As anticipated, overnight race leader Joaquim Rodriguez struggled in the final time trial in the Vuelta al Pais Vasco, losing out on the yellow jersey plus the overall classification to his closest rival Andreas Klöden.
Klöden earned the fourth stage race triumph for the RadioShack team this year when he held stage winner and compatriot Tony Martin (HTC Highroad) to five seconds, netting the runner-up slot on the stage and overtaking Rodriguez.
The latter promised that he’d fight hard today for his yellow jersey but his well-known time trialling Achilles Heel cropped up again and he finished only 33rd. The Team Katusha rider lost two minutes and eight seconds, plummeting from first to eleventh overall and showing that he has a lot of work to do if he is to win a Grand Tour in the future.
Other challengers to Klöden also couldn’t match his pace, with last year’s race winner Chris Horner conceding 55 seconds and having to be content with ninth on the stage, and Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel Euskadi) placing thirteenth. They ended the WorldTour race in second and sixth overall.
“The time trial went so well ,” said Team RadioShack rider Klöden after receiving his yellow jersey. “Johan Bruyneel and José Azevedo coached me so well in the following car. They had the split times of Tony Martin. I started very fast and the climb went very well for me. I could keep my good pace till the end. Perfect.”
A big key to his victory was keeping tabs on a dangerous rival throughout the race. “Samuel Sánchez was one of the favourites and I knew I had to watch him and follow him on the many climbs that were here,” he said. “He is better at me than him, and I concentrated on that.
“It was a very hard week. There were a lot of climbs and so many attacks. It’s unbelievable really that I’ve won here again after 11 years. But it shows what can happen. You need to be strong mentally and have a nice team. Without the team it’s not possible. My team was always in the race and looking out for me. I want to say thank you to my team.”
Martin was also very satisfied with how things worked out, even if he didn’t beat Klöden in the overall classification, as he did last month in Paris-Nice. “The goal of the week here was to win today, and that's what I've achieved,” he said. “I had a bit of a break after Paris-Nice and when I started this race I knew that I wasn't going to be at 100 percent straight away. But I've ended the race in great condition, and this win is the confirmation.
“It was a very easy course to miscalculate your strength because it was so technical and there was a lot of climbing. I had problems on one bend on a descent, I braked too hard, but apart from that it went pretty well.
“The key was making sure you didn't go too hard in the first part. I had enough strength to finish at 100 percent.”
His team-mate Marco Pinotti finished things off on a good note when he was third in the time trial, 24 seconds back and five seconds quicker than Jakob Fuglsang (Leopard Trek). US talent Andrew Talansky (Garmin-Cervélo) impressed with fifth on the stage, while other young riders Robert Gesink (Rabobank) and Richie Porte (Saxo Bank Sungard) were seventh and eighth.
The general classification was reshuffled by the 24 kilometre Zalla test. Gesink’s solid time trial saw him finish up third overall; like Horner, he was 47 seconds behind Klöden. Movistar duo Beñat Intxausti and Xavier Tondo were next in line.
2010 Liège-Bastogne-Liège winner Alexandre Vinkourov (Astana) showed improving form prior to the Ardennes Classics with eighth place. Ryder Hesjedal was best North American in ninth, and will also take encouragement with his growing level of condition. They both seem on course to fight for big results in races like Amstel Gold and Liège-Bastogne-Liège, while Klöden is looking ahead to July, when he and Levi Leipheimer will lead the team in the Tour de France.