Velta Stage 9 | Evans v Gesink

Ok so after looking at the replay on Eurosport it did look like Cadel Evans was struggling to get past Robert Gesink. But really, it hardly looked like he was being blocked in my opinion? I mean Hushovd v Cavendish was one thing but that seemed somewhat innocuous to be deliberate.

Furthermore, Evan’s behaviour after the stage was absurd and you have to wonder how he felt about it once he’d cooled down. Anyone who’s adrenaline levels have risen to such an intense degree will know that uncontrolled anger or even aggression come with the territory.

These moments can alter your perceptions and heighten your sense of injustice. They make you see or believe things that aren’t there are aren’t as they seem. Usually once you’ve calmed down  the anger evaporates to be replaced by mild embarrassment of having made a bit of a twat of yourself. I think that this is what happened to Evans.

When  this happens to me I usually seek out the person I’ve wrong to apologise but I’m not a world class athlete so wouldn’t presume to tell Cadel Evans what to do.

Nevertheless, it makes him look bad and you have to wonder if Evans is in the right frame of mind to win the Vuelta. These mountain stages don’t just punish the limbs but the soul too. Strength of character and a disciplined mind are probably more important for a successful bike racer.

Vuelta Stage 8 | Cunego conquers the mountain | Vinokourov falls behind

Cadel takes the Gold Jersey in the mountains

The first mountain finish of the 2009 Vuelta a Espana was one in the clouds of the great Alto de Aitana by Lampre‘s Damiano Cunego. He gobbled up the final 3 kilometres to pass the brave Jonny Hoogerland (Vacansoleil) and David Moncoutie (Cofidis) to claim his victory.

Prior to the stage’s climax, Hoogerland had followed Moncoutie up the mountain. The Dutchman, anxious to test himself against the experienced Moncoutie and provide much needed exposure to his relatively new team, sat behind the Frenchman’s wheel. Eventually, Moncoutie shook off his rival and made for the summit. For a while it looked like he’d take the glory for himself. However,Cunego timed his attack to perfection and passed Moncoutie with less than a kilometre to spare.

Unfortunately for Hoogerland, he was consumed by the next bunch of riders which included Cadel Evans who now wears the Gold Jersey. He took over the lead of the General Classification from Fabian Cancellara who had retook the jersey after his time trial victory in Valencia on Saturday.

Elsewhere, Alexandre Vinokourov showed that his rehabilitation will take a little longer after cracked with 7 kilometres to go. The Kazakh also had to face the ignominy of having a cameraman capture his moment live on TV. His face red with exhaustion, he put his hand up toward the lens either in acknowledgement to his fans or as some half hearted plea to leave him in peace. That’s his Vuelta done for 2009. See you next year Vino?

Another notable absentee was Andy Schleck. He pulled out of the Tour with stomach pains.

In tomorrow’s stage we can look forward to another mountain finish at Xorret del Cati. The mountains are not as high as the Alto de Aitana but should still provide a great challenge for the riders.

Vuelta Stage 6 | Update

It was a great day for the Vacansoleil team as Borut Bozic got the jump on his rivals in the sprint finish and crossed the line first at Xativa for the Vuelta a Espana 2009 Stage 6.

Andre Greipel was trying to redcord a third consecutive stage win. But it was Tyler Farrar of Garmin Slipstream and Daniele Benatti of Liquigas were well placed two take the win. However, the relative unknown Bozic slipped past and took the stage.

It was a gruelling stage by all accounts in intense heat. This may explain why the established sprinters missed out. Nevertheless, hats off to Vacansoleil for their win and to Bozic for his sporting elan. Greipel still keeps hold of the Gold Jersey and is top of the Vuelta General Classification.

Tomorrow the relatively short time trial at Valencia precedes the mountain stages beginning at Alzira on Sunday. That’s when things start to get tasty.

Vuelta Stage 6 | Xativa

Xativa: The start and the finish of the Vuelta Stage 6

Circumstances are keeping me away from the Vuelta today. Sometimes real life gets in the way. Also, it looks like Eurosport are only providing a modicum of live coverage themselves.

However, lets dwell slightly on the stage itself. Stage 6 begins and end in the province of Valencia in a town called Xativa which dates back to the fourteen hundreds. It’s a beautiful looking place and hopeful will give rise to some wonderful backdrops as the Pelaton glides through.

The route is a lot more lumpy with three climbs. The highest being the Alto de Muela. However, assuming Andre Greipel can keep the any Breakaways under control, we should be in for a sprint finish and an opportunity for the German to claim a third successive stage win.

I’ll pop back later with an update.

Vuelta Stage 5 – Greipel’s Green and Gold

Andre Greipel takes second consecutive stage win

This was a little bit more like it. The Sun beamed down on the riders traversed the olive groves of Catalonia. Far from the rain and the flats of the Benelux region, the 2009 Vuelta a Espana was finally underway. Next year the Tour De France will start in the Netherlands. Hopefully we the Dutch summer will be kinder to the earlier timetabled tour.

Eurosport had also decided for whatever reason not to stretch the picture for this stage. The result was superior picture quality. The sound was much better too. All in all, Stage 5 was a much more pleasing TV viewing experience.

The Breakaway was formed by, Jose Antonio Lopez Gil (Andalucia Cajasur), Julien el Fares (Cofidis), Julian Sanchez Pimienta (Contentpolis-Ampo), Matheus Pronk (Vacansoleil) and Serafin Martinez (Xacobeo Galicia). The Pelaton allowed them their moment in the Sun until about 20 kilometres to the finish. Only Pronk offered any resistance.Rabobank led the way as the road narrowed and they stretched the bunch out to avoid any congestion.

As they approached the final climb with 8 Km to go Phillipe Gilbert (Silence-Lotto) led and attack and was the first to charge down the hill.However he was caught on the outskirts of Vinaros with only 2km to go.

The final sprint was a cagey affair until Greipel, Boonan and Benati finally went for it Boonen looked to have the measure of everyone until Greipel sailed past him to not only retain the Green Jersey but take the Gold Jersey to boot.

Stage 4 – Greipel wins | Wegalius crashes out

Enormous crash in Liege hands victory to Greipel

In truth, it was turning out to be something of a nondescript stage. The journey to Liege was hampered by continual rain and I found myself wondering when the 2009 Vuelta a Espana was  to going really get started.

The riders were, understandably,  fearful of falling off in the treacherous conditions and it was a very conservative bike race. Indeed there were a few casualties along the way.  Charlie Wegalius was set to be the first British rider to complete all three Grand Tours in a single year only he has had to abandon the Vuelta after crashing out and not being able to rejoin the race.

The fun, if you can call it that, started as the Pelaton passed through a roundabout less than 3km from the finish.  Someone dropped their front wheel and brought down a stack of riders like a set of collapsing dominoes. Casualties included the Gold Jersey holder Fabian Cancellara and one of the favourites for the stage win Tom Boonen who doesn’t seem to have that much luck so far. Only six riders were ahead of the human avalanche and it was Andre Greipel of Team Columbia from that group who won the sprint to the line and bring to a close a pretty rotten stage.

By way of consolation to the fallen, as the accident took place within the final 3 kilometre’s of the stage, they were not penalised and awarded the same time as the winner so at least their has been no impact on the General Classification. Cancellara continues to hold the Gold Jersey.

Tomorrow is a rest day and the riders get to lick their wounds as they travel down to Tarragona in Catalonia for the start of Stage 5.  Let’s hope the Iberian Peninsular brings some good weather and more attacking bike racing.

Vuelta Stages 2 & 3 – Ciolek & Henderson break their duck¦Cancellara strikes gold

It’s great to see a rider get their maiden stage win on a Grand Tour and young Gerald Ciolek of the Milram team looked well stoked when he took first place in the flat Stage 2 to Emmen in the 2009 Vuelta a Espana.

Alas I only caught snippets of the action as it is a bank holiday weekend here in the UK and I spent a pleasant afternoon chomping up a lovely roast dinner at some friend’s house on Sunday and missed most of Stage 2.

I did however get to see Stage 3 and enjoyed watching the riders cope with those Dutch roads. I reckon that the Netherlands has more roundabouts per square kilometre than Basingstoke (that’s alot) and the denouement in Venlo proved to be a chaotic affair as the expected contenders Tyler Farrar and Tom Boonen failed to get in position.

Consequently, as the riders raced for the line the Eurosport commentator David Harmon did not recognise the winner. The poor man was clearly embarrassed as the seconds ticked by while we waited for confirmation who had actually won the stage. It transpired that New Zealander Greg Henderson had taken advantage of the confusion and crossed the line first.

Such is life as a commentator when you’re dependant on the live feed for your information. Harmon is a brilliant race caller in my opinion and moments like this only add to the experience of watching the race.

The Gold Jersey belongs to Fabien Cancellara.  Although that will surely change once the Tour Of Spain hits the mountains. First though, the final stage in Holland which finishes in Liege, Belgium. Once again (and not unsurprisingly) this is a mostly flat stage. It will be interesting to see if any of the established sprinters will find more luck after they’ve crossed the border.

Vuelta Stage 1 – A bit of a damp squib

There was I hoping to see a full to the rafters Assen TT Curcuit in full voice cheering on the cream of bike racing as they attacked to famous motor racing track. But then it rained.

Moving the Vuelta beyond the Iberian Peninsular was a bold move by the organisers and it is a shame that their bravado was not rewarded by a gorgeous sunny day and a full house with fans in the grandstand and lining the track beating their fists on the sideboards and urging the riders on.

That’s the North European weather for you. What can you do. The the rain proved a hindrance for many of riders. David Millar would almost certainly have been in contention a podium had he not gone out on to the track when it was wettest. Carlos Barredo came off his bike right at the start when his bike slipped on the wet starting ramp. He didn’t look too impressed and the organisers risked the wrath the sponsors by laying a carpet over the ramp.

Despite this, the top of the Classification has has a familiar look about it with Fabian Cancellara of Team Saxo Bank winning the Stage 1 Time Trial. He took the Golden Jersey amidst the dampness of Assen. Tom Boonen of the Quick Step team came second and Tyler Farrar of Garmin-Slipstream took the final podium place.  Alexander Vinokouro finished in a handy seventh place.

Tomorrow the Vuelta leaves Assen and takes a flat route to Dutch town of Emmen. Definitely one for the sprinters.

Away from the Vuelta – Lance Armstrong and Radioshack

Let’s take a quick detour from the Vuelta to reflect on Lance Armstrong‘s new team Radioshack.

Armstrong’s return to cycling is largely driven by his cancer charity Livestrong. However, I’m sure that his desire to compete did not fade away after retirement and that is why he made his controversial decision to return to the Pelaton.

The seven times Tour De France winner is a contentious figure. There does appear to be a significant number of cycling fans who doubt his integrity and feel that the mainstream cycling media show him undue favoritism and much less scrutinity than some of his competitors. Nevertheless, he remains one of Cycling’s poster boys with a reach that goes well beyond the sport. Few will argue with the good work he does for charity and with the launch of his new team we see the next stage of his cycling career: Team leader and team boss.

For his detractors, this is bad news as it would appear that even after he retires a second time, Armstrong will remain very much at the centre of bike racing. In the shorter term it frees him from his obligations he had to suffer as effectively a support rider for Alberto Contador at the Astana team in last week’s Tour de France.

Team Radioshack will debut in the Tour Of Australia in January 2009 and presumable we will see them in next year’s Grand Tours.

Vinokourov’s Vuelta Return

How Cycling deals with its drug problem

I frequently find myself defending cycling to people I know who don’t follow the sport. Common gripes are “it’s too long”, “it’s confusing” and “I hate men in Lycra”. To be honest, as a relatively new cycling fan, I don’t always have that much of an argument to make against this sort of criticism aside from simply shrugging my shoulders and saying “It works for me.”

However, on the issue of drugs and doping in cycling, I’m on safer ground. For as much as people laugh at cycling for it’s drug cheats, I laugh back. Because despite all the seemingly endless controversy surrounding the doping in the sport, I know that Cycling have a much better handle on the drug issue than say Soccer or Baseball for example.

When I look at elite professional soccer players running at full speed, jinking, shooting, scoring, ducking and yes diving consistently for 90 minutes I get suspicious. Fair enough, these guys are full time athletes and should be able to play with the same level of intensity over 90 minutes but some off them don’t seem to show any signs of fading as the match goes on. That is until you see a close up of their pale, drawn faces, eyes clouded with exhaustion and wonder if there is something inside them pushing them on, something not naturally occurring in the body that is.

Soccer is almost blind to doping in my opinion. Occasionally, a player will be banned for substance abuse but that does not even scratch the surface in my view. At least with cycling, the sport is facing up to its problem and while drug stories may bring shame to the sport in the eyes of some. For me, again I stress as a relative newcomer, it demonstrates willingness and a sense of obligation to confront the problem. It also shows that the anti-doping policies are working. I’m not naive enough to believe that everyone gets caught (of they did it would stop surely) but I am naive enough to believe cycling should take some credit that it is willing to face up to some of its problems.

Drugs in sport are like drugs in the world at large. The subject is controversial, morally ambiguous, painful, embarrassing and capable of ruining peoples lives. Discussion and analysis is inconsistent. In the world of sport where fierce loyalties are assigned to various teams or athletes, there are accusations bias, favoritism and hypocrisy. Take the return of Alexander Vinokourov to the 2009 Vuelta. A recent Eurosport opinion piece on the website condemned Astana for hiring him. The reaction in the comments section was pretty heated. The author was accused of having something against Vinokhorov and showing double standards when other riders have returned from doping bans to rider again (David Millar being one name mentioned).

Vinokourov’s mountain victory at Loudenvielle in 2007 was one of the biggest reasons as to why I got hooked on cycling. His remarkable comeback into contention for the Tour de France GC after being cut to ribbons earlier in the race struck a chord with my own conception of valour and sporting elan. It gave me a deeper appreciation of the sport. His subsequent drug test failure the following days also taught me a lesson about cycling: As the advert says “Impossible is nothing”, especially if you’re blood doping.

I firmly believe that once an individual has been punished they should allowed to go back to work unless there is sufficient cause to believe that by doing so they will repeat their original offence. On the other hand, Vino only served a one year ban when the usual amount is two years. At the risk of upsetting his supporters, shouldn’t there at least be a consistency of punishment? Why should he get off lightly?

But this brings me back to my point. These issues and arguments come up because cycling is prepare to address them rather than put their hands in the sand like other sports. The Vino controversy is part of a long evolutionary process which will ultimately see the sport much much cleaner in the long run. It is not easy and at times seems unfair. Nevertheless, the sight of a million spectators on Mont Ventoux proves that these issues are worth working out to a conclusion. No matter how unpleasant the journey.