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RACE REPORTS: VUELTA A ESPAÑA STAGE 2 REPORT
Road Bike Action
August 31, 2008
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Valverde Powers To Stage Win & Vuelta Race Lead In Jaén
His fellow Spaniard Oscar Freire told Alejandro Valverde that the uphill
finish on Stage 2 of the Vuelta a España, a rolling 176.3km stage from Granada to Jaén was perfect for him and Freire was right. Valverde made a powerful surge in the final 200 meters to take the stage and with the 20" time bonus, the 28 year old Caisse d'Epargne talent assumed the race lead at the Vuelta from Italian Filippo Pozzato. The Caisse d'Epargne man from Murcia made his unbeatable acceleration in the final 200 meters to finish two seconds ahead of Italians Davide Rebellin and Alessandro Ballan.
Valverde explained post-race "I came here for a stage win and a some time in the race lead if possible and that's what I've achieved. I would have attacked a little later, but another rider went away, so I had no choice but to respond. The move paid off really well, I knew this stage finish was good for me. I went for it and I won." Valverde is a talented all-round rider, who has finished second, third and fourth in previous editions of the Vuelta a España. In 2008, Valverde he has already won the Liege-Bastogne-Liege and San Sebastian one-day classic races, as well as the Dauphine Libere stage race. In the 2008 Tour de France, Valverde won Stage One in an uphill finish, but crashed before the Pyrenees, then cracked in the mountains to finally finish ninth in Paris.
Valverde continued, saying "I don't consider myself a favorite at the Vuelta, it's been a long season for me, and I just don't want to put myself under any pressure here. I'm taking the race lead day by day, and then we'll see what happens in the first long time trial next Wednesday. This summer in the Tour I was too confident after taking an early stage win. I don?t want to make the same mistake again."
63rd Vuelta a España
Sunday, August 3
Stage 2: Granada-Jaén / 176.3km
1. Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne
4h23'00" (40.221 km/hr. average speed)
2. Davide Rebellin (Ita) Gerolsteiner @ :02"
3. Alessandro Ballan (Ita) Lampre
4. Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) Silence - Lotto
5. Filippo Pozzato (Ita) Liquigas
6. Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale
7. Erik Zabel (Ger) Team Milram
8. Paolo Bettini (Ita) Quick Step
9. Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Française des Jeux
10. Xavier Florencio Cabre (Spa) Bouygues Telecom @ all same time
Vuelta a España General Classification / Stage 2
1. Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne / 4h31'10"
2. Filippo Pozzato (Ita) Liquigas @ :13"
3. Daniele Bennati (Ita) Liquigas @ same time
4. Egoi Martinez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi @ :15"
5. Iñigo Landaluze (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi @ :19"
6. Davide Rebellin (Ita) Gerolsteiner @ same time
7. Mauricio Ardila (Col) Rabobank @ :20"
8 Igor Anton (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi @ :21"
9. Ruben Perez Moreno (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
10. Mikel Astarloza (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi @ same time
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