Stage 18 short, flat stage perfect for a sprint finish. The stage developed a duel between the two top sprinters, Mark Cavendish and Garmin-Transition’s Tyler Farrar, with Garmin and HTC controlling the pace all day.
An 8-man break which took off at kilometer zero was ridden down with 12 km to go, a brief attack by Phillipe Gilbert was ridden down, and the teams began shuffling for position at the head of the peloton with four km to go.
In the final kilometer, a blazing run by Quick Step disorganized all the leadout trains and even dropped Quick Step Sprinter Wouter Weylandt, who was shouting for his teammate to slow down.
Matt Goss did an amazing amount of work to keep Cavendish near the front, the more so because, with the slight uphill finish, the HTC sprinter couldn’t launch until 180 meters. Somehow Goss held on and delivered Cav to the front, with Saxo Bank’s J.J. Haedo on his wheel, and Footon-Sevetto’s Manuel Cardosa stuck to Haedo.
When Cavendish did launch, the show was over; he beat Haedo to the line by a length despite being exhausted by the quick run-in. Cardosa took third and Garmin-Transition’s Tyler Farrar finished fourth, having lost his place during the chaos of the run-in.
‘It’s the guys that put me here’
After the race, Cavendish made it clear that he raced for the team, which in turn raced for him.
“It’s the third victory for me but, the fifth victory for the team, you know. I say it every time—it’s me that crosses the line first but it’s the guys that put me there.”
Cavendish described how he had fallen back a bit in the final four kilometers—“I was panicking a bit”—when Peter Velits risked tiring himself by taking a strong pull to bring the team back. “That shows how we work together,” Cavendish commented. “Most guys would just stay there and look after their GC ambitions. He wants the team to win, so he put this big effort in for us. It’s incredible to see.”
Cavendish also praised Matt Goss for his huge effort to keep up with the flying Quick Step rider, something no other riders were able to do. After going deep into the red just trying to stay close, Goss had to dig deeper because, with the finish sloping upward, Cavendish had to delay his launch.
“Slightly uphill finish—very, very difficult,’ Cavendish explained. “It was hard to figure out what gear to use. I changed gears four of five times in the last 500 meters wondering which one to get the acceleration with.
“I waited and waited; because it was uphill I had to leave a little bit later. 180 to go, I went and I didn’t have the jump because I was little bit red, but I was able to hang on with strength to the end, so I am really happy with that and again, thanks to the team.”
Stage 19 starts with a Cat Two climb, then climbs up and down small hills all day long. It is a very long stage—231 km. An eight rider break such as formed today, would have a much better chance of staying away in Stage 19.
Also, the GC teams will be much less willing to push hard tomorrow, with the race-deciding Stage 20 looming. Surely Cavendish wants more wins, but tomorrow seems a perfect day for the riders with good legs and bad GC placement to make their bids for fame.
| Vuelta a España Stage Eighteen | |||
|
| Rider | Rider | Rider |
| 1 | Mark Cavendish | HTC-Columbia | 3:27:11 |
| 2 | Juan José Haedo | Saxo Bank | 0:00:01 |
| 3 | Manuel Cardoso | Footon-Servetto | 0:00:01 |
| 4 | Tyler Farrar | Garmin-Transitions | 0:00:01 |
| 5 | Samuel Dumoulin | Cofidis | 0:00:01 |
| 6 | Robert Förster | Milram | 0:00:01 |
| 7 | Enrique Mata Cabello | Footon-Servetto | 0:00:01 |
| 8 | Greg Van Avermaet | Omega Pharma-Lotto | 0:00:01 |
| 9 | Wouter Weylandt | Quick Step | 0:00:01 |
| 10 | Danilo Hondo | Lampre-Farnese Vini | 0:00:01 |
| 2010 Vuelta a Espana General Classification | |||
|
| Rider | Team | Time |
| 1 | Vincenzo Nibali | Liquigas-Doimo | 74:47:06 |
| 2 | Ezequiel Mosquera | Xacobeo Galicia | 0:00:38 |
| 3 | Peter Velits | HTC-Columbia | 0:01:59 |
| 4 | Frank Schleck | Saxo Bank | 0:03:43 |
| 5 | Joaquin Rodriguez | Katusha | 0:03:48 |
| 6 | Xavier Tondo | Cervélo Test Team | 0:03:48 |
| 7 | Tom Danielson | Garmin-Transitions | 0:03:58 |
| 8 | Nicolas Roche | Ag2R-La Mondiale | 0:04:02 |
| 9 | Carlos Sastre | Cervélo Test Team | 0:04:16 |
| 10 | Luis-Leon Sanchez | Caisse d’Epargne | 0:05:42 |
