Vuelta a Espana: Stage 11

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/vuelta-a-espana/stage-11/results)

The mountain finish on Estación de Montaña Manzaneda inspired yet more entertaining racing at the Vuelta a Espana and another new race leader, with Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky) pulling on the ‘Roja’ leader’s jersey after David Moncoutié (Cofidis) won the stage alone.

Moncoutié showed his climbing skills and racing experience on the mountain finish to take his fourth Vuelta stage in four years. The Frenchman made sure he was part of the key breakaway of the day and then attacked alone on the 19km climb, finishing 1:18 ahead of Beñat Intxausti (Movistar) and Luis Leon Sanchez (Rabobank). Moncoutié also took the blue polka-dot climber’s jersey.

“I had studied the course well, and planned where to attack on the last climb,” he said. “I was thinking about this stage for a while, and after falling short at Sierra Nevada, another finish that I like, I’ve managed to do it.”

Chris Froome’s moment of glory at the Vuelta ended in the final kilometres of the long, exposed climb to the line, with Wiggins confirming he is the strongest at Team Sky and so ending any possible rivalry about team leadership.

Froome initially responded to several attacks but then slipped down the line of riders in the front group as Dan Martin (Garmin-Cervelo), Bauke Mollema (Rabobank) and then Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha) launched attacks. Those moves forced Wiggins to respond and Froome lost 27 seconds at the line.

Rodriguez got a gap with a late surge but he only managed to gain seven seconds on his main rivals. Importantly for Wiggins, Jakob Fuglsang (Leopard Trek) was not in the front group – he finished in the same time as Froome, and so Wiggins took the overall race lead. Froome is now in second place overall at seven seconds, with Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale) third at 11 seconds. Strangely for a summit finish, the gaps in the general classification tightened rather than opened.

Wiggins performance sees him become the tenth British rider to take the race lead at the Vuelta. He also wore the maglia rosa at the 2010 Giro d’Italia but this time, he has a real shot at overall victory.

A 19-rider breakaway shapes the stage

The long climb to the finish was always going to be decisive but that did not stop riders going on the attack, virtually from the gun. Carlos Barredo (Rabobank) was the first to jump away after just one kilometre. He was joined by others but Team Sky quickly closed it down and a later move led by Sylvain Chavanel (Quick Step).

However after 30km, the break of the day, made up of 16 riders, went clear. Aitor Pérez (Lampre-ISD), Vincente Reynés (Omega Pharma-Lotto), Luis León Sánchez (Rabobank), David Bernabéu and Adrián Palomares (Andalucía-Caja Granada), Juan José Oroz (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Evgueni Petrov and Joan Horrach (Katusha), Beñat Intxausti (Movistar), Sergio Paulinho (RadioShack), Matteo Montaguti (Ag2r-La Mondiale), David Moncoutié (Cofidis), Michael Albasini (HTC), Stuart O'Grady (Leopard), Jonas Jørgensen (Saxo Bank-SunGard) and Manuel Quinziato (BMC) were all there. They were later joined by Mathias Frank (BMC), Amets Txurruka (Euskaltel-Euskadi) and Fabio Duarte (Geox-TMC) to make a break of 19 riders.

Only Duarte and Sanchez were real threats to Chris Froome’s race lead and Team Sky rode tempo to keep them in check. Duarte became virtual race leader for a few minutes but the gap fell below seven minutes as the big final climb approached.

Moncoutié surged away to take the points on the third category Alto de Ermida ahead of Montaguti but that was only a taster of a climb before the 19km haul up to Estación de Montaña Manzaneda.

Before the climb really kicked in, Palomares attacked and opened a brief gap but the strongest climbers from the move jumped across before Paulinho and then Moncoutié took turns to attack. The veteran Frenchman had been looking for a stage victory and mountain points since the start of the Vuelta in Benidorm. Suddenly he had a chance for both and did not falter. He gradually opened a gap on the chasers, meaning that he had plenty of time to celebrate his victory atop the windswept mountain.

Wiggins is the eighth leader of this year’s Vuelta and can fortunately look forward to a quiet first day in red on Thursday. Stage 12 is 167km ride from Ponteareas to Pontevedra. The stage includes several short hills and three finishing circuits around Pontevedra but is expected to finish with a bunch sprint.

1	David Moncoutie (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne	4:38:00
2	Beñat Intxausti Elorriaga (Spa) Movistar Team	0:01:18
3	Luis Leon Sanchez Gil (Spa) Rabobank Cycling Team
4	Mathias Frank (Swi) BMC Racing Team	0:01:36
5	Sergio Miguel Moreira Paulinho (Por) Team RadioShack	0:01:43
6	Matteo Montaguti (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale	0:02:29
7	Amets Txurruka (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
8	Aitor Perez Arrieta (Spa) Lampre - ISD	0:02:55
9	Joaquin Rodriguez Oliver (Spa) Katusha Team	0:03:01
10	Vicente David Bernabeu Armengol (Spa) Andalucia Caja Granada	0:03:08

GC Overall

1	Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Sky Procycling	42:50:41
2	Christopher Froome (GBr) Sky Procycling	0:00:07
3	Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale	0:00:11
4	Fredrik Kessiakoff (Swe) Pro Team Astana	0:00:14
5	Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Leopard Trek	0:00:19
6	Bauke Mollema (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team	0:00:47
7	Maxime Monfort (Bel) Leopard Trek	0:01:06
8	Juan Jose Cobo Acebo (Spa) Geox-TMC	0:01:27
9	Haimar Zubeldia Agirre (Spa) Team RadioShack	0:01:53
10	Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Team RadioShack	0:02:00

2011 Tour de France, Stage 17

Today’s stage is 179km and runs from Gap to Pinerolo; yes, the Tour de France will head into Italy today.

Within the firs 10km, a 10-man break has formed: Gerdermann, Thomas, Hagen, Di Gregorio, Sanchez ,  Costa, Casar, Hondo, Van Garderen, De Gendt. Hushovd and Roche tried to attack the peloton to bridge a gap to the breakaway sitting at about 40” ahead, but the peloton wouldn’t let them go. However, with 139km remaining the group was brought back.

With 119km left, a new attack group has formed, and they quickly have 1’30” on the peloton: Hagen, Perez, Tjallingii, Fofonov, Muravyev, Amador, Paterski, Chavanel, El Fares, Casar, Bozic, Leukmans, Hivert, and Mollema. By the beginning of the first climb, the lead was 4’30”.

Tiralongo has abandoned the race.

At the summit, Chavanel take the most KOM points, followed by El Fares. Caser takes the lead over the intermediate sprint line. At the second climb Chavanel got 2 points while Leukmans got 1.

With 88km remaining, the lead grew to 7’15”.

Chavanel takes maximum points at the 3rd summit.

82km from the finish, Hoogerland, Roche, and De Weert attack the peloton and try to chase down the breakaway. De Weert is doing the most work and is able to cut the gap to the leaders in half within minutes.

Perez attacked the breakaway with 4km to go until the summit. He hit the summit solo, and Chavanel brought the rest of the leaders over the line. With 31km remaining, Perez has an 8’10” gap over the peloton.

The peloton drops a lot of riders on this final climb, including Farrar and Cavendish.

Perez is caught on the ascent, and Chavanel attacks. Hagen catches up to him and then attacks. The leaders catch up to Chavanel, and he attacks again to no avail. Then Hivert attacks. Hagen has a 25 second lead with 10km to go. Chavanel goes again and then Mollema while Contador attacks the peloton.

A. Schleck, Voeckler, and Evans follow Contador and soon they are all back together.

Contador attacks again, followed by A. Schleck and Evans. Then F. Schleck attacks and is followed by Contador and others.

Hivert crashes on the descent, but is able to get back up and chase.

Basso sets the pace for the rest of the acsent and A. Schleck leads the CG contenders down. Hivert again crashes, this time into a parked car. Again, he is okay.

Voeckler attacks, but almost misses a corner. Contador attacks and is clear. Voeckler ends up crashing into the same parked car as Hivert in another missed corner. The GC contenders finish together though, but it is Hagen who takes the win!

 Stage 17 Results:
1 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Sky Procycling 4:18:00
2 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team 0:00:40
3 Sandy Casar (Fra) FDJ 0:00:50
4 Julien El Fares (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne 0:00:50
5 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Quickstep Cycling Team 0:00:50
6 Dmitriy Fofonov (Kaz) Pro Team Astana 0:01:10
7 Maciej Paterski (Pol) Liquigas-Cannondale 0:01:10
8 Dmitriy Muravyev (Kaz) Team RadioShack 0:01:10
9 Jonathan Hivert (Fra) Saur - Sojasun 0:01:15

2011 Tour de France, Stage 16

Today's stage runs from Saint-Paul-Trois-Chateaux to Gap for a 162.5 km ride, in which the riders will begin to tackle the Alps.



There have been a lot of attacks since the beginning of the stage, but no breaks have been allowed by the very fast-paced peloton. Nothing amounted to any more than a few seconds until Devenyns had an 8” gap with 127km left, but he was caught. Then Millar attacked, has 15” and then was joined by Chavanel, Martin, Bole, Flecha, Zubeldia, and more. Millar and company are soon caught, and another attack has formed but the peloton won’t let up their speed. Another group of 5 tries their luck, but again its to no avail. 

With about 90km left, Westra gets a 150 meter gap, but as soon as other riders attempt to bridge to him, the peloton tries to swallow them all back. With about 75km to go, next set of attackers go: Roy, Coppel, Roche, Hoogerland, Kreuziger, Jeannesson, Mollema, Di Gregorio, Knees, Zandio, Gallpin, Marcato, Hesjedal. However, there is a lot of conflict in the group; no one seems to want to work together, although they have 13” on the peloton.

Through more bridges and some escapees sitting up for the peloton to reel them in, the new leaders become: Marcato, Martin, Grivko, Hushovd, Perez, Hagen, Hesjedal, Devenyns, Ignatiev, and Roy. Finally a breakaway was able to escape; it only took 100km into the stage. With 21km left to go, the gap is 6’16”.

When the leaders get on the climb. Ignatiev attacked and tried solo. Although he had about 15”, he was being chased down by Perez and Devenyns. During the chase, Devenyns attacks Perez. Perez was then caught by the rest of the break as Marcato was dropped by the increasing pace uphill.

With 16km left, Hesjedal jumpas and catches and passes Ignatiev, who can’t keep the pace.

With 15km left, Contador attacks the peloton. Cancellara chases with both Schlecks, Evans, Sanchez, and Voeckler. However, they are soon caught by the peloton.

Contador attacks again; Voeckler and A. Schleck stay with him. Evans chases with F. Schleck on his wheel. They are all caught again. Contador attacks for a third time with Evans and Sanchez. Voeckler is losing ground. A. Schleck is dropped too.

Further up. Hesjedal is caught by Hushovd and Hagen.

Evan leads the chasing group down the descent as both Schlecks, Voeckler, Cunego, and Basso chase the chasing group. Voeckler attacks as Hushovd attacks his group. Hagen then attacks Hushovd but Hushovd chases. Its Hushovd who takes the win.

1 Hushovd
2 Hagen
3 Hesjedal
4 Martin
5 Ignatyev
6 Perez
7 Devenyns
8 Roy
9 Marcato
10 Grivko

2011 Tour de France, Stage 12

Today’s stage takes the riders into the high mountains of the Pyrenees. The 209km stage runs from Cugnaux to Luz Ardiden. However, the first 130km are relatively flat, but there are 3 major climbs: one category 1 and two HC climbs!

There was an abandon today; Feillu dropped out due to tendinitis.

The first breakaway of the day was formed by six riders: Gutierrez , Kadri, Mangel, Perez, Roy, and Thomas. With 122km to go the attackers had 8’00” on the peloton, and was over 9’00” by the time the six men hit the intermediate sprint. The best placed rider in the group is Thomas.

Mangel gets the most points at the intermediate sprint, while Cavendish again brought the peloton over the sprint line.

The 2nd attack of the day involved three riders: Chavanel, Hoogerland, and Kreuziger.

At the same time that riders are breaking away, riders are also being dropped; Galimzyanov is the first of the day.

At 75km to go, Gutierrez was dropped from the original breakaway. He couldn’t keep up with Thomas’s pace. Hoogerland was also soon dropped from the chasing group. He got caught by the peloton and then dropped off the back. Gesink soon fell back too.

At the first summit, Mangel get KOM points ahead of Perez, and Kadri. Thomas crashed on the descent and landed inches from the edge of the cliff. He was able to get back up on his bike, but then had to catch up to his fellow attackers.

The second crash of the day happened in the peloton on the first turn of the descent. Gadret, Urtasun, Velits, Kloden and Voecker involved but they all got back up eventually.

Thomas and Gutierrez did catch back up to the front 4 by the end of the first descent. Kreuziger almost caught the original 6-man breakaway but couldn’t and Gutierrez had to let go again. Gutierrez and Chavanel got caught by the peloton while Kreuzinger continued to hang between.

More riders are being dropped on the 2nd climb: Hincapie, Van Garderen, Fuglsang, Vande Velde

Thomas is pushing also at the front with 3km left to the 2nd summit. Roy is chasing but can’t seem to reach him until just before the summit, and was able to take it first. A nice prize awaited the Frenchman at the top for Bastille Day. Voigt led the peloton over the climb with Mangel and Ten Dam a few seconds in front after attacking the peloton. They join Kreuziger on the descent, trying to catch the leading duo.

The descent had riders at speeds near 90km/hr!

On the final climb there were so many attacks and breakaways. With 4km to go the GC contenders are upping the pace.

Roy and Thomas caught about 2km before the end, but Gonzalez and Vanendert now are in front.

Situation right before the finish:
Leaders: Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) and Jelle Vanendert (Omega Pharma-Lotto)
Chase 1: Fränk Schleck (Leopard Trek)
Chase 2: Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank Sungard), Cadel Evans (BMC Racing Team), Ivan Basso (Liquigas-Cannondale), Andy Schleck (Leopard Trek) and Damiano Cunego (Lampre - ISD)
Yellow jersey: Thomas Voeckler and Pierre Rolland (Team Europcar)
Arnold Jeannesson (FDJ) and Thomas Danielson (Team Garmin-Cervelo) at ?
Chase: Laurens Ten Dam (Rabobank Cycling Team), Levi Leipheimer (Team RadioShack), Sylvester Szmyd (Liquigas-Cannondale), Jean-Christophe Peraud (AG2R La Mondiale), Rigoberto Uran Uran (Sky Procycling), Kevin De Weert (Quickstep Cycling Team), Rein Taaramae (Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne), Yuriy Trofimov (Katusha Team)
Gruppetto: Johnny Hoogerland (Vacansoleil), Mark Cavendish (HTC-Highroad), Robert Gesink (Rabobank)

Sanchez started the sprint and Vanendert couldn’t follow. Sanchez takes the win!

Stage 12 Results:
1 Sanchez
2 Vanendert
3 F. Schleck
4 Basso
5 Evans
6 A. Schleck
7 Cunego
8 Contador
9 Voeckler
10 Rolland