Vuelta a Espana - Hesjedal wins at Velefique

Eurosport - Sat, 12 Sep 19:36:00 2009

Ryder Hesjedal of Canada won the first gruelling mountain stage of the Vuelta a Espana at the summit finish of the Alto de Velefique.

CYCLING 2009 Vuelta a Espana Garmin Tyler Farrar - 0

The Garmin rider beat Spaniard David Garcia Da Pena (Xacobeo) to the line at the end of the first major test of the race that saw the riders travel 172.4km from Almeria.

"It was the perfect scenario all day," Hesjedal said.

"I got in a good break, we worked well together all day and then I still had enough strength left at the end to drop my rivals and catch the guy ahead."

Hesjedal said narrowly missing the victory on stage 10, where he finished second behind Australian Simon Gerrans, had increased his motivation.

"I was more determined than ever to win after that, and fortunately even though the guys were closing (the gap behind) I had enough speed to win," he said.

Asked if he thought he could go for another win in the next two mountain stages, Hesjedal said: "I've no idea, I'm still in a state of shock that I managed to win this one."

Hesjdeal and Garcia Da Pena were part of a 12-man escape group that formed early in the stage and they just managed to hold off the elite riders who surged up the final stages of the 13.3km climb to the summit at 1810 metres above sea level.

Robert Gesink, third overall, attacked with 2km remaining and beat Ezequiel Mosquera for third place, finishing just six seconds behind the winner.

Gesink said he was pleased to have made up some time.

"My only regret is I didn't get the stage win," he said. "But I'm still happy I pulled back some time."

Damiano Cunego was fifth, a further 10 seconds adrift, ahead of gold jersey wearer Valverde who lost half of his 36-second advantage over the Rabobank rider.

Cadel Evans was seventh to stay seven seconds back from the Caisse d'Epargne man with fellow GC contenders Ivan Basso, Tom Danielson and Samuel Sanchez completing the top 10.

Valverde was happy to have retained his lead - but was disappointed to concede so much time to Gesink.

"It's clear we can't let Gesink get away again," Valverde said.

"Today I was shadowing Evans and the important thing is I'm still leader."

An escape group that also featured Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana), Pierrick Fedrigo (Bouygues), Javier Ramirez Abeja (Andalucia), Oscar Freire (Rabobank), Bingen Fernandez (Cofidis), Borut Bozic (Vacansoleil), Julien El Fares (Cofidis), Julian Pimienta (Contentpolis), Arkaitz Duran (Fuji-Servetto) and Stuart O'Grady (Saxo Bank) formed before the first ascent of the Alto de Velefique after 43km.

Their lead climbed to nearly eight minutes as they approached the category one Alto de Calar Alto, the highest peak in the Sierra de los Filabres, but had been reduced to under five as they started the second ascent to Velefique.

The elite bunch was whittled down on the climb but the top eight positions overall remained unchanged with the weekend promising a greater shake-up with a final 17km climb to Sierra Nevada on stage 13 and a 1840m ascent to Alto Sierra de la Pandera on Sunday.

2006 winner Vinokourov of Kazakhstan was one of four riders who abandoned during stage 12. The Astana rider quit close to the finish.

"It's nothing in particular, he's just got too tired to continue," Astana sports director Sean Yates said.

Vuelta a Espana stage 13 LIVE at 3pm on Saturday 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. Last year Giro is something diferent, he had­ preparation for that Giro 6 days, and he won all race.­ For me that is enough, no body is ever do that, and you­ are totaly right he was riding defensive, but he was­ better positioned against all contenders in ITT. For­ that Giro he was not drive any race, before that,­ today's will be diferent totaly, because he won TDF­ and legs is on better level today then last year Giro,­ and he would beat all those riders on Vuelta today,­ very easy

    From bobcha78, on Sat 12 Sep 3:21PM

  2. We all know Contador is virtually unbeatable on an­ uphill finish,even so its debateable whether he wouldve­ attacked yesterday and shown us all his superman cape­ trailing in his wake.If he'd shown up with 3 days­ preparation we wouldve seen very defensive riding, ie­ last year's Giro.

    From demi162, on Sat 12 Sep 11:39AM

  3. demi162 you wrong about Contador, he is unbeatable on­ mountains stage, yesterday if he was on place Valverde­ or Evans he would attack and give everybody 1 minute­ gap, with only 3 days preparation. Contador =­ Superman

    I can't believe Valverde, he's wait­ ITT with 7 seconds lead on Evans, Evans is going to­ give 30 second easy in ITT, one thing Valverde had 8­ rides to work for him yeaterday and do nothing.

    From bobcha78, on Sat 12 Sep 11:16AM

  4. Congrats to Ryder for being the 1st Canadian to ever­ win a stage in la Vuelta, well done. Gesink is now­ attacking to make the others panic a little which makes­ for a thoroughly entertaining race so far AND its still­ wide open as to who will win the gold jersey in Madrid,­ brilliant..venga venga vuelta a espana

    From Marty B, on Sat 12 Sep 4:36AM

  5. Bobcha, maybe you should take a look at the complete­ results listing for the stages before you label the GC­ guys of this Vuelta as 'second rate', ie­ Valverde, is doing the ardennes double viewed as second­ rate? i see Kreuziger finished 20 minutes down today,­ the schlecks did nothing at this race,Vino' blew­ and abandoned, many others havent exactly set the world­ on fire since the end of the Tour. Contador is not­ going to be unbeatable at every race and attack like he­ could the Tour, but admittedly he is a class above ALL­ others in stage races.

    From demi162, on Sat 12 Sep 3:38AM

  6. what arshad said- Will the Gap on the day of the time­ trial be the same 7 seconds because nobody will attack?­ How much can Cunego take out of 2 days and can he hold­ it for a time trial?

    From Maxx92, on Sat 12 Sep 2:41AM

  7. The lad who won today in my ignorance i did not realise­ he was canadian.

    From iancampbell11, on Sat 12 Sep 12:34AM

  8. Valverde was shadowing Evans, who normally shadows­ other riders. Must have been a real bore

    From arshad_iceman2, on Fri 11 Sep 11:22PM

  9. Cuenego is the guy with the good legs I expect him to­ fly of the front tomorrow and no one will follow him­ or wont be able to.

    From paulandlyndsay, on Fri 11 Sep 10:35PM

  10. Gesink good ride, but only 10 seconds get on Valverde­ and Evans. Like i sad few days before, second class­ riders. If Contador was on this stage, he would attack­ on 8 or 5 km till end and destroy all riders. I cant­ believe on today stage, only Gesink do something. Evans­ is the best ITT rider, this what hapened today is good­ for him, he need to stay on this gap till 20stage nd he­ will give everybody minimum 30 second. I dont want to­ see that

    From bobcha78, on Fri 11 Sep 9:24PM

  11. Gesink attacked strong but looked really hollow after­ the finish. He's got some work to do tonight to­ recover for another tough stage. Maybe he can,­ we'll see soon enough. I still like Valverde's­ chances but who knows? It's wide open. This whole­ Vuelta has been exciting racing.

    From tomas.americano, on Fri 11 Sep 8:52PM

  12. We see tomorrow but still dont think it is a good idea­ to give it all when there are 2 tough stages in a row­ to follow

    From Jordan, on Fri 11 Sep 8:34PM

  13. Gesink had to attack and he only ride 2 km in full­ power.But dont Forget if Valverde attacks evans will­ try to close the gap and if evans then Valverde he only­ needs to follow and try to recover as much as possible­ and then take the gold on the next day and i dont think­ is so broken that he cant come with.I mean there are­ People who ride the hole day in front and they are not­ always tired some can attack on the next stage again

    From dido22610, on Fri 11 Sep 8:22PM

  14. The time trial is short and stages 18 & 19 may not­ be decisive. If this race is ridden defensively for the­ next two days, there could be a few guys within a­ minute beating each other up on the last day's­ pancake flat stage. Can anyone make the big move in the­ next two days?

    From Maxx92, on Fri 11 Sep 8:17PM

  15. I also think Gesink should not have attacked today. He­ won like 10 sec but he will be dead tomorrow and will­ lose great time if action starts early on the final­ climb. Of course there is a possibility that he can­ recover but his attack today was a bad tactical move 4­ me

    From Jordan, on Fri 11 Sep 8:13PM

  16. If Tom Danielson can learn to stay on his bike and­ Wiggins stays with Garmin, that team will be as strong­ as the Astana with Leipheimer, Kloeden, Armstrong,­ & contador of 2009. Someone will have to take a­ step up to complete with the likes of A Schleck and AC­ for overall glory, but they will have 3 cards to play­ through the mountains, with today's stage winner a­ very important 4th wildcard. this is an enjoyable­ tour. And it is providing storylines that will make­ winter feel a little less cold.

    From Maxx92, on Fri 11 Sep 8:10PM

  17. gesing spent far too much today. he wont be able to­ resist an attack of valverde or evans tomorrow or­ sunday. valverde wasnt in his best form today, so he­ minimised the damages.

    From krist_1993_bakiu, on Fri 11 Sep 8:03PM

  18. Evans and Valverde will need to keep a close eye on the­ Dutchman. There's plenty of time in the mountains­ left, and they don't command such a great advantage­ over him when it comes to the time trials.

    Kudos to­ Gesink for the attack. That's what fans want to­ see. Factoring in today, I'm completely thrilled­ with this Tour thus far.

    From CR, on Fri 11 Sep 7:44PM

  19. finally - a Canadian takes a stage! Well done Ryder!

    From Scott W, on Fri 11 Sep 7:18PM

  20. I think you may be right!

    From Liz S, on Fri 11 Sep 6:27PM
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