Hola! It’s a bit like being in a Vuelta sprinters’ stage, this morning in Peñafiel; dry tundra, deserted low rise blocks to the left and right and all under a cloudless high plains sky.
It just needs us to catch sight of David Moncoutie sitting at the back of the peloton.
Yes, VeloVeritas is in Spain, headed for the Bola del Mundo.
Due to the 36 kph early stage average we didn’t see the finish of yesterday’s stage – we had to bolt for the airport.
They early hours were of the ‘paint drying’ variety as a Caja Rural and an Andalucia plugged on in a ‘TV break’ whilst the peloton chatted and The Shack kept them at around five minutes.
Things livened up at the death, though.
Our friend, Sean Weide the press and PR man for BMC put us in the picture;
“Philippe Gilbert won his second stage of the Vuelta a España on Friday to deliver the BMC Racing Team its third victory of the three-week race. (Adding to Steve Cummings’ stage 13 win)
“The former Belgian national road and time trial champion charged up the finishing straight and held off Alejandro Valverde (Movistar Team) and Daniel Moreno and Joaquin Rodriguez (both from Katusha Team) to score his second win of the season.
“As when he won Stage 9 in Barcelona, Gilbert relied on the efforts of his teammates.
“Alessandro Ballan, Klaas Lodewyck and Mauro Santambrogio made the front group with Gilbert when the peloton split on a technical descent in the final 15 kilometres.
“Then Ballan helped close a gap to a breakaway of four with the final kilometre in sight.
“‘I like this kind of finish with a long, not too severe climb’, Gilbert said. ‘We did a great race with the team, especially with Lodewyck and Ballan. (Santambrogio crashed with five kilometers to go.)
“When I have a teammate like Ballan – a world champion and a winner of Flanders – I have a lot of respect for him.
“When I saw the work he did for me, I said to myself, I cannot lose’.”
Dave provided the GC info: Alberto Contador leads from Alejandro Valverde @ 1:35 and Joaquim Rodriguez @ 2:21.
The way Contador is riding it looks like his race to lose, but this is a race of surprises and the Bola is custom made for Rodriguez.
In around nine hours, there’ll be no need for conjecture.
Adios.
Results - La Vuelta a España 2012 - Stage 19
Stage Result
2 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Movistar Team
3 Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Spa) Katusha Team
4 Joaquim Rodriguez Oliver (Spa) Katusha Team
5 Gianni Meersman (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team 0:00:03
6 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team
7 Jan Bakelants (Bel) Radioshack-Nissan
7 Ben Swift (GBr) Sky Procycling
8 Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale
9 Sergio Luis Henao Montoya (Col) Sky Procycling
10 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Saxo Bank – Tinkoff Bank
11 Gorka Verdugo Marcotegui (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi
12 Robert Gesink (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team
13 Przemyslaw Niemiec (Pol) Lampre – ISD
14 Michel Kreder (Ned) Garmin – Sharp 0:00:06
15 Igor Anton (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi
16 Lloyd Mondory (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
17 Andrew Talansky (USA) Garmin – Sharp
18 Laurens Ten Dam (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team
19 Maxime Bouet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
20 Andre Fernando S. Martins Cardoso (Por) Caja Rural
21 Denys Kostyuk (Ukr) Lampre – ISD 0:00:10
22 Christopher Froome (GBr) Sky Procycling 0:00:11
23 Ivan Velasco Murillo (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi
24 Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
25 Nicolas Roche (Irl) AG2R La Mondiale
26 Maciej Paterski (Pol) Liquigas-Cannondale 0:00:17
27 Koen De Kort (Ned) Argos-Shimano 0:00:21
28 Marcos Garcia (Spa) Caja Rural 0:00:25
29 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre – ISD 0:00:27
30 Martijn Maaskant (Ned) Garmin – Sharp 0:00:40
31 John Degenkolb (Ger) Argos-Shimano 0:00:41
32 Grégory Rast (Swi) Radioshack-Nissan 0:00:45
33 Lars Boom (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team 0:00:49
34 Juan Antonio Flecha Giannoni (Spa) Sky Procycling 0:01:00
35 Alessandro Ballan (Ita) BMC Racing Team 0:01:06
36 Pablo Lastras Garcia (Spa) Movistar Team
37 Winner Anacona Gomez (Col) Lampre – ISD
38 Maxime Monfort (Bel) Radioshack-Nissan
39 Tomasz Marczynski (Pol) Vacansoleil-Dcm Pro Cycling Team
40 Benat Intxausti Elorriaga (Spa) Movistar Team
41 Bart De Clercq (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team
42 Rémi Pauriol (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat
43 Ruben Perez Moreno (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi
44 Juan Jose Oroz Ugalde (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi
45 Egoitz Garcia Echeguibel (Spa) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne
46 Christophe Le Mevel (Fra) Garmin – Sharp
47 Assan Bazayev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
48 William Bonnet (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat
49 Matti Breschel (Den) Rabobank Cycling Team 0:01:12
50 Alberto Losada Alguacil (Spa) Katusha Team 0:01:14
51 Frederik Willems (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team
52 Matteo Montaguti (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale 0:01:24
53 Benjamin Noval Gonzalez (Spa) Saxo Bank – Tinkoff Bank 0:01:25
54 Allan Davis (Aus) Orica – GreenEdge
55 Johannes Fröhlinger (Ger) Argos-Shimano
56 Wouter Mol (Ned) Vacansoleil-Dcm Pro Cycling Team 0:01:27
57 Danny Pate (USA) Sky Procycling 0:01:30
58 Rigoberto Uran Uran (Col) Sky Procycling
59 Xavier Florencio Cabre (Spa) Katusha Team
60 Angel Vicioso Arcos (Spa) Katusha Team
61 Davide Vigano (Ita) Lampre – ISD 0:01:50
62 Klaas Lodewyck (Bel) BMC Racing Team
63 Manuel Antonio Leal Cardoso (Por) Caja Rural 0:02:02
64 Jonathan Castroviejo Nicolas (Spa) Movistar Team 0:02:10
65 Leonardo Fabio Duque (Col) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne 0:02:25
66 Serge Pauwels (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quickstep
67 Gatis Smukulis (Lat) Katusha Team 0:02:33
68 Gert Steegmans (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quickstep
69 Simon Geschke (Ger) Argos-Shimano
70 Thierry Hupond (Fra) Argos-Shimano
71 Daniele Bennati (Ita) Radioshack-Nissan 0:03:22
72 Elia Viviani (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale
73 Imanol Erviti Ollo (Spa) Movistar Team
74 Cayetano José Sarmiento Tunarrosa (Col) Liquigas-Cannondale
75 Rafal Majka (Pol) Saxo Bank – Tinkoff Bank
76 Ian Stannard (GBr) Sky Procycling
77 Stephen Cummings (GBr) BMC Racing Team
78 Nicki Sörensen (Den) Saxo Bank – Tinkoff Bank 0:03:45
79 Sergio Miguel Moreira Paulinho (Por) Saxo Bank – Tinkoff Bank
80 Bruno Pires (Por) Saxo Bank – Tinkoff Bank
81 Matteo Tosatto (Ita) Saxo Bank – Tinkoff Bank
82 Stef Clement (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team 0:04:05
83 Gustavo Cesar Veloso (Spa) Andalucia
84 Dennis Van Winden (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team
85 Juan Manuel Garate (Spa) Rabobank Cycling Team
86 Mickaël Buffaz (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne
87 Sergey Lagutin (Uzb) Vacansoleil-Dcm Pro Cycling Team
88 Hernani Broco (Por) Caja Rural
89 Martijn Keizer (Ned) Vacansoleil-Dcm Pro Cycling Team
90 Pim Ligthart (Ned) Vacansoleil-Dcm Pro Cycling Team
91 Antonio Piedra Perez (Spa) Caja Rural
92 Ben Gastauer (Lux) AG2R La Mondiale
93 Laurent Didier (Lux) Radioshack-Nissan
94 Bertjan Lindeman (Ned) Vacansoleil-Dcm Pro Cycling Team
95 Dominique Rollin (Can) FDJ-Big Mat
96 Tiago Machado (Por) Radioshack-Nissan
97 Amets Txurruka (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi
98 Grischa Niermann (Ger) Rabobank Cycling Team
99 Mauro Santambrogio (Ita) BMC Racing Team
100 Simon Clarke (Aus) Orica – GreenEdge
101 Mikel Astarloza Chaurreau (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi
102 Luis Angel Mate Mardones (Spa) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne
103 Mikhail Ignatyev (Rus) Katusha Team
104 Cristiano Salerno (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale
105 Wesley Sulzberger (Aus) Orica – GreenEdge
106 Daniel Teklehaymanot (Eri) Orica – GreenEdge
107 Gabriel Rasch (Nor) FDJ-Big Mat
108 Pavel Brutt (Rus) Katusha Team
109 Thomas Dekker (Ned) Garmin – Sharp
110 Vicente Reynes Mimo (Spa) Lotto Belisol Team
111 Romain Sicard (Fra) Euskaltel – Euskadi
112 Adam Hansen (Aus) Lotto Belisol Team
113 Fredrik Carl Wilhelm Kessiakoff (Swe) Astana Pro Team
114 Juan Jose Lobato Del Valle (Spa) Andalucia
115 Kevin Seeldraeyers (Bel) Astana Pro Team
116 Koldo Fernandez (Spa) Garmin – Sharp
117 Juan Jose Cobo Acebo (Spa) Movistar Team
118 Julian Dean (NZl) Orica – GreenEdge
119 Johan Van Summeren (Bel) Garmin – Sharp
120 Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Omega Pharma-Quickstep
121 Pieter Weening (Ned) Orica – GreenEdge
122 Kevin De Weert (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quickstep
123 Marco Marzano (Ita) Lampre – ISD
124 Andrey Zeits (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
125 Maciej Bodnar (Pol) Liquigas-Cannondale
126 Davide Cimolai (Ita) Lampre – ISD 0:04:49
127 Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Vacansoleil-Dcm Pro Cycling Team 0:05:39
128 Tiziano Dall’antonia (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 0:06:28
129 Eros Capecchi (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale
130 David De La Fuente Rasilla (Spa) Caja Rural
131 Mauro Da Dalto (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale
132 Amaël Moinard (Fra) BMC Racing Team
133 Steve Morabito (Swi) BMC Racing Team
134 Nairo Alexander Quintana Rojas (Col) Movistar Team
135 Brent Bookwalter (USA) BMC Racing Team
136 Yannick Eijssen (Bel) BMC Racing Team
137 Javier Ramirez Abeja (Spa) Andalucia
138 Danail Andonov Petrov (Bul) Caja Rural
139 Javier Francisco Aramendia Lorente (Spa) Caja Rural
140 Sergio Carrasco Garcia (Spa) Andalucia
141 Markel Irizar Aranburu (Spa) Radioshack-Nissan
142 Adrian Palomares Villaplana (Spa) Andalucia
143 Javier Chacon (Spa) Andalucia
144 Egor Silin (Rus) Astana Pro Team
145 Oleksandr Kvachuk (Ukr) Lampre – ISD
146 Paolo Tiralongo (Ita) Astana Pro Team
147 Jesus Hernandez Blazquez (Spa) Saxo Bank – Tinkoff Bank
148 Mikel Landa Meana (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi
149 Daniel Navarro Garcia (Spa) Saxo Bank – Tinkoff Bank
150 Yukihiro Doi (Jpn) Argos-Shimano
151 Thomas Peterson (USA) Garmin – Sharp
152 Rudy Molard (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne
153 Florent Barle (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne
154 Nico Sijmens (Bel) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne
155 Niki Terpstra (Ned) Omega Pharma-Quickstep 0:06:40
156 Mitchell Docker (Aus) Orica – GreenEdge 0:07:02
157 Aitor Galdos Alonso (Spa) Caja Rural 0:07:44
158 Frantisek Rabon (Cze) Omega Pharma-Quickstep
159 Jose Vicente Toribio Alcolea (Spa) Andalucia
160 Javier Moreno Bazan (Spa) Movistar Team
161 Christophe Riblon (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
162 Blel Kadri (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
163 David Moncoutie (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne
164 Dario Cataldo (Ita) Omega Pharma-Quickstep
165 Tony Martin (Ger) Omega Pharma-Quickstep
166 Alexandre Geniez (Fra) Argos-Shimano
167 Kristof Vandewalle (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quickstep
168 Denis Menchov (Rus) Katusha Team
169 Alexsandr Dyachenko (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
170 Richie Porte (Aus) Sky Procycling
171 Travis Meyer (Aus) Orica – GreenEdge
172 Raymond Kreder (Ned) Garmin – Sharp
173 Benoît Vaugrenard (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat
174 Arnold Jeannesson (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat
175 Arnaud Courteille (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat
176 Cheng Ji (Chn) Argos-Shimano