Saxo Bank sprinter J.J. Haedo didn’t needs his top speed to win Stage 16 of the 2011 Vuelta a España—he just needed to guess right at an unmarked turn in the final 300 meters of the race.
“For me, to become the first Argentine to win a stage in one of the Grand Tours, this is a very special victory,” Haedo told cylcingnews.com. “There was some confusion in the final kilometer, but I came through in good position. It’s something I’ve been hunting for a long time, so to finally achieve it something special.
“It crowns my career so far, absolutely! I’ve won stages at other important races like the Critérium du Dauphiné, Tirreno-Adriatico or the Tour of Catalunya, but this one is the most beautiful of them all.”
Haedo, who had never won a stage in a Grand Tour, was fourth coming into the final 500 meters of the stage, trailing Leopard Trek’s Robert Wagner leading out sprinter Daniele Bennati, with Liquigas’ Peter Sagan sitting third wheel.
After several straight fast kilometers, the road took a pair of sharp bends in the final kilometer, and 300 meters from the finish line—exactly where most sprinters are starting to sprint—the course hit a roundabout, with no clear markings about which way to go.
Wagner, the leading Leopard Trek rider went right, where the road eventually dead-ended. Leopard Trek sprinter Daniele Bennati, confused touched his brakes before heading left.
Peter Sagan, who had already won two Vuelta sprint stages against this same competition and was doubtless planning on a third, was forced to brake hard and nearly hit the barriers head-on. It looked like he had been riding with his head down and was surprised by the unmarked turn.
J.J. Haedo, seeing all this unfold before him, zipped by cleanly on the inside and left the chaos behind.
Lampre’s Alessandro Petacchi tried to follow and Daniele Bennati tried to catch up, but Haedo was the only one who lost no momentum coming through the turn. Haedo didn’t even need to sprint to win—he sat up 50 meters from the line and coasted across, exultant.
Garmin Cervelo’s Heinrich Hausler, who was sixth at 500 meters but finished 67th after having to brake to avoid the other riders, was very critical of the stage layout.
“I thought today’s was going to be like the Vuelta used to be: a flat stage with a breakaway, a last hour at full gas and then a fast sprint. Instead we hit a roundabout at 70km/h virtually in sight of the finish. That’s crazy,” he told cylingnews.com. “Why can’t we have a normal finish?”
Daniele Bennati was also upset about the course layout. “I didn’t do anything wrong but paid a huge price,” he told cyclingnews.com. “It’s crazy that we had raced on a straight road for 200km and then there was a roundabout at 300 meters from the line.”
Juan Jose Cobo of Geox kept the race leaders red jersey, and even gained a few seconds over one of only two riders with a chance to catch him, Sky’s Bradley Wiggins.
A three-man break got away early, the last rider, Andalucia’s Jesus Redondo, was caught at the final intermediate sprint point with just ten kilometers to go.
The sprinters’ teams, not wanting to see any mad solo attacks spoiling the sprint finish, cranked the pace up to a massive speed, which spilt the peloton. Bradley Wiggins had the bad luck to be on the wrong side of the divide, and lost five seconds.
Sky’s Chris From had managed to pull a little ahead of race leader Cobo before the split, so he ended up neither gaining nor losing time.
Going into Stage Seventeen, Froome trails Cobo by 20 seconds, with Wiggins down 51 seconds.
Stage Seventeen looks to be the last chance for Froome or Wiggins to recapture the race lead. The final Hors Categorie climb to Peña Cabarga particularly suits Wiggins; it is six kilometers at an average of ten percent. Although there are a few ramps up to 18 percent, the climb is short enough and not so steep that Wiggins’ power-climbing style ought to serve him well.
However, Chris Froome has shown he can handle the ramps better than his teammate, and might be in better form.
That might not matter, because Juan Jose Cobo has been climbing far better than both on the last few stages. If he ends the day in red, he will almost certainly be wearing it in Madrid.
“For me, to become the first Argentine to win a stage in one of the Grand Tours, this is a very special victory,” Haedo told cylcingnews.com. “There was some confusion in the final kilometer, but I came through in good position. It’s something I’ve been hunting for a long time, so to finally achieve it something special.
“It crowns my career so far, absolutely! I’ve won stages at other important races like the Critérium du Dauphiné, Tirreno-Adriatico or the Tour of Catalunya, but this one is the most beautiful of them all.”
Haedo, who had never won a stage in a Grand Tour, was fourth coming into the final 500 meters of the stage, trailing Leopard Trek’s Robert Wagner leading out sprinter Daniele Bennati, with Liquigas’ Peter Sagan sitting third wheel.
After several straight fast kilometers, the road took a pair of sharp bends in the final kilometer, and 300 meters from the finish line—exactly where most sprinters are starting to sprint—the course hit a roundabout, with no clear markings about which way to go.
Wagner, the leading Leopard Trek rider went right, where the road eventually dead-ended. Leopard Trek sprinter Daniele Bennati, confused touched his brakes before heading left.
Peter Sagan, who had already won two Vuelta sprint stages against this same competition and was doubtless planning on a third, was forced to brake hard and nearly hit the barriers head-on. It looked like he had been riding with his head down and was surprised by the unmarked turn.
J.J. Haedo, seeing all this unfold before him, zipped by cleanly on the inside and left the chaos behind.
Lampre’s Alessandro Petacchi tried to follow and Daniele Bennati tried to catch up, but Haedo was the only one who lost no momentum coming through the turn. Haedo didn’t even need to sprint to win—he sat up 50 meters from the line and coasted across, exultant.
Garmin Cervelo’s Heinrich Hausler, who was sixth at 500 meters but finished 67th after having to brake to avoid the other riders, was very critical of the stage layout.
“I thought today’s was going to be like the Vuelta used to be: a flat stage with a breakaway, a last hour at full gas and then a fast sprint. Instead we hit a roundabout at 70km/h virtually in sight of the finish. That’s crazy,” he told cylingnews.com. “Why can’t we have a normal finish?”
Daniele Bennati was also upset about the course layout. “I didn’t do anything wrong but paid a huge price,” he told cyclingnews.com. “It’s crazy that we had raced on a straight road for 200km and then there was a roundabout at 300 meters from the line.”
Cobo Keeps Red, Gains Seconds
Juan Jose Cobo of Geox kept the race leaders red jersey, and even gained a few seconds over one of only two riders with a chance to catch him, Sky’s Bradley Wiggins.
A three-man break got away early, the last rider, Andalucia’s Jesus Redondo, was caught at the final intermediate sprint point with just ten kilometers to go.
The sprinters’ teams, not wanting to see any mad solo attacks spoiling the sprint finish, cranked the pace up to a massive speed, which spilt the peloton. Bradley Wiggins had the bad luck to be on the wrong side of the divide, and lost five seconds.
Sky’s Chris From had managed to pull a little ahead of race leader Cobo before the split, so he ended up neither gaining nor losing time.
Going into Stage Seventeen, Froome trails Cobo by 20 seconds, with Wiggins down 51 seconds.
Stage Seventeen looks to be the last chance for Froome or Wiggins to recapture the race lead. The final Hors Categorie climb to Peña Cabarga particularly suits Wiggins; it is six kilometers at an average of ten percent. Although there are a few ramps up to 18 percent, the climb is short enough and not so steep that Wiggins’ power-climbing style ought to serve him well.
However, Chris Froome has shown he can handle the ramps better than his teammate, and might be in better form.
That might not matter, because Juan Jose Cobo has been climbing far better than both on the last few stages. If he ends the day in red, he will almost certainly be wearing it in Madrid.
