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Sastre leads Vuelta as CSC storms short TTT
Team CSC’s Carlos Sastre pulled within 12 seconds of the yellow jersey in last month’s Tour de France but later faded to a no-glory fourth place, so perhaps it was only fitting that the mild-mannered Spaniard took the gold jersey Saturday in an thrilling team time trial to kick-start the 2006 Vuelta a España.
Sastre made a late decision to start the Vuelta – his third grand tour of this season and his fifth in a row dating back to the 2005 Tour de France – and he’s glad he did.
"I am not thinking about the Tour anymore," Sastre said. "This is a childhood dream to take the Vuelta jersey, but what’s more important is that we demonstrated that we’re a strong team."
Team CSC had already decided it was going to put Sastre first across the line and roared over the flat 7.3km course, past big crowds of holiday makers on Spain’s Costa del Sol, to notch a dominate win.
"We made the decision to let Carlos finish first. If anyone deserves it, it’s him," said Team CSC sport director Bjarne Riis. "He works harder than anyone and he makes more sacrifices. We won’t defend the jersey now, but I believe Carlos can win this Vuelta."
Team CSC roared to victory at 57.632 kph, erasing a three-second deficit to archrival Caisse d’Epargne, recorded at a time check at 3.3km. By the finish at Málaga’s port, CSC had a seven-second cushion after a tremendous, all-out effort.
"We were just flying," said Team CSC’s Fabian Cancellara, who proudly showed off his speedometer with a top speed at 62.5kph. "It was like we were setting up a sprint. I went all out at 3km to go and then [Stuart] O’Grady pulled the final kilometer. I was telling Carlos to hang on."
Sastre savored his moment on the winner’s podium, and the usually stoic Riis bear-hugged and then picked up the surprised new race leader. It’s the first leader’s jersey in Sastre’s professional career.
"I’m happy to be leader of the race. It’s something very beautiful, but nothing more," said Sastre, who finished second overall last year after winner Roberto Heras failed doping tests and Russian Denis Menchov was declared the victor. "This race is just starting, and the first week is spectacularly hard. We’ll talk about favorites after we get through the first mountain stages."
Team CSC’s win over Caisse d’Epargne and pre-race favorite Alejandro Valverde added up to a tidy one-second-per-kilometer difference.
Tom Danielson and Discovery Channel finished fourth best at nine seconds back with Alexandre Vinokourov’s Astana cadre stopping the clock 12 seconds slower for sixth.
Defending champion Menchov – who was officially presented with the winner’s jersey in Friday’s team presentation -- and his Rabobank team could only muster 12th at 18 seconds slower among the 21-team lineup.
The short course was a hit with spectators — thousands turned up to watch the official start from inside Málaga’s sports stadium. Thousands more lined the course as the route pushed along the seaside and finished among a huge throng in the city’s main harbor.
Though short, it required a full-out effort, and riders came across the line exhausted after pushing into the red zone.
"It was almost like riding a team pursuit on the track. I loved it," Liquigas rider Magnus Backstedt told VeloNews. "The hardest part was staying aggressive. We were aggressive in the first half and had the fastest split, but we started to lose the legs a little bit in the back end. When the legs start to go, your head starts to go and you’re not on top of it."
Relax-GAM, the only non-ProTour team, finished last at 37 seconds slower while Milram took a surprising third. Thor Hushovd’s Crédit Agricole was eighth at 13 seconds slower with Robbie McEwen’s Davitamon-Lotto 16th at 25 seconds back. David Rebellin crashed but his Gerolsteiner team rode on without him to finish 13th at 19 seconds back.
Sastre said it would be "crazy" to defend the jersey with three sprinter’s stages on tap and Milram’s strongly positioned Erik Zabel and Alessandro Petacchi in line to possibly grab the jersey.
Petacchi told VeloNews at the finish line he’s still not in good enough shape to contest the sprints and said Milram will work for Zabel.
"I am just happy to be here and have recovered from my injury without any serious complications," Petacchi said. "The team will work for Erik and maybe if I can make it into the second week, I will try to do something in the sprints."
Sastre poo-pooed notions that he’s now the red-hot favorite for victory when the Vuelta ends September 17 in Madrid.
"This Vuelta is just starting and six or seven seconds won’t matter in the mountains when the first real differences will be marked," Sastre said. "I won this jersey thanks to my team. They gave everything for me today and I will try to return the favor."
The Vuelta follows up its shortest stage with its earliest start at 10 a.m. Sunday in a 176km road stage from Málaga to Córdoba. The morning start is in part to avoid afternoon summer heat that can push into the low 100s and to avoid a conflict with a Formula 1 race broadcast on Spanish television.
The stage opens with two Cat. 3 climbs in the first 30km but then is mostly flat as it rolls into Córdoba for what will likely be a mass sprint.
Stage results
1. CSC, 22:48
2. Caisse d'Epargne-I. B., at 0:07
3. Milram, at 0:08
4. Discovery Channel, at 0:09
5. T-Mobile, 0:11
6. Astana, at 0:12
7. Saunier Duval, at 0:13
8. Credit Agricole s.t.
9. Liquigas-Bianchi s.t.
10. Quick Step-Innergetic, at 0:15FULL RESULTS
To see how the 21 teams contesting this Vuelta fared today, simply CLICKHERE to bring up our Live Update window.
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