Alejandro Valverde of Movistar made the most of a course which perfectly suited his riding style, taking the win on the summit finish of Stage Three of the Vuelta a España.
Valverde showed great strength, responding easily to the repeated attacks of Saxo-Tinkoff’s Alberto Contador on the final Cat 1 climb then outsprinting Katusha’s Joaquim Rodriguez by millimeters on the final flatter two kilometers.
“It’s always a mystery how the first mountain stage will go, especially with this heat, which could pay off for us. I started the climb a bit behind the group, but as soon as I could get through the bunch and reach the front, I attacked,” Valverde said on his team website.
“I knew the Arrate climb, but it had been three years since I had climbed it; Purito [Joaquim Rodriguez] remembered it better since he was there this year at the Vuelta al País Vasco, and that made him take the first place [in the sprint].
“I was a bit scared, but I knew that I could get past him; he got a bit overconfident and stopped pedaling, so I could push hard and drive my bike to the line.
“I want to thank the team, which spent two long days pulling hard; no one deserves this as much as we do, after the effort we made. Also, I want to dedicate it to my three children, Natalia, my family and all the fans supporting me through all this time.”
The Movistar rider had to fight with his team to get onto the Vuelta squad; he felt strongly that he could make a good showing in his home nation’s Grand Tour.
“I didn’t have the Vuelta into my season schedule and for me, this is accomplishing my expectations, but now that we’re in the lead, we'll try to defend it as long as we can,” he said. “It will be hard, since the rivals are really strong, but anything else we win is just icing on the cake. We have now two victories from three for the squad and you can’t ask for anything else.”
Valverde keep the leader’s red jersey for the Movistar team; the previous wearer, Jonathan Castroviejo, struggled on the climb. Surprisingly, so did his teammate, 2011 winner Juan Jose Cobo.
A lot of good riders didn’t respond well to the Vuelta’s first climbing stage; perhaps it came too early before their legs had limbered up. Katusha’s Denis Menchov, Vacansoleil’s Thomas De Gent, and Movistar’s Nairo Quintana lost about two minutes, while Lotto’s Jurgen Van Den Broeck lost over three. They all might have lost the Vuelta on Stage Three.
GC Contenders Sorted Out on Final Climb
The race started with an eight-rider breakaway, with Garcia Carraco of Andalusia and Dominique Rollin of FDJ-Big Mat attacking in the first kilometer, followed quickly by Nico Sijmens (Cofidis,) Philippe Gilbert (BMC,) Christophe Riblon (Ag2R,) Andrey Zeits (Astana,) Markel Irizar (RadioShack-Nissan,) and Pim Ligthart (Vacansoleil-DCM.)
The peloton reeled in this group at the base of the final of the day’s four climbs, the Cat 1 Ork a'Doerque Borke, with Sky leading the chase.
Saxo-Tinkoff took the lead almost immediately on the final climb, with Alberto Contador sitting second wheel, just ahead of Sky’s Chris Froome, with Alejandro Valverde right there.
Valverde launched the first attack, 4.5 km from the finish; Alberto Contador was immediately on his wheel. Katusha’s Joaquim Rodriguez followed, and slowly, so did Froome.
At 4.2 km Contador launched his first attack; Valverde and Rodriguez followed, Froome trailed but caught up. His teammate Rigoberto Uran took the lead, but half a kilometer later Contador went again. Again Rodriguez covered, Valverde followed, and Froome dragged himself along after.
At three km the leading four were together; Contador rested for another half-kilometer and put in his third attack. Froome looked to have a hard time catching up this time, so almost immediately the Spanish rider took off yet again. This time Froome was ready and didn’t get left so far behind, as the climb flattened out for the final two km.
At 1000 meters the Spanish rider made one more attack, on the relatively flat run-in to the finish, but gained nothing. Valverde and Rodriguez moved on ahead into the final 300 meters, with the Katusha rider leading. Valverde almost left it too late as the finish line suddenly appeared around a bend, but he managed to win the stage in a photo finish.
The finish of Stage Three probably presages the finishes of the later mountain stages: likely these are the four riders who will be fighting for the General Classification win.
Valverde might not be enough of as purse climber; Rodriguez is amazing on the steepest stuff but might lose time in the time trial in Stage 11. Chris Froome can ride an excellent time trial (bronze in the Olympics) and can climb with anyone on a good day.
The question comes down to the legs—does Chris Froome have too many miles on his, and does Alberto Contador have enough.
Contador Attacks Minds and Bodies
The stage marked the return of Alberto Contador to Grand Tour cycling. Back from suspension, the Spanish rider showed his typical explosive, attacking climbing form in Stage Three, he finished fourth only because the hill flattened out almost completely in the final two km.
Alberto Contador announced that he is back and ready to race, making his characteristic repeated explosive attacks on the final climb. There is no rider like him—he attacks viciously but makes it looks easy, going from hard climbing to jumping up and running on the pedals as though the road had suddenly flattened out.
He not only attacks with great speed, he attacks repeatedly. While most riders might have two good attacks and maybe a feeble follow-up, Contador can seemingly attack endlessly, rocketing away again and again until all his pursuers are exhausted.
These attacks are psychological as much as physical. His opponents have to wonder how the Spanish champion can accelerate so swiftly, over and over, when everyone else is working hard just to hold the pace. By the time Contador is spent physically, his opponents have long since been beaten mentally.
This especially true in this race, as the six-time Grand Tour winner comes back from a six-month suspension. Everyone wonders if he really has his old form back after not competing for so long.
Contador is canny—he realizes that the other riders are watching him, and by attacking repeatedly and powerfully he might hope to scare his rivals. If Contador has any weaknesses, he can hope to mask them with a series of hard attacks early in the race, to give him the mental edge in case he gets physically tired later.
His competition might not be cowed. Sky’s Chris Froome, finally given a chance to lead the team, was not able to cover Contador’s attacks, but the Sky rider still managed to ride back to the leaders after every acceleration, even finishing one place ahead of his Spanish rival.
Chris Froome is not likely to be intimidated by Contador’s early show of power. After having hauled Bradley Wiggins through the Alps and Pyrenees in the Tour de France, the temporary Sky leader knows that everyone has good and bad days, and that Grands Tours last three weeks, not three stages.
Froome knows that Contador will have to make these same kinds of attacks two weeks from now to win the race; what happened in Stage Three will be long forgotten by then.
| Vuelta a España Stage Three | |||
|
| rider | team | time |
| 1 | Alejandro Valverde | Movistar | 3:49:37 |
| 2 | Joaquim Rodriguez | Katusha |
|
| 3 | Christopher Froome | Sky |
|
| 4 | Alberto Contador | Saxo-Tinkoff |
|
| 5 | Daniel Moreno | Katusha | 0:00:06 |
| 6 | Bauke Mollema | Rabobank |
|
| 7 | Eros Capecchi | Liquigas-Cannondale |
|
| 8 | Benat Intxausti | Movistar |
|
| 9 | Andrew Talansky | Liquigas-Cannondale |
|
| 10 | Robert Gesink | Rabobank |
|
| General Classification after Stage Three | |||
|
| rider | team | time |
| 1 | Alejandro Valverde | Movistar | 8:46:56 |
| 2 | Benat Intxausti | Movistar | 0:00:18 |
| 3 | Joaquim Rodriguez | Katusha | 0:00:19 |
| 4 | Christopher Froome | Sky | 0:00:20 |
| 5 | Alberto Contador | Saxo-Tinkoff | 0:00:24 |
| 6 | Bauke Mollema | Rabobank | 0:00:28 |
| 7 | Robert Gesink | Rabobank | 0:00:28 |
| 8 | Rigoberto Uran | Sky | 0:00:30 |
| 9 | Daniel Moreno | Katusha | 0:00:33 |
| 10 | Igor Anton | Euskaltel-Euskadi | 0:00:46 |
