The opening stage of the Vuelta al Pais Vasco will start and finish at the de facto capital of the Basque Country, Bilbao. The riders will have to tackle a hilly stage which includes the climb to the Alto del Vivero twice in the last 45 kilometers. This is typically a stage where it is difficult to open gaps among the top riders in the GC given that the last few kilometers towards Bilbao make solo attacks difficult to perform. Teams are also quite strong at the first stage of the race and the group that gets to Bilbao is normally quite large.
It was not long until the break of the day was formed. The group of for riders was formed by Cameron Meyer (Trek), Romain Bardet (IAM), Damiano Caruso (Cannondale) and Franco Pellizotti (BMC). With 90 kilometers to go they had opened a gap of 6' 30'' over the bunch, a considerable advantage given that the terrain was not favorable for the peloton to chase. Nevertheless, it looked like there were quite a few teams interested in chasing. Hubert Dupont (Euskaltel) was clearly on a domestique role this week in favor of David Lopez (Euskaltel) even given his good performances this year.
The Alto de Morga was the first of the three categorized climbs of the day, although there could have been a fourth at the start of the stage. Etixx was the first team to start the chase and they were joined by Euskaltel and Ag2r afterwards. This brought the gap back to 4 minutes. Daniel Moreno (Euskaltel), Miguel Rubiano (Ag2r) and Bart de Clercq (Etixx) were leading the way at the climb. In the sprint for the KoM points Cameron Meyer was first. For most of the riders in the peloton it had been a quiet stage so far but the climbs should make some of them suffer even if the pace is not too hard.
Cameron Meyer was first again at the KoM of the Alto del Vivero, which almost grants him the KoM jersey at the end of the stage. Ag2r started to chase hard in the group and they put several riders at the front, including Robert Gesink (Ag2r), which meant that the gap at the top of the climb was only 2' 30''. With 42 kilometers to go it did not look like a big enough gap. Many riders started to drop from the back of the peloton due to the pace. The situation of the race completely changed after the climb to the Vivero and the attacks would be more difficult to control with less domestiques.
The loop between the two climbs to the Alto del Vivero was not really used by the bunch to reduce the gp to the break given that at the start of the second climb the gap was still 2' 05''. Pieter Weening (Tinkoff), Emanuele Sella (Movistar) and Maxim Iglinskiy (Sky) tried to attack a couple of times but could not open a gap. At the climb Etixx joined Ag2r at the front of the bunch but with 3 kilometers to go there had been no attacks yet. There should be attacks in the climb as the finish line is only 12 kilometers from the top and the climb is hard enough.
Bjorn Leukemans (Lotto) and Dries Devenyns (Euskaltel) attacked with 2 kilometers to go in the climb but could not open a gap as there was an immediate reaction from the rest of the favorites. Philippe Gilbert (Vacansoleil) attacked close to the top and was willing to open the gap in the descent. However, the break had not been caught and Cameron Meyer had a gap of 50 seconds over the group. Around 60 riders had stayed in the group but the terrain from the top of the climb to the finish was quite difficult to control. The result was very unpredictable.
The intermediate sprint in Santutxu was placed only 4 kilometers before the finish line, which is a very strange place to put a sprint. Damiano Caruso was first ahead of Cameron Meyer and the gap for the riders from the early break was only 25 seconds over the riders in the main bunch. Lotto, Etixx and Euskaltel were leading the bunch so the outcome of the stage was very difficult to predict. The remaining kilometers had a descent towards the area of the river in Bilbao, where the finish line was placed so the pace would be very high.
Philippe Gilbert tried another late attack that neutralized the riders from the early break with 2 kilometers to go. However, as they crossed the 1 kilometer mark he was overtaken by Bjorn Leukemans, who had started the final sprint quite early. Among the other riders close to the front we could see Dries Devenyns, Simone Ponzi (LottoNL) and Luca Paolini (Astana). The sprints in hilly stages could be very chaotic given that the leading group only had 65 riders. Also, given that few pure sprinters were in the race a few of the GC riders could attack chasing the buns seconds.
Jelle Vanendert (Lotto) wins in Bilbao! The Belgian was really fast in the final sprint to get ahead of his teammate Bjorn Leukemans and Tony Gallopin (IAM), who took the second place in the stage. Vanendert is in his first real target of the season and he seems to be in really good shape. It was normal that the GC riders joined the sprint as they had a good chance of a fight for the win and some bonus seconds and Vanendert took advantage of his good sprinting abilities. Leukemans finally took the third place, while David Lopez and Jose Serpa completed the top 5.
The stage was more or less expected as this is what happened in a few of the past years. The stage was rather hard but with a lot of stages to go in the Vuelta al Pais Vasco, the favorites were not keen to risk it. Tomorrow's stage is the only one that the sprinters will possibly take in the race given that, even if it is categorised as hilly, the climbs are quite gentle. It is also important for Jelle Vanendert that he has taken a 5 seconds advantage over most of the favorites as the race might be decided over a few seconds given the characteristics of the race.
Marcel Kittel had just come into the spotlight by winning the GC in the Eneco Tour 3 years ago when we first featured him in this section. It was quite an achievement for him given that he was considered purely a sprinter. However, he has not been able to repeat anything like that in the last few years, although he came quite close to doing it when he took the 2nd place again the Eneco Tour in 2015. At the end of that successful 2014 season he changed teams to join the Astana Pro Team in the World Tour and they changed his targets more towards pure sprinting.
On 2015 his season was geared towards a good result in the Tour de France, although the Eneco Tour was also a target given his success the previous year. The Tour de France campaign was a great success as he took the green jersey home alongside 2 stages. This was a huge boost for the Astana team, given that they had been really close to finishing last in the World Tour rankings the previous season. He finished the season with 6 wins, 2nd in that category to Alexander Kristoff's 9 wins in the year. However, overall Kittel was the best sprinter in the World Tour rankings.
In 2016 Kittel was the reference rider for the Astana team, which was still among the bottom teams in the World Tour even with Kittel's good performances. It was also the first year that Milano - Sanremo was a realistic target for him. He came 2nd to Alexander Kristoff in the final sprint in the Via Roma. He also continued his campaign in the Grand Tours by taking 1 stage in the Giro d'Italia and 2 stages in the Vuelta a España, making him one of the few riders that have won stages in the 3 Grand Tours in his career.
Marcel Kittel has been the cornerstone for the Astana team in the last few years and it is outstanding that he has been really consistent in his form in the last few seasons. However, there is a feeling in the peloton that the German could have been doing a lot more and grabbing many more wins. The only doubts in his career are that when it comes to the big scenarios he has been close but not able to take that big win missing in his palmares. He has been 2nd in the last 2 Milano - Sanremo, both behind Alexander Kristoff, and got a bronze medal in last year's World Chapmionship. He is still 31 but he might want to think about trying to get that win before he retires.
The second stage of the Vuelta al Pais Vasco is the only one that the sprinters might have a chance to win in the race. The stage has as many as six different climbs but most of them are quite gentle. The only climb that is hard is the first one, the Alto de Orduña, a proper 1st category climb. The most deceisive part of the stage will be the last 50 kilometers. The riders will have to do a loop to the South of Vitoria with 2 climbs to the Alto de Zaldiaran and one climb to the Alto de Vitoria. The group that makes it to the finish line will be reduced but is expected to have a few sprinters in it.
Only 2 riders were at the front of the race at the top of the Alto de Orduña, with 126 kilometers to go. Anthony Roux (IAM) and Ben Swift (Vacansoleil) had a gap of 3 minutes over the main bunch as they got close to the top of the climb. Etixx and Lotto were working at the front of the group to avoid a dangerous break. That was making the stage a lot harder than expected so far. There were riders that lost contact with the bunch at this first climb but the terrain that follows the climb will be a lot easier for the riders.
Maxim Iglinskiy (Sky), Emanuele Sella (Movistar) and Simon Clarke (HTC) had attacked towards the end of the Alto de Orduña and they managed to bridge the gap to the break halfway through the stage. At the intermediate sprint in Treviño, with 54 kilometers to go, the group of 5 had a gap of 4' 35'' over the main bunch. Ben Swift was first at the sprint and took the bonus seconds, which might be important as he was only 5 seconds behind in the GC. Euskaltel and Ag2r were leading the peloton at that stage and putting a harder pace as they were about to climb the Alto de Zaldiaran for the first time.
The Alto de Vitoria was the penultimate climb of the day and the top was 30 kilometers from the finish line. Lotto had joined the chase given that the gap of the break was still quite large at 3' 30'' and they put Rob Ruijgh (Lotto) and Tony Martin (Lotto) at the front of the group during the climb. The quality of the riders in the break was probably much better than what the stronger teams should have allowed. Euskaltel had chased for a long while with very important riders and they had not managed to bring them to a reasonable gap.
With 4 kilometers to the top of the Alto de Zaldiaran and 13 kilometers to the finish line the gap of the break had grown to 3' 45'', way too much to gain for the stage and a bit dangerous for the GC. Emanuele Sella is a very dangerous rider in the GC and letting him gain time was not probably the best idea for the favorites. The resolution of the stage will be very interesting as the riders in the break had the Alto de Zaldiaran to attack and get rid of Ben Swift, by far the fastest rider in the break. Lotto was chasing at that time in the break to try to cut the gap to the minimum.
There were several attacks in the Alto de Zaldiaran in the main bunch and Simone Ponzi (LottoNL) had a few seconds over a group of 5 riders led by Bjorn Leukemans (Lotto), Tony Gallopin (IAM) and Laurens Ten Dam (Cannondale). The group with the rest of the favorites was not far behind. Meanwhile, Maxim Iglinskiy attacked in the break and got a nice gap of 45 seconds over the rest of the riders from the early break. With 7 kilometers to go the 4 chasers should start collaborating because otherwise they would not catch the Kazakh back.
Maxim Iglinskiy was still holding a 50 seconds gap over the rest of the riders of the early break and with 3 kilometers to go he was looking good both for the stage win and for the leader's jersey at the end of the day. The Kazakh had already been 3rd in the Gent - Wevelgem last week. Meanwhile, the attackers from the bunch had been caught and another group had a few seconds over the rest: Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana), Jerome Coppel (Etixx) and Jean-Christophe Peraud (Discovery). Euskaltel was working again at the group to cut the gap, which was around 3 minutes.
The sprint for the second place started with around 1 kilometer to go. Simon Clarke was the first to go followed by Ben Swift, who was the favorite to win this sprint. They were followed by Anthony Roux and Emanuele Sella. Meanwhile, Maxim Iglinskiy was already celebrating his win in what is a big surprise. This was a stage that was meant to finish in a sprint of a rather big group and it could end up as the key stage in the Vuelta al Pais Vasco. The main group was 2' 55'' behind, so the gap that Iglinskiy would enjoy in the GC would be quite nice.
Maxim Iglinskiy wins in Vitoria! The Sky rider takes his first stage and the leader's jersey after he jumped from the break of the day at the Alto de Zaldiaran. The Sky team management must be delighted with the signing of the 28 year old Kazakh. He had been 3rd in the Gent - Wevelgem and now he is going to wear the leader's jersey in the Basque Country. The chasing group got to the finish line 46 seconds behind, led by Anthony Roux and Simon Clarke. Emanuele Sella took the 4th position ahead of Ben Swift. The British was clearly too tired after the stage to do a proper sprint.
The peloton finally crossed the finish line 2' 11'' behind Iglinskiy. Stefan Schumacher (HTC) was first across the line. The bunch managed to close the gap a little bit in the last few kilometers but the difference that Iglinskiy has at the front of the race will be quite difficult to close. The rest of the favorites will have make the race a lot harder in order to make him suffer in the most difficult stages, especially in the mountain-top finish in Arrate in the fourth stage. They will also have to worry about Emanuele Sella. Movistar will be quite happy with the Italian in his first season in the team.
The rest of the Vuelta al Pais Vasco will probably be more interesting after yesterday's result. The 3rd stage could be a very good example as the riders will have to face plenty of climbs in the stage between Vitoria and Zumarraga. The most notable of all will be the Alto de La Antigua, which is only 2.4 kilometers long but averages 9.7% and has peaks close to 20%. This climb will be raced twice and the second time is only 3 kilometers from the finish line in Zumarraga so any gaps that the riders can make at the top will be likely held at the finish line.
Sky was willing to control the break but the start of the stage was quite difficult and the break was quite strong. The group of 4 at the front included Damiano Caruso (Cannondale), Franco Pellizotti (BMC), Greg van Avermaet (Euskaltel) and Diego Ulissi (Lampre). They had 40 seconds over Tony Martin (Lotto) at the top of the Alto de Iturrieta, with 132 kilometers to go. The peloton was already 2' 45'' behind so Sky looked happy to let them go for a while. None of them was too close in the GC so they might as well let them fight for the stage.
Discovery Channel started to help Sky at the climb to the Alto de Urbasa and they put Nicolas Roche (Discovery) and Beñat Intxausti (Discovery) at the front of the group. Etixx riders were also close to the front and taking sporadic relays. However, with 108 kilometers still to go the gap had grown a bit to 5 minutes. That gap should not be a problem when the peloton decided to bring them back. At the front of the race, Damiano Caruso was first at the KoM sprint and had already taken enough points to be the virtual leader of the classification.
The break's hopes were not too high given that Tony Martin and Greg van Avermaet were refusing to collaborate. At the Alto de Urkillaga, another very short but steep climb, their gap had come down slightly: 4' 40''. Ben Hermans (Katusha) was in an intermediate position after he jumped at the Alto de Urbasa but his chances riding alone for that many kilometeres were really slim. Euskaltel and Ag2r were now the teams working at the pack, which at least clearly explains why Van Avermaet was not riding. Diego Ulissi was first at the top of the climb.
The Alto de la Antigua was climbed for the first time with 31 kilometers to go, just before the first passage through the finish line. Peter Sagan (Sky) was setting the pace in the bunch but the pace was not enough for Rui Costa (Ag2r), who reached the top of the climb with a small gap ahead of the peloton. Ben Hermans had already been brought back by the bunch. As soon as the Portuguese attacked Sky replaced Sagan with Marco Pinotti (Sky) to try not to lose the control over the race. Gorka Izagirre (Euskaltel) was also ready to chase any attacks.
The attack from Rui Costa was deemed too dangerous by David Lopez (Euskaltel) and Jelle Vanendert (Lotto) and they attacked together at the next climb, the Alto de Atagoiti. They also knew that they needed to make the race hard to put Maxim Iglinskiy (Sky) in trouble. Meanwhile, Damiano Caruso had attacked at the front group and had a big gap of 1' 30'' over his chasers: Greg van Avermaet, Diego Ulissi and Tony Martin. Rui Costa was 1' 50'' behind so the fight for the stage was still on. Lopez and Vanendert were losing 2' 20'', while Tom Slagter (Cannondale) was 2' 40'' behind and the group 3 minutes after Caruso.
Most of the attackers were brought back by the group of favorites at the climb of the Alto de Gabiria but with 6 kilometers to go Damiano Caruso was still at the front. However, he only had 20 seconds over Pieter Weening (Tinkoff), who had attacked in the descent. The Dutch was not considered a threat as his peak years seem long gone and was allowed some margin. They were ready to start the second climb to La Antigua and the peloton was 50 seconds behind. It was led by Gorka Izagirre, which suggests that David Lopez was willing to attack again at the last climb of the day.
Jelle Vanendert was the rider that attacked hard shortly after the start of the climb. He dragged others with him, like David Lopez, Rui Costa, Peter Stetina (BMC) and Jerome Coppel (Etixx). They quickly caught those ahead but Pieter Weening tried to stick with them in the very short climb. They only had 300 meters to go in the climb and Maxim Iglinskiy had no answer so far to the attacks. The gap to the group of favorites, which was being led by Laurens Ten Dam (Cannondale), had quickly grown to 45 seconds. The gaps would not be too big but a few seconds might be enough today.
Only Rui Costa, David Lopez and Jelle Vanendert made it in the front group over the top of the climb to La Antigua and they got to the bottom of the descent together and ready to fight for the stage win. The rest of the riders that had been with them in the climb had been eventually caught but their chaser was Emanuele Sella (Movistar) at that point, who had attacked in the descent. He was only 20 seconds behind as he crossed the last kilometer mark. The group of the leader was 35 seconds behind and as many as 36 riders remained in the group, suggesting that most of the riders that made it home yesterday at the peloton would do it again today.
David Lopez wins in Zumarraga! It was about time for the Spaniard to take a win this season and he chose the most important race for his team to do it, the Vuelta al Pais Vasco. He beat in the sprint Rui Costa and Jelle Vanendert, even though the Belgian was in theory the fastest in a sprint. The gaps that were generated in today's stage were not too big but the group of the leader crossed the line 28 seconds behind Lopez. Emanuele Sella was leading the group as he was almost caught by the group in the sprint and Bjorn Leukemans (Lotto) closed the top 5 of the stage.
All of the members of yesterday's break made it home in the group of the leader, even though a couple of them, especially Anthony Roux (IAM) struggled a lot to make it through the second climb to La Antigua. They are still locking the first 5 places of the GC. Tomorrow might be a different story as the finish at the Santuario de Arrate is much harder and those who are not decent climbers will not stand a chance of staying with the best. There are still plenty of riders in the 2 minutes range behind Maxim Iglinskiy who will be very dangerous in the GC.
The fourth stage could be the key stage in this Vuelta al Pais Vasco but given the gap that the riders in the break of the second stage got it remains to be seen. The route is really hard and has 7 categorized climbs that add to more than 3,000 meters of cumulative climbing in the stage. The last climb of the day, the Alto the Usartza has its top only 1 kilometer before the finish line at the Santuario de Arrate so it is effectively a mountain-top finish. The favorites in the GC know that they might need to move from further than usual given the time that they have to recover in the GC.
The break of the day had already settled at the front at the first climb of the day, the Alto de Asentzio. The group of 6 riders included Beñat Intxausti (Discovery), Miguel Rubiano (Ag2r), Andy Schleck (Vacansoleil), Jonathan Castroviejo (Lampre) and Alejandro Valverde (Cofidis). Sky was controlling the pace in the bunch but they were not really worried about the break given that all the riders were far behind in the GC and posed no threat to Maxim Iglinskiy (Sky). Euskaltel had tried to filter a rider in the break but they were not allowed to do it.
Moreno Moser (Sky) was leading the bunch at the top of the Alto de Karabieta followed by Peter Sagan (Sky). However, their pace was not too high and the gap to the early break at grown to 6 minutes with 97 kilometers to go. That said, there were already riders dropping out of the back of the bunch. The gradients in the climbs in this region of Spain are always on the high side with many climbs having gradients north of 10%. The break was still doing a good job but they had much to work at the front if they wanted to have a chance of making it to the finish line ahead.
The Alto de Ixua is almost identical to the final climb of the day except for the last 500 meters. The favorites had a good chance of looking at what they would find out later in the day. However, Mikel Nieve (Katusha) decided that it was better not to wait and attacked in the last kilometer of the climb. He was followed by Franco Pellizotti (BMC), who was chasing the KoM points at the top. They crossed the KoM sprint 5' 40'' behind the front group. Thomas de Gendt (Tinkoff) tried to follow them but could not quite make it in the climb and would try to join in the descent.
Tiesj Benoot (Trek) was leading the front group at the Alto de Santa Eufemia, with 32 kilometers to go, but the chances of the break making it to the finish line had decreased a lot following Mikel Nieve's attack at Ixua. Both Nieve and Franco Pellizotti were only 2' 05'' behind at the top of the climb and were cutting the gap quite quickly. The peloton had also started chasing because they were 5' 25'' behind and that made Nieve the virtual leader on the road. Lotto, Movistar and Euskaltel were sharing the job and Rob Ruijgh (Lotto) was leading the group during most of the climb.
The peloton was chasing hard at the penultimate climb of the day, the Alto de San Miguel, but Laurens Ten Dam (Cannondale) attacked close to the top of the climb and would try to open a gap during the descent towards the valley. Thomas de Gendt had not managed to get to the front and was about to get caught by the bunch but Mikel Nieve and Franco Pellizotti were only 50 seconds behind the early break and would probably get to them before the climb to Arrate. There were many teams interested in chasing in the bunch as the lead riders in the climb prove: Vasil Kiryienka (IAM), Hubert Dupont (Euskaltel) and Samuel Sanchez (Movistar).
Beñat Intxausti attacked at the small uphill section at the entrance of Eibar, with 9 kilometers to go and 3 before the start of the last climb. He was followed by Andy Schleck and they opened a small gap of 25 seconds over the rest of the early break. Those were bad news for their chasers as Mikel Nieve and Franco Pellizotti seemed to have wasted too much energy trying to get to the front and could not bridge the gap. Meanwhile, Laurens Ten Dam did not succeed with his attack and was caught int he descent of the Alto de San Miguel and the peloton was only 2' 15'' behind the leaders. It looked like the stage was back in the peloton as the gap was not enough for the front group.
Jelle Vanendert (Lotto) was the first important rider to attack at the climb to Arrate but it was David Lopez (Euskaltel) who got to the tail of the break with 5 kilometers to go. They were in the most difficult part of the climb and the peloton was starting to disintegrate, although all of the top riders in the GC were still in the group of the leader. The break only had a few seconds over the peloton and Pieter Weening (Tinkoff), Vanendert and Andrew Talansky (HTC) were trying to bring Lopez back. It was a struggle for many riders in that group.
David Lopez did not let the peloton catch him back and pushed forward to open a very significant gap. With 3 kilometers to go and almost finishing the hardest part of the climb he had 1 minute over the group of the leader. It was down to Andrew Talansky, Bjorn Leukemans (Lotto) and Laurens Ten Dam now to close the gap. Maxim Iglinskiy had enough with keeping up with those riders and did not even attempt to chase himself. Meanwhile, Anthony Roux (IAM) and Ben Swift (Vacansoleil) had already lost touch with the main group and would say goodbye to their chances in the GC.
Laurens Ten Dam and Tiago Machado (Tinkoff) managed to attack and get away from the main group in the final slopes of the climb to the Alto de Usartza. They got close to the last kilometer 1 minute behind David Lopez. The group of the leader was 1' 15'' behind the Spaniard so the gaps among the rest of the favorites were not significant. It was led by Bjorn Leukemans, Jean-Christophe Peraud (Discovery) and Xavi Tondo (Lampre). Lopez was so strong in this climb that he would get close in the GC to Maxim Iglinskiy with 2 stages remaining.
David Lopez wins in Arrate! This is the second win in a row for the Spaniard, who was clearly the best in the final climb to the Santuario de Arrate and dealt a blow to the chances of the rest of the favorites in the race. Nevertheless, he will not be the leader as the main group crossed the finish line 1' 07'' behind him. That will leave him as 2nd in the GC 32 seconds behind Maxim Iglinskiy. That is a gap that can be gained by Lopez tomorrow in the uphill finish in Aia or in the last time trial but he will have to keep battling to win the race.
The group of the leader crossed the finish line led by Tiago Machado and Laurens Ten Dam but they were not awarded any time difference as the gap to the group was really small. Domenico Pozzovivo (Trek) and Peter Stetina (BMC) completed the top 5 of the stage. Simon Clarke (HTC) and Emanuele Sella (Movistar) also survived in the group and are still in the top 4 of the GC. They have a good gap over the rest of the favorites so they could be up for a very good final position. Sella is probably the main favorite to take a podium place alongside Iglinskiy and Lopez.
Another very hard stage with many hills and mountains along the route will await the riders in the penultimate stage of the Vuelta al Pais Vasco. There are many difficulties in the route but the outcome of the stage will be marked by the final double climb to Aia, especially as the last of the walls has extreme gradients and the gaps that could be opened are significant. Nevertheless, even if the favorites leave the battle for the last kilometers a rider that attacks with less than 20 kilometers to go will not be vulnerable as there are few flat sections on that part of the stage.
There was quite a battle at the start of the stage to form the early break. Sky was not willing to let a big group ahead and in the end, they made the break a tad stronger than what they would have liked. The group of 8 included Damiano Caruso (Cannondale), Ben Hermans (Katusha), Vasil Kiryienka (IAM), Simon Spilak (Tinkoff) and Diego Ulissi (Lampre). At the Alto de Garate they already had a 3 minutes gap and they had settled at the front. However, the fact that Hermans was only 2' 17'' behind in the GC was not going to make things easy for them.
The Alto de Urraki was the only climb of the day that was classified as 1st category. Its top was 76 kilometers from the finish line and Sky was already trying to bring down the gap, which was 6' 30'' at the top. They had put Bradley Wiggins (Sky), Adam Yates (Sky) and Peter Sagan (Sky) at the front of the pack to increase the pace. It was a tough climb that was going to take a toll on a few riders. Meanwhile, Damiano Caruso was consolidating his lead at the front of the KoM classification.
Damiano Caruso virtually won the KoM classification by beating Ben Hermans at the top of the Alto de Alkiza, with 54 kilometers to go. However, not all was bright for the break as the peloton was riding hard to cut down the 4' 30'' gap that they held given than Hermans is way too dangerous for many riders in the GC, even those fighting for the podium. Sky was still the team doing most of the chasing and it was surprising not to see any riders from Euskaltel close to the front. David Lopez (Euskaltel) took the 2nd place in the GC yesterday and had his sights on the overall win of the race.
The peloton was racing hard as they got past Aia for the first time during the descent of the Alto de Andazarrate. They would do 2 different loops to get through the finish line in the remaining 34 kilometers of the stage. Sky was still leading the group with Moreno Moser (Sky), Mauro Santambrogio (Sky) and Peter Sagan but other teams like Lotto were starting to show their faces at the front of the pack. The gap to the break kept slowly coming down, 3' 15'' at that stage. That was still enough for Ben Hermans to be the virtual leader on the road.
The first passage through the wall in Aia was a bit less selective in the peloton than expected. Samuel Sanchez (Movistar) was leading the group through the KoM sprint with Rob Ruijgh (Lotto) and Marco Pinotti (Sky) right behind. A few teams were now collaborating to make the race harder but as many as 60 riders were still present in the group of the leader. Euskaltel had also tried to make the race harder in the previous kilometers but many riders were confident on their options in the uphill finish. Jelle Vanendert (Lotto) was riding very close to the front to avoid any surprises.
Diego Ulissi jumped in the first of the passages over the wall in Aia and consolidated a nice lead over his companions in the break. Damiano Caruso was chasing in the short flat section after the descent 30 seconds behind with 9 kilometers to go. The rest of the break was 1 minute behind. Meanwhile, there had been riders trying to attack from the group of the leader and Juanjo Cobo (HTC) and Domenico Pozzovivo (Trek) had a small 15 second gap over the group almost at the bottom of the descent. Among those left behind from the group of favorites we could see Philippe Gilbert (Vacansoleil) and Mauro Finetto (Katusha).
The penultimate climb was very tricky as the wind was blowing against the riders and that made attacking really difficult. Many riders tried to open a gap on the group of the leader, especially Rui Costa (Ag2r). However, only Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana) had 15 seconds over the rest of the favorites at the top. He was 1' 25'' behind Diego Ulissi, although the Italian had been already caught by the rest of the early break in the descent towards the last climb of the day. Jean-Christophe Peraud (Discovery) was leading the bunch but there was not much work to be done with only 4 kilometers to go.
The peloton got to the early break at the uphill finish but with 500 meters to go Simon Spilak still held a 13 second gap over his chasers. The Tinkoff rider looked quite strong considering that he came from the early break and had a lot of kilometers in his legs. Pierre Rolland (Etixx) was leading the chasers but David Lopez and Jerome Coppel (Etixx) were already making their way towards the front of the group and looked threatening. Andrew Talansky (HTC) and Jelle Vanendert were also making progress. The last 500 meter were still very hard so most of the riders in the top 10 places held a chance.
David Lopez wins in Aia! This should not come as a great surprise any more as the Spaniard has dominated the race with an iron hand in the last few stages. However, he should also take some criticising as he was not able to open any time gap with Maxim Iglinskiy today. Being so dominant and with a significant gap to gain in the GC he should have been a more attacking rider than what we have seen. He will have to gain 27 seconds in tomorrow's time trial to be able to overtake the Kazakh in the GC and that is not guaranteed at all.
The 2nd place in the stage went to Jelle Vanendert, who will have a difficult time trying to get to the podium. Third was Jerome Coppel, which makes him 10th in the GC. Coppel will be one of the dangerous riders tomorrow in the time trial as he should be quite strong both in the flat and uphill sections. The top 5 was completed by Andrew Talansky and Simon Spilak. Tomorrow's time trial is only 19 kilometers long but the race is still not decided unlike in previous seasons and the final outcome of the race is still to be seen.
The last stage in the Vuelta al Pais Vasco is, as usual in the race, a time trial. However, this is not a time trial designed for the specialists to shine. The 19 kilometers are a carbon copy of the last kilometers of yesterday's stage. That means they include 2 climbs to Aia, the last one a wall 1.6 kilometers long averaging 11.9% gradient and with slopes well above 20%. The fact that it is the end of the time trial means that the rider that wants to do well overall will need to be very careful to reach that point with enough energy.
There had been a few time trialists starting early in the day but the first rider with options was probably Jean-Christophe Peraud (Discovery). The 2015 European Champion is also a good enough climber to battle for the stage today. The early pace setting had been done by Xavi Tondo (Lampre), who completed a surprisingly good stage. However, it was no threat for Peraud as he crossed the finish line in the first provisional position, 22 seconds better than the Spaniard. Peraud was part of the big group of riders who were 2' 17'' behind in the GC so he would hope to finish well inside the top 10.
Andrew Talansky (HTC) had already won the Tirreno - Adriatico this year so he was a good candidate to grab the win in this time trial. However, his performance was not particularly good in the Vuelta al Pais Vasco and today he could not match the time set by Jean-Christophe Peraud. The American took the 2nd best time at the finish line, 15 seconds behind the French. Nevertheless, this result should be enough for him to get a place inside the top 10 and it should be considered that having Simon Clarke (HTC) in the top places in the GC meant that he could not attack freely in previous stages.
We were a lot closer to the top positions when Laurens Ten Dam (Cannondale) started. The Dutch was expected to be one of the differential riders in the race but he fall short of the expectations. Today's time trial was not his best performance either and he had to settle for the 5th provisional time when he crossed the finish line 21 seconds behind Jean-Christophe Peraud. Ten Dam's season so far has not been good at all and it could all be down to the crashes he suffered in the Paris - Nice and the Tirreno - Adriatico. Those might have hurt him and his shape might not be as good as expected.
Jerome Coppel (Etixx) was 10th in the GC before the stage and one of the potential favorites to take the stage win. His fellow Frenchman Jean-Christophe Peraud was in the lead but not for long as Coppel crossed the finish line with a time of 32' 04'', 4 seconds quicker than the Discovery Channel rider. Obviously, this guaranteed a place in the final top 10 for Coppel but considering his time and the riders ahead of him in the GC before the stage it could well turn into a very good final position for him. He was already 6th in the GC of the Tirreno - Adriatico earlier in the year.
We got to the important places of the GC with the departure of Rui Costa (Ag2r). The Portuguese had been in the front group in Zumarraga and that gave him a good advantage in the GC over most of the favorites. However, it was not enough to stay ahead of Jerome Coppel and Jean-Christophe Peraud in the GC after today's time trial. Costa was 15th provisionally when he crossed the line, 38 seconds behind Coppel. He will get a top 10 final position in the GC but this highlights the inconsistency of Rui Costa, who is able to get good results every now and then but never completes a great season.
Jelle Vanendert (Lotto) was the next rider on the road. The Belgian is a great rider over the hills and among the favorites he was only really beaten in the previous stages by David Lopez (Euskaltel). However, the fact that there is a time trial in the route, even as hilly as this one, does not help his cause at all. His performance was not too bad but when he crossed the line he was 22nd, 45 seconds behind Jerome Coppel. That time put him even behind Rui Costa by a margin of only 1 second. If Vanendert ever wants to be a serious contender for a Grand Tour he needs to get to grips with the time trials as he could cut a good chunk of time over his rivals in the speciality.
The fourth in the GC before the stage was Emanuele Sella (Movistar). He was one of the riders that made it ahead in the 2nd stage and that gave him a very good shot at the podium in today's stage as he had a good gap behind him and Simon Clarke (HTC) should be an easy prey in the time trial for him. He is not great at time trials either but he crossed the line in the 30th provisional place, 53 seconds behind, which gave him the best overall time among those that had finished with a gap in the GC of 31 seconds over Jerom Coppel. He only needed Clarke to be a couple of seconds slower than him to jump in the podium, a result that good be very well received in Movistar.
Simon Clarke had miraculously survived the toughest hilly stages in the Vuelta al Pais Vasco to keep a podium place with only the time trial remaining. However, he was considered to be a sitting duck because his gap to Emanuele Sella was way too small for him to keep the 3rd position. In the end the pundits were right. His performance in the final time trial was way worse than expected as he clocked the 136th time when he crossed the finish line, losing 1' 33'' to Coppel in only 19 kilometers. It was a brave effort from the Australian and he will not go home empty handed as he will finish 7th in the GC.
The penultimate rider to start was the local hero, David Lopez. The Euskaltel rider was expected to battle for the overall win and he already took the stage win last year so his options are not far-fetched at all. He has also won the last 3 stages in the race so he looks very threatening to the leader. His performance was not as good as last year as he could not grab the win but he clocked a very good time to take the 3rd provisional position, 16 seconds behind Jerome Coppel. That result puts Maxim Iglinskiy (Sky) in much trouble as he can only lose 27 seconds extra, similar times to outsiders for the hills stages.
Maxim Iglinskiy had the daunting task to face David Lopez for the win in the Vuelta al Pais Vasco. The Sky rider had been the surprising winner of the second stage, which was won by the early break. He had surprisingly been able to stay with the best in most of the stages and had a 27 seconds gap going into the stage. However, it was not enough. He paid the efforts he made during the week and finished in a poor 121st place, 1' 23'' behind Jerome Coppel. Nevertheless, the gap that he had in the GC allowed him to retain the second place in the podium.
David Lopez finally managed to win the overall classification and it was a very much deserved winner. He dominated the second part of the race and was the only one among the favorites to really push towards taking the overall win after the second stage. Maxim Iglinskiy and Emanuele Sella would join him in the final podium. It was a disappointing race for many other riders who had their sights set on that final podium, mainly Laurens Ten Dam, Jelle Vanendert and Mikel Nieve (Katusha). The Spaniard was ambitious but did not have the legs in the end.
The cobbled classics come to an end with the iconic Paris - Roubaix. The French race is by far the race with the most cobbled sections in the World Tour and therefore the specialists are waiting the day eagerly. The route will be the same one that was raced last year, with the well-known sections of the Trouee d'Arenberg, Mons-en-Pevele and the Carrefour de l'Arbre. The race has a total of 256 kilometers, 47 of which are raced on the cobbles, mainly in the second part of the race. The amount of sections makes it very difficult to see surprises as the favorites end up having plenty of options to attack before the finish line.
In terms of the past winners, Bjorn Leukemans has clearly been the best rider in the history of the race. He won the last 3 times in Roubaix and is looking to add a 4th. Lieuwe Westra (Cannondale) and Peter Kennaugh (Tinkoff) were the previous winners but they barely stand a chance nowadays, although both will be at the starting line. Among the other successful riders, we can find Johan Vansummeren and Alessandro Ballan. The Italian has found success in the French race in the last few seasons even though he did not seem to be in form in the rest of the season. This race alone has probably saved his contract with a top team like BMC.
Favorites:
- Lloyd Mondory (Etixx - Quickstep): Lloyd Mondory has already been 3 times 2nd in a cobbled monument so he must be starting to get a bit frustrated of being so close yet so far from his first triumph. For the French, the Paris - Roubaix is a landmark race and the local fans will surely be cheering for him to win in the Velodrome at the end of the day. His season so far does not leave many doubts as to why he is one of the favorites as he already won the Tour Down Under and the Gent - Wevelgem, apart from a couple other stage wins.
- Bjorn Leukemans (Lotto - Soudal): Leukemans could make history if he wins in Roubaix for a 4th time in a row. He already added a 6th monument to his collection by winning the Ronde van Vlaanderen earlier in the year, proving that he is the best cobbler in the story so far. However, his task will not be that easy today as he needs to get rid of Lloyd Mondory before the finish line in the Velodrome. He managed to do it last year with an attack from very far away but that will not work every season. It will be interesting to see which strategy he follows in the race.
- Johan Vansummeren (HTC - Highroad): Johan Vansummeren has been the outsider in the Paris - Roubaix many times but he has never managed to win. Only in 2015 he got to the 2nd place in the podium. That is even though the French race was supposed to be a better fit for his characteristics than the Ronde van Vlaanderen, where he has already managed to win 3 times. Vansummeren is another rider that cannot afford to battle for the win in a sprint against Mondory. He is also missing some quality helpers as only John Degenkolb seems up to the task.
- Bernhard Eisel (LottoNL - Jumbo): Bernhard Eisel is the only one among the favorites that may give Lloyd Mondory a headache if they get to the Velodrome in the same group. The Austrian is quite a good sprinter so he should not look to attack too much in the race. He also has a rather weak team in the cobbles so he should play his cards wisely if he wants to get in the podium. For Eisel the battles for the monuments are quite new as his best result in a cobbled classic was his 3rd position in last year's E3 Harelbeke.
Other riders with a shot at the podium are Greg van Avermaet (Euskaltel - Euskadi), Tom Boonen and Alessandro Ballan (BMC Racing Team), Nick Nuyens (Lotto - Soudal), Gregory Rast (Orica - BikeExchange) and Fabian Cancellara (Cannondale - Drapac).
