Francesco Gavazzi (Lampre-ISD) took the victory at the end of stage eighteen of the Vuelta a España, between Solares and Noja, as a large breakaway group was allowed to stay away. The 26-year-old Italian outsprinted Kristoff Vandewalle (Quick Step) after the two riders had escaped from the rest of the break with a little over two kilometres to go. Alexandre Geniez (Skil-Shimano) led the chasers across the line, ten seconds behind the winning pair.
The break was made after just ten kilometres, when a group of seventeen riders escaped. Since there was no threat to the overall lead of Juan José Cobo (Geox-TMC), the Spaniard’s team allowed them to quickly build a lead of more than ten minutes, where it was to stay for most of the day.
Sergio Paulinho (RadioShack) managed to escape the others over the top of the final climb of the day, but was chased down and finally caught inside the final three kilometres, only for Vandewalle to launch the winning move.
"I'm pleased to have completed an interesting breakaway in the best way possible,” said Gavazzi at the finish. “In the attack there were some riders that could be competitive on the climbs, especially Paulinho and [Katusha’s Joaquim] Rodriguez, but I had no problem and, managing my energies, I still had strength for the final part of the stage.
“I knew I was the fastest,” he explained, “but when Vandewalle attacked at two kilometres to go, I decided to follow him since I understood that the other riders were tired. It was a good move and then I performed a perfect sprint that gave me the victory
“This success gives an extra value to a beautiful season of my team," added the Lampre-ISD rider, who will be departing for Astana in 2012.
Despite there being no overall threat, double stage winner Rodriguez was present in the break. Thanks to winning both intermediate sprints and taking eighth at the finish, took back the green points jersey from Bauke Mollema (Rabobank).
There was also to be a battle for mountain points, across the route’s five categorised climbs. Matteo Montaguti (AG2R La Mondiale) fought to take the polka dot jersey back from incumbent David Moncoutié (Cofidis), while the Frenchman’s teammate Nico Sijmens fought to stop him.
Towards the end of the stage, the break’s lead began to cause ripples in the peloton as Robert Kiserlovski (Astana) was threatening the tenth place of Mikel Nieve (Euskaltel-Euskadi). By the finish though, the Basque team, with the help of a number of others, had cut the deficit to 7’42”, and so the top ten remains unchanged from the day before.
A tough stage but no real chance to attack the red jersey
The 174.6km stage between Solares and Noja was never going to be anything but a transitional stage, ideal for allowing a breakaway to get away and taking the pressure off the overall contenders after some tough days of climbing. Although it contained five categorised climbs – the 3rd category Puertos de Braguia, de la Cruz Usaño, and de Fuente las Varas, the 2nd category Alto del Caracol and the 1st category Puerto de Alisas – there were too many kilometres between the last of them and the finish.
With just thirteen seconds between Cobo and second place Chris Froome (Team Sky), the best thing for the Spanish rider would be to allow some lesser riders to swallow up the time bonuses at the intermediate sprints and, if possible, the finish.
A big break goes and Geox-TMC puts on the brakes
Early attacks from Albert Timmer (Skil-Shimano) were chased down, but the Dutchman did managed to get himself into the 17-strong move that managed to get away after 10km. Along with Timmer was his Skil-Shimano teammate Geniez, Gavazzi, Vandewalle and Davide Malacarne (both Quick Step), Montaguti, Sijmens, Rodriguez, Paulinho, Kiserlovski and Josep Jufre (both Astana), Martin Kohler (BMC Racing), Juan Jose Oroz (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Francis De Greef (Omega Pharma-Lotto), Luis Leon Sanchez (Rabobank), Volodymir Gustov (Saxo Bank-SunGard) and Heinrich Haussler (Garmin-Cervélo).
Kiserlovski was the best-placed overall, but he was in 21st place overall, 17’16” down, and Cobo’s Geox-TMC team was quite happy with the constitution of the group; it was allowed to build a lead of 10’50” by the 45km mark.
Sanchez and Haussler had both denied their intention to get into a breakaway on the morning of the stage; the Rabobank rider has become another who is suffering with health problems in the Vuelta. “I feel sick. I got a stomach bug yesterday,” he said at the start.
Haussler, Garmin-Cervélo’s sprinter after the withdrawal of Tyler Farrar on stage seven, was also feeling the fatigue of the long, mountainous race. “This Vuelta is ridiculously fast and hard”, said the Australian at the start. “It’s good for me to prepare for the world championships but it’s impossible for me to win a stage here this year.”
Despite Sanchez’ sickness and Haussler’s fatigue, both found themselves off the front of the race, and both were working well.
While none of the members of the group were any threat in the overall classification, there were two riders there to contest the other jerseys. Rodriguez had lost the points jersey to Bauke Mollema (Rabobank) at the finish on Peña Cabarga, and aimed to take it back at the two intermediate sprints in the middle part of the stage. Also there was Montaguti, who had led the mountains classification earlier in the race, before losing it to David Moncoutié (Cofidis).
Sanchez was in the break to try to stop Rodriguez, while Sijmens would try to take points from Motaguti. The Belgian was unable to stop the AG2R La Mondiale rider from getting first place over the top of the Puerto di Braguia after 56.2km though, moving the Italian three points closer to Moncoutié.
The other remarkable thing about the break was that, for the very first time in the race, the Andalucia-Caja Granada team was not represented.
The fight for mountain points as the break holds its advantage
Sijmens managed to beat Montaguti to the five points at the top of the Alto del Caracol after 75.1km, but the Italian still chipped another three from Moncoutié’s lead. Geox-TMC was still allowing them to stay 9’25” clear at this point, since a long lead would guarantee that Froome would not be able to get neat the intermediate sprint bonuses.
Rodriguez took first place over the intermediate sprint in Hermosa, after 101km, taking four points, and closing the gap to Mollema to seven. This was good news for Cobo, whose team was still holding the gap at 9’30”, since the Katusha rider also took the six-second bonus, meaning that Froome couldn’t have it.
On the climb to the Puerto de Alisas a small jump from Haussler prompted Kiserlovski to put in a bigger one. The Croation was joined by Gavazzi and Sijmens, then De Greef, and the chasers began to split up Rodriguez fought his way across. As he and Paulinho caught up most of the speed dropped out of the leaders and most managed to catch up.
Montaguti and Sijmens fought hard for the summit, and the Belgian just managed to win the sprint over the top to take the ten points on behalf of his Cofdis teammate. Montaguti took six for second though, and was now ten behind the Frenchman, with just two more 3rd category climbs to go on the stage, he had no chance of taking the jersey on this stage.
As the peloton made its way up the climb, Nicolas Roche (AG2R La Mondiale) attacked, as several members of the Movistar team began to tail off the back; even the pedestrian pace set by Geox-TMC was proving too much for them as they suffered with the stomach bug.
The big climb thins out the break as some attacks come from the peloton
The lead group was now made up of ten riders: Montaguti, Sijmens, Kiserlovski, De Greef, Rodriguez, Paulinho, Gavazzi, Gustov, Oroz and Vandewalle. Geniez was ten seconds behind and managed to get back on quite quickly, with Malacarne, Jufre, Kohler and Sanchez another 14 seconds behind him as the breakaway riders sped down the long descent.
Wouter Poels (Vacansoleil-DCM) jumped away in pursuit of Roche and caught the Irishman just before they reached the top. They crossed the summit 10’20” behind the leaders and, as Geox-TMC continued to lead the peloton, the gap had increased to 11’08”.
Rodriguez took the second intermediate sprint in Riba with 40.3km to go, meaning that he was now just three points behind Mollema’s total. If the break was to stay away, and the Catalan was to finish twelfth or better, he would take back the green jersey after having lost it for just one day.
On the descent Euskaltel-Euskadi took over the lead of the peloton to protect the position of Mikel Nieve inside the top ten from Poels, who was just seven seconds behind at the start of the day.
Montaguti jumped again for the Puerto de la Cruz Usaño with 36.6km to go, but Sijmens few past him and the Italian was unable to challenge. The two riders pressed home their advantage on the descent, although Sijmens almost crashed off the road on a bend and Montaguti got away alone.
Paulinho attacks and gets a gap
Euskaltel-Euskadi caught Poels and Roche with 36km to go, but the orange team continued to set the pace on the front of the peloton. As they approached the Puerto de Fuente las Varas with 26.7km to go though, the Italian was back in the fold and it was Paulinho that attacked as they neared the summit.
While the Portuguese rider was heading for the top of the final climb of the day, the peloton was crossing the top of the previous one, some 11’47” behind.
Kiserlovski was moving along way up the overall classification, and threatened to oust Nieve from the top ten himself, so the Euskaltel-Euskadi team continued to lead the chase.
Over the top of the climb Paulinho was 43 seconds ahead of the group, as Sijmens outsprinted Montaguti once again. The AG2R La Mondiale rider was now up to 56 points and so Moncoutié, on 63, would hold on to the jersey thanks to his Belgian teammate.
With 20km to go Paulinho was 51s ahead, as several of the chasers were working well together, but others were hiding at the back of the line. The Portuguese rider’s advantage was cut to 39 seconds by the fifteen-kilometre banner, which was down to 28 seconds with ten kilometres to go.
The cooperation in the group was beginning to suffer a little as some riders tried to miss their turn in the chase, but they were still gaining and had cut the gap to sixteen seconds with seven kilometres to go.
Paulinho fighting to maintain his momentum but, even though they were not working as smoothly as they could be, the chasers were just six seconds behind with five kilometres to go.
The chasers finally catch Paulinho and the winning move is made
With four kilometres to go, the lone Portuguese rider was dangling just a few seconds ahead but, a few hundred metres later, Gustov tried to jump away and was chased down by the others. As they attacked one another it was Geniez that finally passed Paulinho with just over two and half to go.
As they hit a small rise, Vandewalle jumped away, and he was immediately seized upon by Gavazzi and the two of them rode away. Kiserlovski jumped after them but the Astana rider couldn’t make it across and the stage was to be left to the two riders ahead.
Vandewalle feinted early, shortly after they had entered the final kilometre, but Gavazzi stuck to the Belgian’s wheel until the final 200 metres. The Italian opened up his sprint and Vandewalle had no reply, and the Lampre-ISD rider cruised to his fourth stage of the season; the first of which, at the Vuelta a Pais Vasco, had ironically also condemned Vandewalle to second place.
Geniez won the sprint for third, with the group having caught Kiserlovski; Rodriguez could only manage eighth, but the eight points meant that he rose above Mollema to take back the green jersey.
Maxime Monfort (Leopard Trek) attacked into the final two kilometres to try to steal a few seconds but was chased down by Liquigas-Cannondale. Simon Geschke (Skil-Shimano) outsprinted a battle between Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky) and Cobo, at 7’42”.