Alberto Contador finished with the bunch in the first stage of the Vuelta al Pais Vasco, followed closely by Roman Kreuziger. The Spanish rider, who has won the race on three occasions, took the same time as the bunch. While the first stage saw some early breakaways, Tinkoff worked to keep the splits in check, making sure there were no time gaps going into the second day of racing.
The 144km first stage was by no means flat, covering a route from Etxebarria to Markina-Xemein, and taking in eight categorised climbs along the way. While the expectation was that it would gently ease riders into the race, but in spite of less than perfect weather at the start, the attacks came early on and stayed clear for most of the stage.
The final 10km of the stage saw the GC contenders up the pace to test their rivals, which saw Alberto stretching his legs at the 9.3km point to test how the bunch responded. With 1.8km to go, the peloton upped the pace to try and draw the escapees in, a move that saw Tinkoff in amongst the lead bunch, looking fresh and in control. The slightly downhill finish made it easier for the peloton to pull in the break and only metres from the line, the peloton made contact, ensuring the bunch finished with the same time.
From the stage finish in Markina-Xemein, Sport Director, Sean Yates, was happy with the outcome. “At the end of the stage there’s no time bonuses at this race so that’s not something we have to deal with, so all favourites are still in the same situation ahead of tomorrow which is another day.”
A week of rest after a podium finish at the Volta a Catalunya meant Alberto was feeling confident ahead of the week’s racing. “I had good sensations today even though the first day is always the most difficult one to get back to race mode, especially when coming from a week of rest after Catalunya. The day started wet but, fortunately, we were lucky and got dry conditions later on.”
Yates continued, providing an insight into how the team responded to the breakaways. “After the early break went we contributed to the chase together with a few other teams, and always kept the lead under 3:30 minutes so it was under control. On the final climb Navarro was strong and kept going after an attack, and Luis Leon joined over the top with the two of them just staying away. Behind, Alberto finished in the front group with Roman Kreuziger.”
Many of the teams were recovering from sickness after the season’s first races were held in cold and wet conditions, said Yates. “Sergio did a good job today on his first race back – when you’re riding on the front you have extra motivation and was good to see him back in action, while Jesper Hansen is still recovering from sickness and did what he could to survive here. Thankfully the weather turned out well today. It was raining at the start but it did clear up and wasn’t too cold. Potentially tomorrow could be a different picture but we will be ready.”
Alberto was pleased with the team’s support, but with the earlier wet conditions, was keen that the team stayed healthy. “I felt in quite good shape, the squad was also good today and supported me at all times. We had the stage more or less always under control. I’m happy overall with the day and now the most important thing is to avoid getting a cold and recover as tomorrow we have an important day.”
Stage 2 will take the riders from Markina-Xemein, where today’s stage finished, to Baranbio-Garrastatxu. This 174.3km stage is where the first big time gains are expected to take place, with an undulating course that could break up the peloton, before an uphill finish. Yates believes tomorrow’s stage will be very different from today’s. “Tomorrow will be much different and at the end we’ll be doing our utmost to win the stage. Astana will have to control the race now they have the lead and it’s a question of being at the right place at the right time, principally at the end when we hit the final climb. We’ve recce’d the stage, and the finish is evil – 2.7km averaging over 13% so it’s going to be very, very hard.”
Of the coming days, Alberto was eager to see how the race panned out, and how his rivals would perform. “There is no doubt the line-up has a very high level with some very strong riders that came here with the intention to win. We will have to take it a day at a time and see our position. Tomorrow we have the first summit finish but, honestly, I don’t know it well. I saw it has a tough profile and I don’t know what factors will make the peloton break. Obviously, we will have to be at the front in order not to lose because as we saw in Paris-Nice and Volta Catalunya, every single second is very important.”
Stage Result
1. Luis Leon Sanchez (SPA) Astana Pro Team 03:54:21
2. Daniel Navarro (SPA) Cofidis +00:00:00
3. Simon Gerrans (AUS) Orica-GreenEdge +00:00:00
4. Fabio Felline (ITA) Trek-Segafredo +00:00:00
5. Simon Clarke (AUS) Cannondale Pro Team +00:00:00
24. Alberto Contador (SPA) Tinkoff +00:00:00
38. Roman Kreuziger (CZE) Tinkoff +00:00:00
90. Matteo Tosatto (ITA) Tinkoff +00:06:48
97. Michael Valgren (DEN) Tinkogg +00:06:48
99. Robert Kiserlovski (CRO) Tinkoff +00:06:48
156. Sergio Paulinho (POR) Tinkoff +00:19:20
157. Jesper Hansen (DEN) Tinkoff +00:19:20
158. Evgeny Petrov (RUS) Tinkoff +00:19:20
