The second stage of the Vuelta takes the riders south across the region of Alicante. Apart from a small climb in the beginning of the stage, the route is very flat. The only danger will be the wind, as the riders will travel a long part of the stage parallel to the sea.
A group of 3 riders were in front by the time they reached the first sprint of Santa Pola: Edvald Boasson Hagen (Sky), Bjorn Leukemans (Liquigas) and Rui da Costa (Radioshack). They had 50 seconds on a group of 5 riders including Óscar Freire and 4’ 50’’ on the pack.
As feared, the wind was very strong and made the chase difficult for the peloton. The break was eventually reeled back in with 18 kilometers to go, but the wind was making some riders suffer.
The pack broke apart with 6 kilometers to go after the work of some teams to control the peloton for the sprint. Among the favorites for the overall win, only Marco Marcato was in the front group.
Today’s sprint had a small trap, as there were 0.5 kms at a gradient of 8% in the last kilometer. That will make the uphill finishers stand a chance against the sprinters. Rojas was leading the sprint with 1 km to go, ahead of Simone Ponzi, Kennaugh and Greipel.
Tyler Farrar wins in Playas de Orihuela! The American came from nowhere to take the stage win ahead of Kennaugh and Brajkovic. Farrar doesn’t care whether the sprint is uphill or downhill, he is the fastest around.
Meanwhile, all of the favorites were able to end in the same time as the American, as the judges didn’t award any time difference across the pack. However, Tyler Farrar will grab the yellow jersey anyway on the bonus seconds. He has every chance to wear it until the mountain top finish in Sierra Nevada in stage 4.
The third stage of the Vuelta is rather flat, but the climb to the Alto de la Santa could provide some opportunities for late attacks if there is no break in front. The sprinters will need to be very aware as the peloton climbs as it will be difficult to gain positions in the descent.
A group of 8 riders fought for the bonus seconds in the first intermediate sprint in Pliego. The group had 3’ 10’’ on the pack with 65 km to go, so they didn’t look good. The most important riders in the group were Dries Devenyns, JoaquÃn Rodriguez, Cadel Evans and Steven Kruijswijk.
The break never looked good and it ended on the climb to La Santa. Filippo Pozzato was the keenest to take the mountain points, but the pace in the climb wasn’t high as the peloton seemed to settle for a mass sprint.
Peter Sagan and Jelle Vanendert were the first to start sprinting, but Tyler Farrar and Alexandre Vinokourov approached fast from behind.
Jelle Vanendert wins in Totana! A massive surprise today, as one of the favorites for the overall win takes the stage win in a mass sprint. Arguably, the climb before the finish equaled things among the hillers and the sprinters.
Tyler Farrar will keep the yellow jersey, as he gets 4 bonus seconds for finishing third, but he’s only 3 seconds ahead of Peter Sagan. Tomorrow, the first mountain test of the Vuelta will take place in the slopes of Sierra Nevada so Farrar will most likely lose the jersey.
The first mountain stage of the Vuelta arrives very early this year. The riders will have to climb to the most famous sky resort in the south of Spain: Sierra Nevada. Before that, another long climb will welcome the riders, Filabres. That will be a good place for a break to take shape. Even though there quite a lot of flat before Sierra Nevada, the stage should allow us to see who is strong in the mountains this year.
There was not a lot of fight to be in the break, as the pack soon allowed a group of 8 riders to go away, including Alessandro Ballan, Oscar Freire, Filippo Pozzato and Denis Menchov. Ballan was clearly the best climber in the group, so he would have a chance if they reached the bottom of Sierra Nevada ahead. In the first intermediate sprint of Huenaja, they had built a gap of 5’ 50’’.
Pozzato was the most interested in grabbing the mountain jersey points, but he was only second as they crossed the climb of Los Blancares. Three riders had jumped from the pack in the meantime: Luis Leon Sanchez, Ivan Basso and Oliver Zaugg. They lost 5’15’’ in the mountain sprint, while the peloton was 6 minutes back.
The peloton didn’t care to chase that much, as the break starts the climb to Sierra Nevada with 5’ 35’’ on them. However, Pieter Weening wanted to get things moving as soon as the road started to be uphill. The HTC rider is making a big bet today.
A rider moves early in the break too, and it’s not Ballan. Oscar Freire attacks and gets a few meters on the break with 17 kilometers to go. Weening is climbing amazingly and has cut the delay on the break to 2’ 55’’ in 6 kilometers, while the peloton is rather relaxed, 5 minutes behind.
Hubert Dupont is tired of sitting in the pack and attacks with 14 to go. Pieter Weening’s advantage has grown to 2’ 35’’ and starts to be dangerous. Jean-Christophe Peraud and Xavi Tondo both jump on the wheel of the Frenchman as soon as he makes his move.
Weening is completing a magnificent climb, as he catches the break with 9 to go. He will now have Menchov’s help in the group. Freire still has 25 seconds on the group of 6 riders. Behind, a group of favorites has taken shape.
The two HTC riders and Freire cross the 5 km sign with 1’ 30’’ on the group with the favorites. However, not everyone that was supposed to be around is having a good day, as Frank Schleck, Mikel Nieve and David Lopez are nowhere to be seen.
Hubert Dupont is the best of the rest as Weening starts to show signs of fatigue. The French is 1’ 05’’ behind and George Hincapie 20 seconds later with some of the former members of the break.
Pieter Weening wins in Sierra Nevada! The Dutch made a final push in the last kilometer and a half to leave Freire and Menchov stuck to the road. He will also grab the yellow jersey, as the time differences were really small in the GC.
Freire takes the second place in the sprint ahead of Menchov. The Spaniard will take the mountain jersey 1 point ahead of Pozzato and the Russian will wear the young’s jersey. Behind them arrives Hubert Dupont to take fourth 1’ 16’’ behind Weening.
Other favorites in the top places are Peraud and Hincapie +1’ 42’’, Xavi Tondo +2’ 21’’ and Marcato + 2’ 46’’. The climbers will now take a break until the 9th stage finishing in La Covatilla.
The riders face this broken terrain stage after the first mountain test. The terrain fits a break, as the sprinters have no chance to win, as the last kilometre has a gradient around 10%. Just before, the climb to the Alto de Valdepeñas may be a good ground for someone who is feeling good today.
Five riders decided that it was a good day for a breakaway to win the stage: Daniele Bennati, Fabian Cancellara, Igor Anton, Joost Van Leijen and Bjorn Leukemans. A they go through the first pass of the Alto de Valdepeñas they have a gap on the pack of 8’ 40’’.
In the end the peloton decided that they wanted to fight for the stage win. Lampre and Radioshack thought that Pozzato and Brajkovic might stand a chance on the uphill finish. They had cut the difference back to 3’ 25’’ by the time they reached the second intermediate sprint.
The break soon cracked down and the pack started the last climb together. The first attack arrived halfway through the climb, when Frank Schleck decided that he wanted to get back some of the time he lost yesterday. This was only 8 km from the finish.
Schleck crosses the mountain sprint ahead, with Dupont and Vanendert close behind. Pieter Weening is not responding and the descent towards Valdepeñas won’t allow for time recovery.
A group of six riders got together and got around one minute on the pack: F. Schleck, Hincapie, Dupont, Vanendert, Nieve and David Lopez. It is surprising how the men that lost time yesterday look much stronger today.
Jelle Vanendert wins in Valdepeñas de Jaen! The Belgian takes his second win in this Vuelta as he is the strongest on the last kilometer wall. 10 seconds behind arrive F. Schleck and Nieve to fill the top positions of the stage.
Hubert Dupont was maybe looking to add bonus seconds, but in the end he arrived 23 seconds back along with Hincapie and Lopez. The French is now 55 seconds behind Weening in the GC. Jelle Vanendert grabbed the green jersey from Tyler Farrar. The sprinters will have it difficult this year in the point’s classification, even a dominant one like Farrar, as there won’t be a lot of sprints.
bennettWPS wrote:
Just wondering, how do you do a fantasy neutral story?
Well, you can read the first post o the story for an explanation of what's "fantastic" about the story. Besides, I don't control any team, only one rider with attributes of 50 on everything.
bennettWPS wrote:
Just wondering, how do you do a fantasy neutral story?
Well, you can read the first post o the story for an explanation of what's "fantastic" about the story. Besides, I don't control any team, only one rider with attributes of 50 on everything.
Well, how do you not control any teams? Sorry for sounding like a n00b
bennettWPS wrote:
Just wondering, how do you do a fantasy neutral story?
Well, you can read the first post o the story for an explanation of what's "fantastic" about the story. Besides, I don't control any team, only one rider with attributes of 50 on everything.
Well, how do you not control any teams? Sorry for sounding like a n00b
I do control a team, but it only has one rider and he is really bad so he will never appear in the comments of the stages.
The stage between Ubeda and Cordoba will be a relief for the favorites in the GC. They had two days with a lot of work and today it will be a chance for a mass sprint or a puncheur. The mountain of the "fourteen percent" is topped only 20 kilometers from the finish, so the stage finish could be entertaining.
A group of 6 riders were ahead of the peloton as they came close to the shores of the Guadalquivir river. The group included: Oscar Freire, Dries Devenyns and Laurens Ten Dam. At the first intermediate sprint of Villanueva de Cordoba they had a gap of 5' 15'' on the pack. As they still had 56 km to go, it would be hard to make the break count today.
The break arrived with a small advantage to the outskirts of the Alto del Catorce por Ciento. There, Oscar Freire decided that he wanted to go alone to add points to his mountain jersey. The Rabobank rider is getting used to attacking in the mountains. He had a gap of 1' 15'' over the peloton.
Janez Brajkovic and Filippo Pozzato attacked in the last meters of the climb, but the peloton wasn't in a hurry, as they were still one minute behind Freire. The teams of the sprinters didn't want to burn them before the last kilometers.
The peloton was surprisingly disorganized during the few difficult kilometers after the climb. That means that Freire's chances of winning have increased dramatically, as he faces 11 km of descent with a gap of 30 seconds on Dries Devenyns and Laurens Ten Dam and 1' 30'' on the pack.
Terrible news in the fast descent towards Cordoba. A group of riders crashes including the favorite and 4th in the GC George Hincapie, the World Champion Tom Danielson and the 6th in the GC Alessandro Ballan. The worst news come from Carlos Barredo, who has to withdraw from the race due to the injuries.
Oscar Freire wins in Cordoba! The Spaniard completes a very long break taking the stage win and consolidating the KoM jersey.
Tyler Farrar wins the peloton sprint to be fourth in the stage ahead of Fuglsang and Vinokourov. A few meters ahead arrived Devenyns and Ten Dam, but they were so close that the peloton was awarded the same time as the duo.
The biggest loser of the day was, of course, George Hincapie. He arrived with a small group of riders 4 minutes behind. That is a big hit to his chances of winning the yellow jersey in two weeks time.
The seventh stage is one of the flattest of the Vuelta. The chances are that the sprinters will have another option of winning. The mass sprint options in this Vuelta are not a lot, so the teams with sprinters won't be letting another one go as in Cordoba.
Only three men were in the break of the day: Wout Poels, Johan Van Summeren and Joaquim Rodriguez. They built a gap of 9' 25'' on the peloton, but with 100 km to go the pack had already started to chase. That wasn't good news for the three of them.
Saxo Bank, Garmin and Leopard were the keenest to bring the break back. It was done with 15 km to go, so we should be heading for a mass sprint now.
Lampre got some bad news when Filippo Pozzato hit the ground with only 10 kilometers to go. The Italian will be losing his 6th overall in the worst way possible.
Alexandre Vinokourov took Farrar's wheel before the sprint, so he was well positioned. The duo had a surprising Vasili Kiryenka behind, farther back was Peter Kennaugh, but he didn't stand a chance.
Tyler Farrar wins in Talavera de la Reina! It was a close contest between the American and Vinokourov, but Farrar is able to get his second win in this Vuelta. That brings his stage victory counter for the season to 8, plus the overall win in Australia and the green jersey in Poland. He will also take back the green jersey of the Vuelta from Vanendert.
Meanwhile, Vinokourov has seen himself shadowed by the Saxo Bank rider in this second part of the season, with only a win in the first stage of Poland after Tirreno Adriatico. After the stage, Lampre issued a press statement confirming that Pozzato will stay in the race. At first sight the injuries he sustained were hard and that may hamper his performance.
How many victories has he had since you began your story
He has won
2009
- 1st Giro di Lombardia
2010
- 1st Stages 1 and 4 Tour Down Under
- 1st GC Tour Down Under
- 1st Stage 7 Tirreno Adriatico
- 1st Stages 2, 3 and 7 Tour of Poland
- 1st Points Jersey Tour of Poland
- 1st Stages 2 and 7 Vuelta a España
Stage 8: Talavera de la Reina - San Lorenzo del Escorial
The eighth stage looks very interesting for any puncheur looking for a stage win in this Vuelta, as they won’t have many opportunities. The mass sprint is discarded, as the last kilometer is uphill at 10% and paved. Besides, the fatigue accumulated during the race should discard many fast men.
A break had already taken shape at the top of the Alto de Mijares, the long first climb of the day. Giovanni Visconti, Jose Rujano and Fabian Cancellara crowned the top 4’ 45’’ ahead of the peloton. The peloton knew that this was going to be a tough day and took things easy.
The peloton started moving in the second climb of the day, San Bartolome de Pinares. There were various break attempts by Euskaltel and BMC, but HTC was putting a high pace in the pack and every time they were brought back. The deficit to the break had therefore decreased to 3’ 30’’.
The group was collapsing in the last climb of the day. That’s when Fabian Cancellara decided to leave his two break partners, as the gap to the pack was down to 1’ 15’’. With 30 kilometers to go, it’s difficult to think it will get to something.
The Swiss holds a comfortable lead climbing for the second intermediate sprint of the day. The difference has stabilized, while Rujano and Visconti have already been caught.
Cancellara was very close to make the break count, but he was caught in the end with 3 km to go. The last climb towards San Lorenzo del Escorial was too tough for him. Right after, the riders face the hill finish. Jelle Vanenedert leads the pack ahead of Frank Schleck, Hubert Dupont and Samuel Sanchez.
Jelle Vanendert wins in San Lorenzo del Escorial! The Belgian is again the fastest climbing a mur finish and therefore gets his third win of the Vuelta in eight stages. It was very close with Frank Schleck, who almost snatched victory. The last bonus seconds went to the leader; Pieter Weening was third in the stage and extends his lead to 59 seconds over Hubert Dupont.
On worse news, Mikel Nieve suffered a tumble in the last descent and ended the stage losing almost 3 minutes. The BMC climber goes down to position 68 in the GC. This means that both BMC bets for the GC have lost time due to falls, it is such a shame for the American team. His best man in the GC is George Hincapie, 14th 5 minutes back.
On the evening after the stage in San Lorenzo del Escorial it has been anounced that three new outfits will join the UCI World Tour next season:
- Movistar Team: The Spanish team has long roots in cycilng, as this is the same outfit that saw Miguel Induráin win 5 Tour de France under the sponsorship of Banesto. The team was formed in 1980, while Banesto arrived as a sponsor in 1990. Movistar is their new sponsor from 2011.
- Team Katusha: The rather new outfit Katusha arrives with high ambitions to the World Tour. The Russians have good sponsors backing from Gazprom or Itera.
- Vacansoleil - DMC: The Dutch team is also very new to the world of cycling. With sponsors from Belgium and the Netherlands, it is quite likely that their main focus will be the spring classics.
The ninth stage is the second for the climbers in this Vuelta. The riders will head west into the region of Gredos to climb towards the ski resort of La Covatilla. However, the first part of the stage is really flat, so the battle will only start after leaving behind the second intermediate sprint of Bejar. It will be interesting to see whether Pieter Weening can show the good legs he had in Sierra Nevada.
A group of 7 riders took advantage of the flat terrain in the start of the stage to build a nice gap in front, the group included Beñat Intxausti, Dries Devenyns and Edvald Boasson Hagen. At the Alto de Villatoro, the little climb halfway through the stage, they held an advantage of 9’ 20’’ on the pack.
The peloton wasn’t in a hurry to catch the break. They went through the second intermediate sprint losing 3’ 45’’. That is where the climb towards La Covatilla starts, so the break stands a chance of winning the stage.
Taylor Phinney is the first to make a move in the break. Euskaltel is looking for a stage win in the mountains as they usually do. The American has 30 seconds on the other members of the break with 11 km of ascent remaining.
The leader is the first to make a move in the group. He attacks under the 5 kilometers banner and no one follows. The Dutch has been the most aggressive climber so far, and that has given him good returns so far. Meanwhile, Phinney has 39 seconds on Devenyns, Matthews and Kristoff and 2’ 50’’ o the pack.
A couple of kilometers to go and Phinney looks very good. Pieter Weening is doing a great climb and has gotten within 1 minute of the Euskaltel rider, but it doesn’t look as though the stage win is at risk.
Two French have joined in the chase for Weening: Jean-Christophe Peraud and Hubert Dupont. They are 40 seconds behind Weening and 35 seconds ahead of George Hincapie. Some of the leading riders on the GC don’t seem to have an answer, like Menchov, Vanendert or Tondo.
One of the best climbers in the Vuelta, Mikel Nieve, doesn’t seem to have a good time after his fall yesterday. The Spaniard is suffering to keep up with the peloton pace and his chances for a good GC are fading away.
Weening catches Phinney on the last kilometer! Both riders sprint for the win after another great climb from Weening.
Pieter Weening denies Taylor Phinney in La Covatilla! The Dutch does it again, winning his second mountain top finish in the first week of La Vuelta. He will surely put more than one minute between him and his closest rivals in the GC.
Peraud arrives on third position after leaving Dupont behind. The Saxo Bank rider arrives a few seconds behind along with Hincapie.
Pieter Weening is showing himself dominant in the mountains in this first part of the Vuelta. This stage leaves him with 2’ 42’’ in the GC to play with in tomorrow’s time trial. It is expected that he will lose some time there to other contenders, but he should keep the jersey by a good margin. Among the bad news, Frank Schleck was expected to do much more in the mountains but he is leaving all the responsibility to Peraud.
