Hushovd Wins Sprint in Stage Six of Vuelta a Espana

The powerful Norwegian stayed near the front up the final, steep Cat 2 climb 17 km from the end, where most of the pure sprinters fell off the back. His teammates pushed the peloton hard over the final flat ten kilometers to tire the opposition and prevent breakaways, and when it came to the final sprint, Hushovd had the best legs.

Vuelta leader Philippe Gilbert of Omega Pharma-Lotto started the sprint, launching down the left side of the road, but he left too early. Liquigas rider Daniele Bennati surged past him, while Hushovd came up on the left, with Lampre’s Grega Boles behind him.

Bennati held on for second, Boles took third. Gilbert came across the line in sixth, easily maintaining his hold on the red jersey of the Vuelta leader.

“I suffered a lot in the last climb,” Hushovd told Fromsport.com. “My teammates up front did a great job pulling. It was a hard day but I’m feeling good. For me, a stage like this is perfect.”

Steep Hill Trumps Early Break

The day started with a three-man break, which looked like it would be ignored by the peloton. The three riders, Markus Eichler (Milram), Juan Javier Estrada (Andalucia) and Freddy Bichot (Bbox) were not GC threats.

Bichot attacked at the starting line, joined after 8 km by Eichler, and a few minutes later, Estrada. The three stretched the gap to 9:15 with 1215 km to go. They were on their own and just starting to think they might succeed when, 50 km out, the peloton decided otherwise.

Stage Six was not challenging, with no climbs for most of the route, and only 151 km long. But 17 km form the end came a category 2 climb, not long but steep, followed by a tricky descent. The leaders started flagging as the road turned upward, Markus Eichler being the first to break. Freddy Bichot pushed on all alone for a while but he was caught up two-thirds up the climb.

About fifty riders were in the peloton as it crested the climb. A few riders tried to attack on the descent: Filippo Pozzato of Team Katusha took off first, sparking an immediate response from Phillippe Gilbert. WEhen theta pair was reeled in, Astana’s Dmitry Fofoanov had a go.

None of this mattered. When the road went flat for the final ten km, Katusha and Cervelo took over and pushed the pace hard. Katusha wanted to set up Pozzato, while Cervelo had Hushovd waiting to attack. In the end, the pure power of the Cervelo rider pushed him past the rest.

It was good to see Phillipe Gilbert actively defending his leader’s jersey. The norm would be for Gilbert to ride in the middle of the peloton, avoiding the sprint, letting his teammates do the work and face the risks. Strategically, this might make more sense, but Gilbert decided to defend—and attack—on his own behalf. Bravo for his courage; he made the race a little more exciting.