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Cycling News 2012 Vuelta Report


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Bill  On The Road

 by: Bill Oetinger  10/1/2012

Vuelta…the best race of the year

Two months ago, in reviewing the 2012 Tour de France. I ventured the opinion that the race lacked any real drama and suspense; that the Team Sky steamroller had rendered the race a foregone conclusion early on. And further, that the stages put together by the organizers appeared to have been tailor-made for Sky's strengths: lots of time trials and not a lot of really decisive mountain racing. None of that diminishes the fine accomplishments of Bradley Wiggins, Chris Froome, and their team. It just meant that it wasn't terribly entertaining for bike race fans.

VueltaFor counterpoint, I offer you the 2012 Vuelta a España, run between August 18 and September 9. If you sat down with the goal of creating a grand tour that was as different from the Tour de France as it could possibly be, you could not come up with anything better than this race. Consider the basic numbers…

The Tour had 20 stages totaling 3511 km. Three of those stages were individual time trials adding up to over 101 km (by far the most of any recent TdF). As for climbing, they had only six stages that could charitably be described as mountain stages, with a measly three of them featuring true mountaintop finishes. And frankly, none of the three was really a brutal finish.

The Vuelta had 21 stages totaling 3337 km. There was only one individual time trial of 39.4 km (Stage 11). They also had a team time trial of 16 km as the prologue, for whatever that's worth. Of the remaining 19 stages, 10 were authentic uphill finishes. (I mean uphills big enough to make a difference. Some were bigger and harder than others, but they all were potentially decisive, and as it turned out, most of them were decisive, not to mention dramatic and suspenseful…all of what was lacking at the Tour.) The hilltop finishes were scattered throughout the tour, coming on stages 3, 4, 6, 8, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, and 20. In addition, Stage 9 had a tricky little kick-up at the end that proved significant. It wasn't thought of as a hilltop finish, but effectively, it played out as one.

The Vuelta awards time bonuses for the first three finishers on all stages except time trials. This year, the bonuses were :12 for 1st, :08 for 2nd, :04 for 3rd. In the end, the bonuses were not a factor. Indeed, without them, the gaps between the top three finishers would have been a bit wider that they were with them. (As an interesting aside though, last year the bonuses for the top three placings each day were :20, :12, and :08. The winner, Juan Jose Cobo, ended up with a net plus of :30 over second-place Chris Froome in bonus seconds. Had they not had any bonuses at all, Froome, who finished second by a mere :13, would have won the Vuelta by :17.)

Just as this year's Tour favored the time trial specialists, this year's Vuelta favored the pure climbers. There were probably quite a few riders who thought they could contend. Or their teams or their fans thought they could. In the end though, there were only four who really factored in the fight for the podium: Alberto Contador, Alejandro Valverde, Joaquin Rodriguez, and Chris Froome. With 20-20 hindsight, we can now ignore all the other riders and concentrate on these four. So let's see how they did, on all the decisive stages, relative to one another…

In the Prologue (the TTT), Valverde's team finished first. He led Froome by :12, Contador by :14, and Rodriguez by :15.

In Stage 2, a sneaky Contador snapped up third place in an intermediate sprint and got a :02 bonus. (As he said afterward: who knows? I might need those seconds later.)

In the first hilltop finish on Stage 3, all four finished together at the front of the field, in this order: Valverde, Rodriguez, Froome, Contador. So with the bonus seconds applied, Valverde led Rodriguez by :18, Froome by :19, Contador by :24.

On Stage 4, Valverde was involved in a crash with 30 km to go. He was unhurt and got back on the bike but was way behind. In spite of cycling's gentlemen's agreement that you don't attack when a rider is down, Froome's Sky team did exactly that, hammering away at the front while Contador's and Rodriguez' teams sat in, not contributing to the pacemaking. Riders out of a breakaway took the top spots and Froome, Contador, and Rodriguez finished together. But Valverde never got back to the front group and lost :55. (He was mightily pissed off about it afterward.) That left Rodriguez in the lead, with Froome at :01, Contador at :05, and Valverde at :36.

On the next hilltop finish (Stage 6), Rodriguez won, :05 ahead of Froome, :10 up on Valverde, and :19 up on Contador. That left the GC standings with Rodriguez first, Froome at :10, Contador at :35, Valverde at :54.

On Stage 8, Valverde, Rodriguez, and Contador finished together, first, second, and third, but Froome was gapped and lost :15. That left Rodriguez first, with Froome at :33, Contador at :40, Valverde at :50.

Stage 9 was not supposed to be a hilltop decider, but there was a short, sharp climb right before the finish in Barcelona. Phillipe Gilbert launched one of his classic power attacks on this little pitch and won the stage, but right behind him was an opportunistic Rodriguez. Contador, Froome, and Valverde were all caught napping on this one. Rodriguez picked up :09 on Valverde and :12 on Contador and Froome, plus he got the :08 bonus for second. So now he led Froome by :53, Contador by 1:00, and Valverde by 1:07.

Next up on Stage 11 was the one and only individual time trial. Rodriguez had been doing everything he could to collect seconds on every stage, like a squirrel storing away nuts, because he and everyone else knows he's not great in the time trials. For instance, in the one ITT in last year's Vuelta, he lost 3:23 to the winner Froome. But this year, to everyone's surprise, he did much, much better. Contador was the best of our players in second overall. Froome was :22 behind him. Valverde, also not noted as a demon against the clock, did very well at :51 back. And Rodriguez was :59 behind Contador, which meant he stayed in the leader's jersey by one second (ahead of Contador), with Froome at :16 and Valverde at :59.

Surviving the time trial and finding himself still in the lead seemed to inspire Rodriguez. He won the next two hilltop finishes (Stages 12 and 14), putting more time into Contador, Valverde, and Froome, who finished in that order on both stages. On Stage 15, riders out of a breakaway took the top spots and Rodriguez, Contador, and Valverde finished together, but Froome was again gapped and lost another :35. At this point, it was Rodriguez first, Contador at :22, Valverde at 1:41, and Froome at 2:16. Again, with 20-20 hindsight, we can now dispense with Froome as a contender. He was the slowest of the four on almost every stage and had been giving up handfuls of seconds every day. It appeared as if he were running out of steam…as if, perhaps, his exertions at the recent Tour were finally catching up with him. In contrast, Valverde, who also did the Tour and finished a respectable 20th, seemed to be getting stronger as the Vuelta went along.

On almost every single uphill finish, Contador was attacking Rodriguez. He would put in a feisty little dig and dance off the front, but then Rodriguez would reel him back in. Contador did this over and over again, day after day, in some cases several times a day in the closing kilometers. He kept trying, but Rodriguez had him covered, every single time, and in fact always came around him at the end to take first and claim the bonus seconds. Rodriguez is a cheerful, likable, humble guy, and he kept saying all the predictable things in the post-stage interviews. He kept insisting that he was maxxed out; that if Contador had launched one more attack or if the stage had been one kilometer longer, etc, he (Rodriguez) would have blown. Everyone assumed he was just being diplomatic and modest, but perhaps it was true…

Stage 16 needs some special mention. This was the third super-tough mountaintop finish in three days, and it was the hardest of them all. It offered up two huge Cat 1 climbs before the final climb. That final climb--Cuitu Nigru--gains 4400' over 12 miles. That may seem daunting enough, but it's the final two miles that are the real test. The fiendish Vuelta organizers had a gravel road up a ski slope paved for this stage, and that new road averages 13% for the two miles, with the last section hitting a leg-breaking 25%. Some people suggested it might even touch 30% briefly. It is, without a doubt, the steepest road I've ever seen in a pro bike race.

Dario Cataldo and Thomas De Gendt were the last two survivors out of a break that had at one point enjoyed a lead of 15 minutes. They managed to stay away--barely--for first and second. Cataldo dropped De Gendt in the slowest slow-motion attack ever seen. His speed over the final few yards…you could have walked up the hill faster. Behind them, our chief protagonists were doing a little bit better. They almost caught the leaders, but in the end, settled for duking it out amongst themselves. Contador attacked Rodriguez repeatedly. At least nine times he attacked, and in every case, Rodriguez rose out of the saddle and tracked him down. Finally, at the super-steep finish line, he nipped around Contador and took two seconds out of him, plus the four-second time bonus for third place. It was thrilling stuff! Valverde was a further :19 in arrears. Froome was toast. When the dust had settled, Rodriguez led Contador by :28, with Valverde at 2:04.

It seemed as if Contador had thrown everything at Rodriguez that he had in his arsenal, and in every case, Purito had defended his lead and out-gunned Pistolero. Rodriguez had been very cautious about looking too far ahead; about thinking of the finish in Madrid in a few more days. But after this stage, he actually admitted he was starting to like his chances. Most race fans agreed with him.

That brings us to Stage 17, another mountaintop finish, but of a very different sort. The final climb to Fuente Dé was certainly long--23 miles--but was rarely steep, often little more than a false flat, at least for the first several miles. On paper, it looked like the sort of insignificant summit that wouldn't shake the results up at all. The leaders would all mark one another, finish together, and let some break take the stage. That last climb was preceded by two moderately challenging climbs and any number of little ups and downs. One reporter described the profile as "lumpy," and that's a good description of it.

Contador had tried everything--or so it seemed--and had been unable to crack Rodriguez. If he couldn't break him on those super-steep slopes, what chance would he have of putting a dent in him on this much less difficult finish? That turns out to have been a very good question with a stunningly unexpected answer. Rodriguez may be brilliant on the steep pitches--the steeper, the better--but just as he is not so hot in the time trials, he is also a bit weak as a rolleur: someone who can pound out the miles over moderate terrain. And besides, perhaps his protestations that he was near the limit of his endurance were not just sandbagging; perhaps they were an honest, candid assessment of his condition…

Whatever the reasons, on this mildly up-and-down day, Contador decided to attack again. But this time he didn't wait for the final climb. He attacked as if he were a nobody trying to get in a break, well before the midpoint of the stage. He and Valverde both took off, and while they were attacking, Contador collected a few bonus seconds in an intermediate sprint. Rodriguez' Katusha team eventually brought them back, but they burned a few matches doing it.

Other breaks formed but all fell apart. Finally, a group came together and got off the front on the descent of the Cat 3 Collada de Ozalba with about 60 km to go. Included in that group were Contador's teammate Sergio Paulinho and Contador's former Astana teammate and good friend Paolo Tiralongo. That descent led directly to the penultimate climb: the Cat 2 Collada la Hoz, and on this climb, Contador attacked again and quickly bridged up to the break. Neither Valverde nor Rodriguez seemed able to follow.

On the long false flat up to the final climb, Paulinho got on the front and buried himself for Contador, setting a hard tempo that slowly widened the gap between the break and the peloton, now up to about a minute-and-a-half. Still no response from Rodriguez or Valverde. Watching it unfold, one began to wonder not so much when they would respond but rather if they would respond.

When Paulinho had done all he could, Tiralongo took on the task of pulling Contador up the hill. Why would he do this for a non-teammate, even if they're old friends? Remember last year in the Giro…Stage 19? Tiralongo was off the front on a long climb, a lonely breakaway of one, hoping to hold on for his first-ever pro victory. Contador attacked out of the chasing leader's group and easily bridged across to the fading Tiralongo. He then pulled his old teammate all the way to the line--staying away from their pursuers--and at the end, allowed Tiralongo to come around for the win. You don't remember? Tiralongo remembers, and now it was time for a little payback. He pulled Contador clear of the remnants of the break and he even led him out for the last intermediate sprint, then pulled off so Contador could scoop up those bonus seconds too.

Having used up Tiralongo, Contador took off solo with 14 km to go. Meanwhile, Valverde and Rodriguez had finally moved clear of the peloton in a belated effort to close the gap to Contador. And as they reached that same 14 km point, Valverde put the hammer down and dropped Rodriguez, who appeared to be absolutely spent…nothing more to give (and no teammates to help him). Up ahead, Contador was setting a steady tempo, looking entirely comfortable, with his lead over Rodriguez growing with every turn of the pedals. Valverde was going even faster though. He caught up to one of his teammates from the remnants of the break and, together, they were the fastest riders on the road, chasing down Contador. But Contador had enough time in hand not to worry too much about them. He crossed the line first with a flying Valverde just :06 behind, but with poor Rodriguez coming home in 10th place, a whopping 2:38 down. He not only lost the lead to Contador, he fell to third behind Valverde. With the win and all the bonus seconds he picked up along the way, Contador now led Valverde by 1:52 and Rodriguez by 2:28.

It was one of the most amazing displays of tactical racing the bike world has ever seen. Can't beat Rodriguez on the steeps? Figure out some other way to get at him, to take him out of his element. Bjarne Riis and Contador and their little Saxo-Tinkoff brain trust must have figured this was a possibility. You can just picture them, plotting it out around the dinner table the night before. It might have been a long shot, and it depended first of all on Contador being strong enough to do his part and on Rodriguez being vulnerable…out of ammo. In the end, all the pieces came together. I felt sorry for Rodriguez. He was so brilliant in the steep mountains and he did so much better than anyone expected in the time trial. Then to have the prize snatched away, just when he had it in his grasp…too cruel. But Chapeau! to Contador and his team for finding a way to win, when it looked like it was already game over.

There was still one more hilltop finish to go on Stage 20, and it was a doozy: the infamous Bola del Mundo, first used two years ago. It's another wickedly steep finish, well suited to Rodriguez' strengths. You knew he would have a go at it, just in case Contador cracked. A ragged file of riders from a shattered break took the top placings on this final monster of a hill, but back a ways, Rodriguez did indeed launch one last attack. He gave it his best shot. He beat Valverde by :25 and Contador by :44. But it wasn't enough. Each of the other two knew how much time they had to work with. They did enough to protect their positions but not too much…not so much that they would blow up and lose even more. When it was all over, it was Contador first, Valverde at 1:16, and Rodriguez at 1:37.

Vuelta WinnersIt all added up to the best Grand Tour of the year. This is the third year in a row I have said that about the Vuelta. Both the Giro and the Tour were good, but for purest bike race fun, for edge-of-your-seat, nail-biting thrills and suspense, neither of them comes close to matching this crazy spectacle, with its endless murderers' row of steep mountain finishes. I'm sorry it wasn't all on prime time TV, but I'm grateful it was at least available as a streaming on-line feed. I hope you managed to find the time to watch at least some of it. If you didn't, I hope this long and winding report captures at least a little of the flavor of the race.

I had thought to add some further comments about the World Championships, but this has gone on way too long already. The Vuelta was such a feast for race fans, we really don't need to be having that one more dinner mint afterward.

Bill can be reached at srccride@sonic.net



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