4 sprints, 4 different winners, and still nothing from Cav. This time it was Alessandro Petacchi (AKA Jet) who took the glory and again denied Cavendish from winning his first bunch sprint of the Vuelta. Petacchi, who is involved in the Italian doping allegations pertaining to this year's Tour, was happy to notch yet another Vuelta stage into his belt (#20) and take his mind off his current tumultuous situation. After losing out to Tyler on Wednesday and getting dropped by the field yesterday, Petacchi was happy to finally get a chance to stand on the podium for himself. Mark Cavendish cannot yet say that. Though he was credited with the stage for his team's TTT win, he has yet to take a bunch sprint. This one may have been the closest (and most controversial) one yet. Cav was furious after the sprint, though he did say he does not blame Petacchi.
Cav tried to ride on Petacchi's back wheel before breaking out in the final few hundred, but Petacchi had other plans. Instead of selecting the line that would have suited Cav's plan, Petacchi picked a line to the far right side near the barriers. Just at that moment, a Quick Step rider (Andreas Stauff) moved to the right side boxing Cavendish into the field and by the time he got clear Petacchi was already well ahead of him. (NOTE: Nothing illegal was done, however. Petacchi was perfectly within his rights to choose the line he did, and in fact it was a good strategic move to keep Cavendish from using his slipstream.) The entire day was not a lost cause for Cav, however, as he did take 2nd and assumed the points lead. Philippe Gilbert kept out front almost all day and easily defended his GC lead for yet another day. Juan Antonio Flecha had to abandon the race with an illness that it seems the entire Team Sky roster had came down with at one point or another during the race.
Tomorrow can be a good day for Gilbert to extend his lead, or for someone to try to take it from him. The steep little climb near the finish should be enough to drop the sprinters, and provide for some interesting late attacks on the final descent to the finish line.
4 sprints, 4 different winners, and still nothing from Cav. This time it was Alessandro Petacchi (AKA Jet) who took the glory and again denied Cavendish from winning his first bunch sprint of the Vuelta. Petacchi, who is involved in the Italian doping allegations pertaining to this year's Tour, was happy to notch yet another Vuelta stage into his belt (#20) and take his mind off his current tumultuous situation. After losing out to Tyler on Wednesday and getting dropped by the field yesterday, Petacchi was happy to finally get a chance to stand on the podium for himself. Mark Cavendish cannot yet say that. Though he was credited with the stage for his team's TTT win, he has yet to take a bunch sprint. This one may have been the closest (and most controversial) one yet. Cav was furious after the sprint, though he did say he does not blame Petacchi.
Cav tried to ride on Petacchi's back wheel before breaking out in the final few hundred, but Petacchi had other plans. Instead of selecting the line that would have suited Cav's plan, Petacchi picked a line to the far right side near the barriers. Just at that moment, a Quick Step rider (Andreas Stauff) moved to the right side boxing Cavendish into the field and by the time he got clear Petacchi was already well ahead of him. (NOTE: Nothing illegal was done, however. Petacchi was perfectly within his rights to choose the line he did, and in fact it was a good strategic move to keep Cavendish from using his slipstream.) The entire day was not a lost cause for Cav, however, as he did take 2nd and assumed the points lead. Philippe Gilbert kept out front almost all day and easily defended his GC lead for yet another day. Juan Antonio Flecha had to abandon the race with an illness that it seems the entire Team Sky roster had came down with at one point or another during the race.
Tomorrow can be a good day for Gilbert to extend his lead, or for someone to try to take it from him. The steep little climb near the finish should be enough to drop the sprinters, and provide for some interesting late attacks on the final descent to the finish line.
my take on the sprint today was my opinion only. i believe it to be true, but that does not mean you have to. sometimes sprints can get a little tricky to analyze, and there is room to interpret it as you will.
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