Esteban Chaves recaptured the lead from the Dutchman Tom Dumoulin at the Vuelta a España when he surged clear to win Thursday’s sixth stage, a second victory of the race for the Colombian that suggested he may be a genuine contender.
The Orica rider Chaves, who surrendered first place to Dumoulin (Giant) on Wednesday, attacked around two kilometres before the steep finish into Sierra de Cazorla and, despite the searing heat, had enough in the tank to hold off Daniel Martin (Cannondale) and Dumoulin, who crossed the line together five seconds behind.
Chaves heads the general classification by 10 seconds from Dumoulin, with the Irishman Martin (+33sec) and his cousin Nicolas Roche (Team Sky, +36) in third and fourth respectively.
“I can’t believe I’ve won,” Chaves said. “It was a long, hot, hard stage today,” he added. “I’m really happy and I want to thank all the team and staff again, they’re all amazing.”
Chris Froome, who won a second Tour de France crown in July and is bidding for a rare Tour-Vuelta double, finished seventh and the Team Sky leader moved up one place to sixth overall (+55).
Friday’s summit finish on the seventh stage into La Alpujarra is expected to provide one of the first genuine skirmishes among the race favourites.
Froome is bunched with some of his main rivals, including the Spaniards Alejandro Valverde (Movistar, +49) and Joaquim Rodríguez (Katusha, +56) and Valverde’s Colombian team mate Nairo Quintana (+57).
Orica’s Daryl Impey said the Australian team, whose young rider Caleb Ewan won Wednesday’s fifth stage, were having a much better time at the Vuelta than in last month’s Tour de France, where things had not gone to plan. “That’s cycling and sports in general, you have your ups and downs and this is fantastic,” Impey said.
“I think he [Chaves] is just in great condition at the moment and when you’ve got good condition it seems like he can’t do anything wrong,” added the South African.
The Frenchmen Jacques Anquetil (1963) and Bernard Hinault (1978) are the only riders to have won the Tour and the Vuelta in the same year.
No comments:
Post a Comment