Moncoutie solos to Vuelta stage win, Leipheimer regains overall lead
- Article Extras
- Photos
- Results
- Race Index
The 63rd Vuelta a España might look like it’s still a close race after rolling out of two hard days in the Pyrénées.
Sure, David Moncoutie (Cofidis) won a well-deserved comeback stage victory out of an all-day, five-man breakaway and Levi Leipheimer (Astana) recaptured the race leader’s jersey at the end of Sunday’s 151km eighth stage to Pla de Beret.
And, yes, it still looks tight on paper, with the GC stacked with seven riders within less than three minutes of the lead.
But nearly everyone agrees that Alberto Contador (Astana) - who attacked on Sunday’s final climb to drop everyone except Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d’Epargne) and Igor Antón (Euskaltel-Euskadi) - is like a bottle of champagne that’s already very well-shaken.
All you need to do is pop the cork.
“When Contador attacked, I think he was going 35kph up the climb. It was all I could do to stay on his wheel,” said an impressed Valverde, who slipped into third at 49 seconds back. “I couldn’t follow his rhythm and there was no way I could pull through.”
Carlos Sastre, the 2008 Tour de France champion, suffered cramps up the last of four climbs yet somehow managed to relatch onto the Leipheimer group to keep his hopes alive.
“I had some bad cramps at the bottom of the climb and I had to pull out the calculator and try to limit my losses,” said Sastre, who nudged into fourth at 1:27 back. “It’s obvious Contador is strong. And Astana has brought a team here to win the Vuelta. Somehow I managed to save the day. I’m still in it.”
As expected, overnight leader Alessandro Ballan (Lampre) faded over three first-category climbs and Leipheimer could sit back and watch Contador try to attack his way into the leader’s jersey.
When tailwinds and a two-kilometer downhill finish foiled Contador’s chances, Leipheimer rolled in with an eight-man group at five seconds behind the Valverde-Contador-Antón trio to regain the Vuelta’s golden jersey.
Leipheimer settles in 21 seconds ahead of Contador, with Valverde – back at his best after suffering the bonk Saturday - now third at 49 seconds back (thanks to plenty of time bonuses he’s won along the way). Sastre hangs tough for fourth at 1:29 back and Ezequiel Mosquera (Xacobeo-Galicia) climbed into fifth at 1:59 back.
Leipheimer says he’s still committed to working for Contador despite regaining the lead for the second time in this Vuelta.
“Nothing changes from what I said before. He’s the best climber in the world and he’s our No. 1 captain for our team,” said Leipheimer. “You could see when (Alberto) attacks, only a very good Valverde could follow. He has the ability to accelerate like no one else.”
Contador, meanwhile, could only curse at perhaps another missed opportunity.
With rain and cold putting the damper on Saturday’s summit finish into Andorra, Contador was stymied by the relatively easy climb up to Pla-de-Beret on Sunday.
At six kilometers and with a stiff tailwind pushing along the leaders, the final climb up Pla-de-Beret wasn’t ideal Contador country.
The Giro-Tour winner attacked twice, but couldn’t shed a stubborn Valverde, who stayed stuck on his wheel and who wouldn’t come around to take pulls when Sastre was on the ropes.
The gritty Basque climber Antón fought back twice to regain contact with two kilometers to go. From there, it was mostly downhill to the finish line for the chasing trio.
Moncoutié slipped across the line the exultant winner, while Valverde came around to pip Contador for the second-place bonus at 34 seconds back.
“When there’s nothing there, there’s nothing you can do. And on these climbs that aren’t very steep, it’s almost impossible to drop people who are only sucking your wheel,” said Contador, who picked up an eight-second bonus with third.
“It’s always good to take time on your rivals. A few seconds more will help, but the climbs the past two days haven’t really been steep enough to make any real differences,” he said. “I don’t know why Valverde wouldn’t pull through. We could have really taken some time out of Sastre and probably caught Moncoutié.”
Valverde had a very good reason why he didn’t pull through. By his own admission, he couldn’t. Contador was too strong.
Keeping the seat warm
Leipheimer was pleased to be back in the leader’s jersey.
The lone American in the Vuelta started the stage in second at 1:00 behind Ballan, but when the Italian classics rider faded over the Cat. 1 Bonaigua climb with 40km to go, Leipheimer was poised to regain the lead.
Euskaltel-Euskadi set a blistering pace over the twisting Bonaigua climb to cut into Moncoutié’s margin, but it was Contador who set the tone on the final climb up Pla-de-Beret.
Leipheimer only had to sit back and watch as his teammate put everyone into the red.
“I just have to follow because I have the jersey and save as much as I can for what lies ahead,” said Leipheimer, who wore the leader’s jersey for one stage after winning the individual time trial in stage 5. “I’m riding well. So far I haven’t had to make a lot of sacrifices. I want to be there for the team.”
Contador tried to blow apart the race on the wide-open, switchbacks that climb toward the Baquiera-Beret, Spain’s poshest and largest ski area.
Leipheimer knows the Pla-de-Beret climb well enough. He finished second in a stage here in the 2006 Tour de France (when it climbed up the other side of the Val d’Aran valley) won by Denis Menchov and with Floyd Landis taking the maillot jaune.
Three seasons on from those heady days when he was leader at the Gerolsteiner team, the veteran American says he’s more than happy to be working for Contador, even though his own chances are very much alive.
“I want to be on this team. It’s my No. 1 choice for a team and I am very happy where I am at,” he said. “I don’t have any regrets about anything.”
Leipheimer said he expects Contador to be able to open up even more differences to his rivals in the upcoming stages in the Asturias, with the fearsome Angliru looming in stage 13, and the perhaps even more dangerous stage 14 to Fuentes de Invierno, a grueling stage that no one seems to be talking about.
“We still have the climbing stages in Asturias and the climbing time trial after that,” he said. “The main reason (Contador hasn’t taken more time) is because the climbs yesterday and today we’re not so steep. The mountains in Asturias are much steeper. There will be bigger differences. We still have a long ways to go. Now that we have the jersey, the other teams will be looking to us to control the race. We have a lot of work ahead of us.”
As for the formidable Angliru, Leipheimer said he didn’t have the opportunity to preview the climb.
“I don’t even want to think about it,” he said with a smile.
Early breakout
With a late start and a short stage, the peloton had plenty of time to get ready to attack.
With the Cat. 1 Coll del Cantó starting in the opening 15km, scores of riders tried to get away, including a move with Lampre’s Damiano Cunego and Matt Lloyd (Silence-Lotto), but Astana and Lampre chased down various moves on the lower, steeper parts of the climb.
Finally, on the upper flanks of the long, grinding Cantó climb, the day’s move was forged. Sneaking away were veteran Spanish climber Juan Manuel Garate (Quick Step), Moncoutie, Sebastian Joly (FDJeux), Christophe Kern (Credit Agricole) and Nikita Eskov (Tinkoff).
It was a good group of non-threatening riders (Garate was best-placed at 25th at 9:01 back), so away they went. Garate led the way over the Cantó with a two-minute lead on the pack.
The gap hovered around five minutes as Astana and Cofidis put men on the front to keep the attackers on a relatively short leash. They hit the base of the Cat. 1 Bonaigua climb with 4:35.
Turning the screws
As expected, the Bonaigua climb (the highest point of this year’s Vuelta a 2,072m) caused some damage.
Before it even started, however, there were at least three pileups at the back of the main pack as it ramped up the speed nearing the day’s penultimate climb, including one involving Lloyd, who hit the deck pretty hard and later crossed the line with both knees bandages and blood running off some nasty road rash.
The speed – and the chase – increased considerably up the twisting, narrow Bonaigua climb. Half of the road was over a new, wider and smooth highway, but the upper steepest sections were over the older, rougher highway.
Mikel Astarloza (Euskaltel-Euskadi) took over the chase in the final 5km to fracture the peloton and bring the breakaway back to earth.
Astarloza – working for his younger teammate Antón – was doing some damage and spit out overnight leader Ballan and Frenchman Sylvain Chavanel (Cofidis), who started the day third overall.
Up the road, Moncoutie followed by Joly (who survived a brush with testicular cancer last fall), were fighting the brave fight trying to fend off the ever-closing peloton up the final, sinuous switchbacks on the spectacular climb.
Moncoutie was nursing a 1:45 gap with about 2km to go on the climb when Amets Txurruka, winner of the most aggressive rider in the 2007 Tour de France, took over the chase for the ever-dwindling peloton. Chasing at 25 seconds behind Moncoutie were Joly and the remainders of the chasers.
The “Ole Moncoot” – that’s how Garmin DS and ex-teammate Matt White refers to Moncoutie – cleared over the summit alone and chased victory.
Joly caught his compatriot on the long downhill to the base of Pla-de-Beret, but Moncoutié soon shed the unwanted company.
A tailwind and a lack of cooperation in his wake helped assure his first victory since winning the second of his two career stage victories in the 2005 Tour de France.
“I knew the key today was to be in a breakaway. At the base of the Beret climb, I had about 1:30. I knew they were attacking behind me and I really didn’t believe I would win until about two kilometers to go,” the Frenchman said. “This Vuelta is the first time I’ve been back at my best since my health problems.”
Moncoutie struggled through the past two years with career-threatening injuries. He broke his femur in a crash in the 2006 and cut some tendons in his knee in a spill in the 2007 Criterium International.
At 33, he’s back to full-time racing this year and will end the Vuelta with 94 race days in his legs.
“This is a beautiful victory for me,” Moncoutie said. “It’s my return to a good level. I knew I could do something good in this Vuelta. I came out of the Tour finally feeling like a bike racer again.”
He had already signed a one-year contract extension with Cofidis even before winning the stage.
Monday’s stage
The 63rd Vuelta continues Monday with the 208.8km ninth stage from Vielha to Sabiñánigo. The route traverses the Pyrénées as it pushes west across the southern, sun-baked flank of the mountains.
The hilly stage shouldn’t present a major problem for the main GC contenders, but provides plenty of opportunities for stage-hunters. Two second-category and one third-category climbs in the first half of the long stage should set a breakaway.
There’s the narrow and steep Cat. 1 Puerto de Serrablo, but at 66km from the finish, the climb should only be difficult for riders who are already on the ropes. The stage finishes with a 16km circuit around Sabiñánigo, hometown of retired Spanish climber Fernando Escartín.
63rd Vuelta a España
● Stage 8, Andorra to Pla de Beret, 151km
● Winner: David Moncoutie (Cofidis) wins first race since 2005 season.
● Leader: Levi Leipheimer (Astana) regains lead after overnight leader Alessandro Ballan (Lampre) dipped to 33rd at 17:21 back.
● Points: Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d’Epargne) takes over from Daniele Bennati (Liquigas)
● KoM: Alessandro Ballan (Lampre) keeps the jersey, but Moncoutie moved into second.
● Combined: Alberto Contador (Astana) takes over.
● Team: Astana leads Caisse d’Epargne by 44 seconds
● Peloton: Jean-Marc Marino (Credit Agricole) DNF, 162 riders remain
Photo Gallery
Last 5 DaysMOST VIEWED »
- Contador relaxed about Astana deal
- UCI registers 17 ProTour teams
- Someone swiped a Trek-Livestrong team bike from the Mellow Johnny's store over the weekend.
- Tech Updates: Northwave, Campagnolo and more
- Technical Q&A with Lennard Zinn - Of drivetrains, tires and pressure
- Astana hits another ProTour bump
- The Mailbag - Swimming, pure sport, money and more
- Pereiro Astana-bound?
