|
|
|
| Monday, September 14, 2009 |
Boom Boom in Vuelta
by Bjorn Haake at 12:17 PM EST
Categories: Pro Cycling, Vuelta a España, Race Reports and Results
|
 |
Lars Boom of Rabobank dismantled the break of the day on the final climb in the 15th stage of the Vuelta a España to win solo, ahead of David Herrero (Xacobeo Galicia) and Dominik Roels (Milram). The peloton was taking a day of active rest after three hard mountain stages and crossed the line 25 minutes later. André Greipel (Columbia-Highroad) took the field sprint to move within four points of leader Alejandro Valverde in the points classification.
Thirteen riders had gotten away after 60km, never to be seen by the peloton. Boom knew quickly that this was the move, thanks to his teammate Juan Manuel Gárate. "He talked to me over the radio and said that this is the one," Boom explained. It wasn't easy for the Dutchman to be in the break. "I tried already on a couple of other stages and I finally managed, but I had to fight hard for it."
The break was intact when they tackled the Alto de San Jerónimo for the second and final time. Vicente Reynes (Columbia-Highroad) made the first move, taking Boom, Roels and Serafín Martínez (Xacobeo Galicia) with him. There was no attack as one by one the riders simply fell off Boom's back wheel.
Herrero had come from behind as the main challenger, but over the top of the climb he was already 53 seconds behind. Overshooting a corner on the descent didn't help.
Boom had a bad start but a good ending to the stage. "I had a flat earlier, but the finale was good for me with the climb." A humongous gap The race started out with the usual attacks and the unusual situation of the peloton splitting in three. Valverde was in the second part, while Sánchez, Gesink, Evans and Mosquera were in the first. But Caisse d'Epargne neutralized the effort quickly.
After 60km a group of 12 finally went away. Lars Boom, Dominik Roels, Serafín Martínez, Christian Meier, Leonardo Duque, Vicente Reynes, Alexandr Kolobnev, Alexander Efimkin, Martin Velits, David Herrero, Maxim Iglinsky and Olivier Kaisen (Silence-Lotto) pedaled ahead, with Matthieu Ladagnous catching up 20km later.
When the lead group reached the 100km mark the gap was more than 15 minutes with the first sprint being taken by Efimkin, ahead of Roels and Martínez. The sprint was on the finish line, marking the beginning of two local laps.
The circuit included the Alto de San Jerónimo. The first time up the gap reached almost 20 minutes. Martínez topped the climb ahead of Efimkin, Meier, Boom, Herrero and Iglinsky. Efimkin took the second sprint, while Martínez won the solidario sprint to wear the red number tomorrow.
The group was working well together until Reynes disrupted the harmony with 25km to go. His attacks opened up the active part of the race. Boom shook off his last opponent with 22km to go and easily took the solo win.
|
|
|
|
|
|