Thursday, August 25, 2011

VaE: Sagan wins after great descent from Liquigas on Stage 6


Peter Sagan took the biggest victory of his short career, by beating his teammates to the line on Stage 6.

The Tour of Poland winner was the first of four Liquigas riders to take a top 5 spot, after the team used Vincenzo Nibali’s superior descending skills to push a break in the peloton. With 5km to go, the Italian team ripped the peloton apart and reached speeds of 89kph.

 With 20 bonus points up for grabs and the red jersey within reach, Nibali was the clear favourite for the victory. There seemed to be some confusion and Sagan rounded two of his teammates, to take the victory by half a bikes length. Splitting the Liquigas group was Pablo Lastras; the Movistar rider bonked severely on stage 5, one day after his solo victory.

Sylvain Chavanel came home 17 seconds down, with Joaquim Rodriguez and Michele Scarponi. The French road champion retains the red jersey by 15 seconds, ahead of Daniel Moreno, as Nibali moves in to third.

There were several riders who failed to make the start, including, Jose Vicente Garcia and Mauricio Ardila. Garcia was taken to hospital, with a broken left wrist, a dislocated vertebra and 12 stitches to his face. The race hadn’t even left the neutral zone when Matti Breschel was forced to pull out, after a crash with Luis Leon Sanchez. The Dane also needed stitches to his face and suffering two broken bones, in his hand. Other withdrawals were Nicolas Vogondy, Johann Tschopp and Kurt-Alse Arvesen, who crashed with a spectator on Stage 5.

Like the previous stage, there were several early, but unsuccessful, attempts at a breakaway. The Leader Chavanel even took his chances, but he could only manage a 15 second gap and was quickly caught by the group. Eventually a four man group pulled a lead out, after 60km of riding. Highest up the GC, in the lead group, was Adrian Palomares, who was 51:25 down on the red jersey.

With none of the riders threatening the GC and the temperatures reaching 34 degrees, the peloton let the breakaway stay out. A controlled ride by the bunch meant the leaders were swallowed back up, with Martin Kohler making a last dash attempt for success. Several riders had their time in the limelight, before Liquigas put an end to it all.

Stage 7 is pretty flat and will give the sprinters a chance to shine. With Mark Cavendish out, Marcel Kittel is surely the favourite for the victory. It will also give Chavanel a chance to keep the red for another day and the others a chance to recharge their batteries.

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