Yesterday’s finish of stage two of the Vuelta a España was a major triumph for Chris Sutton, who took his first-ever Grand Tour stage victory, as well as the Sky Procycling team, but for every winner there’s many who miss out. Those who finished in Sutton’s wheeltracks were left rueing what might have been, and will hope to make amends in the days ahead.
The rider who went closest to beating Sutton was Omega Pharma Lotto’s Vicente Reynes, a 30 year old Mallorcan who also got tactics and pacing right in the finale. Together with Sutton he timed his effort well, although the Australian did things even better and came around him for the win.
While he was disappointed with second, the runner-up slot is significantly better than the other results he has got in recent years, and so it is a significant boost to his morale. That will fuel his determination in the days ahead.
“I was perfectly positioned at the top of the climb in the final sprint and I thought “today is my day”, but I couldn’t see Chris Sutton who was on my wheel and he passed me,” he said afterwards. “Normally I work for Andre Greipel, I did so in the past few years at Highroad for Mark Cavendish as well. I get my chance to sprint for myself at races like Mallorca or Paris-Nice and this time around in the absence of Greipel I’m the sprinter of the team.
“Today was a great opportunity for me to win. I knew the finish. I live in Mallorca but I’ve come to Playas de Orihuela before, so this climb in the last kilometre wasn’t new to me. There are other opportunities in the coming days, though.”
A big dangerman to Reynes, Sutton, Mark Cavendish and the other sprinters will be Marcel Kittel, who is on a high after netting four stage victories in the recent Tour of Poland. He was best of the rest yesterday, missing out on the kick which saw Reynes and Sutton go clear, and falling short on bringing them back before the line. He’s clearly in fine shape, and will take encouragement from what is his first-ever sprint in a Grand Tour.
“I’m surprised by what happened at the end of the stage,” he admitted afterwards. “I needed two more team-mates to help me at the end. As we hit the final climb, I got boxed in and I couldn’t react. The first two riders were gone when I was able to move up. I’m still happy with third place anyway.”
As fourth-placed Tyler Farrar noted afterwards, Sutton triumphed as he and Reynes took a risk in pre-empting the sprint and jumping clear early. One who went even earlier than that was former world champion Tom Boonen, who sought to add to the two Vuelta stage victories he picked up three years ago.
Unfortunately for him, his timing was far too early. “It was an unusual sprint. Maes lead me up into the final, but we busted the sprint a little too soon,” he admitted. “I ended up exposed too soon on the final uphill stretch. At that point I tried to slow down to try to reboot afterward, but the riders arriving from behind had a higher speed than me and there was nothing more I could do.”
Boonen sat up and rolled across the line in 22nd. He’s had a tough time of late, crashing heavily in the Tour de France and pulling out due to concussion, then having a very quiet Tour of Poland, but it appears his morale is good. “I’m in good shape, today my legs felt fine,” he said, looking on the bright side. “Let’s see if I can do something good these next days.”
He and the other sprinters could have another chance today; although the stage to Totana features a third category climb in the last half hour of racing, it is expected that a big sprint is the most likely outcome. If so, Reynes, Kittel and Boonen will have a second chance to try to get their timing exactly right.