Vuelta’09 St.7: Really, Nobody Does It Better
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Race Report: I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: nobody does it better than Fabian Cancellara on a time trial bike. It’s just a fact folks. Fabu proved it for the umpteenth time today in a rain sodden Valencia. Behind, the GC took its first fledgling steps toward sorting itself out.For a long while, it looked like David Millar had put together a winning time. Looking back, that’s kind of a humorous statement, because one Fabian Cancellara had not finished yet. Cancellara made what would eventually be Millar’s 2nd place time look pedestrian.
Did you expect anyone else?
Millar had managed to eke out four seconds on the World Time Trial Champion, Columbia’s Bert Grabsch. There were nine riders within 30 seconds of Millar’s fastest time, and then Cancellara finished, and there wasn’t a single rider within 30 seconds of Cancellara’s time. I think it’s safe to say that we’re privileged to see time trialling greatness every time Fabian Cancellara rockets off a start ramp.
Greipel had a nice spell in Gold, but he didn’t stand a chance against the Wattage Cottage of Fabian Cancellara.
Cancellara’s ride was good enough to retake the overall lead from Andre Greipel’s back, but unfortunately, this Gold Jersey is headed straight into the mountains tomorrow. Remember Al’s preview of the Vuelta’s Queen Stage, Stage 8? It’s going to be gnarly tomorrow, so one would expect Fabu’s time in Gold to be numbered – probably something like 24 hours.
Sammy Sanchez led the GC boys home with a solid 6th place today. His overall chances are doing just fine after the first week.
The intriguing question is of course: who will be in Gold after the favorites jostle, writhe, and lurch their way to the top of the Aitana?
Cadel Evans leads the GC favorites into the second week as the ‘leader’ on the GC that doesn’t exist yet – but it will soon.
The General Classification hopes start with 6th overall right now: Cadel Evans. Cadel finished a reasonable 10th place today, 1:02 behind Cancellara, 15 seconds behind the top GC man on the day, Olympic Champ Sammy Sanchez.
We’ve heard nary a peep from Alejandro Valverde so far this Vuelta – that’s the way it should be in an opening week such as this. He’s only two ticks behind Evans right now.
Well, let’s just take a look at a whittled down General Classification picture:
1. Cadel Evans
2. Alejandro Valverde 0:02
3. Tom Danielson 0:07
4. Sammy Sanchez 0:08
5. Haimar Zubeldia 0:31
6. Alexander Vinokourov 0:36
7. Linus Gerdemann 0:40
8. Ivan Basso 0:40
9. Robert Gesink 0:45
10. Jakob Fuglsang 0:51
11. Ezequiel Mosquera 1:40
12. Andy Schleck 1:58
13. Frank Schleck 2:03
As you can pretty easily see, the GC is anywhere but solidified. I went 13 deep, but the ‘Top 10′ are all within a minute. Of course the time trial was important today, but when we take a step back when the Vuelta ends, I think we’ll see that the time trial was merely a primer for the climbing extravaganza of the coming days.
Vino put together another solid time trial. He’s only 36 seconds back of Evans. Is it silly to think he might have a chance in the overall?
I’m nervous to even say his name for fear of ruining his good ride so far, but: how about Tom Danielson? 7th in the time trial today, 8th overall – a perfect position for the climber heading into the second week. Will this finally be Danielson’s time to shine? I think we should take this conversation back up in about a week.
Tom Danielson is sitting pretty after the time trial.
Only three of the possible favorites have managed to fall outside of a minute: Mosquera (no real surprise, his playtime begins tomorrow) and then the Schlecks. Again, no real surprise that the Schlecks are a bit off the pace, but 2 minutes is pretty significant in comparison to everyone else.
Ivan Basso didn’t ride a great TT, but he didn’t hurt himself too bad. He’s only 40 seconds off of Cadel.
Ezequiel Mosquera lost his requisite time in the time trial – now, the question is to what extent will he frolic in the Spanish mountains?
Stage 7 Results
1 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Saxo Bank 0:36:41
2 David Millar (GBr) Garmin-Slipstream 0:00:32
3 Bert Grabsch (Ger) Columbia-HTC 0:00:36
4 David Herrero (Spa) Xacobeo Galicia 0:00:40
5 Vasil Kiryienka (Blr) Caisse d’Epargne 0:00:46
6 Samuel Sбnchez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0:00:47
7 Tom Danielson (USA) Garmin-Slipstream 0:00:50
8 Christophe Riblon (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:00:53
9 Lars Boom (Ned) Rabobank 0:00:59
10 Cadel Evans (Aus) Silence-Lotto 0:01:02
General Classification After Stage 7
1 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Saxo Bank 24:58:12
2 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick Step 0:00:51
3 David Herrero (Spa) Xacobeo Galicia 0:00:59
4 Daniele Bennati (Ita) Liquigas 0:01:03
5 Vasil Kiryienka (Blr) Caisse d’Epargne 0:01:08
6 Cadel Evans (Aus) Silence-Lotto 0:01:12
7 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne 0:01:14
8 Tom Danielson (USA) Garmin-Slipstream 0:01:19
9 Samuel Sбnchez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0:01:20
10 David Millar (GBr) Garmin-Slipstream
11 Gustavo Cйsar Veloso (Spa) Galicia 0:01:42
12 Haimar Zubeldia (Spa) Astana 0:01:43
13 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Silence-Lotto 0:01:46
14 Alexander Vinokourov (Kaz) Astana 0:01:48
15 Imanol Erviti (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne 0:01:51
16 Linus Gerdemann (Ger) Milram 0:01:52
17 Ivan Basso (Ita) Liquigas
18 David Garcia (Spa) Xacobeo Galicia 0:01:53
19 Robert Gesink (Ned) Rabobank 0:01:57
20 Bert Grabsch (Ger) Columbia-HTC 0:02:00
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