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CSC drops hammer at Vuelta; Sastre, Evans move up
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Team CSC’s Carlos Sastre has been complaining all week that the 2007 Vuelta a España just wasn’t hard enough.
With the top GC spots jammed in a deadlock since the climbing stage to Cerler in the Pyrénées, it seemed the relatively easy second half of the Vuelta was dooming the 32-year-old Spanish climber to yet another fourth-place result in a grand tour.
Sastre – already twice fourth in the Tour de France and once fourth in the Vuelta -- was so frustrated, so fed up, that he even said he wasn’t going to attack anymore.
Sastre might never win an Oscar, but his misinformation campaign paid dividends, pumping new life into a moribund Vuelta stuck on replay since leaving the Pyrenees.
Team CSC threw down the gauntlet in Thursday’s two-climb, 153.3km stage with an orchestrated team attack on the Cat. 1 Puerto de Mijares in the first hour of racing to push Sastre into third place and put race leader Denis Menchov (Rabobank) on notice going into the final weekend of racing.
“We have been planning this for a long time and my comments about being frustrated and not wanting to attack were a ploy,” said Sastre, who hails from nearby El Barraco and knows the local roads well. “Tomorrow is another day to fight. It could be raining. It’s the last week of the race. People are getting tired. Anything can happen.”
Team CSC placed Christian Vande Velde, Volodymir Gustov and Danish climbing sensation Chris Anker Sorensen into an early move pushing into the rugged Sierra de Gredos north of Talavera de la Reina.
Sastre then attacked the peloton about 5km from the summit, and Menchov, Cadel Evans (Predictor-Lotto) and Samuel Sánchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) were the top favorites who could follow.
Missing the move was Russian revelation Vladimir Efimkin (Caisse d’Epargne), who started the day dreaming of a podium finish in second place at just 2:01 back.
By the time the dust settled in Ávila, Efimkin finished 3:07 behind stage-winner Luis Pérez (Andalucia-Cajasur) and 2:26 behind Sastre and a baker’s dozen of favorites.
“That’s what I came to this Vuelta – to do something like this today,” Vande Velde said. “It was textbook perfect. We had the plan to push Carlos onto the podium and it worked out perfectly.”
Menchov actually widened his overall lead to 2:27 to Evans with Sastre slotting in at third at 3:02 back.
Team CSC plans raid
Sastre grew up training and racing on the narrow, twisting mountain roads of the Sierra de Gredos that tower above his hometown of El Barraco, about 30km south of Ávila.
When he saw the route for the 2007 Vuelta, he purposely refused to talk about the Mijares climb in hopes that his rivals might overlook its menacing profile as well.
On paper, the 20km climb with an average grade of 5 percent isn’t that hard. But any climb is hard when the pace is fast, and Team CSC was very intent on making it hard.
Vande Velde buried himself to join two more teammates up the road as part of an early breakaway that also included Jurgen Van Goolen (Discovery Channel), who was hoping to take points in a bid to keep the climber’s jersey away from Menchov.
What Van Goolen and the others didn’t realize was that CSC was planning to spring a trap and was anxious to see whom they could catch out.
Sastre accelerated with 5km to go and immediately fractured the lead group. Menchov was able to follow easily, but none of his Rabobank jerseys would be around to protect him. Evans also had to dig deep to stay in contact.
“I had to use all my experience today to stay with the leaders. It was very hard today,” Evans admitted at the line. “It was strange to see in a grand tour in the third week for things to get so out of control. It was difficult right from the start.”
Evans, racing in his first Vuelta, was obviously in for a shock.
Worse off were Efimkin, Manuel Beltrán (Liquigas) and Carlos Barredo (QuickStep-Innergetic), three riders in the top 10 who missed the splits going over the top of the Mijares.
“It was obvious that CSC was up to something because we saw them putting riders into all the breaks at the beginning of the stage,” said Eusebio Unzue, sport director at Caisse d’Epargne. “Vladimir lost 20 seconds, then a little more and then it turned into a time trial race. There were others up ahead with interests in the GC as well.”
Vande Velde and Sorensen rode a two-man time trial to widen gaps to the desperately chasing Caisse d’Epargne after clearing the summit and dropping into wide open valleys that looked like backdrops for an episode of Bonanza. Wind and CSC’s hard effort soon combined to make the gaps push north of two minutes.
“I pulled like a maniac until the Cat. 2,” Sorensen said. “The plan worked out perfect for us today. It was great to be part of it and it was great to see Carlos move up.”
By the time the leaders hit the Cat. 2 Puerto de Navalmoral, Vande Velde and Sorensen eased off and Gustov took fresh pulls. Euskaltel-Euskadi, who had Sánchez and Igor Anton in the front group, helped turn the screws to assure the Sastre breakout would stay clear.
“I moved up to fourth and closer to the podium,” said Sánchez. “We were helping CSC in the end because we could sense that Efimkin was in trouble. We had to collaborate to make the hard effort worth it.”
The leaders were trimmed down to a lead group of 12 to dispute for the stage victory. Joining Sastre, Anton and Sánchez were Evans, Menchov, Pérez, Franco Pellizotti (Liquigas), Ezequiel Mosquera (Karpin-Galicia), Stephane Goubert and Hubert Dupont (Ag2r), Maxime Monfort (Cofidis) and Vladimir Karpets (Caisse d’Epargne).
Pérez, a journeyman pro who announced before the start of the stage he would retire at the end of the Vuelta, uncorked a stage-winning attack on the favorites as the lead bunch rolled past the Medieval walls around Ávila for the finishing circuit.
The leaders hesitated and Pérez drove home a 41-second victory ahead of Evans and Pellizotti.
Menchov isolated
The 18th stage of the Vuelta started a little lighter, with riders such as Paolo Bettini (Quick Step-Innergetic), Allan Davis (Discovery Channel), Stefan Schumacher (Gerolsteiner) and Laszlo Bodrogi (Crédit Agricole) taking planned early exits to prepare for the upcoming world championships.
Menchov, meanwhile, knew better than to overlook Thursday’s stage.
He was caught out by a similar raid in the 2005 Vuelta by the former Liberty Seguros team on a cold, wet stage across Asturias to lose the race leader’s jersey for good to eventual winner Roberto Heras. Menchov, of course, eventually was declared the winner after Heras tested positive for EPO.
The wily Russian had no problems following Sastre’s accelerations on the upper reaches of the Mijares and remained calm despite not seeing another friendly Rabobank jersey until he met the soigneurs waiting at the finish line.
“The legs responded when Sastre attacked, so I take confidence out of the stage. I’m satisfied. My lead is even bigger now,” said Menchov, who also took back the climber’s jersey. “The circumstances of the race played in my favor. Tomorrow will be difficult. I can expect more attacks from Sastre.”
When asked if he saw a weakness in Menchov, fourth-place Sánchez said no, “He flew like an airplane up the climbs.”
Perhaps more worried is Evans, who will be under the gun Friday sitting just 35 seconds ahead of Sastre. Runner-up at the Tour, Evans came to the Vuelta as a lead up to the world championships and now has suddenly found himself fighting for what would be his second podium finish of the season.
“I’m lucky that I came to this Vuelta without any pressure or stress. I had a good week and I’ve been feeling stronger each day,” Evans said. “Tomorrow is another hard day. Who knows what will happen.”
Friday’s potentially explosive 133km mountain stage up the steep Abantos summit will give the Vuelta a fitting end. With ramps as steep as 18 percent, the short but brutal 12km climb saw Heras unglue Izidro Nozal in a climbing time trial in the 2004 Vuelta.
Sastre is hoping to do more damage. Forecasters are calling for rain and hail. It has the makings of a classic.
62nd Vuelta a España
Talavera de la Reina to Ávila, 153km
Winner: Luis Pérez (Andalucia-Cajasur) – first win by a non-ProTour teamLeader: Denis Menchov (Rabobank) – widens lead to 2:27
Climber: Menchov – takes it over from Jurgen Van Goolen (Discovery Channel) by two points
Points: Daniele Bennati (Lampre-Fondital) – takes it after Paolo Bettini did not start
Combined: Menchov
Team: Caisse d’Epargne
Peloton: Now 148 riders remain - Paolo Bettini (QuickStep-Innergetic), Allan Davis (Discovery Channel), Stefan Schumacher (Gerolsteiner) and Laszlo Bodrogi (Credit Agricole) did not start
Results
1. Luis Pérez Rodríguez (Sp), Andalucia-Cajasur, 3:43:45
2. Cadel Evans (Aus), Predictor-Lotto, 0:41
3. Franco Pellizotti (I), Liquigas, 0:41
4. Samuel Sánchez (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, 0:41
5. Denis Menchov (Rus), Rabobank, 0:41
6. Ezequiel Mosquera (Sp), Karpin Galicia, 0:41
7. Stéphane Goubert (F), Ag2r Prevoyance, 0:41
8. Carlos Sastre (Sp), CSC, 0:41
9. Maxime Monfort (B), Cofidis, 0:41
10. Vladimir Karpets (Rus), Caisse d'Epargne, 0:41
11. Igor Antón (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, 0:47
12. Hubert Dupont (F), Ag2r Prevoyance, 1:00
13. Daniel Moreno (Sp), Relax GAM, 3:01
14. Marcus Ljungqvist (Swe), CSC, 3:04
15. Aliaksandr Usau (Blr), Ag2r Prevoyance, 3:07
16. David García (Sp), Karpin Galicia, 3:07
17. David Herrero (Sp), Karpin Galicia, 3:07
18. Oliver Zaugg (Swi), Gerolsteiner, 3:07
19. Alexander Kolobnev (Rus), CSC, 3:07
20. Sylvain Chavanel (F), Cofidis, 3:07
21. Rene Mandri (Est), Ag2r Prevoyance, 3:07
22. Carlos Barredo (Sp), Quick Step-Innergetic, 3:07
23. Sebastian Langeveld (Nl), Rabobank, 3:07
24. Stef Clement (Nl), Bouygues Telecom, 3:07
25. Vladimir Efimkin (Rus), Caisse d'Epargne, 3:07
FULLRESULTSOverall
1. Denis Menchov (Rus), Rabobank, 74:22:13
2. Cadel Evans (Aus), Predictor-Lotto, 2:27
3. Carlos Sastre (Sp), CSC, 3:02
4. Samuel Sánchez (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, 4:01
5. Vladimir Efimkin (Rus), Caisse d'Epargne, 4:27
6. Ezequiel Mosquera (Sp), Karpin Galicia, 4:35
7. Vladimir Karpets (Rus), Caisse d'Epargne, 6:17
8. Igor Antón (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, 7:47
9. Manuel Beltrán (Sp), Liquigas, 8:00
10. Carlos Barredo (Sp), Quick Step-Innergetic, 8:48
To see how the stage unfolded, simply CLICKHERE to open our Live Update Window. Then stay tuned for a race report, photos and complete results.
