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Nocentini wins in Pasadena

Published: Feb. 21, 2009
2009 AToC, stage 7: Nocentini outsprinted Roulston and Weening.
2009 AToC, stage 7: Nocentini outsprinted Roulston and Weening.
Photo: Casey B. Gibson

It can be difficult to judge just how difficult a race is until you can make a direct comparison with a previous result. That was the case Saturday, when enormous crowds, probably the biggest of the week, showed up at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena to see the finale to stage 7 of the Amgen Tour of California. This stage from Santa Clarita was identical to the one that George Hincapie won 12 months ago, when he covered the 89-mile course in a time of 3:50:57. This year, the time of stage winner Rinaldo Nocentini of AG2R-La Mondiale was 26 minutes faster!

There were better weather conditions this year — warm sunshine rather than cold rain — but the difference was mainly due to the quality and the number of attacks that preceded an eventual breakaway of 10 riders, headed by Nocentini, Columbia-Highroad’s Hincapie, and Saxo Bank’s Fränk Schleck.

2009 Amgen Tour of California
Stage 7, Santa Clarita to Pasadena, 143.2 km (88.9 miles)

Winner: Rinaldo Nocentini (Ag2r) in 3:24:43
Leader: Levi Leipheimer (Astana)
Winner's average speed: 41.9 kph (26.04 mph)
Rabobank Best Young Rider: Robert Gesink (Rabobank)
Best Team: Astana
Herbalife Sprint Leader: Mark Cavendish (Columbia-Highroad) 36 points; Thor Hushovd (Cervelo TestTeam) 28 points; Tom Boonen (Quick Step) 24 points
Amgen Couragous Award: Christian Vande Velde (Garmin-Slipstream)
California King of the Mountains Leader: With Francisco Mancebo (Rock Racing) crashing out, Sax Bank's Jason McCartney takes over the lead with 29 points, followed by Tyler Hamilton (Rock Racing) with 22, and Serge Pauwels (Cerveolo) with 17.
Peloton:The following riders dropped out: Mark Renshaw (Columbia); Francesco Chicchi (liquigas); Jacopo Guarnieri (Liquigas); Stepahen Goubert (Ag2r); Thomas Frei (BMC) Peter Lathan (Bissell), Luis Romero (Colavita); Phillip Gaimon (Jelly Belly); and Francisco Mancebo (Rock Racing). 97 riders are expected to start Sunday's stage.
Up next: The final stage from Rancho Bernardo to Escondido is 155.8 km (96.8 km). It includes the highest point of this year's race, 5,100-foot Mount Palomar, followed by the difficult Cole Grade before a fast finish.

“There were a lot of attacks with riders dangerous to the GC,” said Astana’s race leader Levi Leipheimer. “We always had to chase them down and it took a while before there was a breakaway that we could agree upon.”

That break emerged on the upper slopes of the interminable, but not overly steep climb to the 4,930-foot Millcreek Summit in the Angeles National Forest, 80 minutes into the stage. Nocentini, a 31-year-old Italian, was the only rider who had a teammate, Martin Elmiger, in the break. “It wasn’t planned,” he said.

The other six were Christian Vande Velde of Garmin-Slipstream, Peter Weening of Rabobank, Addy Engels of Quick Step, Markus Zberg of BMC, Hayden Roulston of Cervélo TestTeam and Chris Baldwin of Rock Racing. “It was just a brutal day,” Vande Velde said. “I thought I was really bad, and then I realized that we were all in the same boat.”

The 10 leaders worked hard to gain three minutes by the top of the mountain, a climb that merited only a Cat. 3 rating; but it was like a Cat. 1 descent. The long, twisting downhill helped push the breakaway’s lead to 4:30 by the time the riders reached warmer temperatures in crowd-packed Pasadena, but the rapid descent also caused several crashes. The worst one happened to the event’s King of the Mountains leader, Paco Mancebo of Rock Racing, who collided with a small rock in the road and fell on his arm and head; he suffered a concussion, a broken hand and a fractured elbow, and lost the KOM jersey to Saxo Bank’s Jason McCartney.

With Schleck and Hincapie only 6:30 down on GC before Saturday’s stage, Leipheimer’s men, including Lance Armstrong, had to make a strong chase on the first couple laps of the hilly 4.7-mile Rose Bowl circuit to cut the break’s gap to three minutes. At the same time, the riders in the front began ferociously attacking each other.

“Obviously, George was the man to watch in the group,” said his assistant team director Allan Peiper. “He’s won here before and everyone in the break knew he wanted to win again. A couple of guys would get away, he’d get across to them or get across with a couple of other guys, get the gap, and the group would chase and get back on. That happened at least 10 times.”

2009 AToC, stage 7: Nocentini, on the far side, nipped Roulston.
2009 AToC, stage 7: Nocentini, on the far side, nipped Roulston.
Photo: Courtesy

Hincapie said he was frustrated by the tactics adopted by the others in the break. “As long as I wasn’t in the split, the guys were happy,” he told VeloNews. “I felt it was really negative racing. Nobody wanted to take me to the line. I was really disappointed, but that’s racing. Schleck was aggressive and I was aggressive, and it was a strong break. Only strong guys were there.”

The most impressive move came from Luxembourg champ Schleck, who is targeting the Tour de France this year. On the steepest hill, just inside two laps to go, Schleck bolted clear in the style that won him the Amstel Gold Race in 2006. He said he was getting goose bumps as he sprinted between 10-deep crowds, just like the ones he’s experienced in the classics and grand tours.

It looked like the winning move, but the other riders didn’t panic, and began a steady chase. “We did it together,” said Hincapie, who was still hopeful of getting a repeat victory. “There were so many attacks, and I tried to go with everything I could. I was hoping that I would get a little collaboration, but it didn’t happen.”

Soon after Schleck was brought back, others continued the attacks. “In the end, Weening attacked on the last lap and Nocentini and Roulston got across to him,” Peiper said. “The others were all watching George. He tried to bridge again but even if he had kept it together, they were going to work him over before the sprint.”

2009 AToC, stage 7: Chris Baldwin leads the break over the top of the climb.
2009 AToC, stage 7: Chris Baldwin leads the break over the top of the climb.
Photo: Casey B. Gibson

The three leaders had to continue their flat-out paceline until inside two miles to go, when Rabobank’s Weening, a Tour de France stage winner in 2005, made the first of several surges, knowing he didn’t have the sprint to overcome Nocentini or New Zealand’s 2008 Olympic track medalist Roulston.

“I didn’t know how fast the other two were,” Nocentini said, “so I followed them in the final kilometer and made my sprint very late.” The Italian took a straight line and, head down, he threw his bike at the line to just take out a weary Roulston, who veered too far to the left in his desperate bid for the victory.

“Because of the quality of the field here, the top riders in the world, this was probably my best victory,” Nocentini said. “The previous best was a stage win on Mont Faron at the Mediterranean Tour two years ago.”

He added, “I’m really happy because I lost my chance for the GC when I crashed on the second stage. We also lost our best riders early in the week. One was sick, one crashed and one came here with a bad knee. I think this was the best stage to make a break because it will be too hard tomorrow.”

2009 AToC, stage 7: Hincapie makes a bid to repeat at the Rose Bowl.
2009 AToC, stage 7: Hincapie makes a bid to repeat at the Rose Bowl.
Photo: Casey B. Gibson

Even bigger crowds are anticipated for Sunday’s final stage of 97 miles between Rancho Bernardo and Escondido. It features four climbs, including the above-category Palomar Mountain, 43 miles into the stage. Fans will have to get there early or face a long walk because police are closing the climb to non-race traffic at 9 a.m. Sunday.

Those lucky enough to get on the slopes of the 13-mile climb should see a great show. Leipheimer and his Astana men will have to be at their best. They will closely watch the runners-up, Dave Zabriskie of Garmin and Michael Rogers of Columbia, who are each within 45 seconds of Leipheimer; but they will also need to resist the expected attacks from Rabobank’s Robert Gesink, who’s 1:54 down in seventh place, Columbia’s Thomas Lövkvist, 1:29 down in fifth place, and Saxo Bank’s Jens Voigt, 1:10 down in fourth.

“There’s only one day to go,” said Leipheimer, who’s hoping to clinch his third Amgen Tour in a row, “but it was not an easy day.” It’ll be even harder on Sunday.

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