The final climb to the finish for stage 4 of the Vuelta may have been only 1 km long, but it sure packed a heck of a punch. Igor Anton launched himself on the incredibly steep little finishing hill to grab the stage and move up to 2nd place overall in the GC. Anton stayed with a select group of about 22 riders that formed over the final categorized climb of the day and then waited until hit the big hill to make his winning move. Joaquim Rodriguez, Vincenzo Nibali, Peter Velits, and race leader Philippe Gilbert all gave chase on the climb, but just could not get around Anton. Though he ran flat out of gas coming across the stripe, Gilbert saved enough of his gap to wear red again tomorrow. Young Tejay Van Garderen, riding his first Grand Tour, also made a chasing move and got himself to within 8 seconds of Anton and 29 seconds of the GC lead. (he currently sits 6th) Major contenders Frank Schleck, Denis Menchov, Luis Leon Sanchez, and Nicolas Roche all lost about half of a minute (more or less) but are still very much alive in the GC race. Carlos Sastre and Roman Kreuzinger's took a major hit today, with Sastre losing over 1 and 1/2 minutes and Kruezinger's loss at nearly 3. Andy Schleck had yet another dismal day, losing another 14 minutes and starting to raise some questions as to why he even bothered to enter the Vuelta in the first place.
I got my money on a sprint tomorrow. The climbs don't look very serious at all, and its dead flat to the finish. Will it be Cav, Tyler, Jet, or another surprise like Hutarovich? Tune in.
The final climb to the finish for stage 4 of the Vuelta may have been only 1 km long, but it sure packed a heck of a punch. Igor Anton launched himself on the incredibly steep little finishing hill to grab the stage and move up to 2nd place overall in the GC. Anton stayed with a select group of about 22 riders that formed over the final categorized climb of the day and then waited until hit the big hill to make his winning move. Joaquim Rodriguez, Vincenzo Nibali, Peter Velits, and race leader Philippe Gilbert all gave chase on the climb, but just could not get around Anton. Though he ran flat out of gas coming across the stripe, Gilbert saved enough of his gap to wear red again tomorrow. Young Tejay Van Garderen, riding his first Grand Tour, also made a chasing move and got himself to within 8 seconds of Anton and 29 seconds of the GC lead. (he currently sits 6th) Major contenders Frank Schleck, Denis Menchov, Luis Leon Sanchez, and Nicolas Roche all lost about half of a minute (more or less) but are still very much alive in the GC race. Carlos Sastre and Roman Kreuzinger's took a major hit today, with Sastre losing over 1 and 1/2 minutes and Kruezinger's loss at nearly 3. Andy Schleck had yet another dismal day, losing another 14 minutes and starting to raise some questions as to why he even bothered to enter the Vuelta in the first place.
I got my money on a sprint tomorrow. The climbs don't look very serious at all, and its dead flat to the finish. Will it be Cav, Tyler, Jet, or another surprise like Hutarovich? Tune in.
No comments:
Post a Comment