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He's still got it: Zabel wins one at the Vuelta
Erik Zabel might not be as fast as he used to be, but the Telekom veteran still got around the man who is regarded as the peloton’s fastest these days to win Monday´s 10th stage of the Vuelta a España.
Fassa Bortolo´s Alessandro Petacchi delivered on his promise to get through the Pyrénées and almost rewarded his team with his third Vuelta victory, but Zabel had his own plans.
After Fassa and ONCE worked hard to reel in a six-man break early in the race and control a frenetic final 10km, Petacchi shot to the line with 400 meters to go up a slightly rising finish into Sabadell, a Barcelona suburb.
The German sprint ace came around his nemesis with 200 meters to go, grabbed the lead and earned his fourth career Vuelta victory. Bianchi´s Fabrizio Guidi was third while American Fred Rodriguez came through to claim fourth.
"It’s almost like a miracle," Zabel joked about beating the seemingly invincible Petacchi. "I knew the finish from racing here at Semana Catalana and I knew there was a slight rise, so I used that to my advantage. I will keep racing to try to win stages in this Vuelta."
Meanwhile, ONCE´s Isidro Nozal was happy to leave behind the Pyrénées and survived a windy nervous stage to retain the overall leader´s jersey.
No rest for the weary
After three arduous summit finishes in a row, the peloton showed no signs of slowing for the 194km push from Andorra south toward Barcelona. It was yet another sunny day, but strong tempests were blowing hard from the northeast that pushed the peloton along at a brisk clip. In the opening hours, average speeds neared the 50kph mark.
"These stages you think you can relax a little bit, but you saw how nervous it was. There´s always tension in any stage," said ONCE´s Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano, who retained his second-place position behind teammate Nozal. "We´re going to have a lot of wind the next few days, so there’s no relaxing. You can lose the Vuelta on any day."
Petacchi, meanwhile, promised he’ll make it to Madrid with the points jersey and made a big demonstration Monday that he’s serious about that pledge, winning the first intermediate sprint and taking second at the third. Along with his second-place stage points, the Italian jumped back into the points jersey (which, in the Vuelta, looks much like the best climber´s polka-dot jersey of the Tour de France).
Six riders jumped away after the first points sprint and held about a three minute lead through the middle of the race. In the break were: Guidi, Fabian Jeker (Milaneza-MSS), David Etxebarria (Euskaltel) Cristian Moreni (Alessio), Juan Miguel Mercado (iBanesto.com) and Oscar Sevilla (Kelme).
Sevilla and Mercado are two riders hoping for more in the second half of the Vuelta. Sevilla has struggled with his form and the aftereffects of a crash, while Mercado has been zapped with a cold.
"I wasn´t as good as I wanted to be in the Pyrénées, but the team is fighting for a victory," said Mercado, who will race next year with Quick Step. "I am feeling better now and will be ever fresher after the rest day. We are heading toward my region and I hope to win something for my fans and the team."
Fassa and ONCE collaborated to check the move with about 30km to go, perhaps a little too early to allow several riders jump away coming into the finale that saw several attacks. Rabobank´s Karsten Kroon went, quickly followed by teammate Beat Zberg and Cesar Garcia Calvo (La Barca). Garcia Calvo -- known as the "Wild Boar of Bierzo" -- made the most of his moment in the sun, but the move was reeled in.
U.S. Postal´s George Hincapie shot off the front with Igor Astarloa (Saeco) and Luis Perez (Cofidis) and looked to have chances of staying away. The presence of Perez, 11th at 4:25, assured a quick death to the move.
Nozal in the driver´s seat
The Vuelta peloton (now down to 170 as ONCE´s Jose Azevedo and Saeco Antonio Bucciero both abandoned Monday) enjoys its first of two rest days Tuesday.
ONCE´s Nozal-Galdeano duo chugged through the Pyrénées unchallenged and entered Monday´s transition stage firmly in control of the race. Nozal has been so strong since winning the Zaragoza time trial that many now pick him as the man to beat as the Vuelta hits the mid-way point.
ONCE sport director Manolo Saiz said as much before the start of the stage and said Nozal will now be given more protection. Nozal did journeyman work throughout the Pyrénées yet was strong enough to retain his comfortable hold on the race leader´s golden jersey.
"Little by little I am feeling more confident. Getting through the Pyrénées was very important," said Nozal, who refuses to publicly announce his intentions. "Tomorrow I will think about the rest day and then take it one day at a time."
With a string of rolling transition stages leading to Friday´s 53.3km time trial at Albacete, all eyes will be on defending champion Aitor Gonzalez to see if he can continue on his upward trajectory.
After a slow start, the Fassa Bortolo rider rode impressively through the Pyrénées and is poised to make a podium run if he can deliver a strong ride in Albacete.
"Right now I see Nozal as the favorite because he can ride strong in the mountains as well as time trial," said Gonzalez, eighth at four minutes back. "But everyone can have a bad day and we´ll see what happens at Pandera and Sierra Nevada. I am going to try to finish as high as I can."
U.S. Postal´s Manuel Beltran (third at 2:01 back) and 2000 champion Robeto Heras (fifth at 3:28 back) need to limit their losses in the time trial. Heras especially will have all the pressure to attack on the short but steep La Pandera climb at Stage 15 and the long, grinding summit finish at Sierra Nevada at Stage 16.
U.S. Postal sport director is realistic about what challenges lie ahead: "Nozal is now the big favorite for this Vuelta. The only time he lost time in the Pyrénées was at Cauterets and that was because he had to work for Igor. Where can Heras attack now? In the Pandera and Sierra Nevada are it."
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