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Impresa mancata per soli 25 metri da Tony Martin - Morkow cancella il sogno del campione del mondo a cronometro 29 agosto 2013 - La 6/a frazione della Vuelta, apparentemente tranquilla definita tappa di trasferimento con i suoi 175 km di pianura e falsopiano da Guijuelo a Cácere, ha invece riservato qualcosa di straordinario degno di entrare nella storia del ciclismo: un'azione geniale di Tony Martin, l'iridato della prova a cronometro. Martin avesse potuto ridisegnare il tracciato a suo piacimento, avrebbe oggi posto il traguardo 50 metri prima della fine, per avere anche il tempo di alzare le bracccia al cielo e ricevere l'ovazione dal pubblico all'arrivo; ma il destino del ciclismo non ha riservato oggi la prima pagina al pluri iridato di Copenaghen 2011, Valkenburg 2012 e argento sempre nel 2012 a cronometro ai Giochi olimpici di Londra, ma gli onori per la resa nella sesta tappa della Vuelta di Spagna 2013. Se l'azione di Cancellara è emblematica per sugellare la rivalità nata fra i due cronoman, dalle prove contro il tempo, è giusto che fra i due litiganti (Cancellara Vs Martin) il terzo, Morkov danese della Team Saxo-Tinkoff, abbia goduto vincendo la 6a tappa e insegnando allo svizzero della RadioShack Leopard, la lezione che con l'orgoglio spesso non si vince e l'aver tolto il sogno al tedesco Martin che senza quella sparata fratricida, sarebbe probabilmente entrato nella leggenda, non e' stata proprio una bella buon'azione e lascia dopo Richeze, secondo all'arrivo, Cancellara beffato terzo, mentre Tony Martin che si deve accontentare solo del 7° posto dopo 175km meno 25 metri di fuga, è il bello che risplende del sesto giorno alla Vuelta di Spagna.
MICHAEL MØRKØV WINS SIXTH STAGE OF THE VUELTA
Today's 175 kilometer long sixth stage of the Vuelta a Espana between Guijuelo and Cáceres looked like a treat for the sprinters but Omega-Pharma Quick Step's German time trial World Champion, Tony Martin launched an early attack into a long solo ride in front of the field. The sprinter teams were aware of the danger and they kept the German within reach while the Team Saxo-Tinkoff riders were sitting comfortably in their wheels to avoid getting caught behind and Michael Mørkøv was waiting for his chance to shine. Argos-Shimano and Orica-GreenEdge were the two most dominating teams in the chase while Omega-Pharma Quick Step saved their energy for the finale. Even though Tony Martin picked up the pace within the final ten kilometers, he was caught after a 174 kilometer long time trial and the stage was decided in another bunch sprint where Team Saxo-Tinkoff Dane, Michael Mørkøv thundered away and went past Radioshack's Fabian Cancellara to take the second stage win for Team Saxo-Tinkoff. “I'm so happy about this win and unbelievably proud. Winning in the Danish national jersey is special
but to win in Vuelta a Espana is probably the highlight of my career. I have been waiting for this opportunity and the guys and staff have been so supportive all the way. I just stayed on the wheel of Fabian on the final few hundred meters and I was worried about opening the sprint too soon but it was just perfect,” said a very happy Michael Mørkøv.
And Team Saxo-Tinkoff DS, Fabrizio Guidi was as proud as the stage winner:
“I'm really proud of Michael and happy that he succeeded today. He's a true professional and maybe one of the most professional riders in the field. He always works hard and always does exactly what we expect him to. Today, he was allowed to go for it and in his usual way of performing, he took the win”, said DS, Fabrizio Guidi
Team Saxo-Tinkoff's Nicolas Roche is still third overall. Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) leads the GC. Team Saxo-Tinkoff have three riders in the GC top-10.
Ordine d'arrivo 6a tappa della Vuelta di Spagna: 1 Michael Morkov (Den) Team Saxo-Tinkoff 3:54:15
Classifica generale dopo la 6a tappa della Vuelta di Spagna: 1 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Astana Pro Team 22:38:07 Classifica a punti dopo la 6a tappa della Vuelta di Spagna: 1 Michael Matthews (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge 51 pts Classifica delle montagne dopo la 6a tappa della Vuelta di Spagna: 1 Nicolas Roche (Irl) Team Saxo-Tinkoff 11 pts Classifica delle squadre dopo la 6a tappa della Vuelta di Spagna: 1 RadioShack Leopard 66:54:52 |
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Matthews si aggiudica la prima volata della Vuelta di Spagna 28 agosto 2013 - Capolavoro dell’Orica GreenEdge con la stoccata vincente di Michael Matthews nella 5a tappa della Vuelta 2013. Come da pronostico, la quinta tappa, da Sober a Lago de Sanabria per un totale di 174.4 km ha avuto epilogo nella prima volata della Vuelta di Spagna edizione numero 68. L'australiano dell'Orica GreeeEdge, e' sfrecciato sul traguardo davanti a Richeze (Lampre) e Meersman (OPQS). All'inseguimento in testa al gruppo prima si vedono gli uomini Astana del leader in maglia rossa, Vincenzo Nibali, ed in vista del traguardo veloce, gli Orica GreenEdge, con la collaborazione dell'Omega Pharma Quick Step e Garmin Sharp, riescono ad annullare il vantaggio della fuga che dopo 70 km, era di ben 10'27''. Infatti ai meno 5 km dall’arrivo la fuga termina e a parte gli allunghi di Urtasun prima e dell'iridato Philippe Gilbert dopo, la volata inesorabile assegna il primato a Matthews, che raccoglie lo splendido lavoro della sua squadra, andando a vincere sull'argentino della Lampre Richeze ed il belga Meersman (OPQS). La classifica generale rimane come ieri, invariata con Nibali al comando in maglia rossa con 3'' su Horner e 8'' su Roche.
Michael Matthews Sprints to Maiden Grand Tour Victory
Lago di Sanabria Aug 28th, 2013 -Michael Matthews outsprinted Maximiliano Richeze (Lampre-Merida) and Gianni Meersman (Omega Pharma-Quick-Step) to the finish line in Lago de Sanabria to claim his maiden grand tour stage victory in his grand tour debut. The 22-year-old won stage five of the Vuelta a España in magnificent fashion, finishing off the chase work and pace-setting done by his teammates during the last two hours of the 168.4km stage. “I crossed the finish line, and I was happy right away,” said Matthews. “After a few moments, it sunk in what I had really done. A few tears came out after that. This is the biggest win of my career. The team was super impressive today. They did their job perfectly so I could do mine.” “All of our work was calm, calculated and precise,” said Sport Director Neil Stephens. “Each member of our team did the work he was assigned. Everyone did their bit, and they all played an important role in Michael’s win. It was a collective effort today.” The early breakaway put up a fierce fight. Antonio Piedra (Caja Rural), Nicolas Edet (Cofidis), Jurgen Van de Walle (Lotto Belisol), Arnaud Courteille (FDJ.fr) and Winner Anacona (Lampre-Merida) slipped the stranglehold of the field 8km from the start. The quintet built up a healthy buffer of 10’25 before ORICA-GreenEDGE joined forces with Garmin-Sharp to signal the start of the chase. “We began the day knowing we were a very important person down,” said Stephens. “We lost Wesley Sulzberger to a broken collarbone yesterday, and without him, everyone had to do a bit more work. Because of this, we started going for the early attacks in an attempt to lighten that load.” “Today could have gone two ways, and we have guys that could pull of the win with either scenario,” added Stephens. “The break could have stayed away, and a number of our riders can win from a break. We also have Matthews who is quick enough to pull it off in the bunch finish. When we didn’t get into the break, we committed to riding for the win with Matthews in the sprint.” Christian Meier assumed responsibility for the early chase. Sixty kilometres from the finish, the Canadian began to trade pull with his former Garmin-Sharp team to reduce the leader’s advantage. “We had Christian on the front from the start of the chase,” explained Matthews. “Together with two Garmin guys, he rode the ten minute gap back to four minutes. He was really impressive today.” Although Meier’s work had more than halved the gap between the five leaders and the peloton, the team called in reinforcements in the final 30km. Simon Clarke, Baden Cooke, Simon Gerrans and Sam Bewley dutifully made their way to the front of the bunch to close down the break. “We used Gerro, Cookie, Clarkey and Bewley in the chase,” said Matthews. “Leigh [Howard] and Mitch [Docker] saved themselves for the lead-out. The rest of the team was on the front going full gas to bring back the break and keep me safe.” “These are guys that I’ve grown up looking up to during my whole career,” Matthews added. “To see them riding on the front for me puts a tear in the eye.” The break showed no signs of slowing over the category three Alto do Covelo, and their collaboration continued on the descent. They entered the final 20km with a 2’16 advantage over their chasers. “The beauty about being the guy for the sprint is that I didn’t have to worry about the chase,” Matthews explained. “My job was to follow the wheels in front of me and keep my mind clear and focused on my job at the end of the stage. The team’s job was to bring back the break. I trusted them to do their job, and they trusted me to do mine.” “I didn’t have to pay any attention to the gaps or the chase work,” Matthews continued. “I focused on every possible scenario I could image for the sprint. Here’s what I would do if I had a lead-out. Here’s what I would do if I didn’t have a lead-out. That sort of thing.” Inside the final 10km, the break fractured. Just shy of the 3km mark, Courteille and Van de Walle, the last two riders standing from the early move had rejoined the bunch. Argos-Shimano and Omega Pharma-Quick-Step readied their sprint trains as Matthews was forced to make due without a full lead-out due to the chase work done by his team. He patiently bided his team as the trains jostled for position and remained calm when Philippe Gilbert (BMC) accelerated away from the field inside the final kilometre. “I had a hint that Gilbert was going to make that move,” noted Matthews. “I was expecting it. I think he thought the final would be more uphill, but it was a flat sprint. It wasn’t hard enough for a move like that. He came back pretty quickly because of the lead-outs going from Quick-Step and Argos. I had a clear line in the end to open my sprint and show my sprinting legs to the world.” Matthews hit the front around the 200 metre mark, and once on the front, he handily held off his challengers. “When I was on the podium, I noticed there were a fair few Aussies in the crowd,” said Matthews. “Winning a Grand Tour stage is great; climbing onto the podium on the other side of the world to celebrate that win and having people from home there to cheer you on is really something special.” “It’s super awesome for the team to have a win already on stage five,” Matthews added. “We have a lot of potential on a lot of the coming stages. I think this is just the beginning for us.”
Ordine d'arrivo 5a tappa della Vuelta di Spagna: 1 Michael Matthews (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge 4:28:22
Classifica generale dopo la 5a tappa della Vuelta di Spagna: 1 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Astana Pro Team 18:43:52 |
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Fisterra 27agosto 2013 - Daniel Moreno (Team Katusha) ha vinto la quarta tappa della Vuelta di Spagna di 189 km con partenza da Lalin e arrivo a Fisterra. Lo spagnolo è riuscito ad avantaggiarsi sulla salita prima del traguardo, imponendosi all'arrivo davanti allo svizzero Fabian Cancellara (Radioshack) e all'australiano Michael Matthews (Orica GreenEdge). La maglia rossa del leader torna sulle spalle di Vincenzo Nibali (Team Astana) che ora conduce con un margine di 3'' sull'amercicano vincitore della 2a tappa, Christopher Horner (RadioShack) che all'eta' di 41 anni, per un giorno, è stato al comando della corsa iberica entrando nella storia del ciclismo, come il ciclista piu' anziano di tutti i tempi, a vincere una tappa e a dominare la classifica di un grande giro.
Fisterra Aug 27th, 2013 - Great result for Katusha Team in the 4th stage of “Vuelta a Espana”: after two podium places in a row, Daniel Moreno brought to Katusha Team the first victory of this 68th edition of the Iberian competition. The Spanish rider won thanks to a great rush in the final uphill to Fisterra, defeating Fabian Cancellara (RadioShack-Leopard) and Michael Matthews (Orica-GreenEdge), respectevely second and third. The stage, 189 km from Lalin/A Estrada to Fisterra, was characterized by a demanding course, with the incredibly tough climbing of Mirador de Ezaro with 35 km to go: only 2 km long, but with an average incline of 13,9% and a maximum of 25%. Moreover, the course presented once again an uphill finish line, with 2 km at 5,3% average. The daily breakaway was made by 5 riders: Alex Rasmussen (Garmin-Sharp), Danilo Wyss (BMC), Jussi Velkkanen (FDJ), Dennis Vanendert (Lotto-Belisol) and Nicolas Edet (Cofidis). The five reached a highest gap of a little more than 7′ before being caught by a group of counter-attacking riders in Mirador de Ezaro: Edet was the only one from the previous breakaway to be able to stay with Txurruka (Caja Rural), Luis Leon Sanchez (Belkin), Nerz (BMC), Herrada (Movistar) and Angel Vicioso, rider of Katusha Team. Their attempt was neutralized by the main group, still made by around 100 riders, with 14 km to go. The pace imposed by the bunch kept everyone from attacking until the last km. Juan Antonio Flecha (Vacansoleil) was the first to try, but the crucial counter-attack by Dani Moreno decided the stage: the Spanish rider was the strongest and crossed the finish line in first position. In general classification, now, Moreno moved to 8th, 31” far from the red jersey that came back on the shoulder of the Italian rider Vincenzo Nibali (Astana). “I’m very happy of this victory – said MORENO – yesterday I said to my teammates that I would have liked to try to win today because I liked this stage a lot. I have to thank all them, especially Luca Paolini that helped me a lot in the final part in order to put me in the best position for attacking, and Purito: we know each other very well, we know which stages are more suitable to the other. He’s the leader, all in the team work for him, but today I have got a chance to try for myself. We have to be focused every day and take advantage of any chances we would have to reach the team’s aims. I think the race is still very long and maybe I’ll have some more chances. It was a great victory in a very demanding stage”.
Ordine d'arrivo 4a tappa della Vuelta di Spagna: 1 Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Spa) Katusha 4:37:47
Classifica generale dopo la 4a tappa della Vuelta di Spagna: 1 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Astana Pro Team 14:15:30 |
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