Danish rider unbeatable on the Ligurian coast after a short, hard ride across the Cinque Terre
Lars Bak (Lotto-Belisol) escaped the rest of a stage-long breakaway group inside the final two kilometres of the eight stage of the Giro d’Italia, between Seravezza and Sestri Levante, to take his first individual stage victory in the race. The 32-year-old Dane was unstoppable as he countered an attack from breakaway companion Sandy Casar (FDJ-BigMat), who was also chasing the overall race lead, and held off the rest by eleven seconds on the line.
Casar won the sprint for second place - taking 12 valuable bonus seconds - ahead of Andrey Amador (Movistar) and the rest of the nine-man group. Unfortunately for the Frenchman however, when Juan Antonio Flecha (Movistar) led the peloton across the line, 3’34” behind Bak, it meant that he had not taken quite enough time.
“I won a team time trial at the Giro d’Italia last year but this is my first solo win for about three years and my first stage victory in a Grand Tour,” Bak told the post-race press conference. “l always believed I could win a big race and dreamed of winning a stage in a Grand Tour; now I’ve done that.
“It seems everything is coming slowly to me,” he added. “I’m 32 and I’ve been a professional for 11 years. Today I had the luck. When you win on the highest level, you can’t be happier.”
In that 11-year career, victories have been relatively race for Bak, since he has made his reputation as a loyal teammate whose job it has been to chase down breakaways for sprinter teammates - like current World champion Mark Cavendish (Team Sky) - to take the glory.
“I have ten wins on my palmares and I won a lot of them with an attack in the last kilometre,” he explained. “This time I went to the back of the breakaway and waited for the right moment. Sandy Casar chased attacks three times and so then I went from behind. I got 200 metres and they couldn’t catch me. I was lucky but it was perfect timing.
“I want to thank my Lotto-Belisol team for the faith they had in me. I broke my hand in the spring but they didn’t put pressure on me and let me ride the Giro d’Italia and try to win stages. I’m happy to be able to give something back to the team."
The short, hilly 155km stage began at high speed, along the flat roads of the Tuscan coast, but the breakaway group eventually got away after 40km. With Bak, Casar and Amador were Ivan Santaromita (BMC Racing), Amets Txurruka (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Michal Golas (Omega Pharma-Quick Step), Jan Bakelants (RadioShack-Nissan), Jackson Rodriguez (Androni Giocattoli-Venezuela) and Martijn Keizer (Vacansoleil-DCM), and they were allowed to build a healthy lead by Maglia Rosa Joaquim Rodríguez’ Katusha Team.
The nine men’s lead peaked at seven minutes as they entered the final 40km, but cane down steadily under the control of the Liquigas-Cannondale team. Golas attacked over the penultimate climb, with 33km to go, but was pulled back by the rest some 20km later after an edgy descent.
There were several attacks on the final climb but, after a regroupment on the descent, they only had the effect of shedding Golas and Keizer. On the flat run to the finish the riders began to attack each other once again, but it was Bak’s jump inside the final two kilometres that finally stuck.
Having come under threat from Casar and Santaromita, Rodríguez finished safely in the peloton, and holds on to his Maglia Rosa for another day. Casar had jumped to third overall however, 26 seconds behind, while Santaromita was up to fifth, at 49 seconds.
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A short, sharp day in the Cinque Terre made especially for breakaways
The day after the longest stage of the race was to be one of the shortest, at just 155km. As it skirted the rocky coast of the Cinque Terre however, it was to take in four categorised climbs, and was seemingly made for breakaways.
The 4th category La Foce would come after 53.4km, with the 3rd category Valico Guaitarola and Villa Tassani after 91.7km and 143.8km respectively, and the 2nd category Valico La Mola after 122.1km. While the final run to the finish would be a flat one, the top of Villa Tassani was just 11.2km from the line and would provide a ready springboard for a strong attacking rider.
A fast start along the Tyrrhenian coast saw a number of separate attempts to breakaway, but nobody managed to escaped the speeding peloton, which was fracturing on the fast coastal road. Finally, after just over 40km Bak managed to get away at his second attempt, with Santaromita, Txurruka, Casar, Amador, Golas and Bakelants.
At the end of the first hour, they had covered a total of 49.7km, and the leading septet was approaching the climb to La Foce. Casar was the best placed of the seven, just 4’01” behind Rodríguez in 37th place, while Santaromita was just 15 seconds further back in 40th. The Spaniard’s team seemed happy with their presence though, and shortly after the summit of the climb, the group was 1’34” ahead.
Jackson Rodriguez (Androni Giocattoli-Venezuela) and Martijn Keizer (Vacansoleil-DCM) gave chase, and successfully managed to join the leaders with around 60km covered. Their lead grew to just over three minutes but, with Farnese Vini-Selle Italia - who had missed the break - leading the peloton, it began to slide down again on the climb to Valico Guaitarola; as Golas led over the top it was down to 1’42”, but began to creep up again on the way down the other side.
On the way up to Valico Guaitarola the group’s lead was growing faster, as Farnese Vini-Selle Italia gave up its chase and handed the peloton over to Rodríguez’ Katusha team. The gap crept up towards four minutes all the way up and, as Rodriguez and Golas raced for the points over the top - with the Omega Pharma-Quick Step rider winning the battle - it was 4’06”. Rodriguez had been put into the break to try to protest the blue moutains jersey of teammate Miguel Angel Rubiano, but Golas was now equal on points and almost certain to take the lead by the end of the stage.
Casar was now the virtual Maglia Rosa and, as the peloton passed through the feedzone that followed the climb, the gap continued to grow.
Casar holds Virtual Rosa as the attacks begin
As the leaders entered the final 40km of the race, their lead had been allowed to grow to 7’00”, as Team Sky’s Bernhard Eisel led World champion teammate Mark Cavendish - dressed in the Maglia Rossa of the points classification - at the front of the peloton, having made it to the front after being dropped on the climb.
As the ascent to Valico La Mola - the toughest of the day’s climbs - began, Lampre-ISD and Liquigas-Cannondale took up station alongside Katusha on the front of the peloton. Up ahead, Keizer briefly split the group as he sprinted to the Traguardo Volante line in Carro - with Santaromita taking second, and moving four seconds closer to Casar overall - with 37km to go, but they were soon back together again as they made their way up the climb.
Liquigas-Cannondale began tapping out a steady tempo and the nine leaders’ advantage began to fall steadily. As they approached the top of the climb with 33km to go, Golas attacked, took the points alone and kept going; the peloton was just 4’11” behind over the top but began to grow again on the descent.
A slip on the outside of a bend saw Bakelants crash out the chasing group, while Golas - still alone and 22 seconds ahead of the rest of the break - was frequently locking his wheels as he descended on the ragged edge, and was forced off the road into a small turning as he misjudged his braking.
Liquigas-Cannondale decided to slow down for safety’s sake, but Bakelants kept the pressure on and managed to rejoin the other seven riders in pursuit of Golas. As the final climb to Villa Tassani began, the Pole was 27 seconds ahead, with the peloton now five minutes back once more.
Bakelants - apparently suffering no ill-effects from his crash, attacked almost immediately; the rest followed the Belgian though, and they inched closer to the Omega Pharma-Quick Step rider in the distance.
Golas is back in the fold as the finish comes into view
Casar pulled the chasers forward and finally passed Golas with 13.3km to go. This had the effect of shedding Keizer from the back of the group and, as Casar attacked almost immediately, Golas too was briefly dropped.
Keizer fought his way back up, only for Bak and Txurruka to try their luck; they were pulled back quickly, but this put Golas and Keizer in trouble again. Liquigas-Cannondale had picked the pace up again, cutting the lead to 4’30 as the leaders approached the top, so Casar pressed on again.
Amador attacked, with Santaromita and Casar in pursuit, and the Frenchman took the points over the top with just 11.2km to go.
Paolo Tiralongo (Astana) attacked the peloton as it approached the top, and he was immediately pounced upon by Damiano Cunego (Lampre-ISD). Liquigas-Cannondale was calmly continuing its pace behind, as the two Classics specialists rode away. Tom-Jelte Slagter (Rabobank) made his way across to them, but their attack was over before they reached the top.
The bad news for Casar as they rolled over the line was that the gap was just 3’47” and he was no longer in virtual pink.
Gradually, the lead group began to reform on the descent as Bakelants, Txurruka and then Bak made their way up to the three leaders but, with six kilometres to go, Amador attacked again. The move didn’t last, but did have the effect of holding off Rodriguez for a little longer, as the Venezuelan struggled to reach them.
Finally he made it though, with four kilometres to go and, as the roads levelled out the seven riders began to look at one another. Santaromita put in a big attack, but Casar was right on him and, after a few hundred metres, the BMC Racing rider gave up. The gap to the peloton was creeping up again, and hit four minutes again as they entered the final 2.5km.
Casar went again, with Bakelants, but Santaromita pulled them back inside the final two kilometres but, as the group came together again, Bak jumped and there was no reaction. By the time the chase was organised, the Danish rider was already into the final kilometre, and he kept the pressure on all the way to the finishing straight.
Bak sat up and pointed to the sponsors on his jersey - making a point of zipping it up all the way - and elatedly crossed the line; 11 seconds behind him Casasr beat Amador in the sprint for second.
Casar now faced an anxious wait for the peloton, to see if he was to pull on the Maglia Rosa, and if the 12 bonus seconds he had picked up would be enough. A number of riders attacked in the closing kilometres, none of which was successful, but had the effect of increasing the pace. As Juan Antonio Flecha (Team Sky) won the sprint for tenth, the clock was at just 3‘34”, meaning that Joaquim Rodríguez was to keep his Maglia Rosa for another day. Just.