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RACE REPORTS: CRITÉRIUM INTERNATIONAL STAGE 1: FEDRIGO FLIES
Road Bike Action & AFP
March 27, 2010
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(Photo: Yuzuru Sunada)
Double Tour de France champion Alberto Contador endured a painful start to the Critérium International on Saturday when he suffered a mysterious allergic attack. The Spaniard, whose duel with former teammate Lance Armstrong was expected to dominate the event, finished the first stage in 22nd place, 1:21 behind the winner, French rider Pierrick Fedrigo (BBox Bouygues Telecom).
Armstrong was even further back, finishing the day in 50th place. "Alberto had no feelings three kilometers from the finish because of his allergy problem. It was nothing to do with his legs, he had difficulty breathing," explained Yvon Sanquer, the sporting director of Contador's Astana team. The Spaniard had been expected to mount a challenge in the dying stages of the opening 175.5km run, but the allergy prevented him from being a contender in the final climb, the Col de l'Ospedale.
"We will see how he recovers (before Sunday's time trial). He is a little disappointed because it's never easy when you prepare things correctly and you have ambitions to find yourself in a difficulty like this," added Sanquer. "We will have to look at this peacefully."
Seven-time Tour de France winner Armstrong finished the opening stage 5:01 behind Fedrigo overall. "It was a technical and tactical climb with the wind," said the American. "There were a lot of surprises but RadioShack (Armstrong's team) can be very happy with the riders we have up front."
Fedrigo finished 15-seconds ahead of Armstrong's Portuguese team mate Tiago Machado, while Olympic champion Samuel Sanchez was third. "I am happy for Tiago and it's a good result for the team," added Armstrong. "I have not had a lot of racing behind me. I'm not disappointed it's only March. If we had still been talking about my physical condition in July, then I would be disappointed."
Critérium International Stage 1: Porto-Vecchio - Col de l'Ospedale 176km
1. Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra/Bbox-Bouygues Telecom) 5:19:45
2. Tiago Machado (Por/RadioShack) 0:00:11
3. Samuel Sanchez (Spa/Euskaltel-Euskadi) 0:00:15
4. Cadel Evans (Aus/BMC) @ s.t.
5. David Moncoutie (Fra/Cofidis)
6. Matteo Carrara (Ita/Vacansoleil)
7. Michael Rogers (Aus/HTC-Columbia)
8. Christopher Horner (USA/RadioShack)
9. Ben Hermans (Bel/RadioShack)
10. David Lopez Garcia (Spa/Caisse d'Epargne) |
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