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Freire Gets Around Zabel in Hamburg
Some of Oscar Freire’s biggest wins have come at the expense of one man: That perennial German warrior Erik Zabel.
The Spanish sprinter took his third world title in 2004 in Verona in Italy with Zabel taking second, a win that came months after Freire out-stabbed Zabel on the Via Roma to win Milan-San Remo that spring.
In Sunday’s Vattenfall Cyclassics, Freire once again revealed he has one of the best bike stabs in the game, sneaking away with a photo-finish mass sprint with Zabel getting the worse end of the bargain. Last year’s winner Filippo Pozzato came through third.FULLRESULTS
“I was behind Zabel and overtook him at the right moment,” said Freire, who became the first Spanish rider to win the race. “We were all strong until the end and it was only a matter of throwing the our bikes to the line.”
After scores of late breaks were reeled in with about 10km to go to set up a mass gallop, it looked like Zabel was going to get a huge victory into Hamburg to repeat his 2001 victory.
Pozzato was being led out by his Quick Step teammate, but appeared to begin his sprint too early, opening the door for the 37-year-old Zabel. But it was Freire, sneaking past Zabel’s right shoulder with a perfectly timed jab at the line, who snagged the win.
Freire didn’t believe it until he saw the photo finish. He, too, has been on the wrong end of photo finishes, losing a tight battle to Alejandro Valverde earlier this year in a stage at the Vuelta al País Vasco.
“I didn’t lift my head not for one second and I had to wait until I knew for sure I had won,” Freire said. “To win is always important. It’s a classic and I had to take the chance when I had it. I stayed in good position, but you never know. Zabel was racing at home and that always counts.”
The 243.3km race – formerly the HEW Cyclassics -- saw the return to action of Astaná (formerly Liberty Seguros-Würth) and Alexandre Vinokourov, who was forced to miss the 2006 Tour de France after several of its riders were implicated in the Operación Puerto doping investigation in Spain.
Several top riders skipped the race, including world champion Tom Boonen (Quick Step), Champs Elysees winner Thor Hushovd (Credit Agricole) and Andréas Klöden (T-Mobile).
The hilly circuit course in and around Hamburg typically ends in a sprint and this year proved no exception despite the best efforts from the agitated peloton to derail the sprinter’s hopes.
The race was the first one-day ProTour classic since Liège-Bastogne-Liège back in April and will be followed up in two weeks by the Clásica San Sebastian in Spain on Aug. 12.
The main hurdle of the route is the Waseberg climb, a short but steep hump that includes more than a half kilometer at 15 percent. The route tackled the Waseberg four times, with the final passage coming at 16km to go, which often serves as a springboard for late attackers.
After about 40km, three riders - Dario Andriotto (Liquigas), Corey Sweet (Wiesenhof) and Laszlo Bodrogi (Credit Agricole) - extracted themselves from the main bunch and chugged away, gaining more than 12 minutes at one point. Andriotto crashed, leaving Sweet and Bodrogi to fight the good fight until they were gobbled up with about 60km to go. From there, the Quick Step and the big German powers - Milram for Zabel, Gerolsteiner for Rebellin and T-Mobile - did their collective best to keep a lid on a jittery bunch. Scores of riders tried to splay off in the frenetic, closing 30km, including Philippe Gilbert (FDJeux) who launched ahead of the penultimate passage over the Waseberg climb. Gerolsteiner sent Fabien Wegmann out to cover the move and the pair opened up a gap of nearly a minute coming through the final launch up the Waseberg, where it all comes back together again with 15km to go. Rebellin led a counter-attack that found some company of Luca Paolini (Liquigas), Alessandro Ballan (Quick Step) and Mirko Celestino (Milram) to open a narrow gap of about 15 seconds with 10km to go, but Rabobank and Quick Step collaborated to put the hammer down on a much-reduced peloton.
Quick Step sent Pozzato charging toward the line, but perhaps a tad early, opening the door for Zabel and Freire to sneak through.
For Freire, who was forced to abandon the Tour in the final week after taking two stage victories, the win comes as a nice surprise.
For Zabel, it was another second-place finish in a number that’s sure to come close to his career 200-plus wins.
“I am not bothered,” Zabel said. “Freire is famous for his finishing sprint.”
If anyone knows, it’s Zabel.
Results
1. Oscar Freire (Sp), Rabobank, 243.2km in 5:30:02 (44.2kph)
2. Erik Zabel (G), Milram
3. Filippo Pozzato (I), Quick Step
4. Nick Nuyens (B), Quick Step
5. Gerald Ciolek (G), Team Wiesenhof Akud
6. Grégory Rast (Swi), Phonak
7. Samuel Dumoulin (F), AG2R
8. Giuliano Figueras (I), Lampre
9. Danilo Napolitano (I), Lampre
10. Manuele Moro (I), Saunier Duval, all s.t.
FULLRESULTS
ProTour Standings, after Vattenfall Cyclassics
1. Alejandro Valverde (Sp) - 195 points
2. Floyd Landis (USA) - 175
3. Frank Schleck (LUX) - 150
4. Tom Boonen (BEL) - 145
5. Ivan Basso (I) - 138
6. Cadel Evans (AUS) - 120
7. Christophe Moreau (F) - 118
8. Jsrg Jaksche (G) - 110
9. Alessandro Ballan (I) - 110
10. Damiano Cunego (I) - 106
11. Oscar Freire (Sp) - 99
12. Filippo Pozzato (I) - 95
13. Patrik Sinkewitz (G) - 90
14. Samuel Sanchez (Sp) - 89
15. Fabian Cancellara (Swi) - 87
16. Michael Boogerd (Nl) - 85
17. Paolo Savoldelli (I) - 85
18. Paolo Bettini (I) - 84
19. Oscar Pereiro (Sp) - 83
20. Denis Menchov (Rus) - 83
