THIS WEEK IN PRO CYCLING
Klier grabs stage win as Menchov preserves Vuelta lead
Just when it looked like the Vuelta a España was stuck on the repeat button, all hell broke loose in Friday´s 176km 13th stage.
Take away the wild battles in the Pyrenees, and it seemed the Vuelta had stolen the script from the movie “Groundhog Day.” Day after day, the same plot unfolded: an early break, lots of TV for Spain´s second-division no-hopers, the peloton on siesta, the sprint teams revving up the chase, the breakaway caught with 8km to go, a sprinter sweeping across the line in the fight to see who gets kisses from the podium girls.
On paper, Friday’s rolling march across the barren moonscapes of Murcia in southern Spain from Hellin to Torre-Pacheco looked to be more of the same.
This time, however, everything was going to be different.
A breakaway finally stayed away to snatch the victory ahead of the peloton, suddenly showing that even monotony can be a dangerous thing for a bike race.
There were abanicos, the nasty splits in the peloton caused by the wind and weary legs. The golden jersey, Denis Menchov, even had a few nervous moments as Caisse d'Epargne did its level best to break apart the race. There were crashes (that much wasn’t new). After nearly two weeks of idyllic weather, the skies opened up with a deluge that included rain and hail.
"This is a day you never forget," said Ezequiel Mosquera, who flatted late but retained his fifth place overall. "We had to cross rivers of water. We could barely avoid crashing on roads that were more like ice-skating rinks than roads to drive on. Later Caisse d'Epargne attacked and I was in a bad position. When I got back and I thought everything was okay, I flatted and had more nerves. It was a crazy day."
Andreas Klier - a German on the T-Mobile team - was the main benefactor in a day of hell and high water after taking the flowers out of a three-man breakaway that finally snapped the elastic to the peloton.
"The bad weather didn't bother me that much. I personally like days like these," said Klier, who snagged T-Mobile's second stage win of the Vuelta. "This victory gives me a lot of morale looking ahead to next season. I had some injuries this year. Next year, the Tour of Flanders is the big goal."
At least one thing didn't change. Despite some nervous moments, Menchov retained the overall leader's jersey. The Vuelta moved one day closer to Madrid, but it wasn't an easy one.
Rain and pain
With just about everyone talking more about the upcoming world championships than the Vuelta, two riders who likely to figure in next month's battle in Stuttgart took an early exit. Tom Boonen (Quick Step-Innergetic), still banged up from a crash in Zaragoza on Friday, and Davide Rebellin (Gerolsteiner), who attacked in Thursday's stage, both pulled the plug on the Vuelta to ready for the world's. Xavier Florencio (Bouygues Telecom) also bailed in what will likely turn from a trickle to a torrent as riders take leave of the Vuelta in the coming days to prepare for a run at the rainbow jersey.
There was nothing ominous in Hellin to indicate Friday would be that much different from the preceding two weeks of racing, but there were a few signs. Milram capo Alessandro Petacchi had already promised his boys a day off following two straight wins. Building clouds in the usually sunny Murcia region perhaps hinted things might be different.
There were three hard efforts at breakaways in the opening 15km, but Euskaltel-Euskadi chased down the moves. It wasn´t until Klier pulled clear with Jeremy Roy (FDJeux) and Tom Stamsnidjer (Gerolsteiner) at about 20km that something stuck. Just about then, it started to rain slightly.
Fueled by a strong tailwind and increasing rain, the threesome quickly opened up a gap north of six minutes at 46km. Riders went down in the bunch, including David de la Fuente (Saunier Duval) and Damiano Cunego (Lampre), still nursing bandages from his Stage 1 crash that also KO'd Tom Danielson (Discovery Channel).
At 63km, the gap pushed near 10 minutes and the peloton was forced to up the tempo or risk losing control of the race. Klier, winner of the 2003 Ghent-Wevelgem, and Stamsnidjer, a Vuelta rookie but a winner of a stage at Settimana Lombarda, weren’t to be taken lightly.
The rain continued to hammer the peloton.
"It almost never rains in Murcia," said Luis Leon Sanchez, who hails from the region. "It probably rained more today than it does all year."
What was good for the local reservoirs wasn't ideal for the nervous and battered peloton, closing in on the third week of racing. The rare dose of rain made the roads - loaded with months of oil, dust and grease - into treacherously slick plains.
The gap was still hovering around 10 minutes over the day's lone obstacle, the Cat. 3 Alto de Espuña, at 96km. The harder the rain fell, the more riders crashed. There were a pair of spills around 120km.
Sensing that Menchov might be vulnerable, Caisse d'Epargne ramped up the speed with about 30km to go to see if they could split the group. The peloton fractured under the pressure and riders such as Cunego, Gomez Marchante (Saunier Duval) and Stijn Devolder (Discovery Channel) were all missing from the lead group of about 30 riders. Menchov and the other favorites all were safely tucked in behind the attackers, working hard for second-place Vladimir Efimkin.
When it was clear the break was going to stay clear, the pace decreased in the bunch and allowed Devolder and the others to latch back on, including a desperate Carlos Barredo (Quick Step), who punctured with just 8km to go.
With victory in play, Stamsnidjer had some bad luck with a late puncture. Just as he chased back on, Klier uncorked what looked to be a winning attack with 5km to go. There was no joy for Roy and he faded out of contention, but Stamsnidjer surged back onto the wheel of the German veteran. Stamsnidjer then tried an early sprint to surprise his rival, but Klier used his savvy to make easy work of his younger rival.
Roy rolled across 24 seconds too late and Daniele Bennati (Lampre) led the peloton across the line at 4:03 back.
Sometimes these breaks do work.
Perhaps Klier’s luck will inspire his colleagues in Saturday's long 207km 14th stage from Puerto Lumbreras to Villacarrillo, a potentially exciting stage with four Cat. 3 climbs to liven things up.
62nd Vuelta a España
Stage 13, Hellín to Torre-Pacheco, 176km
Winner: Andreas Klier (T-Mobile)
Leader: Denis Menchov (Rabobank)
Points: Paolo Bettini (Quick Step-Innergetic)
Climber: Menchov
Combined: Menchov
Team: Caisse d'Epargne
Peloton: 164 remain, Xavier Florencio (Bouygues Telecom), Tom Boonen (QuickStep-Innergetic) and Davide Rebellin (Gerolsteiner) DNS
Results
1. Andreas Klier (G), T-Mobile, 4:01:52
2. Tom Stamsnidjer (Nl), Gerolsteiner, at 0:01
3. Jérémy Roy (F), Francaise des Jeux, at 0:24
4. Daniele Bennati (I), Lampre, 4:03
5. Alessandro Petacchi (I), Milram, 4:03
6. Angelo Furlan (I), Credit Agricole, 4:03
7. Roy Sentjens (B), Predictor-Lotto, 4:03
8. Magnus Backstedt (Swe), Liquigas, 4:03
9. Aliaksandr Usau (Blr), Ag2r Prevoyance, 4:03
10. Erik Zabel (G), Milram, 4:03
Overall
1. Denis Menchov (Rus), Rabobank, 52:14:21
2. Vladimir Efimkin (Rus), Caisse d'Epargne, 2:01
3. Cadel Evans (Aus), Predictor-Lotto, 2:27
4. Carlos Sastre (Sp), CSC, 3:02
5. Ezequiel Mosquera (Sp), Karpin Galicia, 4:35
6. Samuel SÁnchez (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, 4:42
7. Vladimir Karpets (Rus), Caisse d'Epargne, 5:49
8. Manuel BeltrÁn (Sp), Liquigas, 5:56
9. Stijn Devolder (B), Discovery Channel Team, 6:28
10. Carlos Barredo (Sp), Quick Step-Innergetic, 6:39
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