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Michael Barry's Diary: A rest day with a sense of dread

By Michael Barry, Discovery Channel Cycling Team
Published: Sep. 11, 2006

There are six days to go in the Vuelta – five if you don't count the last stage into Madrid, which is essentially a parade. Nonetheless, on today's rest day we are still resting, napping and lounging around with our legs up, as the three days ahead of us are some of the hardest of the twenty one we will have raced.

Yesterday, the stage was controlled, the peloton lethargic in the strong headwind, and the final outcome one we could have all predicted: a sprint finish. The day was, however, a long one as the race started early so that we could fit in an afternoon plane and bus transfer to the southern coastal town of Almeria.

The trip south
The peloton gathered in the cafeteria of the Ford factory, where the stage finished, for a feed of Paella, beer and soda before we all boarded buses to the Valencia airport. Somehow, it felt oddly like a high school field trip, with riders piling into buses, throwing stuff at each other on the planes, and lounging in every corner of the check-in area of the airport.

For anyone not with the race, the scene must have looked odd: hundreds of Oreo-tanned, skinny, sweating, snacking, laughing, dozing, cyclists speaking in dozens of languages and all dressed in different uniforms.

The entire Vuelta of directors and riders were packed into two planes while the mechanics and soigneurs drove the 500 kilometers in the trucks and cars, which at the end of the day may have very well been the faster option but one none of us could even entertain as the rules state the whole peloton must follow the plans set out by the organization.

The peloton has thinned out in the last two days and tomorrow it will be smaller as several riders have opted not to suffer through the mountains and to head home.

Alessandro Petacchi, the most dominant sprinter of the new century, won't be starting either as he decided to take his anger out on Napolitano - another sprinter who nearly crashed him in the sprint yesterday - by hitting the team bus. Like a wall, a bus is almost always going to win and, not surprisingly, the fight was over quickly after Petacchi threw the first punch and broke his hand against the bus. Sadly, he looked to be finding his form again after a long absence from racing, and the podium, due to a knee injury sustained at the Giro d'Italia in May. It’s quite likely that his season is now over.

The sprint yesterday was chaotic as there was a strong wind blowing off the Mediterranean. The sprinters look for shelter until the very last second when they surge to the line. So, to find that shelter they push and shove to get on the right wheel, or any wheel, which causes waves in the group and sudden accelerations and decelerations.

Fred Rodriguez, who was sprinting, said that he had to make the choice of whether to let a rider into his spot who was trying to push him out or to push him away, against the barriers and run the risk of him crashing and taking out half of the peloton. Freddie followed his conscience and let the rider who fouled him in and he ended up having to brake and give up his spot. The rider, who he approached after the race to ask him what the hell he was thinking, just shrugged and said, ”C'est le sprint.”

Some riders aren't scared to crash and risk others lives while others have some sense-thankfully those with a little sense outweigh those that are insane.

The road ahead
Tomorrow's stage is all up- or downhill. Over the first 80 kilometers we will climb from 80m to 2160m and will then descend down the mountain, do a short lap around the bottom and then climb back up, although this time to an observatory. It will be tough.

Today, on our rest day, we rode the first 30 kilometers of Wednesday's stage which starts along the coast and then climbs for 18km to 1300m. Another doozy.

Oddly, we are only about 140km from where the Vuelta started in Malaga two weeks ago. It seems like an eternity ago that we were there, warming up for the team time trial. There are stages, hotels, and towns I can't even remember as it seems our minds selectively choose the moments to remember and those to forget. Or maybe, it is just because we are all just too tired to remember that far back.

The team still looks quite good and are motivated to improve-Egoi is only a few points out of the mountains jersey so we will help him go for that while Tom, Janez, Stijn and Triki, are all aiming for top ten places overall and will try to win stages in the mountains. The rest of us will support them and will cover the breakaways as we still have to work on maintaining our lead in the team classification.