Wouter Weylandt and Xavier Tondo Remembered

2011 Reader Poll: Weylandt and Tondo remembered

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/2011-reader-poll-weylandt-and-tondo-remembered)

Each year we ask the cycling community to vote in our reader poll. One category that always stands out is the Legend of the Year award. In most cases it's awarded to a rider who has retired - a farewell token of thanks as they leave the peloton for the real world - or in last year's case to Laurent Fignon, who gave so much to our sport.

This year, however, the Cyclingnews team has decided to acknowledge two riders - Wouter Weylandt and Xavier Tondo.

Both men were hugely popular within the sport and touched so many fans with their racing styles and personalities. They are, and will be, greatly missed.

Personally, I only got the chance to interview each rider on few occasions. At the start of Amstel Gold Race in 2010 I remember talking to Xavier. He'd just driven all the way up from Girona, Spain, to Holland in order to take part in the race. The drive, brought on by an ash cloud, meant a race against time in order to make the weekend start but as the Spaniard lined up he was a jovial as ever, chatting freely with the press and fans. He made it clear that he was here to respect the race and that it was an event he dearly enjoyed.

In an age where sports personalities are often criticised for attitude or lack of commitment, it spoke volumes of the man's passion.

My only interview with Wouter came almost a year later and on the eve of Paris-Roubaix. He'd crashed a few days earlier but at the Leopard pre-race press conference, he remained strong and full of confidence that he could pull out a performance to help his teammates. He was clearly uncomfortable and in pain as he patiently answered questions, but his resolve as well as Xavier's spirit go a long way to show just how special our sport can be: the dedication, sacrifice, hard work but most of all love everyone even remotely associated with a bike can identify with.

Every now and then an event takes place that touches everyone and unlike the controversy, racing and petty grudges we all have, unites all who hold the sport close.

This award goes to both Xavier and Wouter. May they both rest in peace.

Vuelta a Espana: Stage 5

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/vuelta-a-espana/stage-5/results)

Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha) used his pure climber’s power to conquer the steep and narrow finish in Valdepeñas de Jaén.

The tiny Spaniard followed teammate Daniel Moreno as solo attacker David Moncoutié (Cofidis) was swept up, and then gapped his overall rivals, with only Wouter Poels (Vacansoleil) able to match the Katusha duo.

Rodriguez kept his hands on the brake levers and danced to the finish line. Poels closed the gap with a brave effort but finished four seconds down, with Moreno at five seconds.

"I've achieved more than I expected with the gap I created over my adversaries in such a short distance," Rodriguez said.

"I don't think I have spent more energy than the others though. Everyone will be tired after such a stage. It's often said in cycling that the winners are less tired than the others because of their high morale.

"It's not a surprise for me to do this because I've said since the beginning of the Vuelta that I was here for the win. I'm satisfied with where I'm standing on GC. Most of the favourites are still in contention with no big time differences."

Bauke Mollema (Rabobank) brought home the leading chasers, with team soigneurs forced to grab their riders as they gasped for breath after an intense finishing effort. Most of the overall contenders were all at eight seconds but the likes of Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky) finished 20 seconds down on Rodriguez. Dan Martin (Garmin-Cervelo) was further back at 29 seconds while his fellow Irishman and cousin Nicolas Roche (Ag2r) was better placed in eighth place, at eight seconds.

Sylvain Chavanel (Quick Step) managed to limit his losses and hold onto the red race leader's jersey. He now leads Moreno by just nine seconds, with Rodriguez third at 23 seconds.

"This stage was much harder than I imagined," Chavanel said. "I've been surprised, to say the truth. It was constantly fast but I hung on and I kept the red jersey. It makes me very happy. The Quick Step team controlled the race really well with sending Davide Malacarne in the breakaway and riding behind Michael Albasini (HTC-Highroad) who was alone away later on. Tom Boonen took part in the chase. That shows the respect that Quick Step has for this leader's jersey."

Chavanel knows his time in the red jersey is limited, but said he thinks he can keep the race lead until the time trial in Salamanca on Monday.

"The Vuelta is designed for climbers and I'm not one of them. That makes me proud to be the race leader. I'll take it day by day but I’d like to preserve the lead until the time trial on stage 10."

Remembering Tondo

The stage started atop the Sierra Nevada after the peloton slept at altitude in the Spanish ski resort. Before the start, a minute's silence was observed to remember Xavier Tondo who was killed in a domestic accident while training on Sierra Nevada.

After the dive down to the spectacular city of Granada, the racing started rapidly with a series of attacks in the hills north of the city, and an 18-rider break formed. However, the peloton and especially Rodriguez's Katusha team never let the race slip from their grasp.

The Alto de Valdepeñas climbed was covered for a first tine after 87km and sparked the first significant break of the day. Rein Taaramae (Cofidis) was first over the top and joined forces with Michael Albasini (HTC-Highroad) and Tom Slagter (Rabobank). They were joined by Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale), Angel Madrazo (Movistar), Johannes Fröhlinger (Skil-Shimano), Davide Malacarne (Quick Step) and Adrian Palomares (Andalucia Caja Granada).

Despite the 32C temperatures, the peloton again refused to let them go and the gap was pegged constantly at no more than 90 seconds.

Perhaps born out of frustration, Albasini decided to go for it alone. It was a desperate move but he managed to gain two minutes, possibly as the peloton realised that a lone rider had little chance of staying away. The Swiss rider plugged on as the rest of the break was gradually picked up.

Katusha in control

The second climb of the Alto de Valdepeñas was always going to be a key part of the race and Katusha did everything to control the action for Rodriguez. Vladimir Karpets worked a lot at high speed before the climb began to hurt. His effort quickly caused some casualties, including Andreas Klöden (RadioShack). Igor Anton (Euskaltel-Euskadi) was also struggling again but managed to stay with the lead group of 50 riders.
Alexsandr Dyachenko (Astana) jumped clear of the peloton with four kilometres to go the summit of the climb but he was quickly caught and passed by David Moncoutié (Cofidis) who powered on in a solo move.

The veteran Frenchman is not a great descender and lost vital seconds as 2010 Vuelta winner Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale) briefly tested his rivals' nerves.

Moncoutié started the final climb – Southern Spain's equivalent of the Mur du Huy, with 25 seconds but faded quickly as the peloton saw up him the road. Moreno had promised to work for Rodriguez today after being given the freedom to ride for himself on Sierra Nevada, and he dragged the peloton up to and around Moncoutié. The finish was still almost a kilometre away but Rodriguez knew it was the right moment to take advantage of the confusion and so opened the turbo chargers in his climber's legs.

He gapped Moreno, who eased to mark Poels, and then made a long effort towards the line. He crossed the line with his arms in the air, celebrating Katusha's second consecutive stage victory and confirming he is a sure overall contender, as behind him, everyone else fought to limit their losses.

The Vuelta is still in its first week and these are the opening salvoes, but it already looks like it is going to be a close and aggressive battle for overall victory.

Thursday's 185.7km sixth stage is from Úbeda to Córdoba and also includes another late climb and fast descent to the finish. Both details are likely to produce another thrilling finale.

Result
1	Joaquin Rodriguez Oliver (Spa) Katusha Team	4:42:54
2	Wout Poels (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team	0:00:04
3	Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Spa) Katusha Team	0:00:05
4	Bauke Mollema (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team	0:00:07
5	Michele Scarponi (Ita) Lampre - ISD
6	Haimar Zubeldia Agirre (Spa) Team RadioShack
7	Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Leopard Trek
8	Nicolas Roche (Irl) AG2R La Mondiale
9	Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto
10	Fredrik Kessiakoff (Swe) Pro Team Astana

GC Overall:

Result
1	Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Quickstep Cycling Team	18:02:34
2	Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Spa) Katusha Team	0:00:09
3	Joaquin Rodriguez Oliver (Spa) Katusha Team	0:00:23
4	Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Leopard Trek	0:00:25
5	Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale	0:00:33
6	Fredrik Kessiakoff (Swe) Pro Team Astana	0:00:35
7	Maxime Monfort (Bel) Leopard Trek	0:00:38
8	Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto	0:00:43
9	Sergio Pardilla Belllón (Spa) Movistar Team
10	Marzio Bruseghin (Ita) Movistar Team	0:00:52

Vuelta a Espana: Stage 3

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/vuelta-a-espana/stage-3/results)

Movistar veteran Pablo Lastras took a well-judged solo win and with it the red jersey of race leader at the stage three finish in Totana. The 35-year-old Spaniard, who has won stages in all three Grand Tours during a career that goes back to 1998, finished 15 seconds clear of Sylvain Chavanel (Quick Step), Mikel Irizar (RadioShack) and Ruslan Pydgornyy (Vacansoleil-DCM) after attacking them on the final climb of the day, 12km from the finish.

The Spaniard made his winning attack 500 metres from the top of the Alto de la Santa. His advantage was just a handful of seconds heading over the summit, but he gave it everything on the descent into Totana and pushed out his lead out to almost 30 seconds.

The chasing trio did start to cooperate and eat into Lastras’s advantage, reducing his lead to 10 seconds with 3km remaining. But, having done most of the chasing, Chavanel then eased up and the three riders started toying with each other, leaving Lastras to enjoy a celebratory final kilometre as he claimed his first Vuelta stage win since 2002.

Lastras dedicated the victory to his former teammate Xavier Tondo and Leopard Trek’s Wouter Weylandt, who both died earlier this season, as well as to Movistar’s Mauricio Soler, who is still recovering from serious injuries sustained at the Tour of Switzerland in June.

"I think that I won today because of the expertise that I've built up as a veteran rider, I think it was a good win. I really wanted to raise my arms at the finish today and I dedicate the win to Xavi Tondo and to my teammate Soler who is very ill, as well as to all the friends who have been lost this year," said Lastras, who also went on to thank the media "for making this sport great" and his team manager Eusebio Unzué "who gave me the confidence I needed".

Chavanel, who would have taken the race lead if he had finished ahead of Lastras, was pleased with his performance. "We collaborated really well until the last climb. At 600 metres from the top of Alto de la Santa, Lastras took off. I couldn't follow him because I was starting to get cramps," said the Frenchman.

"On the slight rise towards the finish I gave it everything I had to catch up to Lastras. However there wasn't much collaboration from Pydgornyy and Irizar. When we got to within nine seconds from Lastras with only 3 kilometres to go to the finish line we started sizing each other up and Lastras gained a few seconds' advantage. It wasn't up to me to do all the work to catch up.

"I wanted to win the stage and often in order to win you have to risk losing. I gave it everything I had, I couldn't have done more. Anyway, I'm happy with my form, I feel good and I'm going to try again. Congratulations to Pablo. He was the strongest today and he's a great rider."

Most of the race favourites finished safely in the bunch that was led in by Nicolas Roche 1:43 after Lastras had taken the stage. However, two-time winner Denis Menchov (Geox-TMC) failed to stay with the bunch’s pace on the final climb, coming in 3:06 down along with Rabobank’s Steven Kruijswijk, who had been marked as another rider to watch after his impressive performance at the Giro d’Italia.

The winning break takes shape

After a number of escape attempts had been thwarted in the opening five kilometres, Pydgornyy, Chavanel and Cofidis’s Nicolas Edet jumped away after 6km and were soon joined by Spaniards Lastras and Irizar. These five quickly got a good lead, which stretched to almost eight minutes with 68km covered as Liquigas-Cannondale and Leopard Trek set a steady pace on the front of bunch.

Edet asked for medical assistance having being stung on the forehead by an insect with 90km covered. Soon after the young Frenchman started to slip back from the break. Vacansoleil-DCM’s Pydgornyy claimed the sprint not long after this. The pace did increase in the bunch from this point on, although none of the teams were keen to take on too much work so early in the race and in such sapping conditions.

As Irizar led the four escapees over the 3rd-category Alto del Berro with 117km covered, back in the bunch a lot of riders were starting to struggle. HTC’s Mark Cavendish fell back, together with fellow sprinter Marcel Kittel (Skil-Shimano). Leopard Trek was doing most of the work, cutting the break’s lead back to 4:28 at the summit of the Berro, then trimming it down to 3:46 as the race passed through Totana for the first time with 22km remaining.

Sky prominent on final climb

The final 22km loop took the riders out of Totana and up and over the Alto de la Santa, a regular feature in the Tour of Murcia, before dropping back into the finish again. The four breakaway riders were content to cooperate all the way up the climb, until Lastras made his winning move towards the summit.

Back in the rapidly thinning bunch, Team Sky was clearly determined to keep team leader Bradley Wiggins out of trouble. Thomas Lövkvist set the pace for a good way up the climb, with Wiggins on his wheel.

However, suggestions that some of the leading contenders might attempt an attack on the climb with the aim of gaining a few seconds in Totana were unfounded. Geox-TMC’s David De La Fuente did make a dig that came to nothing. But the GC contenders were clearly happy to save themselves until the much bigger test that faces them on stage four, which brings the first summit finish at Sierra Nevada.

That stage will offer an early insight into the likely contenders for the Vuelta title and should bring an immediate end to Lastras’s hold on the red jersey.

Result
1	Pablo Lastras Garcia (Spa) Movistar Team	3:58:00
2	Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Quickstep Cycling Team	0:00:15
3	Markel Irizar Aranburu (Spa) Team RadioShack
4	Ruslan Podgornyy (Ukr) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
5	Nicolas Roche (Irl) AG2R La Mondiale	0:01:43
6	Matti Breschel (Den) Rabobank Cycling Team
7	Valerio Agnoli (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale
8	Francesco Gavazzi (Ita) Lampre - ISD
9	Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Pro Team Astana
10	Jan Bakelants (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto

GC Overall
1	Pablo Lastras Garcia (Spa) Movistar Team	8:25:59
2	Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Quickstep Cycling Team	0:00:20
3	Markel Irizar Aranburu (Spa) Team RadioShack	0:01:08
4	Ruslan Podgornyy (Ukr) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team	0:01:24
5	Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Leopard Trek	0:01:55
6	Maxime Monfort (Bel) Leopard Trek
7	Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale	0:01:59
8	Valerio Agnoli (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale
9	Eros Capecchi (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale
10	Kanstantsin Siutsou (Blr) HTC-Highroad	0:02:04