Vuelta – Quintana Crashes

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Race leader Quintana crashes in time trial, Tony Martin wins stage whilst new race leader is Alberto Contador

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Vuelta – Quintana Crashes

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Race leader Quintana crashes in time trial, Tony Martin wins stage whilst new race leader is Alberto Contador

Stage 10 Contador

The race leader in the Tour of Spain, Nairo Quintana (Movistar) crashed at speed during the first individual time trial in the Vuelta a España, a demanding, 37km parcours from Vera de Moncayo to Borja. The Colombian crashed on the opening section of the descent of the Alto del Moncayo (Cat-3), which he got through well in the mix against the other race favourites.

Banging his left foot and knee as well his back did not cause any serious harm to Quintana but the two minutes or more delay to getting restarted saw him losing a lot of time to the GC favourites, over four minutes by the finish.

Nairo’s bad luck, down from first to eleventh overall at 3’25”, was slightly compensated for his team by a great performance by his team-mate and friend Alejandro Valverde. The Spanish time trial champion bounced back from his own disappointment after the last TT in the Tour de France and finished in 8th spot, just 22″ behind Contador and more than half a minute over Chris Froome (SKY)

The Spaniard is now in 2nd overall at 27″ and will fight alongside Nairo and his team-mates to get back any time lost as the race reaches the squad’s home in Navarra on Wednesday.

Nairo Quintana said afterwards “I was feeling great on the uphill, but at that point of the descent, my bike simply did not brake enough. Before the turn, I was tightening my shoe, which was a little bit loose, but I think that didn’t have an effect on my crash.”

“The thing is that I kept braking for quite long, but it wasn’t enough because the bike didn’t stop, and I crashed. Fortunately, I could avoid having a bigger crash and I did not hurt myself really badly. I’m hurting my left ankle and I also have blows all over my body, but I hope it’s nothing serious. This is cycling. I lost some time and I might be switching to help out Alejandro so we can conquer the overall podium.”

Alejandro Valverde: “I’m happy with myself – we’re staying in second place, really close to Alberto – but it’s a bittersweet taste with Nairo’s crash. I didn’t know anything, I was told when I finished. It’s awful to have such a crash, when you’re in the lead, clocking good times… being the two of us closer in the overall would have been better for our interests, but the only important thing now is that Nairo is still racing – I’m sure he will recover well, even though I’m told it was quite a blow. We’ll keep fighting to do great in this Vuelta.”

“This was a time trial like the ones I used to make when I felt well. When conditions are normal, I usually keep close to the main specialists. There were two good phases for me, plus one not so good. The section before the top of the climb, really good. The first part of the descent also went well, but then, into the rest of the descent, I struggled to get back into a good pace. With 12k to go, I started to feel better – I did superb in the last 7k. Losing so few seconds to Alberto and finishing before Froome and Purito is fantastic. I know tomorrow’s finish: it’s a demanding climb, really tough, and I just hope legs respond well. It seems like it’s going to be good weather up there and I hope it plays on my favour.”

Good day for Quickstep as Tony Martin & Rigoberto Uran finish 1-2
Omega Pharma – Quick-Step Cycling Team had a special in Borja for the 36.7km La Vuelta a España Stage 10 time trial. Tony Martin made the most out of the last kilometres of the time trial, winning with a time of 47 minutes and two seconds (46.818 km/h) despite not having the fastest two intermediate checkpoints. Meanwhile, OPQS leader Rigoberto Uran moved himself into 3rd on the GC by a blazing fast time trial performance. He finished 2nd on the stage, just 15″ down on his German teammate. Fabian Cancellara (Trek Factory Racing) was 3rd, 18″ down on Martin.

Stage 10 Tony Martin

“It was one of the hardest time trials this year,” Martin said. “The mountain was quite hard; it was hard to find a rhythm and still keep some energy for the second part with the descent and the flat sections. It was also technical with a lot of corners. For sure it was a challenge. I also had some issues with heat at the end”.

“I wasn’t so sure about the win. But I’m super happy I did it, as this is a race that does not suit me perfectly and there are plenty of strong time trialists here at La Vuelta. I made up some time on the second part of the parcours. We made some good analysis with the team before the race so I was well prepared. I also see that my condition is good and I think this gives me huge morale in anticipation of the Worlds”.

Second on the stage, former Sky rider Rigoberto Uran said of his ride “We prepared for this time trial very well. Together with the staff, we analyzed all the details, and at the end I think I did very well. I’m behind the three-time UCI World TT Champion Tony Martin, who is also my teammate, so to go 1-2 and finish behind such a great time trialist is really an ideal result for me and the team”.

Stage 10. Uran

“I took a good tempo immediately and I had good feeling. When Davide Bramati told me on the radio that at the second intermediate time I had the same time of Tony, I couldn’t believe it! It was really important to have that time gap from the team car, and to know we had a chance to go 1-2. I really went full gas. I lost some time in the last part, but to be honest the last 10 kilometers were really for a big engine like Tony”.

“I’m happy that we pulled off this great achievement, and I’m virtually on the GC podium again. We are where we are supposed to be at this point of the race. But La Vuelta is still long and the overall is wide open. Tomorrow there is another uphill finish. We will see what can happen. I’m feeling OK, and I can count on a great team around me, so we will see. This result has really put us all in a great mood.”

Race Lead for Contador
“The truth is that nobody could have imagined that today I would be wearing red, it’s a big surprise,” Contador explained. “It’s a reason to be pleased but there is still more than half the Tour to go,” the double Tour de France champion added. “Now I am in the red jersey and thinking about trying to win.”

But whilst there was joy for Contador, Froome was dissapointing in a discipline where so much is expected of him. He finished tenth, 1.32 down on Martin and over a minute on GC contender Uran. “Obviously I was hoping for a better ride today,” he told TeamSky.com “I definitely started out too fast. For the first 15 minutes, I felt fantastic and I think I chased it a little much”.

“By the time I hit the climb, I started to really feel the effort of the fast start and I paid the price for the rest of the time trial. I think anyone who races and knows that feeling of starting out too fast, and how hard it is to come back from being in the red, will know what I’m talking about. It’s a horrible feeling and I had to just try to hold on to it and finish the best I could.”

“I’m just over a minute off GC still with a lot of racing to come. I’m going to keep fighting as best I can every day. Going back, my goal coming into this Vuelta was to get a Grand Tour into my legs and finish the season in good form. I think all things considered I’m still on track for that. I’m going to take it one day at a time.”

Two in top 10 for BMC
BMC Racing Team’s Samuel Sánchez finished fifth in Tuesday’s Stage 10 individual time trial and made a big move up the overall standings at the Vuelta a España while teammate Cadel Evans finished sixth. Sánchez was 48 seconds off the winning time of world time trial champion Tony Martin (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) to climb from 13th to seventh in the overall standings.

The 2008 Olympic road race champion and two-time podium placer at the Vuelta said he was inspired by the presence of past Euskaltel-Euskadi manager Igor Gonzales de Galdeano, who followed him in the BMC Racing Team car. “I immediately had good feelings today and the team was kind enough to host him (Galdeano), which pushed me emotionally,” Sánchez said.

“For sure, my performance came from my heart and my legs. But I have to say that from the car, (BMC Racing Team Sport Director) Valerio Piva managed my time trial the best, telling me every single turn and the right rhythm.” Sánchez was third-fastest overall at the first intermediate time check (11.2 km), fourth-fastest at the second (30.0 km) and was only nine seconds off the time of new race leader Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) by the finish.

“The Vuelta is really long again,” Sánchez said. “Today we did a good step up and tomorrow I hope to make another one. We will see, day-by-day. I was sorry to hear about Quintana’s crash,” Sánchez added. “I also had some risky moments in a few of the corners. You always have to stay focused in a time trial like that.”

Cancellara third
A former multi world champion, Fabian Cancellara was second fastest but relegated by officials to third. “I did what I could, that was my goal today. My only doubt was my safety for myself, and I also could not find the rhythm” says Fabian. “I spoke with my [director] and he said, ‘hey, if you did not find the rhythm how do you expect the other ones to find the rhythm?”

Stage 10 Cancellara

“I was not using the gears I usually do for time trials – it was either hard [gear] to pedal, or really low [gear] to pedal; [that] was something special of today. In the end I did what I could. I did my maximum, and that is also important. It was bad, bad roads! This asphalt – it is not an excuse – but it has nothing to do with a time trial in my opinion. Compared to last year [the roads were] much nicer, but this is how it is and we have to do it, but I hope they look for better roads than this.”

“I am looking forward to the next days now. I was happy for the rest day and happy that the heat is less so we can return to a normal level of racing. From now we are building up to the next stage. [Today] the GC contenders had another race: they are racing for seconds for GC. On the other hand there are riders like me and Tony Martin and some others that go for the stage win”.

“There are always two different races and two mentally different strengths [needed to] put out on the road. Of course it’s always nice to start in the last [positions] to have all the references, but I know already for many years in big tours that I have to just go out and do the best I can and then see what comes at the end.”

Joaquim Rodriguez (17th) – “I knew I had to gain as much time as possible on the first uphill part and that’s what I did. I can be satisfied with my result. At the end of the TT, I missed some power so perhaps I lost a little time for the GC but I really cannot complain about this result in a TT not suited to my strengths, he said.

RESULT
1. Martin Tony, Omega Pharma – Quick-Step 47:02
2. Uran Rigoberto, Omega Pharma – Quick-Ste 00:15
3. Cancellara Fabian, Trek Factory Racing 0:18
4. Contador Alberto, Tinkoff-Saxo 0:39
5. Sánchez Samuel, BMC Racing Team 0:48
6. Evans Cadel, BMC Racing Team 0:49
7. Kiryienka Vasil, Team Sky 0:57
8. Valverde Alejandro, Movistar Team 1:00
9. Sergent Jesse, Trek Factory Racing 1:13
10. Froome Christopher, Team Sky 1:32

17. Rodríguez Joaquim, Team Katusha
29. Millar David, Garmin Sharp 2:16
40. Martin Daniel, Garmin Sharp 2:48
82. Quintana Nairo, Movistar Team 4.07
89. Yates Adam, Orica GreenEDGE 4:13
145. Kennaugh Peter, Team Sky 5:33
158. Rowe Luke, Team Sky 5:47

OVERALL
1. Contador Alberto, Tinkoff-Saxo 36:45:49
2. Valverde Alejandro, Movistar Team 0:27
3. Uran Rigoberto, Omega Pharma – Quick-Step 0:59
4. Anacona Gomez Winner, Lampre-Merida 1:12
5. Froome Christopher, Team Sky 1:18
6. Rodríguez Joaquim, Team Katusha 1:37
7. Sánchez SamuelvBMC Racing Team 1:41
8. Aru Fabio, Astana Pro Team 2:27
9. Gesink Robert, Belkin-Pro Cycling Team 2:38
10. Caruso Damiano, Cannondale 2:59
11. Quintana Nairo, Movistar Team 3:25
13. Martin Daniel, Garmin Sharp 3:48

 

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