Vuelta a Espana - Veloso wins, Valverde in gold

Eurosport - Tue, 08 Sep 18:04:00 2009

Gustavo Cesar Veloso of Xacobeo Galicia won the ninth stage of the Vuelta a Espana in Xorret del Cati as Alejandro Valverde seized the overall lead.

CYCLING 2009 Vuelta a Espana Gustavo Cesar Veloso of Xacobeo Galicia - 0

Unheralded Spaniard Cesar Veloso (pictured) was part of a seven-man breakaway that formed early in the 188.8 kilometre trek from Alcoy that featured seven categorised climbs.

He paced his climb up the punishing final 5km first category ascent to perfection and crossed the line 21 seconds ahead of fellow escapee Marco Marzano of Lampre.

An elite bunch formed on the ascent of the Xorret del Cati, whose summit came just 3km from the finish, and Valverde sprinted to the line, claiming third place as another of the breakaway riders, David De La Fuente, coasted home.

Valverde took the gold jersey from Cadel Evans by virtue of the eight bonus seconds he gained for third place with the Silence-Lotto rider relinquishing the overall lead as he came home in sixth place.

"More than the stage win, I was fighting to get a time bonus which would give me the lead," Valverde said.

"Tomorrow (Tuesday) the race goes into Murcia, my home region, and I very much wanted to be wearing the leader's jersey for that occasion.

"So I forced the pace as best I could on the climb and I managed to take the lead. But Evans will be a difficult rider to beat."

The escape group of Cesar Veloso, Marzano, De La Fuente (Fuji-Servetto), Julian Sanchez Pimienta (Contentpolis-Ampo), Rein Taaramae (Cofidis), Stijn Devolder (Quick Step). Gustavo Dominguez (Xacobeo Galicia) and Javier Ramirez Abeja (Andalucia Cajasur) held a five minute lead with 10km to go before the peloton stepped up the pace.

Taaramae left his fellow escapees early on the Xorret del Cati and fought his way up the climb, which had ramps of 20 per cent, before cracking in the final kilometre.

He saw Cesar Veloso and Marzano speed past him while Valverde was setting the pace behind, as the main bunch was rapidly whittled down.

Cesar Veloso, a 29-year-old journeyman who won the Volta a Catalunya last year, went over the final summit ahead and stayed clear on a descent where riders were touching speeds of 90kmh.

Cesar Veloso said keeping calm on the final climb had been the key to his victory.

"I only just made it into the break of the day, I was the second last rider to do so," he said.

"Then on the climb, when one of the other guys (Estonian) Rein Taaramae attacked, I kept going steady and finally overtook him for the win."

Marzano was comfortably second but the drama was behind with Valverde beating the fading De La Fuente to the line and Evans furious at Robert Gesink who blocked him against the barriers as the Caisse d'Epargne man made his move.

The GC now has Valverde seven seconds ahead of Evans with Gesink climbing to third at 36 seconds. Garmin's Tom Danielson stays fourth, at 51 seconds, with Ivan Basso fifth and Samuel Sanchez dropping to sixth at 1:03.

STAGE 10 LIVE at 3pm on Tuesday on British Eurosport (Sky 410 / Virgin Media 521); Also available on your PC via the Eurosport Player - click on the link under the picture to subscribe

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  1. There had been some reason why Piti may not race on­ Italy's soil.

    From harry.morgan, on Tue 8 Sep 3:15PM

  2. The Valverde problem is made worse by the fact that if­ the UCI/WADA CAS hearing goes against him he could end­ up being retrospectively sanctioned. In other words if­ he wins the race in Madrid we will not know who the­ winner is (Valverde or otherwise) until after the CAS­ decision. This is not a good way to conclude a race and­ it makes the sport look absurd. Given the high­ likelihood of Valverde losing his case, how are the­ other riders supposed to race? Should they ignore V and­ race to beat each other, or race agasinst Valv and end­ up losing to someone else becuase they are trying to­ cover moves by a man who might or might not actually­ really be in the race. It is a dreadful situation for­ all concerned and does the sport no credit.

    From DAVID, on Tue 8 Sep 12:56PM

  3. Evans was just upset because he lost sight of the wheel­ he was following and it freaked him out. :)

    From istoleyourbicycle, on Tue 8 Sep 12:33PM

  4. Last I heard, Valverde is innocent until proven guilty­ and he hasn't been banned for abuse of drugs. So­ his situation is different to Vinokourov.

    As for­ Evans, it wouldn't be quite so bad if he was just a­ boring rider, it's that he such a complete jerk­ during races too - head butting cameras, threatening­ photogrpahers, hitting sound technicians, throwing­ strops about crashing, throwing strops about other­ riders, complaining and whinging about everything. He­ is such a whiner and sore loser.

    From fotodelicto, on Tue 8 Sep 11:51AM

  5. David R Watson speaks sense....world cycling­ doesn't need Valverde to win...Vino and Basso fall­ into the same boat...give it to a clean rider....as for­ you Cadel bashers.. get your head out of the sand...

    From Scotty, on Tue 8 Sep 10:43AM

  6. As a team, SL team just cant match the CE team, man to­ man. The CE team have climbers in the mountains and­ sprinters on the flats to protect Valverde & when­ they pile in the pressure, the SL team just­ disintegrate. Evans just have to find some kind of­ strategy to break CE's dominance. Anyway, I would­ give the Vuelta a higher rating than TDF too.......

    From ten_cheong, on Tue 8 Sep 9:37AM

  7. We all know where Valverdes performance comes from. Its­ sad to see that somebody like that can actually­ compete. Sad Sad.

    From Andre, on Tue 8 Sep 6:32AM

  8. where are the Schleck brothers ?

    From wet.martir, on Tue 8 Sep 5:26AM

  9. anyone who thinks the tour was better so far doesnt­ have a clue about cycling...... basso will win it..

    From stefano, on Tue 8 Sep 2:55AM

  10. Imissed the end of the stage but i was suprised cadel­ lost focus.

    From iancampbell11, on Mon 7 Sep 10:55PM

  11. Vai Valverde... am glad you're in Gold.. Evans is­ riding well but who is he kidding.. even if Gesink­ idn't block him (debateable) does he really believe­ he'd beat Valverde in a sprint at the end of the­ stage and keep the Gold Jersey... wake up Cadel... as­ for the allegations hanging over Valverde's head,­ thats been the case for all OP for how many years...­ and where is this evidence from CONI and UCI that was­ supposed to be delivered months ago now?? I've seen­ or heard nothing... so lets just enjoy the race which­ as Stefano says is far better than the TDF (GC­ perspective)....

    HM - Is time bonuses for stages any­ worse thaN TTT's at the TDF..

    From Shiek, on Mon 7 Sep 9:41PM

  12. I'm pleased Valverde has taken the leader's­ jersey and I hope he keeps it until the end. What on­ earth was Evan's Silence Lotto doing today. Their­ leader was in Gold and they looked as though they were­ enjoying a steady club run whilst a 7 man break was­ over 6 minutes up the road. Frankly they don't­ deserve the leader's jersey if they're not­ prepared to inject a bit more pace. Why Evans has even­ stayed with that team I cannot understand. (Sorry­ Charlie Wegelius). Thank goodness Caisse d'Epargne,­ Garmin and Liquigas were there to add some real­ excitement in the final kilometres.

    From Jeremy, on Mon 7 Sep 8:51PM

  13. I’m enjoying the Vuelta more than I was the Tour by­ this stage.

    True, the competition is a lesser quality,­ but look at it in the context of working with what­ you’re given. The Vuelta’s doing fine on that count. ­ Excellent routes, competitive riding, crowds being­ sensible and raucous at the same time. It's been­ good.

    In fact, after considering following next­ year's Tour, I might have to reconsider.

    From CR, on Mon 7 Sep 8:13PM
  14. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Who cares!!! My boyfriend thinks the same with me. He­ is 8 years older than me, lol. We met online at **­ Agelessmatch @ com ** a nice place for Younger Women­ and Older Men, or Older Women and Younger Men, to­ interact with each other. You may wanna check it out.

    From kellylvoldermen, on Mon 7 Sep 7:47PM

  15. I agree Obriendonal on all accounts. I usually try to­ follow La Vuelta because it's so much fun. Really­ good racing, great food and hotels. Lots of pretty­ women. I didn't make it this year but hope to be­ back next year. I'll have to be happy with TVE­ coverage. They did a great job today with the camera­ work. Real exciting stage in my opinion. If anyone has­ had the chance to meet Valverde you will walk away­ knowing what a good man he is. Always takes time to­ meet his fans and is very gracious. In fact most riders­ are pretty good guys but the Spanish riders seem to­ stand out.

    From tomas.americano, on Mon 7 Sep 7:25PM

  16. tomas.americano,

    Took a long time (as I am/was/am/was­ a Cadel fan) but his face today makes me agree with­ your comments.... A mountain biker would have dug the­ bars into the others ribs and drank a beer after. He is­ getting a bit soft (and I'm a roadie).

    So sad, too­ bad, TOMORROW, More fun!!!!!!

    From obriendonal, on Mon 7 Sep 7:10PM

  17. Time bonuses are a bad idea. It is good that the Tour­ has abolished it.

    From harry.morgan, on Mon 7 Sep 7:08PM

  18. bobcha78,

    NOT AN ATTACK!! Do you think this is a­ better, less orchestrated, more fluid race then the­ TdF? I understand your frustration but gone are the­ days of Hinault, Merckx, Kelly, etc who won tours, 1­ day classics and all the little criteriums in between!­ The new breed train specifically for a race, that is­ their job, ambition and career making moment. (I­ don't like it personally!!)

    I think this is a­ fabulous race as it brings people together who­ cannot/will not/should not race in the other two. I­ think we should embrace it as a grand tour and not­ compare it to the TdF or GdI... It is the Vuelta in all­ its glory... BUT thats only my opinion!

    From obriendonal, on Mon 7 Sep 7:06PM

  19. Lets start a debate shall we??

    1. Better then the TdF­ so far... 100%
    2. Time Bonuses a good idea... 50/50
    3.­ Gesink blocks Evans... not a hope mate, sorry!
    4.­ Valverde to win... He is still "innocent" so­ I say bring it on with Cadel.

    It has been interesting­ so far. I think Cadel was not comfortable today and­ Valverde looked supreme, Gesink is a talent without a­ doubt... I also hope Frank Schleck has an "A"­ day and mixes it up. He is so much the big brother who­ is eclipsed by Andy......! A real talent!

    All in­ all.... Keep it up boys, its great so far! (Even the­ first weeks Northern bits, BS!)

    From obriendonal, on Mon 7 Sep 6:57PM

  20. Typical Cadel Evans. It's always someone else's­ fault. It's obvious why he has few friends in the­ peleton. I wish he'd go back to mountain biking.

    From tomas.americano, on Mon 7 Sep 6:56PM
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