Movistar Starting List
Mikel Landa
Benat Intxausti
J J Lobato
Alex Dowsett
Mikel Nieve
Luis Leon Sanchez
Ion Izagirre
Gorkha Izagirre
Ruben Fernandez
The Vuelta a Espana brings with it the final opportunity this season for someone to write their name in cycling history as a GT winner. Riding on the crest of the wave of good performances over the past month or so, Movistar chose Mikel Landa to lead in his home GT. His support team was strong with Mikel Nieve trusted with superdometique duties. Benat Intxausti was given the second leader's role with J J Lobato taking up sprinting duties. The competition was not elite, but it was good enough. TdF champion Ilnur Zakarin was here, hoping to make this a season to remember. Also present and challenging for the title would be Rigoberto Uran, Mathias Frank, Thibaut Pinot, Bauke Mollema, Adam and Simon Yates and a few other dark horses. This should be another open Vuelta with Froome, Nairo and Kelderman opting to give it a miss in preparation for the World Championships.
The following is a summary of important stages...
Part 1: Home Comforts
Stage 1 - Team Time Trial - Flat - 12 km
The TTT got us started here in Spain. American Express put in a great ride to outfox more fancied teams and take the win. Movistar and Tinkoff-Saxo were on the lower steps of the podium.
Stage winners - American Express (Mollema, Poels) Movistar - 2nd, losing 14" Other important results - Tinkoff-Saxo (S.Yates) 3rd, losing 28"
Stage 4 - Mountain with mountain top finish
The two preceding flat stages came down to bunch sprints with Cavendish winning both. The first mountain stage saw two sets of breakaways form, one early on and the second before the second intermediate climb. On the same climb, there were attacks from Pinot and Zakarin, soon followed by most of the pre-race favourites. Landa initially fell behind as he preferred to ride up on a high gear than chase the attackers. Slowly but surely, he pulled his way back with the help of Nieve. In the meantime, Pinot had moved ahead of the group of leaders with another attack. Landa caught up to the others with 5 km left to the finish, and flew past them without even stopping to draw breath. He went in chase of Pinot and Jeannesson, who was a part of the breakaway and was still not caught by the others. Pinot did hold on for the win, with Landa finishing in Jeannesson's wheels. Landa took over the lead of the GC. Kwiatkowski retired overnight after this stage.
Stage winner - Thibaut Pinot Movistar - Mikel Landa 3rd, 38" behind, Benat Intxausti 13th, 2'23" behind Other important results - Frank 4th, Zakarin 5th, Mollema 7th, Uran 9th, all 1'19" behind
Stage 5 - Flat with downhill finish, with 1 major intermediate climb
This stage saw the first win from the breakaway in this year's Vuelta. Marcos Garcia was the strongest among the break and took home the stage win. Behind him, there was one serious attack from Meintjes, Rui Costa and Simon Yates but without success. The pack finished together, 16 seconds behind the stage winner. Landa picked up 4 bonus seconds by finishing in 3rd place.
Stage winner - Marcos Garcia from breakway
The GC after stage 5...
Spoiler
Stage 8 - Mountain with 3 major and 1 minor intermediate climbs
Veteran Joaquim Rodriguez, riding in his last home GT, having announced his retirement earlier this year, won from a breakaway, in a hugely popular result. Behind him, the attacks from the leaders started at the third climb of the day as Zakarin attacked, followed soon after by Uran and Tom Slagter. They were caught soon but the attacks kept coming. None of these attacks were successful. At the end, it came down to who had the most energy left after an exhausting stage. There were time gaps formed as it was Intxausti who put in a superior performance for Movistar on this stage.
Stage winner - Joaquim Rodriguez from breakaway Movistar - Benat Intxausti 6th, 26" behind, Mikel Landa 9th, 1'38" behind Other important results - Louis Meintjes 5th, 26" behind, Adam Yates 7th, 1'29" behind, Bauke Mollema 8th, Rigoberto Uran 10th, both 1'38" behind
The GC after stage 8...
Spoiler
Stage 9 - Flat with mountain top finish, including 1 minor intermediate climb
The infamous stage was upon the peloton. The early breakaway survived till before the climb to the finish. Then the attacks by the leaders started but none of them could get away very far or for very long. With 4 km to go, both Landa and Intxausti attacked in tandem. Although Intxausti's attack wasn't strong enough to get him clear of everyone else, Landa wasn't to be caught by his rivals. He took his first stage of the Vuelta and extended his lead at the top of the GC. He also now lead in the KOM and the Points classifications! Intxausti moved into 2nd place overall.
Stage winner - Mikel Landa Movistar - Benat Intxausti 4th, 24" behind Other important results - Adam Yates 2nd, 24" behind, Bauke Malloema 6th, Rui Costa 7th, Mathias Frank 8th, all 52" behind
24/02/21 - kandesbunzler said “I don't drink famous people."
15/08/22 - SotD said "Your [jandal's] humour is overrated"
11/06/24 - knockout said "Winning is fine I guess. Truth be told this felt completely unimportant." [ICL] Santos-Euskadi | [PT] Xero Racing
Stage 10 - Individual Time Trial - Flat - 42 km
Nowadays, every time someone mentions 'Time Trial' to the Movistar management during a GT, they start ducking for cover. Movistar's luck, mostly to do with the ability of their in leader's in this format, has been pathetic. Here, two Movistar riders go into the ITT as 1-2. Where will they end the stage at?
At the top end of the standings, it was Rohan Dennis who capitalised on the suitability of the profile and won the stage. Among the GC contenders, there were massive time differences! (Yes, here it comes ). Bauke Mollema finished 3rd on the stage. Mathias Frank finished 4th. Overnight top two, Landa and Intxausti, finished more than 2 and 3 minutes behind Mollema. Uran also put in a good time to rise up the standings.
Stage winner - Rohan Dennis Movistar - Ion Izagirre 6th, 1'35" behind, Benat Intxausti lost 3'7", Mikel Landa lost 4'43" Other important results - Bauke Mollema 3rd, 1'6" behind, Mathias Frank 4th, 1'11" behind, Rigoberto Uran 8th, 2'2" behind, Zakarin lost 3'9", Meintjes lost 3'29", Adam Yates lost 3'30"
The GC had a completely new look after this stage...
Spoiler
Stage 11 - Mountain with mountain top finish, inlcuding 3 minor intermediate climbs
The early breakaway pulled out to a lead of more than 15 minutes. The peloton reacted too late and the stage was won from the break by Adriano Jorge Benedito. Among the leaders, the Yates brothers, Uran and Mollema were the first to attack on the third intermediate climb. This was followed by multiple attacks but none of which were successful. Eventually, it came to who had the best legs going up the mountain. This went to Zakarin as he got up the mountain first among the leaders. Both Landa, Intxausti and Frank got some back on Mollema.
Stage winner - Adriano Jorge Benedito Movistar - Mikel Landa 9th, Benat Intxausti 19th, 9'57" behind. Lost the team lead Other important results - Ilnur Zakarin 8th, 9'43" behind, Mathias Frank 11th, 9'57" behind, Bauke Mollema, Rigoberto Uran, Adam Yates 10'41" behind
Stage 13 - Mountain with 2 major and 3 minor intermediate climbs
Mollema attacked on the second major climb, built up a lead of around two and a half minutes over his rivals and caught up to the breakaway in the process. On the last climb, Adam Yates and Landa attacked, were not followed and eventually caught up to Mollema and two surviving members of the break. The stage came down to a sprint among these five men, and Landa had the best legs to take his second stage win.
Stage winner - Mikel Landa Movistar - Ion Izagirre 8th, Benat Intxausti 13th, 57" behind Other important results - Bauke Mollema 4th, Adama Yates 5th, same time, Simon Yates 6th, Louis Meintjes 7th, Thibaut Pinot 9th, Rigoberto Uran 10th, all 57" behind, Mathias Frank 17th, 2'49" behind
The GC after this stage...
Spoiler
Stage 14 - Mountain with mountain top finish, including 2 major intermediate climbs
The early breakaway could not hold on this ahead of the pace set by the peloton and surrendered before the climb to the finish. The climb to the finish was almost 20 km and attacks from the leaders started within the first couple of kilometres. Each time, the attacks were pulled back either by American Express, protecting Mollema, or by the Movistar duo of Intxausti and Landa. Eventually, with just over 5 km to go, Landa attacked, followed closely by Intxausti. Landa stretched his legs and was soon out of everyone's reach, taking his third stage of this year's Vuelta. Intxausti was caught and had to settle for 4th place on the stage. (It started to snow as Landa approached the finish line!)
Stage winner - Mikel Landa, took the lead in the GC Movistar - Benat Intxausti 4th, 1'3" behind Other important results - Mathias Frank 2nd, Adam Yates 3rd, both 51" behind, Thibaut Pinot 5th, 1'18" behind, Bauke Mollema 6th, 1'57" behind, Ilnur Zakarin 7th, Rigoberto Uran 8th, 2'8" behind
Another change in GC after this stage...
Spoiler
Stage 15 - Mountain with mountain top finish
The last of the big mountain stages came at the end of week 2 in the Vuelta. A strong breakaway formed at the start of the stage and opened up a gap of 10 minutes. Although the pace set by the leaders and their teams pulled them back a fair bit, it wasn't enough to catch them. Rohan Dennis won from the break, his second stage here. Going up the climb to the finish, Landa rode away from the pack on a high gear and nobody could keep up. He pulled out a considerable lead over his rivals, finishing third, and getting the 4 second time bonus as well. Surely, he couldn't let the race slip from this position...
Stage winner - Rohan Dennis from breakaway Movistar - Mikel Landa 3rd, 3'41" behind, Benat Intxausti 5th, 6'14" behind. Movistar took the team lead again Other important results - Mathias Frank 4th, 5'53", Bauke Mollema 6th, 6'52", Rigoberto Uran 7th, Ilnur Zakarin 8th, Thibaut Pinot 9th, all 7'27" behind
Stage 18 - Hilly with 2 major and 2 minor climbs
Mark Cavendish retired on stage 17 after falling twice meaning that it wouldn't be a sprinter winning the points jersey at the Vuelta. As is common in the latter part of GTs, there was an early breakaway which built up a big time gap to the peloton. In the bunch, Ion Izagirre and Luis Leon Sanchez fell, but soon recovered to guide Landa and Intxausti safely to the finish. Ahead of the pack, Zardini won from the breakaway. Mollema, Zakarin and Adam Yates gained some time over both Landa and Intxausti, but it wasn't enough to make a major dent in the GC.
Stage winner - Edoardo Zardini from breakaway Movistar - Mikel Landa and Benat Intxausti finished in the group 19'53" behind. Movistar lost the team lead Other important results - Ilnur Zakarin, Bauke Mollema and Adam Yates finished 19'19" behind, Rigoberto Uran, Thibaut Pinot and Mathias Frank finished 19'53" behind
Stage 19 - Hilly with 3 major and 1 minor intermediate climbs
The second of three consecutive hilly stages. Rui Costa put himself into the break to try to gain some time and maybe climb up the standings. He was caught but some members of the break stayed ahead. All the GC leaders, except the Movistar duo, attacked on the third climb forming three groups out on the road behind the initial breakaway. Movistar's domestiques pulled Landa and Intxausti across to two of the groups. Then they fell away and it was Ion Izagirre who drove the peloton forward over the last climb, and made sure the group containing Mollema was caught 3 km before the finish. No damage done.
Stage winner - Fabio Duarte from breakaway Other important results - All GC leaders finished in the same group
Stage 20 - Hilly with flat finish, including 3 major intermediate climbs
The breakaway once again built up a big lead of more than 15 minutes. Behind them, there was a split in the pack going up the last climb and Intxausti was dragged into the second group. Despite the valiant effort from him and some teammates he lost time to his rivals and had to surrender 3rd position to Frank. Andrey Amador won from the break while the leaders finished more than 9 minutes behind. Intxausti lost 2 minutes to the group of leaders.
Stage winner - Andrey Amador Movistar - Mikel Landa 9'26" behind, Benat Intxausti 11' 51" behind Other important results - All other GC leaders finished 9'26" behind
Stage 21 - Flat
A very short flat stage marked the end of an exciting race here in Spain. Movistar's race ended on an anti-climactic note as Lobato was not strong enough to contend for the top positions in the bunch sprint. Alexander Kristoff won the stage. The GC leaders finished safely in the pack.
Young Riders' Classification
1)Dennis Shmatovalenko (American Express)
2)Odd Christian Eiking (IAM)
3)Sebastien Henao (Orica GreenEdge)
Team Classification
1)Sky
2)Movistar
3)AG2R
Mikel Landa wins his first Grand Tour race! Another great race saw Landa dominate the mountains and deservedly leave Spain as the Red Jersey winner. A brilliant team performance saw Movistar competitive on almost every stage. The domestiques rode superbly in the hills and the mountains to keep both the leaders at the head of the field throughout. The expected glitch came with the ITT, but the way the lead duo fought back is commendable. As team manager I must admit something; on stage 4, when Landa first caught and immediately swept past the other GC contenders on the climb to the finish, I thought this has to be Landa's year. That one move of dominance convinced me it would be very difficult to beat him here. A very special mention to a long-time member of the GT peloton, Joaquim Rodriguez. Having announced his retirement, he leaves this race with just a month of professional cycling left. But what a classy way to sign off - a stage win, the KOM classification victory and numerous breakaway excursions. My hat-tip to this great servant of the sport.
Well, it's time to be off celebrating with the team. After a year of near misses at the previous GTs, this win feels wonderful Edited by AbhishekLFC on 28-01-2016 17:46
Tamijo wrote:
NB: if possible put the final GC in the last post, allways fun to check out the overall times diffrences in the top.
The times are in the screenshot of the podium. Same for all the classifications. Maybe I'll start exporting the results from the next season. Will save me some time and effort too...
Update from Canada, for the last two classics of the year...
Grand Prix Cycliste de Quebec
There was an early breakaway which stayed away for almost the entire duration of the race. They were caught with 25 km left. In the meantime, there was a pack split and it took a long time for the pack to get back together. After the breakaway was caught, the pack rolled ahead as one unit. There were a few attacks but nothing that sustained. With 5 km to go, Elia Favilli attacked with Chris Froome countering. They went away despite the high tempo set by the pack. They were never caught, and Froome outsprinted Favilli to take an unlikely 1st place. Favilli finished 2nd, while Diego Ulissi won the sprint for 3rd place. A couple of top 10 finished for Movistar.
Grand Prix Cycliste de Montreal
A 3 man breakaway escaped ealry with Thamos Voeckler the danger-man in it. The peloton managed to pull them back easily enough and rode in a bunch towards the finish. Diego Ulissi launched a couple of late attacks but wasn't strong enough to pull away. It was Elia Favilli once again who launched the decisive. Unfortunately for him, he was outsprinted once more, this time by Mathieu van der Poel, the difference being a matter of inches. Favilli finished 2nd again with Stefano Pirazzi coming home in 3rd place. Movistar managed the next 3 spots outside the top 10.
(Look how close the finish was! van der Poel in Philips Blue, Favilli in BMC Red)
). Bauke Mollema finished 3rd on the stage. Mathias Frank finished 4th. Overnight top two, Landa and Intxausti, finished more than 2 and 3 minutes behind Mollema. Uran also put in a good time to rise up the standings.
