French champion survives the carnage at the end of stage seven but expects to lose the race lead on stage eight
Sylvain Chavanel (Quick Step) came very close to coming down in the crash that hit the peloton in the finishing straight of stage seven of the Vuelta a España. The French champion, who has been wearing the red jersey of race leader since the mountaintop finish on Sierra Nevanda on stage four, just about managed to brake in time to avoid the fallen riders in the road in front of him.
The crash came at the end of a long day for Chavanel, which, while it featured no major difficulties, was nevertheless very tough.
“Even though there was no climb for the king of the mountains competition and the race rhythm was pretty quiet until the preparation for the sprint, my legs hurt!” he exclaimed. “It was a nervous finale because of the wind but I never got stressed; I always stayed in a good position.
“I was frightened when the crash happened,” he explained. “I thought I was going to go down as well; I had to brake hard. Fortunately, I managed to stop right in front of those were down.”
Chavanel is currently enjoying his second career spell in the Vuelta leader’s jersey, having worn gold for a day in 2008; he also spent two separate days in the yellow jersey of the Tour de France in 2010. His current spell in red eclipses all previous spells in the lead of a Grand Tour, but he concedes that, with a lead of just 15 seconds over Daniel Moreno (Katusha) and 16 seconds over defending champion Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale), he will lose it on the steep climb to the finish of stage eight.
“Tomorrow, we’ll finish at San Lorenzo de El Escorial,” he explained. “I’ve heard this is an even steeper “wall” than at Valdepeñas de Jaén [the finish of stage five – ed]. That’s why I’m not living under the illusion that I’ll keep the red jersey.
“This is not a lack of ambition,” he continued. “I’m realistic. It seems impossible that I’ll manage to follow [Katusha’s Joaquim] Rodríguez or Moreno.
“Should I lose the jersey, I can say that I still have a lot of great things to do at the Vuelta.”
Despite having had his tour de France ruined by a first week crash, Chavanel is enjoying one of his best season’s to date. As well as his French championship, he has finished second in the Ronde van Vlaanderen this year, as well as being arguably the most aggressive rider of the spring.
Chavanel already has a second place to his name in this Vuelta, when Pablo Lastras (Movistar) escaped him and his breakaway companions on stage three, and would be a good bet to go one better at least once before the race reaches Madrid on September 11th.