- HOT TOPICS:
- The new VeloNews.com (BETA)
Pinotti hammers home win at Basque Tour
Contador keeps overall lead
A day after Michael Albasini won after a long breakaway, Marco Pinotti delivered Columbia-Highroad’s second straight stage victory at the Vuelta al País Vasco on Friday.
The veteran Italian put his strong time trialing skills to good use in a late attack and then held off a late charge from Vicenzo Nibali (Liquigas) to win a cold and rainy fifth stage from Gueñes to Zalla.
“I wasn’t really trying to win. I was just anticipating the peloton ahead of the final climb because I wanted to be at the front to help my teammates,” Pinotti said. “But when I got to the top of the climb and I had about 30 seconds, I just kept going as hard as I could. This is a beautiful victory because it was unexpected.”
Pinotti had plenty of time to raise his arms in triumph, crossing the line 19 seconds clear of the chasing peloton, led for the third straight day by British hope Ben Swift (Katusha). Crossing third was Francesco Gavazzi (Lampre).
Astana kept in check a potentially dangerous, eight-man breakaway featuring Andy Schleck (Saxo Bank) and Joaquin Rodríguez (Caisse d’Epargne), who started the day just 58 seconds back.
Rodríguez would later abandon and the breakaway was reeled in with less than an hour to race when Pinotti came to life. He held a 34-second lead over the last of seven climbs with 13km to go and powered home to his first victory of the 2009 season.
There were no major shakeups in the overall GC, with Alberto Contador (Astana) carrying an eight-second lead to Samuel Sánchez, Toni Colom and Cadel Evans going into Saturday’s final time trial.
“This was a typical day at País Vasco, it was cold, rainy and it was a complicated stage to control. It was dangerous on the downhills and the team was just tremendous to be able to control stage,” Contador said. “I didn’t want to try anything today because I wanted to save the legs to be in the best possible condition for the time trial, which is really the moment of truth in this race.”
Attack through the rain
Cold and rain didn’t stop a big crowd from gathering at the start in Gueñes for the start of Friday’s penultimate stage. The Basques love their cycling and the crowds cheered on the riders as they signed in despite a steady downpour.
“This is just like winter weather in Victoria,” said Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Slipstream), dressed in arm and leg warmers. “This has been a good week to get the legs ready for the Ardennes. I had a heavy March in Italy, so I took a little break and this race is perfect ahead of Flèche and Liège. Then after that, it’s the Giro.”
There were a flurry of attacks, but nothing stuck until the day’s main obstacle at the Cat. 1 Alto de Ubal at 51.5km.
Pulling clear in a group were: Joaquim Rodríguez (Caisse d’Epargne), Egoi Martínez (Euskaltel-Euskadi), David Moncoutie (Cofidis), David de la Fuente (Fuji-Servetto), Andy Schleck (Saxo Bank), Maxime Monfort (Columbia-Highroad) and Christian Pfanberger (Katusha).
Rodríguez – winner of the Montelupone stage at Tirreno-Adriatico last month – was best-placed at just 54 seconds off the pace and quickly climbed into the “virtual” lead as the gap opened up to more than a minute.
Astana got some help from Euskaltel-Euskadi to keep the potentially dangerous break on a short leash and the gap never grew north of two minutes.
Pinotti attacks to victory
Just as the break was neutralized with about 30km to go, Andrea Noe (Liquigas) bolted out the pack, drawing out Marco Pinotti (Columbia-Highroad) and Vladimir Efimkin (Ag2r).Pinotti poured it on at the Cat. 3 Beci climb and topped out with a promising 28-second gap. The wet roads slowed down his time trial legs and had to wave on police motorcycles that were trailing too close to his line.
“I am not very confident in the rain and I was really cautious on the downhill, so I wasn’t sure if it would be enough to win. Normally I am not the best in the rain,” Pinotti said. “This team is always attacking. We don’t have a strong rider here for the GC, even though Michael Rogers is good, so we wanted to win stages. I’m usually pretty good in the final time trial of stage races, but I made a time trial today in the final kilometers, so I don’t know how the legs will respond tomorrow. Today I am very happy to win this stage.”
Favorites heading for a showdown
The overall favorites know everything will come down to Saturday’s 24km final time trial starting and ending in Zalla.Contador left nothing to chance and drove the course in an Astana team car Friday morning before the start of the fifth stage just to familiarize himself with the stage.
The peloton should be well-informed about the short but steep Alto de Beci climb, the decisive climb in the time trial, because the race went over it three times in Friday’s stage.
“If the weather stays like this, I think that the downhills will be just as decisive as the climbs,” Contador said. “The race is totally open. The only advantage I will have is that I will be starting last, but other riders still have options to win.”
Another rider who knows the course well is second-place Samuel Sánchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi), who raced in the region as amateur before joining the pro ranks.
“The time trial Saturday is hard. Eight seconds is nothing and the time differences should be substantial. It’s a large, hard course. Riders could easily lose 30-40 seconds, so riders that aren’t too far back still have a chance,” Sánchez said. “The plan is simple, go full-gas and then see how it shakes out.”
Toni Colom (Katusha), one of the three riders parked at just eight seconds behind Contador, says it will all come down to who has the best legs.
“Eight seconds is nothing and we should almost consider that we’re tied,” Colom said. “I’m feeling pretty tired from my heavy spring schedule, but I will race to win it all. I will race the same way I’ve raced all year so far, that’s not just to be on the podium, but to win.”
Cadel Evans (Silence-Lotto), also at eight seconds back, is poised perfectly to make a run at overall victory.
Sitting in seventh overall at 35 seconds back, Luís León Sánchez (Caisse d’Epargne) is definitely still within striking distance. In all, 10 riders start Saturday within one minute of Contador.
