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Timed to perfection: Menchov grabs win in Morella
It was all a matter of timing, and Denis Menchov knew he had timed it right when he looked over his shoulder near the finish line of the fifth stage of the Vuelta a España on Wednesday and saw that Alejandro Valverde wasn't with him.
Menchov (Illes Balears-Banesto), was not in the minority at the start in Zaragoza when he pegged the Kelme rider as the day's favorite.
"This course suits a rider like Valverde," Menchov said of the 186km haul to Morella.
It wasn't the wind-blown flats that opened up the stage, or the seemingly endless run of tough, but un-rated, climbs that peaked out with the Category 2 Puerto de Torremiro' some 10 kilometers from the finish. What Menchov saw on the course profile and a few recon' trips to Valenciana was a kicker of a finishing climb to the finish in Morella.
"This is just the sort of finish that suits him," Menchov said. "He enjoys these … and they aren't unlike the stages he won last year."
But this time it was Menchov who won, moving into third place in the overall standings of this Vuelta and closing in on the lead enjoyed by a series of U.S. Postal riders since the opening team time trial in León last Saturday.
The Postal shuffle continued Wednesday with Manuel Beltran taking over the golden jersey from teammate Benoit Joachim. Beltran and teammate Floyd Landis are tied on time, just four seconds ahead of Menchov and nine seconds up on Valverde.
After his victory, Menchov - the best young rider at the 2003 Tour de France – was already looking down the road.
"I can enjoy this one today,” he said. “But my priority is the overall standings, and that is what I have to concern myself with."
T-Mobile suffers
One major Vuelta favorite Menchov and others apparently won't have to worry about when the race hits Madrid on September 26 is T-Mobile's Alexandre Vinokourov.
Vinokourov came to the line Wednesday morning weakened by an overnight bout with a stomach ailment diagnosed as food poisoning. The Kazak team leader struggled throughout the day, was dropped several times on the way to the Puerto de Torremiro' and finally dragged himself up to Morella more than 17 minutes behind the leaders.
And Vino' fared better than some of his teammates. Colombian Santiago Botero and Germans Torsten Heikmann and Steffan Wesemann abandoned the Vuelta during Wednesday's stage.
One might guess that T-Mobile's Cadel Evans skipped the course that took out his teammates, though, as the Aussie finished the stage in sixth place, nine seconds off of Menchov's winning pace. Evans now sits in fifth place at 16 seconds.
Any lingering questions about leadership on the team may now be settled.
Thar she blows
It was the wind, and not the finishing climb, that marked the start of the stage, however. It was the same wind that slowed Tuesday's stage to a crawl and probably the same steady breeze that prompted energy suppliers to build a 200-unit wind farm south of town. The wind also prompted race organizers to move the day's start time up by 20 minutes in hopes of avoiding another late finish.
Coming from the side, the wind could have broken the field in echelons, breaking up the stage – and possibly the overall standings – with more effect than a long climb. Wednesday's steady breeze, however, blew right into the front of the field, limiting the damaging effects of any attempted escapes.
It's not that the breaks weren't tried, but the wind limited their impact, negating a series of attempts over the first 50km. At 60km a large group of 18 moved off the front, but never managed to build a lead much more than 2:30.
The escapees managed to hold a small advantage just until the day's first points sprint at Alcañiz and just before the climbing started. Cofidis's Stuart O'Grady pulled off in pursuit of points and was joined by Unai Osa (Illes Balears-Banesto), Phonak's Nicolas Jalabert, Bram Tankink (Quick Step) and Thorwald Veneberg (Rabobank).
The five managed to elude the fate that befell their other breakaway companions, but their advantage, too, never exceeded 2:10. Behind, Valverde's Kelme team set a strong tempo, clearly intent on pulling the five back before the top of the Puerto de Torremiro, the summit of which lay just 8 short kilometers from the finishing climb to Morella.
O'Grady managed to collect top sprint points at the remaining two intermediate sprints, but the Kelme and Saeco-led chase finally bagged the quintet at 160km. Nearing the summit, Valverde's team set a strong pace and eventually trimmed the lead group to just 26 as they crested the Puerto de Torremiro. The group contained most of the favorites: Evans, Valverde, Menchov, Landis, Beltran, Tyler Hamilton (Phonak), Roberto Heras (Liberty Seguros), who won on the Vuelta's last visit to Morella in 2000.
Behind, Joachim, wearing the gold jersey of overall leader, trailed by nearly a minute, while the ailing Vinokourov was adrift by a much larger margin.
The lead group maintained a healthy gap over the ensuing 7km to the base of the climb to Morella, and it was clear that the day's winner would emerge from this group.
The climb to the base of the castle at Morella gets its lowly Cat. 3 ranking largely because it is so short. Just 2km long, the climb offers grades of more than 10 percent and narrow twisting roads. It also offers riders a view of just how far they have to climb, with walls of the castle dominating the skyline.
Kelme led into the climb with a vengeance, and Valverde looked set to scamper off for another mountaintop win. Then Saunier Duval's Joaquin Rodriguez charged off just as the going got steep.
Rodriguez's effort looked promising at first, as the group of favorites behind him seemed reluctant to commit to a chase that was likely to be counter-attacked. But then Fassa Bortolo's Aitor Gonzales took charge, catching Rodriguez and looking primed for his own win … until Menchov made his move.
With just 200 meters remaining, the climb to the finish took a final rise and was then followed by a quick drop to the line. Just as Gonzales began to fade near the top, Menchov made contact, crested the climb and charged to the finish.
"And I couldn't see Valverde," he said. "That gave me confidence."
Menchov, who noted that he was in his last year with Illes Balears, is reportedly in negotiations with Rabobank for a contract next year.
"That I won't say anything about right now," he said with a grin, his smile probably prompted by the effect that an impressive stage win might have on his asking price.
Like they say, it's all about timing.
Results are posted. To see how the stage unfolded, simply open our Live Update Window.
