VeloHuman

Tag: Post-race

  • Vuelta a España 2013 Post-race Impressions: Ring in the Old, Ring in the New

    Podium

    Even More Unpredictable Than Predicted

    Now that the peloton has finally ended its journey in Madrid, we can look back on a few of the storylines. The biggest storyline of the Vuelta is obviously the succcess of Christopher Horner, who improved on his previous best Grand Tour performance (a lone top 10, 9th in the Tour de France in 2010) by winning the race ahead of past winners Vincenzo Nibali and Joaquim Rodriguez. He won a stage early on and it seemed like a great feel-good story, the balding veteran outclassing the favorites for a day; then he proceeded to look stronger and stronger each day, ultimately dropping Nibali and the rest nearly whenever he set his mind to it. This was always going to be a race for a strong climber (the only individual time trial had a categorized climb right in the middle of it), and Horner was unquestioably the best climber in Spain these past three weeks. Obviously there are a lot of theories on how he managed to take everyone by surprise and dominate the ascents, but clearly fresh legs played a part, as Horner had little mileage prior to the start of the Vuelta, unlike the rest of the big favorites, who had all taken on the Giro or the Tour already. Similarly, Contador hadn’t raced a Grand Tour before his Vuelta win last year, and Juan Jose Cobo’s 2011 Vuelta was his first Grand Tour of the year as well. Future hopefuls should take note.

    It’s important to note that as old as he is, it’s not like Horner came out of nowhere. His career has had an interesting arc: much of his prime was spent racing (and really dominating) the American circuit. When he did finally start to concentrate on the higher level Euro competition, he was already well into his 30s: but he had a lot of success, and didn’t really see any decline as he aged either. As recently as 2010 (the year he top 10ed in the Tour), he won Pais Vasco. He was 2nd there and 4th in Catalunya in 2011 (a year in which he also won the Tour of California), was 2nd in Tirreno-Adriatico and 9th in Pais Vasco in 2012, and was 6th at Tirreno-Adriatico this year. None of those results come close to winning the Vuelta, but they show that he’s quietly built quite a resume very late in his career: a Grand Tour win will be the perfect marquee accomplishment for the 41 year old. The question now is: where will he be next year? As explosive and resilient as he was in the Tour of Spain, he doesn’t have a team for next year. It’s only a matter of time before someone makes him an appealing offer commit his smiles and his small frame to their cause.

    After losing the race he was so heavily favored to win just a week ago, Vincenzo Nibali probably isn’t smiling, but taking 1st place in a grueling Giro and then 2nd place in the Vuelta with all those Italian miles already in your legs is an unbelievable accoomplishment that deserves recognition even if it was disappointing for Nibali. A single Grand Tour podium in a year is a feat worthy enough of praise. Winning one and runnering up a second? Vincenzo Nibali will be one of a very select group of riders who will be seen as legitimate challengers to Froome in the 2014 Tour de France. Alejandro Valverde and Joaquim Rodriguez can both come away proud; Valverde nabbed the final spot on the podium after his disappointing Tour de France, and he also won the points jersey despite not actually winning any stages. Purito wanted more, but 4th and a beautiful stage victory on Alto del Naranco will look great in his Palmares.

    Nicolas Roche entered the race with a stated goal of coming in in the top 5. 5th overall and a stage win felt like a long time coming for the rider who has displayed a lot of talent in the past few years, but never come away with much to show for it. And not to take anything away from winning a stage later on during a Grand Tour, but Roche’s victory came early in the race, against his GC rivals: no gimmes there. AG2R won’t mind Carlos Betancur’s complete anonymity so much given Domenico Pozzovivo’s 6th place overall performance. He quietly notched a pair of Grand Tour top 10s this year without all that much team support.

    Thibaut Pinot rolled in 7th overall, dispelling a great deal of doubt after his forgettable Tour de France. He’s definitely gotten back on track: he didn’t seem to struggle on the descents, and he hung with the likes of Nibali and Horner for a good part of many of the hardest climbs. Remember, he’s only 23, and he’s now got a pair of Grand Tour top 10s to his name. With a focused offseason, Thibaut Pinot will hope to build on this late success next year. Another young GC rider who really stood out was Leopold Konig. Nabbing a GT Top 10 at the head of a Pro Continental team against stacked squads like Astana and Movistar is quite the feat. Like Roche, his stage victory was early on in the race, meaning that he had to outclass the best in the bunch to pick it up. And Daniel Moreno (10th) nabs his 3rd Vuelta top 10 in as many year, and perhaps even more impressively, on the heels of a major one-day victory in La Fleche Wallonne, he picked up two early stage wins, and held three different jerseys for a time; he’s following in his team leader’s footsteps, making a name for himself as a killer uphill finisher with the ability to find his way into a Grand Tour leaderboard as well.

    Samuel Sanchez will be disappointed with 8th, but most observers didn’t view him as much more than an outside contender coming in. He never seemed to find his form, and it’s starting to look as if his best years are behind him. At least he comes away with more than fellow old guys Michele Scarponi and Ivan Basso–Basso didn’t really look all that bad in this race, but he vacated his 7th overall spot when he abandoned on a nasty Stage 14.

    The biggest disappointment of the Vuelta has to be Team Sky. Sergio Henao came into the race as one of the favorites, and Rigoberto Uran was touted as a great second option if things went awry; awry they went, as neither rider was able to keep the pace when the road went up. To his credit, Uran came so close to a victory from a breakaway on Stage 16, but was denied by Warren Bargul at the line. Vasil Kiryienka’s stage win (actually the third career Grand Tour stage victory for the Belarusian, which is the same number that his teammate Bradley Wiggins has) was some consolation, but for all Henao’s potential, he failed to deliver in a big way.

    Youth Is Served Winning Stages, and So Is the Rainbow Jersey

    Michael Matthews and Warren Barguil have arrived. Matthews, the 22 year old Aussie sprinter, had been having enough success in smaller races this year that I definitely saw big things for him in the Vuelta, and he did not disappoint, winning first on the 5th stage and again on the final day of festivities in Madrid. For the past few years, Orica-GreenEdge has looked to one of his teammates on the sprint stages, especially the ones with hard roads to the finish line, but it looks like the time of Michael Matthews is upon us. Meanwhile, Maximiliano Richeze racked up four top 3 stage performances but failed to come away with a victory, which must be a heartbreak: he really looked like one of the fastest riders in the peloton, and was inches away from winning on multiple occasions. In a similar boat were Tyler Farrar and Gianni Meersman, who both made a habit of lurking around the top 5 on the sprint stages (four times), without ever notching a victory. Meersman gets a pass, as he has already had a great year up to this point, but Farrar ends his year looking desperately for his old winning ways. Clearly he’s still fast, but his only victories in the past two years have come in Continental Tours; the American doesn’t have a contract for next year, and obviously a big win would have helped make his case.

    23 year old Warren Barguil took a brilliant win from the breakaway in Stage 13. Then, Barguil did it again on Stage 16 ahead of the immensely talented Rigoberto Uran in a drag race to the line. Taking a victory like that ahead of the explosive Giro and Olympic Road Race runner-up marks Barguil as a name to watch for the future. For his Argos-Shimano squad, it was “No Kittel or Degenkolb, no problem” in Spain this year. FDJ’s Alexandre Geniez and Kenny Elissonde both won mountain stages as breakaway survivors. And in stage after stage, 25 year old Nicolas Edet of Cofidis was constantly leading the breakers over the KOMs: he earned himself the title of King of the Mountains in the process. Seeing a pattern? All in all, France’s 25 and under crowd of Barguil, Geniez, Elissonde, Edet, and Pinot took between them four stage victories, the polka dot jersey, and 7th overall in GC; quite a haul for les Francois after they came up short of expectations in the Tour de France.

    Another impressive young breaker was Daniele Ratto, who won a grueling 14th stage that saw mass abandons all by himself on a mountaintop finish.

    Zdenek Stybar isn’t exactly young (27), but he’s young to road racing, and the former CX world champ added to his amazing year jumping ahead late with Philippe Gilbert and beating him a photo finish to steal the 7th stage from the sprinters at Mairena de Aljafare.

    Fortunately, Gilbert’s long, demoralizing drought of victories in the rainbow jersey ended in the following week when he outsprinted Edvald Boasson Hagen and Maximiliano Richeze to win stage 12. He’s come very close time and time again this year, but a win has eluded him. Outsprinting some of the fastest men in this race to get it meant that he ended his wait in grand style.

    Three weeks of racing have finally come to a close, and in the end, the Vuelta was full of surprises for riders both young and old. We were treated to visions of riders who could be around for years to come (riders like Matthews, Stybar, Barguil, Konig, and Pinot), and of riders who finally took long awaited victories (Horner and Gilbert). Up next? The race that so many of these big names were preparing for when they decided to make the trip to Spain: the 2013 UCI World Championships.

    -Dane Cash

    Photo by Esteban Lamas

  • Vuelta a España 2013 Day 7: Where We Stand After Seven Stages, and Looking Ahead to Stages 8-10

    VueltaPT

    Day 7: Fast Men Have Their Chances, Mountains Await

    Stages 4-7, while not particularly mountainous, still managed to offer plenty of excitement, with no repeat winners and no shortage of drama, even if General Classification did not see much of a real shakeup; however, at the time of this writing, Dan Martin has reportedly been taken to the hospital for injuries suffered in a crash today, a crash that dropped him a little bit after he did not make it back to the peloton quite in time. Keep an eye on that.

    A “punchy, Ardennes-style GC type” (see the previous post) did, in fact, nab stage 4: 2013 La Fleche Wallone winner Daniel Moreno attacked on the uphill finish and crossed the line ahead of an aggressive Fabian Cancellara and a pack of sprinters. The red jersey went back to Nibali after a tiny gap formed on the hill, but there was little to speak of in the way of substantial time differences for any of the big contenders, a theme that continued through today’s stage. Stage 5 went, as predicted, to Michael Matthews, who has officially arrived as a name to know. Specializing in sprints after hard days of riding, particualrly with slight uphill finishes, Matthews capitalized on Stage 5’s perfect profile to power ahead of Maximiliano Richeze and Gianni Meersman, leaving Tyler Farrar and Edvald Boasson Hagen a disappointed 5th and 6th. Stage 6, which looked set to be innocuous, saw Tony Martin attack early and ride solo ahead of the peloton basically all day, exceeding everyone’s expectations and generating real belief that he might manage, somehow, to stay ahead of the chasers for the victory, before getting caught just seconds from the finish line by a hard charging bunch of sprinters led by Danish track star turned road cyclist Michael Morkov. Richeze was again 2nd, with Cancellara 3rd and Farrar 4th. The even flatter Stage 7 had enough twists and turns toward the finish to allow a very late jump by world champion Philippe Gilbert and recent Eneco Tour champion Zdenek Stybar. They somehow held their advantage to the end, and Stybar pipped Gilbert to the line in a photo finish, with the bunch just behind, led by Belkin’s Robert Wagner. Four different days, four different winners, none of them Gianni Meersman, Edvald Boasson Hagen, or Tyler Farrar. Now that the sprinters have had their shot to make a mark on this Vuelta, the road goes up.

    Stage 8: Jerez de la Frontera > Alto de Peñas Blancas | 166.6km | High Mountains (Summit Finish)

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    The peloton takes on a single categorized climb in Stage 8, but it’s a Cat. 1, 960 meter incline to the finish at Alto de Peñas Blancas. The climb is 14.5 kilometers long at an average gradient of 6.6%. The steepest portions are early (a brief section at 12.5% around 2km in), meaning that this climb will favor those all-rounders with full tanks, capable of sustained upward efforts. If a group finishes together, a strong finishing kick would seal the deal. Stage 2 might have led to frustrating time losses for a few of the big GC names, but Stage 8 is sure to cause serious selection in the fight for GC. Giro riders have now had a week to ride themselves into form, and Nibali has shown no signs of weakness, making him one of my obvious favorite for this stage, assuming a breakaway isn’t given the chance to nab a win (and given the number of riders currently still in contention for GC whose stated Giro aims are stage-win-oriented, it seems like the chase would be fierce). Ivan Basso has looked very capable so far, and he will appreciate the long road to the top. As the climb is only a little steeper and longer than that on Stage 2, many of those same names could factor here, including that stage’s winner Nicolas Roche, Domenico Pozzovivo, the ever-present Joaquim Rodriguez (though the road isn’t steep enough late enough to provide a great opportunity for his style of attack), his teammate Dani Moreno, and up-and-comers Leopold Konig and Diego Ulissi. As the ascent does even out a bit towards the top, a group could reach that point together, favoring riders with a strong finish: most obviously Alejandro Valverde, but don’t forget the rider who won the Points jersey in the 2011 Vuelta, Bauke Mollema, who has looked great so far.

    VeloHuman Stage Favorites

    1. Alejandro Valverde | 2. Bauke Mollema | 3. Vincenzo Nibali | 4. Ivan Basso

    Stage 9: Antequera > Valdepeñas de Jaén | 163.7km | Medium Mountains

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    Stage 9 again throws only a single categorized climb at the competitors, a Cat. 2 whose summit is 16km from the finish line, but the peloton will climb over rolling hills and then a steady upward incline to reach that summit. Then, they will zip downward toward the town of Valdepeñas de Jaen, until reaching a short but maddeningly steep ramp up to the finish line. Stage 9 is certain to provide excitement: riders might attack on the Cat. 2, or they might wait until the closing kilometer to launch up the zany climb. Katusha’s duo of Joaquim Rodriguez and Daniel Moreno (winner of this year’s La Fleche Wallone) will likely feature on the Mur de Huy-esque slope. Alejandro Valverde has come close to victory more than once on the early uphill finishes and will be out for the stage win and bonus seconds. After a rough start due to his knee injury, Philippe Gilbert has been looking stronger and stronger, and this finish suits him; the day’s climbs are likely to weed out the sprinting types from being much of a factor at the finish, but a tougher rider like Gilbert has a great opportunity to survive to the final gallop. It may be a bit steep for Simon Gerrans, who is riding himself into form, but he’s shown some real punch in earlier races this year. Roman Kreuziger, Daniel Martin (if he is alright healthwise, which is unclear at this point), Bauke Mollema, Sky teammates Rigoberto Uran and Sergio Henao, and Carlos Betancur (if he ever manages to find his legs again) have the explosiveness to take a victory here, too.

    VeloHuman Stage Favorites

    1. Joaquim Rodriguez | 2. Daniel Moreno | 3. Philippe Gilbert | 4. Sergio Henao

    Stage 10: Torredelcampo > Alto Hazallanas | 186.8km | High Mountains (Summit Finish)

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    It’s a good thing that the riders get a rest day in between Stage 10 and Stage 11, because Monday’s ride from Torredelcampo to Alto Hazallanas will be very hard on everyone. The day begins with a few small foothills. A little less than 30km away from the end of the line is the Alto de Monachil, a Cat. 1 mountain with 8.5 km of ascent at 7.7%. The riders will then take a steep descent before the road goes up again toward the finish line at the end of Special Category climb, Alto de Hazallanas, which is nearly 16 kilometers long at an average of 5%. If he didn’t already have enough of an advantage on the stage given his elite descending skills, Vincenzo Nibali’s diesel climbing style will serve him well in his bid to reach finish the long, grueling challenge ahead of his opponents. The ascent is highly irregular, however, with a flat portion 6 kilometers in, followed by a quick but very steep downhill turn a little over 7 kilometers in, and then a section of roughly 5 kilometers with gradients pushing 18% before things ease off a bit near the finish. In other words, there will be opportunities for aggressive climbers to attack, paving the way for a serious GC showdown between all the big names on Stage 10. Only the riders on elite form will be able to hang in front here. Purito will surely find a section of road to power ahead, as might his teammate Dani Moreno. Carlos Betancur would love this stage if he were feeling up for it, but he has struggled mightily so far. Roman Kreuziger is the full all-rounder package, an elite climber and time trialist with the capacity for quick bursts up upward speed as well: that skill set will set him up nicely on this climb if he decides to target the victory. It will be a true test for riders who have not looked sharp yet, ie. Samuel Sanchez and Sergio Henao (though, if he can find his form, he has a surprisingly strong combination of long-term power and quick acceleration in his engine that would suit him here), as there is very little respite after the downhill section ends and the punishing steep section begins with still roughly 7 kilometers remaining. As a side note, the descent to the start of the climb will be an interesting gauge of Thibaut Pinot’s progress in his struggle to overcome a fear of going down; if he can get over that obstacle, his fresher legs (he abandoned the Tour before it’s toughest days) and overall ability could make him a real danger not only for this climb but for the GC battle in general. Stage 10 should tell us what is what this Vuelta.

    VeloHuman Stage Favorites

    1. Vincenzo Nibali | 2. Joaquim Rodriguez | 3. Roman Kreuziger

    -Dane Cash

    Photo by Contando Estrelas.

  • Vuelta a España 2013 Day 3: Where We Stand After Three Stages, and Looking Ahead to Stages 4-7

    Fisterra

    Day 3: Early Fireworks

    As expected, the big GC show started right away in the 2013 Vuelta. First, a hotly contested team time trial put some favorites into strong positions (Vincenzo Nibali, and Sky’s Sergio Henao and Rigoberto Uran) and left others down a little more than they might have liked (Ivan Basso, Michele Scarponi, and Dan Martin). Then, stage two shook up the fight for the red jersey when the lead group dropped heavy hitters like the aforementioned Sergio Henao and Samuel Sanchez, who lost a few minutes on GC, and Carlos Betancur, who put himself completely out of contention rolling in more than nine minutes down. Nicolas Roche led a late attack over the line with other GC outsiders Dani Moreno, Domenico Pozzovivo, and Leopold Konig, and the rest of the big names were close behind. Stage 3 saw some danger moments for a number of riders after crashes and windy conditions caused splits, but things got organized for the final climb. 41 year old American Chris Horner (RSLT) attacked late and the rest of the big names just stared at each other, allowing the veteran to nab the stage victory and the red jersey. Valverde won the sprint behind him and a few small gaps formed on the summit finish, but all of the favorites finished within a few seconds of each other. Now, after a thrilling first three days, the Vuelta turns to four straight days that could potentially be for the sprinters.

    Stage 4: Lalín > Fisterra | 189km | Flat

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    There is only one categorized climb on the menu, but Stage 4 is rather lumpy, enough to spur a breakaway move early. The peloton will fight to reel them in, and the generally downhill/flat stretch of about thirty kilometers leading into the finish will favor the pursuit. Then, the road heads up at roughly 3.5% for the finish at a beautiful promontory (pictured above) that was once the edge of the known world for much of Western Europe. It’s enough to give an advantage to the lighter, more capable climbers of the sprinting crowd, and a bend in the road in final few hundred kilometers will favor a well-marshaled, aggressive squad. Assuming the pack finishes together, this sounds perfect for Omega Pharma-Quick Step and Gianni Meersman. He’s been on fire this year, and his legs don’t have any Grand Tour mileage in them other than what they’ve covered so far this week. BMC will potentially look to set up Philippe Gilbert again, especially after he was unable to threaten in Stage 3. It might not be steep enough for Gilbert to outshine some of the stronger kicks in the peloton, especially with his recent nasty knee injury. Sky’s Edvald Boasson Hagen would be an obvious pick here were it not for his shoulder injury from the Tour de France; with those concerns, it is harder to say how he will fare. He was dropped from the Sky train in the opening time trial, but he looked okay climbing up the summit finish of Stage 3. Orica-GreenEdge has both Simon Gerrans and Michael Matthews, and it seems like they’ll favor the latter here, though it’s never easy to tell with OGE. The finish might be a bit steep for Tyler Farrar, but he’s been very good this year. The two under-the-radar sprinters I tipped in my initial Vuelta preview, Argos Shimano’s Nikias Arndt and Reinardt Janse van Rensburg, could also factor here. If an aggressive rider manages to attack for the win, don’t be surprised if it’s Diego Ulissi, Luis Leon Sanchez, Grega Bole, or the resurgent Anthony Roux. And of course, the uphill finish could see Alejandro Valverde, Joaquim Rodriguez, and other punchy, Ardennes-style GC types strike out for bonus seconds.

    VeloHuman Stage Favorites

    1. Gianni Meersman | 2. Michael Matthews | 3. Philippe Gilbert | 4. Alejandro Valverde

    Stage 5: Sober > Lago de Sanabria | 174.3km | Medium Mountains

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    Another lumpy day, with two Cat 3 climbs and a lot of uncategorized ascending, Stage 5 will also likely see a lot of attacking early. However, the road angles downward again with plenty of distance left, and with one of the few relatively flat finishes in this Vuelta awaiting the peloton at the end of the line, those sprinters who have made it over the hills will be extra-motivated to bring back anyone up the road. The lumps may force some selection, but it seems likely that this stage will go to a sprinter. If OGE decides to support Michael Matthews over Gerrans or Leigh Howard (and, as this is a more difficult stage but not an extremely difficult one, they seem likely to), this is a great opportunity for him. Tyler Farrar isn’t guaranteed to make it, but as few sprinting opportunities as there are in this race, he’ll surely be giving every one of them 100%. Gianni Meersman and (assuming he’s healthy enough) Edvald Boasson Hagen probably won’t have much trouble with the climbing, so they’re sure to challenge. Whomever Argos-Shimano decides to back, Janse van Rensburg or Ardnt, will have a good opportunity as well. Cannondale’s young up-and-comer Daniele Ratto might be in the mix. If BMC decides to support Gilbert for the sprints at the end of every difficult stage, he could be involved here, too. Vacansoleil’s Barry Markus, should he manage to finish with the bunch, is a danger if he makes it to the finish with the pack and with his strength, and Omega Pharma-Quick Step’s Andrew Fenn is a name to keep in mind as well. Finally, Fabian Cancellara’s goals in this Vuelta are rather unclear, but he might target this stage with its potentially selective early climbs, but flatter finish.

    VeloHuman Stage Favorites

    1. Michael Matthews | 2. Gianni Meersman | 3.  Tyler Farrar | 4. Edvald Boasson Hagen

    Stage 6: Guijuelo > Caceres | 175km | Flat

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    Stage 6 is the flattest stage so far, one that the sprinters will have circled in the road book. There is a very short kick upward not far from the finish line, but it seems likely that the stage will end in a bunch sprint contested by the big names. Tyler Farrar is the first one that comes to mind. Barry Markus of Vacansoleil and Adrien Petit of Cofidis will be eager to sure what they can do, if they haven’t already in the previous two stages. We will probably know the rider that Argos is favoring by this point, so keep an eye on Stages 4 and 5 to get an idea of the direction in which they’re heading in terms of Ardnt vs. Janse van Rensburg. We’ll also probably have a better idea of how Boasson Hagen is doing by this point. As always, Meersman could be in play, or it could be a time for Andrew Fenn. Orica-GreenEdge might go with Leigh Howard here.

    VeloHuman Stage Favorites

    1. Tyler Farrar | 2. Barry Markus | 3. Gianni Meersman

    Stage 7: Almendralejo > Mairena del Aljarafe | 205.9km | Flat

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    I hate to say it, but with so many consecutive stages that could go to sprinters, I’m running out of things to say about them. Stage 7 is almost certain to end in a bunch gallop, and by this point, if you’ve been watching the previous bunch sprints, you’ll already have a good sense of what is what in this race. It should be the usual suspects here, and it’s probably Farrar’s best shot to win a stage until the Madrid finale. Same goes for Leigh Howard, given OGE’s stated intention of giving Michael Matthews the green light on harder stages. This could be a stage for Andrew Fenn of OPQS, or they could stick with Meersman. You should be familiar with the rest of the names now: Boasson Hagen, Markus, Arndt/Janse van Rensburg, Petit. Watching from home, Theo Bos will rue the low cortisol levels that kept him out of the race.

    VeloHuman Stage Favorites

    1. Tyler Farrar | 2. Barry Markus | 3. Leigh Howard

    -Dane Cash

    Photo by Oscar Anton.

  • Tour de Suisse 2013 Post-race Impressions: Costa Takes Yellow on the Final Day, Sagan Versatile as Ever

    TdSCorneringBrief Recap

    Mathias Frank might have spent the majority of the week in yellow, but Rui Costa’s final day victory to take the jersey from the Swiss rider came with an air of inevitability. After Cameron Meyer won a whacky opening time trial of just 8.1 kilometers in which conditions changed dramatically over the course of the afternoon, Mathias Frank took the lead in the third stage after back to back days of climbing (though Meyer, to his credit, never gave up his pursuit of GC). Over the next few days of flats and gentle hills, Costa was always lurking, watching sprinters and rouleurs racking up the points and waiting for his moment. In the race’s seventh and queen stage, Costa mastered a selective climb and won the day with Bauke Mollema and Tejay van Garderen in tow. By the end of the following and penultimate stage, Frank’s lead on GC had dwindled to just 13 seconds over Costa, and with a difficult time trial to cap off the race, it was clearly going to be too much to ask of Frank to hold onto the yellow jersey. He finished a disappointing 19th in the time trial. Meanwhile, Costa dominated the course, finishing 21 seconds ahead of Tanel Kangert and 29 seconds ahead of Bauke Mollema, and sliding easily into the overall win.

    Peter Sagan took the points classification after two impressive stage wins, first managing to hang on to the group of GC contenders over a tough climb in the race’s third stage and then outsprinting Daniele Bennati in the eighth stage.

    The final general classification standings looked like this:

    1. Rui Alberto Faria da Costa (Por) Movistar Team | 31:08:11

    2. Bauke Mollema (Ned) Blanco Pro Cycling Team | +0:01:02

    3. Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Team Saxo-Tinkoff | +0:01:10

    4. Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ | +0:01:26

    5. Mathias Frank (Swi) BMC Racing Team | +0:01:43

    6. Tanel Kangert (Est) Astana Pro Team | +0:01:51

    7. Tejay van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team | +0:02:23

    8. Daniel Martin (Irl) Garmin-Sharp | +0:02:42

    9. Simon Spilak (Slo) Katusha | +0:02:42

    10. Cameron Meyer (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge | +0:03:44

    Takeaways

    While their respective teammates were not living up to expectiations at the Critérium du Dauphiné (this would be a reference to Movistar’s Alejandro Valverde and Saxo-Tinkoff’s Alberto Contador), Rui Costa and Roman Kreuziger showed strong form in Switzerland. Costa was a favorite coming into the race after winning last year, and this year he was head and shoulders above the rest, finishing with more than a minute’s lead over Bauke Mollema. His performance in the final time trial was even more impressive than anyone expected. With a podium finish in Romandie and now this at the Tour de Suisse, Costa’s confidence has to be pretty high heading into the Tour de France, so it will be interesting to see how Movistar handles their trio of powerful mountaineers (along with Valverde and Costa, Pais Vasco winner Nairo Quintana makes three) in the Pyrenees and Alps.

    Bauke Mollema’s terrific week in Switzerland, capped off with a stage win and second overall, earned him the nod as team leader over Giro dropout Robert Gesink in the upcoming Tour de France. After a slower-than-hoped-for experience in the first day’s strange time trial, Mollema came out fighting the next day, soloing to the stage victory and beginning a tough climb up the leaderboard that ultimately put him onto the podium. For Blanco (which will be Team Belkin by the end of the month), who has seen a lot of underperforming lately, this kind of grit is a welcome sight. Blanco/Belkin will be sending a team composed almost solely of GC contenders and domestiques to France, and Mollema has proven himself a worthy leader.

    American Tejay van Garderen and Irishman Dan Martin finished one before the other, and both left Switzerland with question marks. Neither had a good opening time trial day, but Fabian Cancellara couldn’t even figure that stage out. When Frank took the leader’s jersey, van Garderen was happy to play lieutenenant for a little while in the former’s home tour. Meanwhile, Martin’s team went from strong to mediocre when 2012 Giro winner Ryder Hesjedal sustained hospitalization-level injuries in a bad stage 3 crash and was forced to pull out. Both riders managed to hang within striking distance of the podium over the next few days, but despite an uphill final day that suited both of them, Martin and van Garderen couldn’t make up any ground in the time trial either. As a favorite going into the race, van Garderen will be disappointed, but he generally hung on when the road went up and it’s tough to say how much of his time deficit to the leaders was due to his support of Frank. Martin will probably be less disappointed, managing a top 10 finish in his first WorldTour race since his Monument win at Liege-Bastogne-Liege in April, and without Ryder Hesjedal. Hesjedal’s injuries apparently were not too serious, but there is no word yet on whether he will be good to go for the Tour. If he is, Garmin will take a strong team to France with Talansky, Martin and Hesjedal (and likely Farrar for stage wins).

    Speaking of stage wins, Peter Sagan did what he does best, wowing everyone with a pair of gutsy victories and winning the points jersey commandingly. There is no question of his being on form for France, and he showed his versatility more than ever with a win in the mountains of Switzerland. It will be tough for Cavendish, Griepel and co. to contend for green with a guy who can win stages with all but the steepest climbs. Arnaud Démare had an impressive week as well, notching a win in stage 4 and coming in third on stage 5. At just 21, he’s an exciting up-and-comer for FDJ.

    FDJ’s other exciting up-and-comer managed a 4th overall. Thibaut Pinot has to feel good about that display heading into the biggest competition on everyone’s calendar, which happens to be a home race for Pinot and his team.

    Simon Špilak finished in the top 10, but VeloHuman tipped him as a major podium contender—his 9th place is a bit of a disappointment. Katusha will also have been disappointed by Joaquim Rodriguez’s uninspiring Dauphiné. Fortunately, Dani Moreno picked up the slack with a podium finish there, but the team will be looking for the other two to show early in the Tour that they are, in fact, in shape this summer.

    Katusha will be thrilled, however, with Alexander Kristoff, who picked up his first WorldTour win in the fifth stage of the Tour de Suisse, out-sprinting guys like Sagan, Démare, and Matt Goss. At just 25, Kristoff will carry Katusha’s flat stage hopes in the Tour.

    Hats off to Cameron Meyer, who won the opening time trial and tried to hang on as long as he could despite not being as strong a climber as the other GC guys. He fell out of the top 10 after stage 4 but fought to get back in, and ended the race in a respectable 10th place. It’s not easy to go from the track to a top 10 in Switzerland, and Orica-GreenEdge will be looking for more from him in the Tour in case Matthew Goss continues to ride without results.

    -Dane Cash

    Photo by Bruno Hotz.

  • Critérium du Dauphiné 2013 Post-race Impressions: Chris Froome Distances Himself from the Competition

    FroomeWinBrief Recap

    Chris Froome’s dominant performance at the Dauphiné cements him as the favorite heading into this year’s Tour de France. After salvaging a very impressive Giro performance from the shambles of Bradley Wiggins’s withdrawal, Sky took the Dolphin by storm, and they will certainly be the force to be reckoned with once again at this year’s Tour de France. The race kicked off with three stages of relative calm in the General Classification, leaving all of the big favorites equal heading into a stage 4 Individual Time Trial. Froome took third on the day, 52 seconds back of TTing superstar Tony Martin, and in doing so he picked up a big chunk of time over major rivals Alejandro Valverde (3:29 back of the leader Martin), Alberto Contador (3:37 behind the leader), and Joaquim Rodriguez (3:48 back). Froome’s top lieutenant Richie Porte also had a strong fourth day (1:20 behind Martin), and while that fourth stage put Garmin’s Rohan Dennis in yellow for the day, the decisive day gave Sky’s leader and his second a commanding lead over the rest of the main contenders, and it was only a matter of time before Froome took and held the yellow. He charged past Contador on Stage 5’s uphill finish to take the stage win and the overall lead, and didn’t look back from there, holding onto the race lead without much of a challenge into the final stage in the mountain town of Risoul, where took second in the stage and closed the deal on GC.

    The final General Classification top 10 looked like this:

    1. Christopher Froome (GBr) Sky Procycling | 29:28:46

    2. Richie Porte (Aus) Sky Procycling | +0:00:58

    3. Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Spa) Katusha | +0:02:12

    4. Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team | +0:02:18

    5. Daniel Navarro Garcia (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | +0:02:20

    6. Michael Rogers (Aus) Team Saxo-Tinkoff | +0:03:08

    7. Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Movistar Team | +0:03:12

    8. Rohan Dennis (Aus) Garmin-Sharp | +0:03:24

    9. Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi | +0:04:25

    10. Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Team Saxo-Tinkoff | +0:04:27

    Outside the top 10, Joaquim Rodriguez finished the race in 16th, 9:04 down on Froome.

    Takeaways

    The big four names heading into the Critérium du Dauphiné were Froome, Contador, Valverde, and Rodriguez. Froome distanced himself from all three rather quickly. He proved that he was the far better time trialist, but also that his climbing skills are tuned and ready for the three week struggle to come. Contador looked off-form all week. He didn’t really show up for the time trial, and his best efforts to outclimb Froome were unsuccessful. He insists that he is right where he wants to be in the run-up to the TdF, and it’s very important to remember that for some of the guys out there in the Dauphiné, actually winning the race is an afterthought to the main objective, getting in a little practice time. Perhaps this is all that guys like Joaquim Rodriguez wanted out of the Dauphiné; it should be noted that of the prior six Dauphiné winners, only Bradley Wiggins went on to win that year’s Tour de France.

    Still, it’s hard to argue with Froome’s dominance at the head of the race, and with minutes worth of time separating him and his biggest challengers, he goes into the Tour de France with a lot of confidence. This isn’t really all that surprising, given his strong performances in Romandie (1st) and Tirreno-Adriatico (2nd to Giro winner Vincenzo Nibali) so far this year. He’s the man to beat, no doubt, but what was maybe a bit surprising was the stellar performance of his second in command, this year’s Paris-Nice winner Richie Porte. It doesn’t seem like this sets up any sort of in-team rivalry (Porte and Froome are close friends and training partners), which means Sky must be thrilled to have two guys who are so on-form heading into the Tour. Impressive stuff. Contador, on the other hand, doesn’t seem to be panicking, but he has yet to notch an overall win this year and, though he finished in the top 10 in each, always looked just a step below the competition in Tirreno-Adriatico, Pais Vasco, and this week’s Critérium du Dauphiné.

    Other impressors: Though Purito’s performance was disappointing, his teammate on Katusha, La Fleche Wallone winner and two-time Vuelta top-10 man Daniel Moreno, rounded out the podium with a week of strong climbing (not that we expected anything different). He looks like he hasn’t lost the form that he had in the Ardennes Classics this spring. Brief race leader Rohan Dennis finished in 8th place (the second Kiwi in the top 10 with Michael Rogers) and first in the Young Rider classification: Garmin-Sharp must be thrilled with his continuing success he only turned 23 the week before the race started. Elia Viviani finally took his first win of the after a string of close finishes in the Giro. Gianni Meersman took the Sprinter’s jersey without winning a stage, with top three finishes in the first three stages. Andrew Talansky, one of the favorites heading into the race after a 2nd place in Paris-Nice this year, caught sick at the beginning of the race and dropped out of overall contention immediately. However, he stayed in the race and recovered over the course of the week, crossing the line immediately behind Froome to take a solid third on the final stage; surely he would have preferred to go through the whole race in full health to get a sense of his form for the upcoming Tour, but he’ll take encouragement from this last day.

    -Dane Cash

    Photo by Agamitsudo.