Perhaps Oscar Freire has a sixth sense. After winning three out of the first six stages at the Vuelta a España, the Rabobank sprinter had his crash radar up and decided to take himself out of Friday’s sprint into Zaragoza. Sure enough. There was a nasty spill with about 30km to go that took down American Christian Vande Velde (CSC) when the peloton was roaring at 65kph to erase the day’s main breakaway. With just under three kilometers to go, more riders hit the deck on a narrow traffic circle that was under construction in the treacherous, high-speed stampede into Zaragoza that split the peloton. “I was a little tired and I can see there was a lot of nerves in (Thursday’s) stage. I could see there were a lot of people who thought they could win and I thought it would be dangerous today, too much for my tastes,” said Freire, who avoided the crash by chatting with amigos at the tail of the peloton most of the day. “I took the day off today and in back you avoid the crashes. I’d prefer to lose time instead to be involved in a useless crash.” The finish-line crash split the peloton and veteran German ace Erik Zabel (Milram) stormed out of a small group of nine riders who pulled clear to win the hot and windy 173km run from Calahorra to Zaragoza. Zabel stabbed his bike across the line to relegate Allan Davis (Discovery Channel), who was lifting his arms in celebration, into second place with defending world champ Paolo Bettini (QuickStep-Innergetic) taking third. “I didn’t realize I had won. I saw Davis with his arms in the air and I went straight to the team bus. It’s only there that I watched the replay on TV that I realized I had won,” said Zabel, after taking his sixth win of the 2007 season. “I don’t blame the organization for the crash. It was the works project that caused the accident, nothing the Vuelta did. I like this race. It’s always very well organized.” It’s the second year in a row Zabel has won a Vuelta stage, but this year the circumstances are much different. Zabel, 37, was among several big-name German riders who admitted they used EPO during the heyday of the Telekom team in the mid-to-late 1990s. Zabel, however, said he only sampled EPO once and never tried it again because he said it affected his health. Zabel is the only active rider among the confessing Telekom riders, that also included 1996 Tour winner Bjarne Riis, who returned to the Vuelta this week after skipping the Tour de France as sport director of his Team CSC to avoid putting his team under media spotlight for the wrong reasons. Zabel has received his fair share of abuse from the media and German cycling officials, whom many insisted that Zabel should be forced to retire. His Milram team, however, has supported the veteran German sprinter and allowed him to continue racing. “Every win is special for me these days because after May, I thought my career was over,” Zabel said, referring to his EPO confession. “My next goal is the world championships. I want to prepare for it the best way possible. This victory gives me morale to make a good race on home roads.” Because the second crash happened under the 3km to go banner, no time differences were counted as riders trickled across the line in a several small groups. Vladimir Efimkin (Caisse d’Epargne) retained his 1:06 lead to a gaggle of would-be contenders who will be keen to take his jersey in Saturday’s decisive time trial. No luck for breakout, Vande Velde hits deck
Through the first seven stages of the Vuelta, there’s only been one breakaway to successfully make it to the finish line. That was in stage four when Efimkin was the last man standing out of a massive 35-rider group to make it clear to the Lagos de Covadonga ahead of the chasing favorites. Every other day has followed a familiar pattern: riders attack early, riders open up huge gaps, sprinter teams wake up from siesta, sprinter teams squelch move, sprinters win stage. It seemed Friday’s long, mostly flat run across the Ebro Valley would follow the script. Two riders attacked at kilometer zero – Raul Garcia de Mateos (Relax-GAM) and Jesus Rosendo Prado (Andalucia-Cajasur) – and opened up a lead of nearly 10 minutes in the two hours of racing. Milram and Lampre-Fondital joined forces to reel in these no-hopers with 7km to go, though they did earn their respective sponsors some valuable TV time on Spanish television. There was already one pileup near the front of the nervous bunch with less than 30km to go when the peloton was pushed along by tailwinds into Zaragoza that took down Vande Velde. “It seemed like people started to let their guard down and suddenly there were a pile of people in front of me and I went straight into it. There was nothing I could do,” Vande Velde told VeloNews. “I wasn’t seriously hurt. My neck and ankle hurt a little bit, but I got to suck it up. I landed on some other guys, but the problem is that some other guys landed on me.” Vande Velde voiced his frustration because he was just starting to feel good after crashing twice in the Vuelta’s second stage. Despite the Vuelta’s wide-open roads, crashes have plagued the first week of this year’s edition and Vande Velde has had the bad luck to have a front-row view of more than his fair share. “There are still a lot of crashes on these big roads. There’s a big difference among the riders in terms of fitness, some don’t care, some are tired, the speeds are high,” Vande Velde said. “These stupid crashes happen when people start to let their guard down in the bunch.” There were more theatrics on tap. The course entered the city on a major avenue where several roundabouts were under construction, something Vuelta officials said they didn’t know about. “There was some construction works on some of the rotundas on the final stretch. There were, in the end, five extra corners in the final kilometers than there were when we came here 20 days ago to study the final route,” said Abraham Olano, technical director of the Vuelta. “We always look to make the arrivals as safe as possible. We didn’t realize these works were underway.” Riders came flying into a construction zone where the course squeezed down to one narrow lane and a crash was inevitable. Several more riders went down, including Angelo Furlan (Credit Agricole) and Christophe Brandt (Predictor-Lotto). Pre-race favorite Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel-Euskaltel) also hit the deck, but was able to shake off any serious injuries. “There was a lot of wind in the favor. We were just flying, then there was some braking, bikes started skidding and riders hit the deck,” said Angel Vallejo of Relax-GAM, whose rear-end took the worst of the damage. “It seems like someone has a bad sense of humor because our team was out there all day in the breakaway and then I crash in the final kilometers.” TT to prove decisive
Saturday’s 52km time trial will prove critical in the fight for the overall. An unusually long time trial by Vuelta standards, wind should be the decisive factor on an otherwise straight and flat route into Zaragoza that presents no technical challenges or climbs. “If there’s a tailwind, the differences should be relatively minor,” said Saunier Duval sport director Matxin Fernandez. “If there’s a headwind, then watch out, there could be some huge differences that would favor the specialists.” There are few specialists in this year’s Vuelta, however. Favorites on paper are Cadel Evans (Predictor-Lotto), seventh at 1:28 back, with the likes of Oscar Pereiro (Caisse d’Epargne) and 2005 winner Denis Menchov (Rabobank) able to defend themselves in the discipline. “Time trials are always difficult. It’s a 100-percent effort. It doesn’t matter if it’s 45km or 52km, they’re always hard,” said Menchov, poised in second place at 1:06 back. “Evans should be the favorite for victory. We’ll see how he does after the Tour. I feel good. I hope to do well.” It’s hard to say if Efimkin will be able to defend his leader’s jersey. The 25-year-old Russian seems to be enjoying his run atop of the GC and won’t want to give up the jersey without a fight. “I know it will not be easy, but I will start very motivated thanks to the golden jersey,” Efimkin said after the stage. “Time trials are not my specialty. My longest of my career was last year in the Giro. This year, I lost the Tour de Suisse in the final time trial, but the conditions are different this time for me and I feel much better than I did then. The favorites are Menchov and Evans, but I will not give up without a fight.” 62nd Vuelta a España, Stage 7, Calahorra to Zaragoza, 176kmWinner Erik Zabel (Milram)Leader Vladimir Efimkin (Caisse d’Epargne)Points Oscar Freire (Rabobank)Climber Serafin Martinez Acevedo (Karpin-Galicia)Combined EfimkinTeam Caisse d’EpargnePeloton 180 riders remain – Bert Roesems (Predictor-Lotto) and Alberto Fernandez de la Puebla (Saunier Duval-Prodir), DNFResults
1. Erik Zabel (G), Milram, 3:52:05
2. Allan Davis (Aus), Discovery Channel Team
3. Paolo Bettini (I), Quick Step-Innergetic
4. Koldo Fernández (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi
5. André Korff (G), T-Mobile
6. Philippe Gilbert (B), Francaise Des Jeux
7. Andrea Tonti (I), Quick Step-Innergetic
8. Luis León Sánchez (Sp), Caisse d'Epargne
9. Aliaksandr Usau (Blr), Ag2r Prevoyance, all same time
10. Mark Renshaw (Aus), Credit Agricole, at 0:12
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