Peter Velits (HTC-Columbia) won the seventeenth stage time trial of the Vuelta a España in Peñafiel in a time of 52’43” for the 46km course. The Slovakian beat Russian Denis Menchov (Rabobank) by 12 seconds, with World time trial champion Fabian Cancellara (Saxo Bank) suffering a rare defeat to finish third, 37 seconds back.
An almost entirely flat course, out of the town of Peñafiel and back again, looked tailor made for yet another victory for the mighty Swiss World champion, particularly with the wind predicted to increase for the later riders. A morale boosting victory for Velits though, shows that Spartacus is beatable, just three weeks before Cancellara is due to defend his rainbow jersey.
"This is my first victory in a time trial, too," said Velits after the stage, "and to be able to do that in the Vuelta is something almost unbelievable. It's a big but very nice surprise for both me and the team.
“I knew the key would be going all out in the return section,” he continued, “where there was a strong tailwind and I was able to make most of the difference there. Seeing [Garmin-Transitions’] Tom Danielson ahead of me on the road but slowly closing the gap on him really boosted my morale, too, and I could keep up a high pace."
Fourteenth rider to start, Cancellara flew around the entirely flat course to finish 2’34” quicker than the previous best time set by Mikhai Ignatiev (Katusha). Just ten riders later US time trial David Zabriskie (Garmin-Transitions) was just 30 seconds slower than the World champion at the first checkpoint after 15km; the deficit had increased to 45 seconds by the second checkpoint at 31km, but the American accelerated in the final section to finish just 33 seconds behind.
The next rider to push Cancellara close was former Belgian champion Leif Hoste (OmegaPharma-Lotto), but while he was able to go faster than both Millar and Zabriskie, he was still 26 seconds slower than the mighty Swiss rider.
Shortly after Hoste, Zabriskie’s Garmin-Transitions teammate David Millar, who has won time trial stages of the Vuelta in the past, looked like he too might challenge Cancellara. The former British champion was just 24 seconds slower after 15km, but was unable to close further and finished 50 seconds down.
Finally, when it looked as though it was to be yet another Spartacus victory, Menchov stormed through the final section of the course to go 25 seconds faster. The Russian has been 58 seconds slower at the second checkpoint, but had managed to hold something in reserve to complete the final 15km 1’23” quicker than the World champion.
Sixth from last to start though, Velits was even faster than Menchov over that final section; the Slovakian was 15 seconds slower at the final checkpoint, but finished 12 seconds ahead.
In the battle for the red jersey Nibali started strongly; a front wheel puncture in the first half of the course almost spelled disaster for the Italian though as there was confusion between him and his mechanic about what to do. Nibali stopped at the side of the road and dropped his bike to the ground, seemingly expecting a new one, but the mechanic leapt from the car with a replacement wheel.
By the time Nibali’s spare bike had been taken from the roof of the car his wheel had been replaced and he set off once more on his original bike; the mix-up cost the Italian valuable seconds.
Ahead of Nibali, Ezequiel Mosquera (Xacobeo-Galicia) was riding the time trial of his life and, because of the Italian’s mechanical incident, was losing very little time; race leader Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) though was having a very bad day.
After 15km Rodriguez had already lost 1’18” to Nibali, by 31km it had risen to 3’04”, and by the finish he was 4’16” behind the Italian; losing the race lead and probably any chance of reclaiming it.
Nibali takes back the red jersey and Mosquera – who lost just 19 seconds to Nibali by the finish – moves into second, while Velits’ victory moves the young Slovakian up to third; Rodriguez slips to fifth overall, now 3’45” behind the leader.
Result stage 17
1. Peter Velits (Svk) HTC-Columbia 52’43”
2. Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank @ 12s
3. Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Team Saxo Bank @ 37s
4. Gustav Erik Larsson (Swe) Team Saxo Bank @50s
5. Luis Leon Sanchez (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne @ 1’03”
6. Leif Hoste (Bel) OmegaPharma-Lotto @ 1’07”
7. David Zabriskie (USA) Garmin-Transitions @ 1’10”
8. Carlos Barredo (Spa) Quick Step @ 1’14”
9. Philippe Gilbert (Bel) OmegaPharma-Lotto @ 1’24”
10. David Millar (GBr) Garmin-Transitions @ 1’27”
Standings after stage 17
1. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Doimo
2. Ezequiel Mosquera (Spa) Xacobeo-Galicia @ 37s
3. Peter Velits (Svk) HTC-Columbia @ 2’00”
4. Fränk Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank @ 3’44”
5. Joaquim Rodriguez (Spa) Team Katusha @ 3’45”
6. Xavier Tondo (Spa) Cervélo TestTeam @ 3’45”
7. Tom Danielson (USA) Garmin-Transitions @ 3’55”
8. Nicolas Roche (Irl) AG2R-La Mondiale @ 4’03”
9. Carlos Sastre (Spa) Cervélo TestTeam @ 4’13”
10. Luis Leon Sanchez (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne @ 5’43”