There is never a good way to lose a leader's jersey, but crashing out of the race lead is certainly one of the worse ways to have to let go. When Euskaltel-Euskadi's Igor Antón hit the tarmac today some six kilometers from the finish of stage 14 in the Vuelta a España, he lost his chance to compete for the day's victory, let alone defend his red jersey. As the final climb approached, there was a jockeying for position. Several riders went down in the middle of the peloton at around 70 km/h. When the dust settled it was clear that alongside Marzio Bruseghin and Egoi Martínez, red jersey Antón was one of the victims.
Antón stood up quickly, blood streaming down his left arm. He walked around and at first it appeared he may be able to continue. But after some checking out by the doctors, Antón eventually made his way to the team car and climbed onto the passenger's seat and out of the 2010 Vuelta. He was forced out by a broken elbow. To add insult to injury for the Basque team, Egoi Martínez was put on a stretcher and also had to leave the race. Martínez suffered from a dislocated clavicle.
As calm as Antón walked out of the race, as calm he was in his analysis of his race. "I am really satisfied with the last 14 days. I was living a dream," he described his Vuelta. "I won two beautiful stages, I was the leader of the race for a few days and I showed myself that I can aspire to win a Grand Tour." Antón won the fourth stage between Málaga and Valdepeñas de Jaén, then the 11th stage from Vilanova i la Geltrú to Pal (Andorra), reclaiming the race lead from Joaquím Rodriguez.
Antón has finished the Vuelta three times, with his really good results a 15th place in 2006 and eighth in 2007. "A third time I will come back with the intention to win it," he said. Nothing can faze the Spaniard. "When things were going well I was calm and with my feet on the ground. Now with the unexpected situation [of the crash] I won't change my philosophy." He draws strength from past experience. "I already took some hits in my life and I know how to tackle these situations."
Antón looks at the bright side. "I am quite bruised all over my body, but given what could have happened I also was a little bit lucky. We were going quite fast. I don't know what happened - I don't even want to think about it anymore."
Antón concluded with best wishes for his decimated team. "I want to send a message to my teammates, who have done an outstanding Vuelta, and I hope they continue to do so. I just want to say that in 2011 I will return even stronger."
Sadness all around
Martínez was sad to be in the hotel already, but also counted his blessings. "Even though I crashed, I have no fractures," he said. "I will have my arm in a sling for a week." Besides his dislocated collarbone, he was also hit hard in several places, including his chest and neck.
Martínez admitted that the crash shook him hard mentally. "This is the second time during my sports career that I have cried. We did not deserve this. We showed what a solid team we had. We were motivated because finally we had a chosen one, a leader with the possibility to win this Vuelta." Martínez has worn the then golden leader's jersey in the 2008 Vuelta, but lost it on the steep slopes of the Angliru.
Martínez concluded in an upbeat manner. "It was a hard knock for the team's morale, but we will deal with it because life goes on and there are more races in which we can return with the same level."
Competitors were saddened by the way Antón had to leave the race. Carlos Sastre called it a pity. "That the leader loses an opportunity to win a race like the Vuelta a España through a crash is regrettable."
Sastre also felt with the team that was unable to reap the harvest of its hard work in the first two weeks. "I think it is a disappointment, because they worked so much in this Vuelta to keep the leadership. On a day like today nobody remembers them. Everybody talks about Igor. After all the work and the suffering it is a difficult situation to see the opportunity slip away, because your boss is going home."
It was striking how Sastre, himself often the leader of the team, thought about Antón's teammates. "I want to congratulate the whole team because they did a beautiful race and controlled it in a very professional way."
Antón was not the first to lose the race lead and he won't be the last. In the 1971 Tour de France, Luis Ocaña led Eddy Merckx by eight minutes already, when he crashed on the wet descent of the Col de Mente and had to end the race.
In 1983, Frenchman Pascal Simon took over yellow in the Tour, only to crash a day later and break his shoulder. He fought on for six days before abandoning. In 1996, Stéphane Heulot was forced to call it quits while leading the Tour de France.