Yesterday saw Tom Danielson show further signs that he can be a top-ten finisher in this year’s Vuelta a España, with the American rider performing well on the final climb to Andorra.
The Garmin-Transitions competitor placed 12th on the stage, finishing 41 seconds behind the solo winner Igor Anton (Euskaltel-Euskadi). This moved him from 15th to 12th overall in the race.
Danielson indicated beforehand that he was looking forward to the longer, higher climbs. Those that came prior to the rest day were more suited to explosive riders, whereas he prefers mountains that rely on endurance and a more steady pace. With a long time trial also coming up, he appears confident that he can continue to move upwards in the general classification.
Directeur sportif Johnny Weltz reported after the stage that he was pleased with how things went. “After 50 kilometres two riders got the release [from the bunch] and gained up to 14 minutes before the field, led by Rabobank, took up the chase.
“It was quite comfortable for us to sit in the bunch and the whole field came together on the first parts of Andorra. It was there it exploded into pieces,” he stated.
The key at that point was to protect Danielson for as long as possible, then leave him to push hard in the final kilometres. “We had VDV , Dave Z , Tom P and Tommy D [Christian Vande Velde, Dave Zabriskie, Tom Peterson and Danielson] together for a long time in the favourite’s group. And VDV did a really good job keeping Tommy D out of trouble.
“When it came to the finale and the favourites started to move , Tommy D was up to the challenge and delivered a solid performance, even though he said he was bonking a little. He moved up several spots on GC and has more to show the coming days.”
Danielson started today’s twelfth stage two minutes 53 seconds behind the new leader Anton. His best career showing thus far in the Vuelta came in 2006, when he was sixth overall and won the stage into Granada ahead of eventual race winner Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana). He was seventh in 2005, while twelve months ago he was poised close to the top of the general classification until he became ill. He eventually pulled out of the race.
Danielson is regarded as one of the most talented riders in the peloton, but some observers feel that he hasn’t yet been able to make the most of his ability. He has a more focussed mindset this year after the birth of his son, though, and hopes to keep gaining strength and to continue moving upwards in GC as the race progresses.