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Córdoba, Spain

Vuelta a España, Stage 6: Kohler Most Aggressive

Martin Kohler of the BMC Racing Team earned the Vuelta a España's most aggressive rider honors Thursday while teammate Mathias Frank survived a crash and Johann Tschopp withdrew due to fatigue.

Kohler: 'Won't Be The Last Time'

Kohler was part of a four-man breakaway that gained as much as an eight-minute lead. With the gap to the chasing pack down to a minute and only 31 kilometers left in the 193.4 km race, Kohler ventured off alone. He was caught five kilometers later. "I was trying the whole day to make the breakaway," he said. "Unfortunately, we were only four riders and not the strongest ones from the peloton. But it's a three-week race and there are more days to come. So it won't be the last time I'm in the breakaway." Frank crashed after 70 kilometers when an official motorbike couldn't make a sharp right turn. "I went down on my hip and elbow and it hurt pretty bad at the beginning, but as I kept riding, it got better," Frank said. Peter Sagan led a 1-3-4-5 finish for Liquigas-Cannondale while Sylvain Chavanel (Quickstep) kept the overall lead.

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What a season!

 

It’s been busy times and it’s only now I can sit down and reflect on what’s been a very challenging season for me. The highlight and major event of my season was the Donne Giro D’Italia (Women’s Giro). The race surprised me in many ways, primerely the body adapting to a routine of waking up, eating a big breakfast, driving to the race start, race, transit to hotel, massage, eat then bed. In between the routine was spent contacting family and trying to relax before the next day. This is where music became my support line. My iPod was a key in pumping me up for the stage, or on the flip side chilling me out. However the Giro wasn’t all sunflower fields and roses. The world cycling community lost one of the toughest women I have ever met in cycling Carly Hibbard. A friend that provided me with support and advice and will be sadly missed by anyway who has ever met this amazing woman.

 

Now I’m back on home soil I have began my off-season break which means which means my study will get more attention for those of you who don’t know I study a Bachelor of Science via correspondence to the University of Southern Queensland. The purpose of my break beginning now is to rest up well and, take extra time out to relax with friends and family then build my body and mind up again for my early season main focus of Nationals held in January in my home town of Ballarat.  

 

Being at my computer more often over the next few months, blogs posts will certainly be more frequent and about what I have been doing with my off-season and preparation for what’s next.

 

Till then

Ange 

RESULTS

1. Joaquim Rodriguez – Katusha     (4hours 42mins 54secs)

2. Wout Poels – Vacansoleil        (+4)

3. Daniel Moreno – Katusha    (+5)

 

20. Bradley Wiggins – Team Sky     (+20)

22. Chris Froome - Team Sky          (+20)

 

Joaquim Rodriguez put in a late burst of speed to take victory on the tough uphill finish at Valdepenas de Jaen and in doing so moved up to third in the standings behind race leader Sylvain Chavanel. Team Sky endured a mixed day as Bradley Wiggins finished towards the head of the pack while Kurt-Asle Arvesen suffered a hard crash.

 

The high-speed accident happened on a descent midway through the undulating 187 kilometres stage from Sierra Nevada to Valdepenas de Jaen after a child appeared to run into the road. It left the Norwegian, who is riding in his final Grand Tour before retiring at the end of the season, with severe cuts and bruising while his bike frame was damaged beyond repair.

 

The young boy was taken to hospital with a cut nose and lip but thankfully emerged relatively unscathed. The team contacted his father after the stage finished and he reported the child is expected to be released from hospital on Thursday. Arvesen was able to get back on a spare bike and managed to complete the stage within the time limit.

 

Geert Leinders, Team Sky Doctor:

 

"We have examined Kurt tonight and the initial signs are good. We don’t have any reason to think that he has any concussion to his brain. He remembers everything and never lost consciousness during the accident, which is obviously a very good sign.

 

"He is covered in cuts and grazes but we can treat those effectively, and his only complaint tonight has been with his left knee. We have checked over the area thoroughly and don’t feel the need at this moment for any further investigation. There is no swelling and there doesn’t appear to be any broken bones or major trauma with the ligaments both inside and outside the knee.

 

"At this moment we expect him to be able to continue in the race, although clearly he is going to be very sore for the next few days.”

 

Steven de Jongh, Team Sky Sports Director:

 

“It was a really hard day again. It was hot and the speed was very high throughout. The whole day it was up-and-down, there were really no flat patches.

 

“Brad had another good day and did a good climb at the end – it was really sharp and steep which isn’t the sort which suit him best but he did really well to limit his losses.”

 

(On Kurt-Asle Arvesen’s crash): “It was a really big impact and Kurt has lost a lot of skin. He’s having all the wounds cleaned by the doctor now and will then be bandaged up.

 

“There’s not much skin left on his knees and back so we’ll see what happens in terms of him being able to carry on but he’s going to be stiff for sure in the next stage and beyond.

 

“It’s not going to be easy but Kurt showed great determination to get back on his bike and finish the stage. He’s got great support from the team and we all really hope he can carry on racing.

 

"Kurt's main concern was that he wanted to know that the child was okay; we spoke to the hospital about him and the great news is that nothing appears to be broken – we were told he just has cuts on his nose and lip."

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August 24: Team RadioShack’s Levi Leipheimer claimed the victory in the first stage of the USA Pro Cycling Challenge (22-28 August). Leipheimer rode away from the opposition to take the 2.5 mi (4 K) uphill stage win on Mt. Crested Butte (CO).  The Tour of Utah winner bested Colombian Sergio Henao with 4 seconds.  Fränk Schleck was third, seven seconds behind. Prologue winner Patrick Gretsch lost one minute. Leipheimer takes the yellow jersey and leads now With 11 seconds to Chrstian Vande Velde.

“All of a sudden there were attacks,”  Leipheimer (37) explained.  “Andy Schleck went, Cadel Evans was up there and then my teammate Ivan Rovny did a fantastic  job. I can’t say enough about him. We brought Andy Schleck back with just one kilometer to go. Rovny continued to pull really hard and I know he wanted to stop but I kept telling him to ‘Go! Go! Go!’  At 500 meters to go Frank Schleck put in a little attack and I followed him.  I looked under my arm and I saw no one on my wheel.  I knew it was rather early to go but I went for it anyway and it worked out.   I’ve never won a stage like that with an explosive effort so in my old age I guess I’m learning some new tricks.  I grew up in Butte, Montana and it’s a mile high plus I’ve spent the last three weeks at altitude in Park City, Utah.  I feel like I’m acclimated and ready to race hard here in Colorado.”

For Levi Leipheimer and Team RadioShack the good results after the Tour de France are a nice compensation for the bad luck the team had in France.  “Things weren’t really going my way the first week of the Tour de France. I had some crashes and I just didn’t feel that good.  I started to think about racing in Utah and here at the USA Pro Cycling Challenge and coming here to beautiful Crested Butte.  The crowds are intense and we’re feeling the love. I have to say thank you.”

Stage 2 on Wednesday is 209.8km/130.3mi from Gunnison (CO) to Aspen (CO). The Queen stage of the USA Pro Cycling Challenge will include summiting two 12,000ft (almost 4000 meter) peaks in one day, including Cottonwood Pass and the grueling climb up Independence Pass.

“Having the yellow jersey makes it difficult for my teammates tomorrow but at the same time the Tour of Utah is fresh in their minds.  They have that confidence in their legs.  They know how to do it and we’re going to give it our best shot tomorrow but it will be hard. I expect the Colombians to be more aggressive and in general  I expect a much more aggressive stage than today.  Today everybody was a little bit afraid of the altitude.  It takes a day to figure out what to do and I think tomorrow they will have it figured out. I did the Leadville Trail 100 last year and I remember how painful it was to race at that altitude. We’re not made to race that high, our bodies hate us for it.  Everybody’s in for a lot of pain tomorrow.”

Result Stage 1: Salida – Mt. Crested Butte, 99.3 mi / 159.8 K
1 Levi Leipheimer (Team RadioShack) 4:29:22;  2 Sergio Luis Henao 00:04;  3 Fränk Schleck 00:07;  4 Cadel Evans;  5 Christian Vande Velde;  6 Tejay Van Garderen;  7 Janier Acevedo 00:10;  8 Robert Gesink;  9 Oscar Sevilla;  10 Tom Danielson

General Classification after Stage 1:
1 Levi Leipheimer (Team RadioShack) 4:37:47;  2 Christian Vande Velde 00:11;  3 Tejay Van Garderen 00:17;  4 Cadel Evans;  5 Robert Gesink 00:30;  6 Brent Bookwalter 00:34;  7 Rory Sutherland 00:35;  8 George Hincapie 00:37;  9 Tom Danielson;  10 Jeff Louder 00:41

 

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23-Aug-2011 :  Today an extraordinary Sylvain Chavanel is wearing the red jersey as the leader in the Vuelta at the arrival placed more than 2100 metres above sea level on Sierra Nevada.

The champion from Quick-Step Cycling Team completed a masterpiece of tactics and determination, managing to dole out some left over energy after his fantastic performance in yesterday’s stage, maintaining a 43” advantage in the general classification over the second place rider, Daniel Moreno, who won today’s stage.

“I came to this Vuelta highly motivated,” explained an exhausted but radiant Chavanel after the arrival. “I think I proved that both today and yesterday. Today along the climb to Sierra Nevada I saw that Lastras didn’t have a great pedal push. I knew that if I could make it past the first part of the climb I could be the leader. I counted the kilometres to go to the top, I couldn’t let a chance like that get away. For me it’s a great feeling. In 2008 I’d already worn this jersey, but this year after the bad luck I had in the Tour it has a different meaning. I’m going to try to defend it and honour it, like I always have. Tomorrow there are going to be some difficult passages but I’m going to give it my all. I had a tough Tour de France but luckily I have the capacity to turn the page quickly. I know I can have a good end of the season and even make it to the World Championships in great shape. First though, there’s the Vuelta and a jersey to honour in the best way possible.”

The team’s great day was completed by Seeldraeyers’ 10th place in the general classification, 1’04” from his team mate Chavanel.

“We’ve gotten off to a great start at the Vuelta” Seeldraeyers says. “Today my legs weren’t bad at all. I’m happy to be in the top 10, even though the road to Madrid is still long and hard. However, I’m going to try to defend this position in these next days, I’m in good shape and there will be lots of climbs in the next stages.”

General classification after stage 4

1 Sylvain Chavanel (FRA)

2 Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Spa) 43’’

3 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) 49’’?

4 Maxime Monfort (Bel) 49’’

5 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) 53’’

10 Kevin Seeldraeyers (Bel)

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Team Katusha was the protagonist of "Vuelta a Espana" fourth stage, the first with a climbing arrival in Sierra Nevada: after the long breakaway, 160 kms, by Eduard Vorganov, Daniel Moreno took the win, while the leader Joaquim Rodriguez was at the finishing line with the main group, missing the podium for a mere nothing and closing 4th, 11'' far from the teammate. The crucial part of the stage was with 4 kms to go: once today breakaway ended, Sorensen (Saxo Bank) tried to attack. Moreno replied to the Danish rider and, thanks to a peremptory rush in the last km, took a solo win, the first in his career in the most important Iberian competition. Thanks to this performance, the Team Katusha rider from Madrid is now second in general classification, 43'' far from the new leader Sylvain Chavanel (Quick Step). 

"I'm so happy with this beautiful win - says Moreno at the finishing line - I felt in a great shape this morning, I knew I could make a great performance also because the stage course was very suitable to my characteristics. Before going to catch Sorensen I talked with out leader Rodriguez: he was persuaded I had many chances to win toda, because I'm faster than the Danish rider. I stayed in the main group since Joaquim hasn't told me to go. Obviously, despite I did several step forward in general classification, my job is still to help our leader to win the general classification: i think 'Purito' and me form a great couple, we've really savvied, so I'm sure we can reach more brilliant results in this Vuelta".

"We're a fantastic group - says Rodriguez - This is a prize for everyone of us. We don't even need to talk: everyone of us savvy each other. As for me, today too I had some good feelings, even if I have to admit I suffered this hot weather. I was waiting for the first climbing arrival in order to test my shape: I think today everything was perfect".

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Only an extraordinary Pablo Lastras could steal today the joy of victory from Sylvain Chavanel. The French champion scored second place in this challenging stage from Petrer to Totana, made all the more gruelling by the terrible heat that's been a constant in this Vuelta. For his excellent performance today Chavanel won the prize for combativeness. 

Sylvain Chavanel 
"Today I had a great race. I spurred the break right from the start. I knew that with this heat it would be hard for the group to stay in control. We collaborated really well until the last climb. At 600 metres from the top of Alto de la Santa Lastras took off. I couldn't follow him because I was starting to get cramps. On the slight rise towards the arrival I gave it everything I had to catch up to Lastras. However there wasn't much collaboration with Pidgornyy and Irizar. When we got to within 9 seconds from Lastras with only 3 km to go to the finish line we started sizing each other up and Lastras gained a few seconds advantage. It wasn't up to me to do all the work to catch up. I wanted to win the stage and often in order to win you have to risk losing. I gave it everything I had, I couldn't have done more. Anyway, I'm happy with my form, I feel good and I'm going to try again. Congratulations to Pablo. He was the strongest today and he's a great rider."

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A superb team performance had seen the bulk of Team Sky's squad get themselves in the leading group of around 35 riders when the peloton split in two in the closing stages of the 216.5 kilometres WorldTour event.

 

The likes of Juan Antonio Flecha, Peter Kennaugh and Christian Knees first played their part and it was then Geraint Thomas who again delivered Boasson Hagen in perfect style. The Norwegian hit the front with 250 metres remaining and held all his remaining rivals at bay, with Gerald Ciolek (Quick-Step) and Borut Božic (Vacansoleil) taking second and third respectively.

 

It was Boasson Hagen's latest success, the last couple of months having featured his first two stage victories at the Tour de France followed by a clean sweep of the jerseys at the week-long Eneco Tour.

 

It all left Team Sky's Sports Director Servais Knaven understandably delighted and he said: "It was perfect again. This group have been riding together in many races this season, they know each other so well know and they do everything for each other.

 

"You need good riders which we've got and if they all work together as well as that then you get performances like this. They are riding strong, they keep on winning and it's great to see. It was another brilliant day."

 

Knaven was quick to praise Kennaugh for helping maintain the gap between the two groups once the peloton split, explaining: "Everyone did a great job and Pete was riding a lot in the closing stages to make sure the front group stayed out ahead as there were some very good sprinters 15 to 20 seconds back.

 

"Then we saw Flecha and Christian were really strong at the finish and of course G and Edvald then took over."

 

The team were heading to the airport for flights home just as Chris Sutton was making it an even more memorable day for Team Sky by taking stage two of the Vuelta a Espana and Knaven added: "The whole squad seems to have taken a big step; from around Bayern [which was won by Geraint Thomas] it was followed by the Dauphiné, the Tour de France, Eneco and then today both here and at the Vuelta where CJ's win was pretty special."

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Team Sky recovered from a poor performance in the opening team time trial as their Australian sprinter Chris Sutton won the Tour of Spain's second stage on Sunday.

After a difficult uphill section in the final kilometre shredded the pack, the 26-year-old blasted out of the field with 350 metres to go for his first ever Grand Tour win.

Spain's Vicente Reynes shadowed Sutton's late burst but faded to take second, while first-year German sprinter Marcel Kittel, the winner of 12 races this season, continued to punch above his weight to come third in his first Grand Tour.

Italian fastman Daniele Bennati moved into the overall lead after his sixth-place finish enabled the Leopard Trek rider to move ahead of Danish team mate Jakob Fuglsang.

Less than 24 hours after Team Sky finished third last in the opening team time trial, the British outfit showed it had not lost its morale.

"I wouldn't say Saturday was disappointing, to finish so far back was a little bit of a setback and today we showed we'd kept the team spirit high," Sutton told reporters.

"I knew it was a hard uphill finish, every sprinter would probably try to accelerate too early.

"So I was waiting and waiting and then when someone from [Omega-Pharma] Lotto attacked, I got on his wheel.

"I looked behind and from 200 metres to go I knew I had it."

Great day
On a great day's racing for Sky on Sunday, Sutton's team mate Edvald Boasson Hagen of Norway won the Vattenfalls Cyclassic, Germany's biggest one-day race.

Bennati dedicated his leader's jersey to the memory of Belgian Wouter Weylandt, who died in a high-speed downhill crash in the Tour of Italy in May.

"I spent a lot of time with Wouter in the Tours of Qatar and Oman this year, and in Italy he was going to be my leadout man in the sprints," Bennati told reporters.

"I'm pleased I can dedicate this win to him."

Bennati confirmed that his strong racing on a difficult uphill sprint should strengthen his status as team leader for Italy in next month's world championships.

Sutton's victory came close to the town of Orihuela, where in last year's race Sky's team assistant Txema Gonzalez died of a bacterial infection. Sky then pulled out of the race the following morning.

The Tour of Spain finishes on Sept. 11 in Madrid.

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 RESULTS

1. Leopard Trek (16min 30secs)

2. Liquigas              (+4)

3. HTC-Highroad    (+9)

20. Team Sky          (+42)

 

Leopard Trek took victory in the opening team time trial at the Vuelta a Espana to place Jakob Fuglsang into the race lead. The Luxembourg squad finished with five riders but clocked a time of 16 minutes and 30 seconds to edge out Liquigas and ensure the Dane became the first recipient of the red leader’s jersey. Team Sky endured a difficult start to the race and dropped time following a crash in the opening stages.

 

Chris Sutton, Team Sky Rider:

 

“That wasn’t the best of starts to be honest. We’d gone over everything a lot in the past few days and thought we had it down to a tee. We’d changed the order a few times and got it perfect, and we started out great.

 

“Kurt led us out because he’s so experienced at these things. We began by taking things easy, but not too easy, set a good tempo, and it was all going well until there was a touch of wheels or something which meant Zandio had to unclip. Kurt also crashed at that point which was hard because it meant everyone behind him had to chase a couple of bike-lengths to get back on.

 

“We regrouped as best we could and gave it everything, and although we lost 42 seconds, over a three-week race that’s going to be insignificant. It would’ve been nice if we could have got a result for Bradley, but we all gave it 100% and that’s all you can ask for at the end of the day.

 

“Zandio deserves special praise because he did brilliantly to get back on after unclipping. He gave a huge effort to chase up that hill and having him there with us was a big bonus.

 

“Tomorrow’s stage is one that I’ll be looking to do well in as a sprinter. I’m feeling strong so I’ll try and get in the mix and test out the legs and see how I go. I’ve done a few sprints in training over the past few days and have been hitting some good numbers, but obviously in a race situation after 174km anything can happen. I’d love to get a stage win but there’s so many good sprinters here so we’ll have to see. I’m just grateful to get the opportunity to get the chance to go toe-to-toe with those guys in a Grand Tour.”

 

Steven de Jongh, Team Sky Sports Director:

 

“It was a really tough start.

 

“We lost Kurt after a kilometre. He came down and Zandio was also held up. Xabier had to chase down the group after that and then in the final we were down with four guys.

“Some positive things are that Kurt is looking really fit and Bradley is looking super strong. If you look at the overall picture with some of the main contenders Bradley lost some time but to most of them he lost around 20-25 seconds. It is a loss of course and we aren’t happy with it but it could be worse. Everyone is okay so we will carry on and try to make up for it.”