THIS WEEK IN PRO CYCLING
Anton takes Vuelta stage; Valverde leads, Vino' moves into 2nd
With the futures of Iban Mayo and Haimar Zubeldia uncertain for the Euskaltel-Euskadi team, Tuesday’s victory by youngster Igor Anton in the wet and mountainous stage 16 couldn’t have come at a better time.
The 23-year-old counter-attacked an elite group of six leading riders through pounding rain with 4km to go in the 145km stage to win his first professional race. Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d’Epargne) sprinted to second place, picking up a valuable time bonus to further tighten his grip on the overall lead with just five days left of the 2006 Vuelta.
"Today was a lot more than we could have hoped. I never thought we could hang on for the final victory against such big names," said Anton, who crossed 23 seconds ahead of Valverde. "What I did today I would like to confirm it and keep improving. Maybe I can challenge for the Vuelta someday for the GC."
Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana) bounced from fourth to second after enlivening the final assault up the 2090-meter climb to the cold and rainy Calar Alto summit; he finished third and earned an eight-second time bonus. Vinokourov is tied on time with Carlos Sastre (CSC), but moved into second based on the tie-breaker in the time trial.
Andrey Kashechkin (Astana) was the day’s biggest loser — he slipped from second to fourth after finishing 15th at 1:28 back.
Full results
"I had good legs and I tried to attack, but Valverde was strong enough and I couldn’t drop him," Vinokourov said. "The Vuelta isn’t over. There are still two mountain stages, so we’ll see what happens. There are still places to attack."
Indeed, Valverde had no problems following Vinokourov’s accelerations and widened his overall lead to 1:42.
"I am slowly gaining seconds here and there, so that’s all positive in the overall," Valverde said. "Vinokourov is the strongest of my rivals. When he attacked and dropped Sastre, I asked him to collaborate, but he refused. That is why Sastre and the others could come back."
Leading the chase to Anton was Tom Danielson (Discovery Channel), who enjoyed his best day in the Spanish mountains after suffering through the first two of five summit finishes in this year’s Vuelta.
Danielson chased back on to the lead group, which also included Vinokourov, Sastre, Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel) and Valverde. He attacked twice with 3km to go to finish sixth at 30 seconds back. The Coloradan nudged into the top 10, now 8:05 back.
"I am feeling better. Tomorrow I hope even better," Danielson said at the summit. "I would have liked to go for the stage win, but I am still not quite as good as I wanted to be. I don’t have the confidence right now. I am just looking to get better. I came here with big aspirations and mentally it was very hard for two weeks, now I am coming back."
Cold and rain in Spain
Jose Redondo (Astana) led the charge up the final assault on Calar Alto after escaping the remnants of a 10-man breakaway that held to the base of the final 18km climb.
Team CSC put Iñigo Cuesta and Vlodomyr Gustov on the front on the lower pitches to quickly trim the lead group down to about 20 riders. Getting spit out the back were Kashechkin and Jose Marchante (Saunier Duval), who retained fifth place overall despite losing 2:11 on the stage. Discarded, too, was Ryder Hesjedal (Phonak), who slipped from 15th to 21st overall.
With about 7km to go, Euskaltel put Samuel Sanchez and Anton into the front group, which was down to Valverde, Sastre, Vinokourov, Manuel Beltran, Danielson and Stijn Devolder (all Discovery). Egoi Martinez (Discovery) also joined up after being away in the Redondo breakaway.
Sastre was trying one last gasp to blow open the race, but Valverde and Vinokourov could still follow the attacks at 5km to go. He would hang on to finish fifth at 28 seconds back.
"The legs are starting to feel the efforts of two weeks of racing," Sastre said. "The only card I have to play is to attack, but the others could follow. Then I had to work to be able to stay close. That was my best option."
Redondo and the other attacking riders were swept up when Vinokourov sprang clear with about 4km to go and Valverde quickly bridged out. With Sastre and the others gapped, Valverde urged the Kazakh to keep driving, but he refused.
"Valverde wanted me to keep driving the pace, but I didn’t want to," he said. "The only thing I am interested in is attacking. Valverde was strong enough to follow me. I wasn’t going to tow him."
With Valverde only having to ride defensively and follow the moves, the lull allowed Sastre, Danielson, Anton and Sanchez to chase back on. Anton tried his luck and slipped away while the others were watching each other. That’s all he needed — the lithe Basque climber hit the final steep ramps of 10 percent with 2km to go with a 33-second gap and held on until the finish to claim the win in the style of his hero, Basque legend Roberto Laiseka.
"It’s like a dream that I thought I would never be able to fulfill. Having Sanchez with the others seemed to help," Anton said. "I am just a young pro and I came to this Vuelta just to learn, so to win a stage like this is something incredible."
It was good news for Euskaltel-Euskadi, too. Both Mayo and Zubeldia are making noises about leaving the Basque-only team at the end of the 2006 season. The veterans have had a rocky relationship with the team staff and are looking for new opportunities elsewhere.
Early attack foiled
The hint of rain was already in the air for the 1 p.m. start at Almería, one of Spain’s driest cities. Riders were digging through the team cars digging out arm warmers and rain jackets for the short, intense stage.
"I am going to go for it today," Danielson said. "I am feeling a lot better and I have nothing to lose."
Two riders – Fabian Cancellara (CSC) and Alessandro Petacchi (Milram) – didn’t take the start. Cancellara’s exit was planned to prepare for the world time trial championships next week in Austria while Petacchi punched a team bus following Sunday’s sprint finish and broke his hand.
Other riders not starting were Michael Boogerd (Rabobank), Cyril Dessel (Ag2r), Xavier Florencio (Bouygues Telecom), Bernhard Eisel (FDJeux), Rene Hasselbacher (Gerolsteiner) and Luca Paolini (Liquigas).
Five more riders would abandon during the stage – Anthony Geslin (Bouygues Telecom), Mark Renshaw (Credit Agricole), Danilo Napolitano (Lampre), Nacor Burgos and Jesus Hernandez (Relax-GAM), who crashed and broke an elbow. And Frederic Finot (FDJeux) would finish out of the time limit. Some 143 riders remain in the Vuelta.
A big group of 27 riders, including Danielson, tried to get away in the opening 20km. The group was a little too big for comfort and the move was reeled in within 5km.
Pietro Caucchioli (Credit Agricole), keen to protect his best climber’s jersey, surged to the front at 27km. Hot on his wheel was Egoi Martinez (Discovery Channel) and Dimitry Fofonov.
More riders bridged out, among them Kurt-Asle Arvesen (CSC), Jose Redondo (Astana), Iñigo Landaluze (Euskaltel), Oscar Pereiro (Caisse d’Epargne) and others to create a lead group of 10 escapees.
Martinez would take the lead points over the Cat. 1 Alto de Velefique and the first pass over the Calar Alto and later 11th in the stage to pull within five points overall to Caucchioli in the overall fight for the KOM jersey.
The gap stood at nearly six minutes over the first passage of Calar Alto through rain on the upper reaches, but the move was doomed as CSC drilled the front to set up the chase.
The 61st Vuelta continues Wednesday with the 159.2km 17th stage from Adra to Granada. The course features three rated climbs – with the Cat. 3 Alto de Lanjarón at 81km sandwiched between the Cat. 1 Alto de Albondón at 37km and the Cat. 1 Alto de Monachil, some 20km from the finish.
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Top 10
1. Igor Anton (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, 4:29:42
2. Alejandro Valverde (Sp), Caisse d'Epargne-I.B., at 0:23
3. Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz), Astana, same time
4. Samuel Sánchez (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, s.t.
5. Carlos Sastre (Sp), CSC, at 0:28
6. Thomas Danielson (USA), Discovery Channel, at 0:30
7. Manuel Beltran (Sp), Discovery Channel, at 0:42
8. Luis Pérez (Sp), Cofidis, at 1:10
9. José Antonio Redondo (Sp), Astana, at 1:13
10. Stijn Devolder (B), Discovery Channel, at 1:15
Full resultsOverall
1. Alejandro Valverde (Sp), Caisse d'Epargne-I.B., 63:18:16
2. Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz), Astana, at 1:42
3. Carlos Sastre (Sp), CSC, a 1:42
4. Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz), Astana, at 2:05
5. J. Angel Gomez Marchante (Sp), Saunier Duval, at 4:23
6. Manuel Beltran (Sp), Discovery Channel, at 5:34
7. Danilo Di Luca (I), Liquigas-Bianchi, at 5:56
8. Vladimir Karpets (Rus), Caisse d'Epargne-I.B., at 6:29
9. Samuel SÁnchez (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, at 7:53
10. Thomas Danielson (USA), Discovery Channel, at 8:05
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