Gilbert Wins Vuelta Stage Nine, Rodriguez Stretches Gap

BMC’s Philippe Gilbert, who won 18 races in 2011, got his first win of 2012 with a well-timed attack on the final climb of Stage Nine of the Vuelta a España.

Stage Nine featured two Cat 3 climbs, but the final one, 3.5 km from the finish, was the focus of aggression.

While Sky’s Chris Froome spent his time watching Saxo-Tinkoff’s Alberto Contador, BMC’s Alessandro Ballan was allowed to attack at the base of the climb. Ballan faded; as he did, Philippe Gilbert launched an attack. No one responded until race leader Joaquin Rodriguez of Katusha exploded across the gap to the BMC rider and the pair disappeared up the road.

Rodriguez, nicknamed “Purito,” is known for his ability on short, steep climbs, while Gilbert has the capacity for tremendous bursts of power. This pair was perfect for the finish of Stage Nine.

The other overall contenders seemed not to understand what was happening, as the two riders crossed the finish line ten seconds ahead of his nearest. With the winner’s eight-second time bonus, this increased Rodriguez’s lead 53 seconds over Froome and a minute over Contador.

For Rodriguez the gap gave him a much improved chance to win the race overall. For Gilbert, the win broke a season-long drought and restored the BMC rider’s confidence.

“It has already been one year since I won last time, so, very long,” Gilbert told Eurosport. “This is a very special victory for me because I had a hard season behind me. I had a lot of criticism from the Belgian press. I never answered, but on the bike I was still fighting from the beginning of the season to get back in shape.”

Gilbert wasn’t even supposed to contest the stage win; his teammate Alessandro Ballan was tapped to take the win, but an error in scouting the route gave Gilbert a chance.

“Normally the plan of team BMC is for Ballan to attack on the steep climbs while I stay back for the sprints because I was faster than him. He was gone; I looked up and I saw the top was really far, longer than on the graphic this morning. I saw this and said, ‘Maybe he has gone too early,’ and this was the case.

“[Ballan] exploded a little; then I saw Rodriguez and I knew it was the moment. I know with Purito you cannot give fifty meters on a climb like this. I made the effort to catch him.

“In the last fifty meters I went full gas. I knew he was more riding for seconds than for the win so I rode full gas with him. I knew in the sprint I am a lot faster so it was no problem.”

A group of four riders attacked from the start of the stage. Mickael Buffaz (Cofidis,) Bert-Jan Lindeman (Vacansoleil-DCM,) Javier Chacon (Andalucia,) and Martijn Maaskant (Garmin-Sharp) should have had a good chance to stay away, none were high in the General Classification, and the finish wasn’t suited to a bunch sprint.

However, too many teams wanted a stage win, and no one was worried about expending energy, with a rest day coming. Raboboank, BMC, Lotto Belisol and Argos-Shimano all helped with the chase.

The break was caught 25 km from the finish. Jesus Resondo of Andalucia tried a long-range attack after the catch, but he only lasted five kilometers.

The rest of the stage was a fast run to the final climb, with Movistar, Sky, and Saxo-Tinkoff—the teams of the second, third, and fourth-placed riders—pushing the pace.

Alberto Contador of Saxo-Tinkoff attacked at the very bottom of the climb, but Chris Froome’s Sky team dragged him back. The fast run-in and that final chase might have drained Froome and Contador; they didn’t react when Ballan attacked. There is no surprise there; Ballan was no GC threat. But when Purito took off, Froome and Contador should have followed.

They didn’t; either they were too tired or weren’t paying attention. Rodriguez accelerated so quickly none of his GC rivals could catch him. Only Philippe Gilbert was ready to go.

Astana’s Paolo Tiralongo made a huge surge at the end to take third; Alejandro Valverde fought his way into sixth. Contador came home 22nd, and Froome 46th, but all at the same time as a huge bunch of riders crossed the line en masse.

With the time bonus for winning, Rodriguez gained twenty very important seconds on his rivals. The Katusha rider is not a great time trailer, while Froome and Contador are among the world’s best. Purito will need every second.

Monday will be a rest day, and on Tuesday, the sprinters will get another stage to play with. Wednesday’s stage is the 40-km time trial, with a big hill in the middle. The GC picture will be very different after this stage.