|
|
RACE REPORTS: LA VUELTA A ESPANA STAGE 18: CAV TAKES ANOTHER IN GREEN, NIBALI HOLDS ONTO NARROW LEAD
Road Bike Action and AFP
September 16, 2010
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
Mark Cavendish (HTC-Columbia) back on form in the Vuelta as he continues his green streak.
(Photo: Yuzuru Sunada)
British sprint king Mark Cavendish produced another trademark finish to win the 18th stage of the Tour of Spain here Thursday, his third individual victory in this year's event.
Italy's Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Doimo) retained the race leader's red jersey after the
148.9 km ride from Valladolid to Salamanca. The Liquigas rider holds a 39 second overall lead over Spain's Ezequiel Mosquera of the Xacobeo Galicia team.
The title decider is fully expected to come on Saturday's mountainous penultimate stage, a 168.8km ride which ends on the summit of the Bola del Mundo in the Guadarrama mountain range northwest of Madrid.
"Ezequiel Mosquera and I will fight it out for the Tour in the Bola del Mundo," Nibali said in Salamanca. "I suppose that others will attack me but he's the most dangerous."
Thursday's route included no major climbs and produced no big surprises. A group of eight riders staged a breakaway just minutes after the start, but they were reeled in with just a few kilometers from the finish, and it was left to the sprinters to fight for the victory.
Cavendish completed the stage in three hours, 27 minutes and 11 seconds, leading a pack of 13 riders who finished with the same time. Second was Juan Jose Haedo of Argentina and third Portugual's Manuel Cardoso. The Isle of Man rider, who many consider the best sprinter in the world, also scored back-to-back stage victories in the 12th and 13th stages.
Cavendish already has a remarkable 15 stage victories from the Tour of France over the past three years and five over two years in the Giro d'Italia. The 25-year-old had the honor of pulling on the Tour of Spain red jersey after the first stage when he led his HTC-Columbia team to victory in the team time trial, relinquishing the lead at the end of the third stage.
"It's me that crosses the line first but it's the guys who put me there," he said Thursday, referring to his teammates. The stage "was technical, there lots of roundabouts in the last 20 kilometers. We dropped back with about four kilometers to go... I was panicking a bit."
But he paid tribute to his teammate, Peter Velits, the Slovakian who scored a surprise win in Wednesday's stage, who took the strain and "put in a kilometer in the wind, and that shows how we work together."
On Friday, the longest stage in the Tour takes the riders 231.2km from Piedrahita to Toledo and includes one category two climb near the start.
The Tour of Spain, the third of the Grand Tours after the Giro d'Italia and Tour de France, wraps up in Madrid on Sunday.
Stage 18 Results:
Valladolid to Salamanca, 148.9 km
1. Mark Cavendish (GBR/HTC-Columbia) 3 hours 27 minutes 11 seconds
2. Juan Jose Haedo (ARG/Saxo Bank) at same time
3. Manuel Cardoso (POR/Footon Servetto) at s.t.
4. Tyler Farrar (USA/Garmin-Transitions) at s.t.
5. Samuel Dumoulin (FRA/Cofidis) at s.t.
6. Robert Forster (GER/Milram) at s.t.
7. Enrique Mata (ESP/Footon Servetto) at s.t.
8. Greg Van Avermaet (BEL/Omega Pharma-Lotto) at s.t.
9. Wouter Weylandt (BEL/Quick Step) at s.t.
10. Danilo Hondo (GER/Lampre- Farnese Vini) at s.t.
Overall Results after Stage 18:
1. Vincenzo Nibali (ITA/Liquigas-Doimo) 74 hours 47 minutes 06 seconds
2. Ezequiel Mosquera Miguez (ESP/Xacobeo Galicia) at 0:38
3. Peter Velits (SVK/HTC-Columbia) at 1:59
4. Frank Schleck (LUX/Saxo Bank) at 3:43
5. Joaquin Rodriguez (ESP/Katusha) at same time
6. Xavier Tondo (ESP/CTT) at s.t.
7. Tom Danielson (USA/Garmin- Transitions) at 3:58
8. Nicolas Roche (IRL/Ag2r-La Mondiale) at 4:02
9. Carlos Sastre (ESP/Cervelo TestTeam) at 4:16
10. Luis Leon Sanchez (ESP/Caisse d'Epargne) at 5:42
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|