half a minute separating him from the main field, the likes of Leopard Trek and Team Sky called a temporary halt in hostilities to prepare for the hectic finale.

It was a case of marking time for the sprinters’ teams leading into the final 20km of the stage as Barredo continued his doomed run to Vitoria, which would come to an end with 15km remaining when he was caught by a solo Carlos Sastre (Geox-TMC), but not before Froome and Cobo had shaped up to battle the final intermediate sprint in pursuit of precious bonus seconds, which ended in a no-contest.

Their die cast, it was time for Sastre and Barredo to work together and with 10km remaining they had 31 seconds over the peloton. That was reduced by just one second a kilometre later and had hit 23 seconds with eight clicks until the finish. At that point Barredo put up the white flag and left Sastre to his own devices out front, with a feisty field bearing down on the lone Spaniard.

His bolt shot, Sastre’s resistance ended with just under three kilometres remaining, which was time for Leopard Trek to go back to work for Bennati; coming into the final kilometer, the plan seemed to be working to perfection and with the Italian’s overwhelming strength in the finale he was able to open a long sprint and hold on to take a sought-after stage win.

Result
1	Daniele Bennati (Ita) Leopard Trek	4:39:20
2	Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Pro Team Astana
3	Damiano Caruso (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale
4	Sep Vanmarcke (Bel) Team Garmin-Cervelo
5	Koen De Kort (Ned) Skil - Shimano
6	Manuele Mori (Ita) Lampre - ISD
7	Davide Malacarne (Ita) Quickstep Cycling Team
8	Kristof Vandewalle (Bel) Quickstep Cycling Team
9	Bauke Mollema (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team
10	Eros Capecchi (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale

CG Overall

Result
1	Juan Jose Cobo Acebo (Spa) Geox-TMC	82:38:32
2	Christopher Froome (GBr) Sky Procycling	0:00:13
3	Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Sky Procycling	0:01:39
4	Bauke Mollema (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team	0:02:03
5	Denis Menchov (Rus) Geox-TMC	0:03:48
6	Maxime Monfort (Bel) Leopard Trek	0:04:13
7	Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale	0:04:31
8	Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto	0:04:45
9	Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Spa) Katusha Team	0:05:20
10	Mikel Nieve Ituralde (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi	0:05:33

Vuelta a Espana: Stage 8

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/vuelta-a-espana/stage-8/results)

He’s been in terrific form of late and on Saturday afternoon in San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) demonstrated that his fitness is scintillating with another powerful surge on the steep slopes of the torturous final kilometre of stage 8 of the Vuelta a España.

With many tipping the Spaniard to shine on a finish that featured ramps of 27 percent, Katusha’s captain delivered, beating Michele Scarponi (Lampre-ISD) and Rabobank’s Bauke Mollema to take his second stage win and the overall lead in this year’s Vuelta.

Having worn the red jersey for a stage after the first day, Jakob Fuglsang’s (Leopard Trek) fine fifth place finish saw him move back up in the standings to third overall, with Dani Moreno (Katusha) sitting in second behind his team leader.

The final agonising kilometres separated some of the overall favourites, with 16 seconds covering the top 10. A notable absentee from that group was defending champion Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale), who finished 32 seconds behind Rodriguez and now sits in fourth place overall. “I didn’t feel so good during the stage because of my crash yesterday but this is not an excuse,” Nibali said afterwards. “I hope that I’ll be able to reverse the situation at the time trial in Salamanca.”

Team Sky’s Bradley Wiggins came across the line 20 seconds down in 19th place and now lies 1:43 behind Rodriguez, albeit with Monday’s crucial 47km time trial still to come for the British contender.

Rodriguez’s recon pays off

Always a threat when the road pitches sharply upwards as it did in the final kilometre of the stage, Joaquim Rodriguez explained afterwards that he had taken time to reconnoitre Saturday’s finale before the Vuelta in order to maximise his chances.

“It was useful to know the course,” Rodriguez said. “I came to reconnoitre it in July with Dani Moreno who lives nearby and it has helped me to win. I knew where to impose my rhythm, where to sit on the bike on the false flats and where to accelerate again.”

As well as winning the stage, Rodriguez gained a handful of seconds on all of his rivals for the red jersey in Madrid, and that bounty was bolstered by the 20-second time bonus he picked up for winning the stage. Given his weakness against the watch, Rodriguez acknowledged that he had to make his gains count ahead of Monday’s time trial in Salamanca.

“I knew before the Vuelta that I have to gain a maximum of time bonuses and I target them on the uphill finishes because I’m aware that I’ll lose a lot of time on Monday to riders like Bradley Wiggins and Janez Brajkovic,” he said. “I’ll try to increase my advantage tomorrow. In the time trial, I’ll lose at least 2:30.”

All about the finish

After the mountainous appetisers earlier in the week, today’s stage delivered a brace of category two climbs – the San Bartolomé de Pinares and the Alto de Santa María – preceded by the first category Puerto de Mijares: a test of sorts for the overall contenders while the breakaway bandits were licking their lips.

Their biggest obstacle was the tough uphill finish, with ramps of up to 27 percent that represented another chance for the likes of Katusha duo Moreno and Rodriguez, both of whom have already stamped their mark on this year’s Vuelta with stage wins.

Approaching the top of the Puerto de Mijares after a rapid start, Heinrich Haussler (Garmin-Cervélo) and Matteo Montaguti (AG2R-La Mondiale) were the lone leaders, having made their way off the front after 25km, while 1:10 behind them lay Friday’s most combative rider Julien Fourchard (Cofidis) and Adrian Palomares (Andalucia Caja Granada).

A further 4:05 back was Skil-Shimano’s Koen De Kort, with the peloton sitting 7:32 behind the leading duo. It wasn’t long before the Dutchman was reabsorbed by the bunch, however, as the two pairs at the front made a leading quartet after cresting the category one climb.

The peloton was content to give the leading quartet the time it wanted and with 28km remaining in the stage, the gap was still 1:58 – never enough to stay away until the finish but sufficient for another 17km of freedom, as Haussler was the last card to fall when Cofidis’ Rein Taaramae tried his luck heading into the final 10 clicks of the day.

Joined by Angel Madrazo (Movistar), teammate David Moncoutié, Jan Bakelants (Omega Pharma-Lotto) and Wout Poels (Vacansoleil-DCM), the freshly-formed quintet then decided it wanted to disrupt Katusha’s party and went into the final five kilometres – including the finishing climb – ahead of the main field, which would soon be ripped to shreds on the stinging ascent.

With three kilometres remaining and the hardest gradient ahead, Taaramae was the sole survivor of the late-stage move but even his bravery had its limits and he was swallowed up by a peloton led by Lampre-ISD and Katusha’s diminutive pair of Moreno and Rodriguez.

The harder grades required the higher marks and Scarponi went off in search of them, hitting out on the 20 percent slopes near the top of the climb but Rodriguez followed suit and swiftly passed the Italian on the cobbled section. He was never to be passed as those behind him fought for the scraps on what is becoming a familiar scene at this edition of Spain’s national tour.

Notable performances came from Euskaltel-Euskadi captain Igor Anton, who overcame his recent troubles to finish sixth and Irish cousins Nicolas Roche (Ag2r-La Mondiale) and Daniel Martin (Garmin-Cervélo), who took seventh and ninth respectively. Maxime Monfort’s strong showing also earned him a place in the overall top 10 while Denis Menchov showed his hand somewhat with eighth at the end of the 183 kilometres.

Vuelta a Espana: Stage 4

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/vuelta-a-espana/stage-4/results)

Daniel Moreno (Katusha) took advantage of a degree of status quo between the Vuelta’s main favourites to claim victory at the race’s first summit finish on the Sierra Nevada. The Katusha rider came up towards the line on the wheel of Saxo Bank’s Chris Anker Sorensen. Then with 400 metres remaining, the Spaniard flashed by on the Dane’s left and had plenty of time to zip up his jersey and celebrate his first grand tour stage win.

The pair had come together just four kilometres from the summit. Sorensen had already jumped across from the main group to three riders who remained from the break of the day. Sorensen pushed on past them and worked hard but had no answer when Moreno jumped hard.

“I’m so happy with this beautiful win,” said Moreno. “I felt in great shape this morning. I knew I could produce a great performance because the course suited my characteristics. Before going after Sorensen, I talked with my team leader, Joaquim Rodríguez. He thought I had good chance of winning today because I’m faster than the Danish rider and told me to go for it.”

Moreno’s win lifted him up to second place overall, 43 seconds down on new race leader Sylvain Chavanel (Quick Step) but he was quick to downplay his own prospects.

“Despite my move up general classification, my job is still to help our leader to win the general classification,” said the 29-year-old from Madrid. “I think ‘Purito’ and me form a great partnership, I’m sure we can gain some more brilliant results in this Vuelta.”

After the red jersey of Pablo Lastras dropped away from the main group on the early slopes of the Sierra Nevada, Chavanel knew that if he could stick with or close to that group he would take over the lead.

Although he did fall back from the front group, which was eventually led home by Garmin’s Dan Martin 11 seconds behind Moreno, the French champion did enough to attain his objective for the day.

Antón cracks, Cavendish retires

While Moreno and Chavanel took the plaudits, the big loser on the day was Euskaltel’s Igor Antón. The Basque rider struggled all of the way up the final climb to the finish and in the end may not have been too disappointed to lose 1:36.

But Antón was far from the only rider to suffer on another blisteringly hot Vuelta day. Winner of the points title last year, Mark Cavendish (HTC-Highroad) abandoned on the second of the day’s three climbs, while 2008 Tour de France champion Carlos Sastre saw his hopes of a high overall finish disappear as the race climbed to the 2112-metre summit.

Seven riders for the break of the day

After a number of attacks had been neutralised in the opening few kilometres, the break of the day formed at the 10km mark as the riders started up the slopes of the first-category climb of Alto de Filabres.

Seven riders got into it: Guillaume Bonnafond (Ag2r-La Mondiale), Matthew Busche (RadioShack), Yohan Bagot (Cofidis), Thomas Rohregger (Leopard-Trek), Eduard Vorganov (Katusha), José Vicente Toribio (Andalucía-Caja Granada) and Koen de Kort (Skil-Shimano).

By the time De Kort led the seven over the Filabres ahead of Vorganov and Rohregger, their advantage was seven minutes on the peloton. Lastras’ Movistar team tried to keep it under control but it did edge out to more than eight minutes with less than 60km remaining.

After the third-category Blancares climb, where Cavendish became the second rider to abandon the race after HTC team-mate Matt Goss on stage two, Rabobank began to push the pursuit of the seven breakaways with a little more purpose.

Sierra Nevada’s long and winding road

Soon after the escape reached the first slopes of the 23km ascent of the Sierra Nevada, riders began to drop away as the heat hurt as much as the gradient. Bagot was the first to go, followed by De Kort and Torobio, although the Spaniard did battle back up to the four leaders at one point, only to blow apart in visibly painful fashion once he got up to them.

Rabobank were still leading the peloton as it started up the final climb, by now less than four minutes down on the break. Their pace soon saw Lastras fall out of the back. RadioShack’s Andreas Klöden was another early casualty of the Dutch team’s pace. This front group thinned down to 50-odd riders, with Antón struggling right at the back.

Up front, Bonnafond and Rohregger were doing most of the pace-making, although with 10km remaining the four leaders had little more than a minute in hand on the peloton as defending champion Vincenzo Nibali’s Liquigas team went to the front. Their efforts saw Antón finally fall away from the back of the group containing the main contenders.

Perhaps sensing that some of his other rivals might be in difficulty as the race headed towards 2000 metres, a very comfortable-looking Nibali launched a brief foray with 7.5km left. The Italian got a decent gap before easing off as the chase began behind.

As Nibali was brought back, Sorensen made his move off the front of this group, and got across to the four leaders inside the 5km mark. The Dane pressed on through the tiring escapees, with Moreno by now chasing hard behind, perhaps with a view to setting up a late attack by his team leader, Joaquim Rodríguez.

But over the closing couple of kilometres the Katusha leader and his main rivals were content to sit in behind Sky’s Chris Froome as he set the pace for Bradley Wiggins, allowing Moreno and Sorensen the chance to battle over the day’s spoils and Chavanel the chance to lead the Vuelta for the first time in his illustrious career.

This was just an early skirmish for overall victory in the Vuelta, with Antón the big loser and Moreno and Chavanel the day’s victors.

Result
1	Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Spa) Katusha Team	4:51:53
2	Chris Anker Sörensen (Den) Saxo Bank Sungard	0:00:03
3	Daniel Martin (Irl) Team Garmin-Cervelo	0:00:11
4	Joaquin Rodriguez Oliver (Spa) Katusha Team
5	Przemyslaw Niemiec (Pol) Lampre - ISD
6	Sergey Lagutin (Uzb) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
7	Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto
8	Wout Poels (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
9	Michele Scarponi (Ita) Lampre - ISD
10	Bauke Mollema (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team

Overall Standings:

Result
1	Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Quickstep Cycling Team	13:19:09
2	Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Spa) Katusha Team	0:00:43
3	Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Leopard Trek	0:00:49
4	Maxime Monfort (Bel) Leopard Trek
5	Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale	0:00:53
6	Kanstantsin Sivtsov (Blr) HTC-Highroad	0:00:58
7	Fredrik Kessiakoff (Swe) Pro Team Astana	0:00:59
8	Sergio Pardilla Belllón (Spa) Movistar Team	0:01:03
9	Marzio Bruseghin (Ita) Movistar Team
10	Kevin Seeldraeyers (Bel) Quickstep Cycling Team	0:01:04