@Dippofix: Thanks, Dippofix. Well, a Grand Tour may have rest days but the season never stops.
@FroomeDog99: Thanks, mate. It's always nice to get new readers on board and I hope you enjoy the story as much as I do posting it.
@Atlantius: Yeah, I think they show a steady improvement so far. Hopefully it continues, and I hope that the story improves alongside the team.
@Selwink: It's truly something special to win a stage at the Vuelta País Vasco. Now we want the overall victory of course too!
@welker3257: Thanks for the bananas, you will get them back if Ian Boswell wins Tirreno-Adriatico.
@sammyt93: Haha, yeah. You are an observant reader, sammy. I imagine it would be a fun game.
That's the plan, to get more time on the next two stages to have a secure lead for the TT. We will see how it goes.
@Ian Butler: Thanks, Ian. And you should always take time for good literature to enjoy it so there's no need to hurry. I think it's a nice touch to include Hemingway since he wrote about this bicycle race very early on, when it was just founded 1-2 years prior basically.
"It’s a little bit scary when Contador attacks." - Tommy V
After yesterday's great victory by Samuel Sánchez, the team has now the obligation to defend the jersey. It won't be easy, since the top riders are all rather close together. However, this may also allow for some surprising support along the way if we succeed at piting favourites against each other. Our main goal for the next two stage is clear: To gain time would be nice, but to not lose any time is even more important.
Samu Sánchez appears confident and calm. I can't say that about every rider in our team. Some of the young guys are super excited for today's stage. Euskaltel - Euskadi are not too often in a position where they have to chase other riders the whole day and need to work for the peloton. Mikel Landa explains to me, "Are you kidding? This is great. We are usually riding for glimpses of a stage win or something like that. We rarely get awarded. This time we already have it and we have to work to keep it. This is special. It's an honour to ride today against the entire peloton." Well, it will surely be one tough stage, I presume, so there will be enough work to be accomplished. I wish him good luck and step into the team car.
Stage 4
Today sees another hilly route with an uphill finish. This time it won’t be so tough, but the last two kilometers will be certainly crucial for the winner of the stage. This time around, Sánchez has the leader’s jersey and Euskaltel – Euskadi are forced to do the work of the peloton. This is the first time this season, but I think our squad should be capable to deal with it.
Looking good there Sánchez! Euskaltel – Euskadi had to organize themselves first, that’s why a group of 11 riders is upfront. Fortunately, most of them are way back in the overall classification. The closest is Gallopin (over 5 minutes behind). We now mainly want to minimize the risk of on-going attacks by setting a decent pace.
Garmin – Sharp help Euskaltel – Euskadi to chase the breakaway. Daniel Martin has rightful hopes for the stage win. Only 60 kilometers left to go and the breakaway has 4 minutes lead, which should decrease over time. Euskaltel – Euskadi and Garmin – Sharp – it’s certainly not the first time that their riders have cooperated in this season.
The breakaway keeps up its harmony, while the peloton in the back just found theirs. The peloton gets smaller and smaller due to the increased pace of the basque-american alliance.
Contador, Rui Costa, Moreno, Martin, Quintana… they all attack at these small climb. Sánchez is too slow to react and so Euskaltel – Euskadi set an enormous high-pace in hopes to catch them. There’s no room for tactical plays, no letting Contador power out. They have to catch him as fast as possible!
Moreno is the only one to make it in the end, with about 10 kilometers left to go. The constant attacks hail down like the rain on Team Euskaltel – Euskadi. Sánchez remains largely cool and attentive, but who long until one dangerous rider will escape?
The former breakaway of the many riders gets hauled in and surrounded by the orange boys. Almost in the same instant, Kessiakoff leads another charge of attack. The four riders trying to break away don’t matter much in the overall classification but Sánchez needs to further build his time gap on his main competitors. So an attack is very likely on these last 4 kilometers. First he has to be very cautious though and pass by all the former breakaway riders and needs to look out so he doesn’t get trapped by anyone.
Dan Martin, Kreuziger, Gesink attacked and now pace up the hill. Froome is on the chase, while Sánchez is on the backwheel of Ion Izagirre, ready for take-off.
That was one hell of a damn steep finish! Contador takes the victory ahead of his teammate Kreuziger and Valverde comes in 3rd. Amidst this crowded mass, Sánchez takes the 7th place. He is the last one to not suffer a time loss on Contador. Ion Izagirre, on 8th, already got 24 seconds handed over at the finish line. Pooh, I think and wash the sweat off my forehead. That was damn close. Maybe we didn’t even realize how close we were to losing the jersey.
The circle around Samu Sánchez, who defended his jersey today by all means, gets excited like a chicken farm, when Contador comes up to him and both of them exchange some words. They shake hands, talk about how tough today's stage was and Samu congratulates his friend on a deserved victory. "I'm glad I could keep the jersey today", Samu admits.
Samu tells the reporters once Contador steps away to the podium ceremony: "It was actually really close. I had to really bite my teeth to keep up, but I guess every rider before me had the same problem. I didn't notice when Ion dropped a bit behind me, but it's only natural. He has a tough racing schedule behind him and wants to do save some energy. It's actually quite good he left a little gap open, so Van den Broeck and Porte lost a bit of time."
I tried to get towards Samu and to defend him from the journalists, but alas, I was a bit too late and they already surrounded him when I got there. Katu told me, I had to watch out and that they'd need me.
"We don't want him to be too occupied with interviews and stressful questions", Katu explained to me. By now, I truly understand what he meant by that. "But it's good for publicity, no?"
"We don't need any publicity here in basque country. Everybody knows us."
Stage 5
Today's stage can't be underestimated. It will be a dangerous day for us. Samu's lead isn't so big as we could take any day easy of course. A huge enough breakaway and things could get even more complicated. From Bera to Onati, we see several steep climbs (as if we hadn't enough of those already), and the presumably last 20 kilometers could become very heated, especially if favourites attack on the last climb.
A huge breakaway managed to break away easily when Euskaltel didn’t organize itself yet, because that’s just what we needed. At least, Movistar are helping out us, since López (SKY) is up ahead and is only 3 minutes behind Sánchez in Overall Classification. For obvious reasons, we can’t let a 16 man break get away so easily and let them get out of hand while someone is in there who might even win this thing. After all, we are not Cannondale, and Sánchez is not Peter Sagan. I drift a bit off, while I come to think about the many strange incidents that happened at Tirreno – Adriatico this year. It was a circus of clowns.
Great, so exactly that’s not what we wanted to happen. But as soon as Movistar pulled out of the chase, the break grew stronger. Euskaltel has only 5 riders upfront and there are 16 guys ahead of us who all want to today’s stage. Lópes is virtual leader of the Vuelta P.V. May it not stay that way.
Wonder why the breakaway is doing so well and has around 5 minutes lead? Well, a short of list of contenders: De Gendt, Zabriskie, Casar, Meersman, López, Gallopin, Meyer, Chernestskiy, Martens, and to top things off, Peraud is so strong, he easily rode away from all the other guys at the mountain sprint.
So, can we just say thank you to Garmin-Sharp and Saxo Tinkoff? I mean, 4 of our riders weren’t able to anything anymore. When Garmin and Saxobank came to help us, the lead of the break quickly diminishes. We weren’t so stupid as Cannondale at Tirreno-Adriatico to invest all our power just yet, so Ion Izagirre, Urtasun and Gorka Izagirre are still there to help.
The final climb sees an attack of Daniel Martin. We wern`t inclined to follow at first since his team were great helpers during our time in yellow and thought a bit of time couldn’t hurt (plus, we had to manage our rescoures, Katu told me – as if we had any resources left, I laughed). But when Spilak and Contador attacked, we had to follow with Sánchez.
Contador’s second attack should have been countered by Sánchez, but he got hold up by Spilak and thus couldn’t react on time. Instead, he powered himself out. Thankfully, the big breakaway up front, closed the gap between Contador and Sánchez and the other GC contenders. Sánchez is now all alone and has to look to recover fast. Meanwhile, on a sidenote, Ion Izagirre drops out of the race, as he won’t be any help anymore, he can now focus on Paris – Roubaix, that little maniac. He leaves the race on a good 21st place.
This really isn’t good for us. 11 kilometers left and Sánchez has no helpers with him. Let’s just hope in case any favourites get any wrong ideas, that all the other favourites with all their helpers will just pull them back in. There are no orange boys in this group. There’s Sánchez but he’s in yellow.
An attack by Moreno causes the upcoming wave of attacks. Daniel Martin is quick to follow and Sánchez is on Gerrans’ backwheel. Valverde is in the 6 man group. It’s completed by Peraud and Caruso, who show really strong performances after their long breakaway and are the only riders of the former breakaway who still want to seem to play a role in the stage’s finish. Behind the Sánchez group, there are Spilak and Porte trying to catch up. Contador has already 29 seconds gap to Sánchez, will this be enough? I notice that there’s no helper with Contador. Kreuziger is another minute back together with some other riders. So instead of Saxo doing work now, Pinot (FDJ) paces for the entire group. “This must be work out!”
Sánchez was the one leading the group into the last two kilometers when Gerrans opened up the sprint. He tried to get the australian’s backwheel, but there was already Valverde. The he tried to get the spaniard’s backwheel and there was already Caruso. So instead of going to the Italian backwheel, Sánchez just tries to Caruso a bit to right so he can slip in Valverde’s slipstream, but Gerrans and Valverde are way too fast anyway.
Valverde is still not coming out of Gerrans’s cover, while Sánchez is riding like he will soon catch the Australian. Porte is surprisingly strong.
Valverde really waited for the last meters as he just sneaks out of Gerrans slipstream to pass him in a matter of seconds. Smart riding by him, but I am not sure if this such a deserved stage win. Riders like Daniel Martin or Gerrans have been way more active and aggressive on today’s stage. But anyway, Sánchez gets a 2nd place and completes his personal podium sweep in terms of all three steps achieved on stages. Back there, riders like Peraud and Moreno couldn’t hold up and I fear that this means that Contador might get the same time as Sánchez. If so…
And yes, it comes it has to come… All these rider are taken the same time… and I just hope for the god damn jury that this won’t cost Samu’s overall victory. Katu looks upset, but doesn't say much. He doesn't complain nor looks even bittered. He just acknowledges the decision and calms down the Euskaltel riders later on. They showed a great ride today, it just wasn't really meant to be. I don't even visit the press zone today since I imagine it will be all the same over again and instead head into the town center. Over the radio, I hear the results of today.
Stage Result
Rank
Name
Team
Time
1
Alejandro Valverde
Movistar Team
4h26'36
2
Samuel Sánchez
Euskaltel - Euskadi
s.t.
3
Richie Porte
Sky Procycling
s.t.
4
Simon Gerrans
Orica - GreenEdge
s.t.
5
Daniel Moreno
Katusha Team
s.t.
6
Simon Spilak
Katusha Team
s.t.
7
Damiano Caruso
Cannondale Pro Cycling
s.t.
8
Daniel Martin
Garmin - Sharp
s.t.
9
Jean-Christophe Peraud
AG2R La Mondiale
s.t.
10
Tony Gallopin
RadioShack - Leopard
s.t.
Spoiler
11
Borut Božic
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
12
Paul Martens
Belkin Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
13
Gianni Meersman
Omega Pharma - Quick•Step Cycling Team
s.t.
14
Alberto Contador
Team Saxo - Tinkoff
s.t.
15
Marcos García
Caja Rural
s.t.
16
José Serpa
Lampre - Merida
s.t.
17
Jurgen Van den Broeck
Lotto Belisol
s.t.
18
Thibaut Pinot
FDJ
s.t.
19
Cameron Meyer
Orica - GreenEdge
s.t.
20
Sandy Casar
FDJ
s.t.
21
Chris Froome
Sky Procycling
s.t.
22
Sergey Chernetskiy
Katusha Team
s.t.
23
David Zabriskie
Garmin - Sharp
s.t.
24
David López
Sky Procycling
s.t.
25
Thomas De Gendt
Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
26
Brent Bookwalter
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
27
Francis De Greef
Lotto Belisol
s.t.
28
Luis León Sánchez
Belkin Pro Cycling Team
+ 1'26
29
Michał Kwiatkowski
Omega Pharma - Quick•Step Cycling Team
s.t.
30
Pierrick Fédrigo
FDJ
s.t.
31
Nairo Quintana
Movistar Team
s.t.
32
Romain Bardet
AG2R La Mondiale
s.t.
33
Rui Costa
Movistar Team
s.t.
34
Lieuwe Westra
Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
35
Peter Velits
Omega Pharma - Quick•Step Cycling Team
s.t.
36
Fredrik Kessiakoff
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
37
Michael Rogers
Team Saxo - Tinkoff
s.t.
38
Roman Kreuziger
Team Saxo - Tinkoff
s.t.
39
Ivan Santaromita
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
40
Rafael Valls
Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
41
Tejay Van Garderen
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
42
Chris Anker Sørensen
Team Saxo - Tinkoff
s.t.
43
Haimar Zubeldia
RadioShack - Leopard
s.t.
44
Tom Dumoulin
Team Argos - Shimano
s.t.
45
Amets Txurruka
Caja Rural
s.t.
46
Chris Horner
RadioShack - Leopard
s.t.
47
Tom Danielson
Garmin - Sharp
s.t.
48
Andreas Klöden
RadioShack - Leopard
+ 2'17
49
Jesús Hernández
Team Saxo - Tinkoff
s.t.
50
Gorka Izagirre
Euskaltel - Euskadi
s.t.
51
Andy Schleck
RadioShack - Leopard
s.t.
52
Juan Manuel Gárate
Belkin Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
53
Tiago Machado
RadioShack - Leopard
+ 2'47
General Classification before the Time Trial
Rank
Name
Team
Time
1
Samuel Sánchez
Euskaltel - Euskadi
20h49'59
2
Alberto Contador
Team Saxo - Tinkoff
+ 29
3
Alejandro Valverde
Movistar Team
+ 39
4
Simon Spilak
Katusha Team
+ 50
5
Richie Porte
Sky Procycling
+ 1'03
6
Jurgen Van den Broeck
Lotto Belisol
+ 1'14
7
Daniel Martin
Garmin - Sharp
+ 1'35
8
Chris Froome
Sky Procycling
+ 1'59
9
Simon Gerrans
Orica - GreenEdge
+ 2'21
10
Haimar Zubeldia
RadioShack - Leopard
+ 2'29
Spoiler
11
Thibaut Pinot
FDJ
+ 2'35
12
Roman Kreuziger
Team Saxo - Tinkoff
+ 2'51
13
Nairo Quintana
Movistar Team
+ 3'23
14
David López
Sky Procycling
+ 3'27
15
Michael Rogers
Team Saxo - Tinkoff
+ 4'01
16
Chris Horner
RadioShack - Leopard
+ 4'07
17
Luis León Sánchez
Belkin Pro Cycling Team
+ 4'11
18
Tejay Van Garderen
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
19
Chris Anker Sørensen
Team Saxo - Tinkoff
+ 4'29
20
Rafael Valls
Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team
+ 4'43
21
Pierrick Fédrigo
FDJ
+ 4'46
22
Fredrik Kessiakoff
Astana Pro Team
+ 4'53
23
Michał Kwiatkowski
Omega Pharma - Quick•Step Cycling Team
s.t.
24
Daniel Moreno
Katusha Team
+ 5'08
25
Peter Velits
Omega Pharma - Quick•Step Cycling Team
+ 5'28
26
Rui Costa
Movistar Team
+ 5'41
27
Tony Gallopin
RadioShack - Leopard
+ 5'44
28
Jean-Christophe Peraud
AG2R La Mondiale
s.t.
29
Cameron Meyer
Orica - GreenEdge
+ 6'24
30
Sergey Chernetskiy
Katusha Team
+ 6'30
31
Tom Danielson
Garmin - Sharp
+ 6'34
32
Brent Bookwalter
BMC Racing Team
+ 6'44
33
Gorka Izagirre
Euskaltel - Euskadi
+ 8'01
34
Ivan Santaromita
BMC Racing Team
+ 8'11
35
David Zabriskie
Garmin - Sharp
+ 8'41
36
Thomas De Gendt
Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
37
Amets Txurruka
Caja Rural
+ 9'17
38
Jesús Hernández
Team Saxo - Tinkoff
s.t.
39
Andreas Klöden
RadioShack - Leopard
+ 10'00
40
Maxime Bouet
AG2R La Mondiale
+ 11'00
41
Juan Manuel Gárate
Belkin Pro Cycling Team
+ 11'06
42
Robert Gesink
Belkin Pro Cycling Team
+ 11'48
43
Joseph Dombrowski
Sky Procycling
+ 13'20
44
Mikel Landa
Euskaltel - Euskadi
+ 13'23
45
Romain Bardet
AG2R La Mondiale
+ 14'52
46
Michael Albasini
Orica - GreenEdge
+ 15'07
47
José Serpa
Lampre - Merida
+ 16'51
48
Jesús Herrada
Movistar Team
+ 17'03
49
Sandy Casar
FDJ
+ 20'09
50
Lieuwe Westra
Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team
+ 20'17
I end up in some local bar in Onati. Tomorrow this is where the final time trial will take place. One of the guys is with me, his name is Carlos. He has ties to the basque people, one of his grandfathers lived around here, but he himself is from Navarra. We order some local wine and talk about the late succes of the team. He says, "I am not for long with the team. I don't earn much, so you might have to pay the bill." A nice warning, but he should have told me that before we opened the second bottle. Meanwhile, I remember a saying that was statet at the start of Euskaltel. "What didn't earn, we got in pride." Something like that. I wonder if this saying still holds up today, and I guess I will get my answer to that one day...
It's a scummy bar with lots of smoke and sweat in it. Not very clean, but a rustic charme to it. I notice a painting at the wall.
Tribute to Basque Cycling by NORI USHIJIMA
"Yes, these things are quite popular around here." These things? Surely he means paintings but he is already quite a bit drunk, and I myself fall back into days of a young drunkard myself.
The waitress overhears us at the table and comes to us. I think, she looks very nice and think about impressing her with some artsy talk, but she is faster and says: "There is a certain uncontrolable wildness in it, no? Mayhem and pain. I like it a lot."
"The name states Nori Ushijima. Sounds japanese. Does an asian have it what it takes to capture the basque soul?"
"Of course", she responds. "Often times foreigners from far away are the only ones who can understand one", and she smiles at me and I wonder if that is a hint, but before we finish the third bottle - and thereby collect enough courage to ask her out - she is already gone, and I am stuck with Carlos, who keeps praising Samu, showing basque national spirit and more than one time pushes his glass over the table. I get nervous each time I think about Samu and I worry that he will lose the jersey tomorrow.
"Ah, don't worry about that", Carlos explains. I drink the wine and hope that it fills that irritable hole I have looming in my body.
@FroomeDog99: It'd be a great victory for him and the team and although he is not originally from basque country, it's true that this sure has become his home race by now.
@sutty68: Indeed, but at last year`s Vuelta País Vasco he showed probably his best performance at a time trial. Let's hope he can do it again.
"It’s a little bit scary when Contador attacks." - Tommy V
This Time Trial will be the decision of the Vuelta Ciclista al País Vasco 2013. Samuel Sánchez goes into the race with a lead of 29 seconds to Contador. Valverde is 3rd with 39 seconds, however I think that Spilak (KAT) is much more dangerous, since he is the superior time trialist and is only 50 seconds behind. He has won the Vuelta Catalunya previously, so he is definitely in shape. As for the 5th contender: I doubt that Porte can catch up a minute to Sánchez on such a short parcours, but if it happens, I’d be damned.
For our domestiques it won’t be an easy day as they have to figure out the road a bit for Samu in order for him to make his best time trial possible today.
It’s really a tricky parcour, especially at the beginning and the end, so any information is useful. Urtasun is whooping up and down on these roads.
Bilbao heads back into town, back into Onati. What a crowd! Meanwhile, Tony Martin sets the current best time and beats Malori with about half a minute, while I notice that losing a minute on this parcour is easier done than said, unfortunately. Then again, Tony Martin luckily isn’t our opponent for the overall classification.
Mikel Landa may just have struck gold, as he’s doing really well. The infos from the guys earlier certainly helps him. Let’s hope that it will help Samu too!
Gorka Izagirre is our best yet and has 54 seconds to Martin. He is worse at Time Trial than Samu, so here’s hoping. Meanwhile, the Top 10 get into the race, with former Euskaltel rider Zubeldia starting off.
Samu is on the road. It is on!
The basque will cheer for him all along the way.
Richie Porte sets the new best time at the intermediate. Valverde is 15 seconds behind, Spilak 13, Contador 8…
Samu is 27 seconds behind. Damn it. About 8 kilometers left.
Crossing the bridge, he increases his pace. He has to give everything now. No more watching on the power output, no more hearing Katu’s words in the earpiece. Just ride…
While I am all concentrated on Samu, Richie Porte beats Tony Martin’s time by only 3 seconds.
But who cares about Porte, when you have Samu Sánchez? He brings it all to the table now. Meanwhile, the time comes in for the other riders: Spilak 35 seconds behind, Valverde gets 30… Contador… 14… oh it’s gonna be close…
……….
It’s enough. It’s easily enough… well, no. Not easily, but it’s enough. He even decreased his time on Porte from the intermediate. Thanks to the other guys, his teammates, he found an ideal balance for this stage. Perfect! Last year they said Samuel Sánchez won Vuelta Ciclista al País Vasco with the best time trial performance he ever did. This year, his presumably second best performance was enough to take the win.
Gora Samu, Gora Euskadi!
Samuel Sánchez defends his Vuelta Ciclista al País Vasco of the previous year and wins this race for the second time. He wins ahead of his friend Contador (TST). Richie Porte pushes himself forward from 5th to 3rd thanks to a superb time trial. Immense relieve and satisfaction is clearly to be seen on his face, the basque fans are cheering loud and proudly. Katu claps his hands and even gives me a clap on my shoulder, as if I accomplished something. There’s certain euphoria in the air, which can hard be related towards when you don’t speak basque I suppose. “Gora Samu, Gora!” I scream and fit right into the chorus of proud basques chanting and celebrating his name. He was not born a basque, but his actions, his pride and his character have surely made him one in their eyes. “This race is like rebuilding or rescuing the house for your family…”, he will state later, seemingly happy and tired. Together with the point’s jersey, his triumph of the overall classification is almost completely repeated from last year, and it might feel more than revisiting your home after being away from it for a year.
Overall Classifications: 1. Samuel Sánchez (EUS)
2. Alberto Contador (TST)
3. Richie Porte (SKY)
Mountain Jersey: Tom Dumoulin (ARG) Point Jersey: Samuel Sánchez (EUS)
U25: Thibaut Pinot (FDJ)
What effect this has on the morale of the group I can only imagine. I can’t look into their minds but they all celebrate quite a bit. Well, almost all do, as Ion Izagirre is already on his way to Paris – Roubaix. Meanwhile the joy of the basque people is much more obvious. I wander through Onati later that day, when the sun is gone and I walk a bit with a hang to the left, and people are still out on the streets, waving their ikurrina and celebrating Euskaltel’s triumph today. Cycling is truly magnificient and it’s a treasure for these people. A treasure they are hopeful to keep, one that belongs truly to the people, the Socios, by now. “I am a member since 1999”, a man later explains to him. “I couldn’t effort it earlier, but now – well, I smoke two packs less a month and the money is already in.” – “And, I… I dr- drink… erm, I drink three beers more!”, another man explain, obviously drunk. He hands me some Sangria and I ask if it’s okay with him that I drink, because there’s almost nothing left in it. The other guy says, that his friend is too drunk anyway, and while I drink he asks me, if am that one dude… who… writes… and then he forgets about what he wanted to ask me and rather focuses on the silly things his friend does. But well, I suppose I can imagine what he wanted to ask me. And with a smile I walk along the hills of Onati and stole away their bottle of Sangria, while I hear the people cheer over the horizon and at a long distance away Paris – Roubaix is waiting for me, and I imagine that it's calling my name. For a last time I look at the ikurrina, which hangs in front of the church, hanging always so damn high.
I read on the way to France a bit in the internet forums. A basque friend explains to me, that "we basques hate losing, we hate it!", and he takes a sip of coffee to stay awake. I borrowed his laptop and look a bit on international cycling news. The lines are plastered with Gora and Samu's face. Charismatic and cheerfully smiling, the basque soul is fixed for the time. However, I take a look at Katu and the old man looks only happy when he's sleeping, when he can forget about all the trouble concering the financial and sportive team.
I later hear him say, that Samu’s incredible performance also gives us a boost in terms of finances and sponsor satisfaction apparently. Over 60.000 Euro land in the money bank and both Euskaltel and Euskadi are extremely happy with this strong showing. “Well, too bad no sponsor renewal is up this year”, I tell Katu when he informs me about the extra cash, and I continue: “That might be just enough for a nice sum at the end of the contract sheet.”
He rolls his eyes and wants to respond something about me being super ignorant and/or super-dreamy, but then he takes a second off from his hammering brain and nods in agreement. “Well, then let’s just hope Samu will perform next year again in such a great fashion.” Yeah, I say, "let's hope" and then sum along the words of Gora Samu, Gora Euskadi…
Yours,
X
Stage result:
Rank
Name
Team
Time
1
Richie Porte
Sky Procycling
26'57
2
Tony Martin
Omega Pharma - Quick•Step Cycling Team
+ 3
3
Alberto Contador
Team Saxo - Tinkoff
+ 15
4
Luis León Sánchez
Belkin Pro Cycling Team
+ 25
5
Samuel Sánchez
Euskaltel - Euskadi
+ 26
6
Lieuwe Westra
Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
7
Tejay Van Garderen
BMC Racing Team
+ 27
8
Alejandro Valverde
Movistar Team
+ 31
9
Adriano Malori
Lampre - Merida
+ 35
10
Simon Spilak
Katusha Team
+ 36
Spoiler
11
Michał Kwiatkowski
Omega Pharma - Quick•Step Cycling Team
+ 37
12
Fredrik Kessiakoff
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
13
Rui Costa
Movistar Team
+ 38
14
Rohan Dennis
Garmin - Sharp
+ 39
15
David Zabriskie
Garmin - Sharp
+ 40
16
Peter Velits
Omega Pharma - Quick•Step Cycling Team
+ 43
17
Simon Gerrans
Orica - GreenEdge
+ 45
18
Roman Kreuziger
Team Saxo - Tinkoff
+ 47
19
Chris Froome
Sky Procycling
s.t.
20
Michael Rogers
Team Saxo - Tinkoff
+ 48
21
Stef Clement
Belkin Pro Cycling Team
+ 49
22
Haimar Zubeldia
RadioShack - Leopard
s.t.
23
Enrico Gasparotto
Astana Pro Team
+ 51
24
Jesús Herrada
Movistar Team
+ 53
25
Chris Horner
RadioShack - Leopard
s.t.
26
Michael Albasini
Orica - GreenEdge
+ 54
27
Andreas Klöden
RadioShack - Leopard
s.t.
28
Thomas De Gendt
Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team
+ 56
29
Tony Gallopin
RadioShack - Leopard
+ 57
30
Gorka Izagirre
Euskaltel - Euskadi
+ 58
31
Robert Gesink
Belkin Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
32
Nairo Quintana
Movistar Team
+ 1'00
33
Thibaut Pinot
FDJ
s.t.
34
Francis De Greef
Lotto Belisol
+ 1'01
35
Tom Danielson
Garmin - Sharp
+ 1'03
36
Tom Dumoulin
Team Argos - Shimano
+ 1'04
37
Jurgen Van den Broeck
Lotto Belisol
s.t.
38
Daniel Martin
Garmin - Sharp
+ 1'05
39
Przemyslaw Niemiec
Lampre - Merida
+ 1'08
40
Salvatore Puccio
Sky Procycling
+ 1'09
41
José Serpa
Lampre - Merida
s.t.
42
Brent Bookwalter
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
43
Lars Ytting Bak
Lotto Belisol
+ 1'10
44
José Herrada
Movistar Team
s.t.
45
Pablo Lastras
Movistar Team
s.t.
46
Chris Anker Sørensen
Team Saxo - Tinkoff
+ 1'12
47
Jack Bauer
Garmin - Sharp
+ 1'13
48
Tiago Machado
RadioShack - Leopard
s.t.
49
Cameron Meyer
Orica - GreenEdge
s.t.
50
Marcus Burghardt
BMC Racing Team
+ 1'14
51
Maxime Bouet
AG2R La Mondiale
s.t.
52
Ian Stannard
Sky Procycling
+ 1'16
53
Mikel Landa
Euskaltel - Euskadi
s.t.
54
George Preidler
Team Argos - Shimano
s.t.
Final Overall classification Vuelta Ciclista a País Vasco 2013:
@sammyt93: Thanks mate. Although Samu is in quite great form, he celebrated a bit too much after the race and thus couldn't beat Contador's level at the old Gameboy. No idea when Round 2 will be coming up, but I am sure Samu lusts for revenge.
@Blueprint: Thanks! Yeah, the team needs all the luck they can get with my constant failure at the Ardennes. Funnily enough, Euskaltel want the team to achieve 2 Top 5 places and 1 Top 10... Thankfully, no sponsor renewal is up this season.
I suppose Paris - Roubaix will be later up today.
"It’s a little bit scary when Contador attacks." - Tommy V
