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.
Filed under: cycling Tagged: | Andre Greipel, Catalonia, Charlie Wegalius, Fabian Cancellara, Gold Jersey, Liege, Tarragona, Team Columbia, Tom Boonen, Video, Vuelta a Espana
