Stage-long breakaway makes it to the finish with the sprinters teams breathing down its neck; Gretsch holds onto overall lead
Javier Ramirez (Andalucía) took a surprise breakaway victory for the local team, in the first stage of the Vuelta a Andalucía - the Ruta del Sol - between Zahara de los Atunes and Benalmadena, as the stage-long breakaway stayed away. Escaping early in the 197.9km stage Ramirez, with fellow Andalucía natives Daniel Dominguez (NSP-Ghost) and Luis Angel Maté (Cofidis), and Canadian Will Routley (Spidertech p/b C10) were able to build up a huge lead over the peloton. With any number of sprinters’ teams in the race though, it was expected that the four-man group would be pulled back in time for the finish.
On this rarest of occasions though, the peloton mistimed the catch, and Ramirez and Maté were able to contest the victory between themselves. Ramirez was the fastest, ahead of the Cofidis rider, with Routley taking third place - just ahead of a galloping Oscar Freire (Rabobank) - three seconds behind them.
With the gap so small, and with neither rider featuring in the result of the previous day’s prologue, Patrick Gretsch (Project 1t4i) holds on to his overall lead.
"It was spectacular,” said Andalucía directeur sportif Antonio Cabello. “It is impressive because the team has been suffering economic difficulties and it’s been tough to keep it going. The fact that we're beating the best teams in the world has a lot of merit.
“The team did a very good job,” he continued, “attacking from the start with Ramirez Abeja and without falling back in case the chance came to sprint with Juan Jose Lobato, who was fifth at the end. I am very happy for the team because we have given joy to the fans, who have supported us a lot from the first kilometre of the stage.
“We have made a resounding start to the season,” concluded Cabello. “It is our fifth win but we will keep fighting to win more.”
The break goes early and very, very long
Ramirez, Dominguez, Maté and Routley jumped away from the peloton almost as soon as the flag had been dropped at the end of the neutralised section and, because none of the other teams reacted, they were able to build a lead very quickly. After ten kilometres they were 4’02” ahead, and it was 6’10” after twenty. It rose to 11’30” by the 40km point as they approached the bottom of the first climb of the day; at 55km, after Maté had led them over the top of the 3rd category Puertos del Cabrito and Bujeo, it was still as much as ten minutes.
Gretsch’s Project 1t4i team took control of the peloton, and began to bring the gap down to a more manageable level; by the time Maté took the points over the top of the 3rd category Alto de jimena - the third and last classified obstacle of the day after 78.2km - the quartet’s advantage was down to 7’40”.
Over one more unclassified climb and the breakaway hit the feedzone after 103.6km; more importantly though, it hit Spain’s southern coast and, with very little in the way of obstacles or shelter, it seemed that it would take either an extreme act of will - or one of extreme indifference from the peloton - for them to hold out.
Rather than close the break down on the exposed coastal road though, the peloton actually began to let the gap grow again; in the lull Grischa Niermann (Rabobank) attacked in an attempt to ride his way across the gap.
The lead is still high but the sprinters think they have them
With 70km to go though, the German still trailed the foursome by 5’15”, with the peloton more than four minutes behind him. As Saur-Sojasun finally decided to put some speed into the chase, Niermann was dangling 3’30” behind the leaders and unable to close the gap further. The peloton was closing in on him however, and, as the sprinters’ teams began to up the pace further, he dropped back.
The gap was continuing to fall, as RadioShack-Nissan and Project 1t4i joined Saur-Sojasun at the front of the peloton. As Maté took the Meta Volante sprint in Marbella with 44km to go though, the four leaders still had more than five minutes; but this fell to just 3’15” with 25km to go, and the sprinters seemingly had things under control.
Into the final ten kilometres the sprinters’ teams had pulled the gap down to a single minute, and the break’s days looked to be numbered. As the peloton got closer and closer, it was down to a few seconds as the race entered the final kilometre and, so convinced was he that he was about to be caught, that Dominguez sat up.
The other three kept going though and, with a sharp rise to the final 500 metres, they managed to hold off the chase. Ramirez and Maté managed to drop Routley on that final drag and he was almost swept up, but the two Andalucían riders stayed away to fight it out between them.
Result stage 1
1. Javier Ramirez (Spa) Andalucía
2. Luis Angel Maté (Spa) Cofidis
3. Will Routley (Can) Spidertech p/b C10 @ 3s
4. Oscar Freire (Spa) Rabobank
5. Juan Jose Lobato (Spa) Andalucía
6. Manuel Cardoso (Por) Caja Rural
7. Michael Matthews (Aus) Rabobank
8. Daniele Bennati (Ita) RadioShack-Nissan
9. Pim Ligthart (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM
10. Simon Geschke (Ger) Project 1t4i
Standings after stage 1
1. Patrick Gretsch (Ger) Project 1t4i
2. Markel Irizar (Spa) RadioShack-Nissan @ 2s
3. Jerome Coppel (Fra) Saur-Sojasun @ 3s
4. Michael Matthews (Aus) Rabobank @ 6s
5. Gaëtan Bille (Bel) Lotto-Belisol @ 8s
6. Matthias Brändle (Aut) Team NetApp @ 10s
7. Maxime Monfort (Bel) RadioShack-Nissan
8. Wilco Keldermann (Ned) Rabobank @ 11s
9. Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Project 1t4i
10. Jose Ivan Gutierrez (Spa) Movistar Team @ 12s