Jose Joaquin Rojas bounced back from his recent crash in the finale of Gent Wevelgem to win today’s opening stage of the Vuelta al Pais Vasco in Gueñes. The Movistar rider timed his finishing effort perfectly, powering off the wheel of Vacansoleil DCM rider Wouter Poels to beat him, Garmin Barracuda’s Fabian Wegmann, Daniele Ratto (Liquigas Cannondale) and the rest of the bunch to the line.
The day was marked by a long break by Oleg Berdos (Utensilnord) and David De La Fuente (Caja Rural), who went clear eleven kilometres after the start, opened a lead of over five minutes, led over six of the day’s seven climbs, but were reeled in 15.7 kilometres from the line.
A big crash on the final climb led to some hesitation in the bunch, then a surge by Wesley Sulzberger (GreenEdge) sparked things off again. He was hauled back, as were a subsequent move by several riders on the descent plus a foray by Daniel Navarro (Saxo Bank) and Il Lombardia champion Oliver Zaugg (RadioShack Nissan).
The Rabobank team tried to set things up for Michael Matthews but faded too soon, allowing waves of other riders to come through, including eventual winner Rojas.
The Spaniard’s victory was a surprise to him, particularly as he nearly missed the event. “I wasn’t expecting to race here because I had suffered a serious crash last week at Gent-Wevelgem. I still have much pain in my back and was really doubtful about taking the start or not,” Rojas said. “Eventually we decided to come here, especially as a preparation before next week to help Alejandro in the Ardennes, and... see what happened. When you don’t expect it, you win.
“When we entered the final straight, I saw a small gap on the right side I could barely pass through. I thought: I’ll get through it or I’ll crash. I didn’t care about crashing, because we take so many risks on the road that danger comes from everywhere, but everything turned out well. This victory is the fruit of all work I did during the winter; I’m a rider who needs victories, and when you’re always coming close and victories don’t arrive, doubts build up even more.”
How the race was won:
Today’s opening stage was 154 kilometres in length and would start and finish in Gueñes. It featured seven climbs; the third category Alto Humaran (km 20.6), the second category Aldo de la Escrita (km 53.5), the first category Alto de Ubal (km 69.8), then a quartet of third category climbs. They were the Alto del Suceso (km 82.2), the Alto de la Escrita (km 85.5), the Alto de Beci (km 109.7) and, finally, the Alto de San Cosme, which was situated eleven kilometres from the end.
A total of 159 riders lined out for the race, with Garmin Barracuda’s Heinrich Haussler not taking to the start. That was unsurprising; he was listed, but had ridden the Ronde Van Vlaanderen yesterday.
Also absent was Levi Leipheimer (Omega Pharma Quick Step), who was hit by a car yesterday but is fortunately not too badly hurt.
After eleven kilometres of racing, Oleg Berdos (Utensilnord) attacked with David De La Fuente (Caja Rural). They opened a thirty second lead before the first climb and, by the time De La Fuente led over the top, they were three and a half minutes clear of a very relaxed main bunch.
After 50 kilometres of racing the duo were five minutes and eleven seconds ahead. They continued onwards over the Alto de la Escrita and the first category Alto de Ubal, then on to the subsequent climbs. De La Fuente picked up top points on each of those.
With 60 kilometres remaining they had a lead of two minutes 25 seconds. This waivered and went back up to almost four minutes with 47 kilometres left, but from that point the work by the Rabobank team brought it steadily down. Their advantage was down to one minute and five seconds with 25 kilometres remaining.
Their adventure ended 15.7 kilometres from the line when they were hauled back by the Lotto Belisol-led peloton. The riders raced on towards the final climb of the day, the Alto de San Cosme, where the Belgian team continued to drive it.
With just over twelve kilometres to go, several of the Garmin Barracuda team moved up on the right side of the bunch and looked set to attack. However a large crash near the front took down several riders, and this temporarily blunted the momentum of the group.
With uncertainty about who was down, the peloton briefly stalled. However with eleven kilometes to go Wesley Sulzberger (GreenEdge) attacked and shook the bunch into action once again. He was clear for approximately a minute before being caught, then on the descent three riders got a small lead inside nine kilometres to go, and were joined by two others very soon after.
This opportunistic move was however they were reeled in 5.7 kilometres from the end. Immediately, Saxo Bank rider Daniel Navarro attacked, hunting victory. He was joined a minute later by Oliver Zaugg (RadioShack Nissan), Il Lombaria 2011 winner. However despite the reinforcement, the move ended 4.1 kilometres out.
The Euskaltel Euskadi team was motivated to be racing on home soil and took over the driving at the front. The Rabobank squad took over and brought them under the kite, working for Michael Matthews, then the Liquigas Cannondale team took over.
However Jose Joaquin Rojas timed things best of all and came through tight on the right hand side to snatch the victory. It was his first win of the season and the seventh for the Movistar team, which is competing here without its usual leader Alejandro Valverde.