BMC Racing Team leader in control in Corsica
Tour de France champion Cadel Evans has shown strong climbing form on the final stage of the Criterium International, matching all his general classification challengers and sealing his race victory on the final climb.
After an early attack by George Bennett (RadioShack Nissan), Nicolas Vogondy (Cofidis) and Matteo Montaguti (Ag2r La Mondiale) was nullified, Alexandre Geniez (Project 1t4i) surged clear on the final climb of the Col de l’Ospedale.
He was eventually brought back as a result of a number of attacks behind. Evans marked each of those, then pushed ahead near the summit with Italian rider Rinaldo Nocentini (Ag2r La Mondiale). The two went under the kite together. Lars Peter Nordhaug (Sky Procycling) and Pierrick Fedrigo (FDJ BigMat) then bridged across, making it a four man sprint.
Fedrigo proved quickest, beating Nocentini, Nordhaug and Evans for the win.
“There were some big percentages on the climb and it was a question of just managing yourself,” said Fedrigo afterwards. “I had to be strong and clever out there to clinch the win. You always know that Evans is going to be strong and he was today. But I had riders protect me all day long and we worked well.”
Beating the Tour champion is a nice result, even if his form is still building. Fedrigo – who won on the same climb in 2010 en route to the final victory – moved up to second overall, eight seconds back, but accepted he had left too much to do. “Cadel had a great advantage [starting the stage] because of the time trial, and maybe I left too much to close today. I just couldn’t reverse the deficit.”
Evans leaves the race with the final yellow jersey and victory in the time trial. After a quiet Tirreno Adriatico, he knows his buildup towards the Tour is back on track, and is pleased with the result.
“Yesterday was a good indication and a nice confidence boost,” he said after the finish. “Sometimes things go well and it all comes together. Up until this point, I had trouble bringing things together. But I knew to keep working at it and things would come right. It’s a good indication, but we have big races still to come.”
Assistant director Max Sciandri said the pacesetting by his squad was a key part of the result. “The team was absolutely incredible,” he enthused. “Tim Roe and Yannick Eijssen pulled for something like 150 of the 179 kilometers.”
Once onto the final climb, Brent Bookwalter, Marco Pinotti and finally Amaël Moinard were his key support riders. “As a team we worked really well today,” Evans said. “Today, the young guys started out and I think for them it was an honor for them to ride in a part of France for the yellow jersey.”
Michael Rogers (Sky Procycling), who had started the day second overall, ended up on the same time as Fedrigo but dropped a place to third. He was the rider that was seen by some as the biggest threat to Evans, but didn’t have the legs to challenge on the final climb.
Initial break gains time prior to tough finale:
Four riders clipped away early on during the stage, with Andrew Talansky (Garmin Barracuda), George Bennett (RadioShack Nissan), Nicolas Vogondy (Cofidis) and Matteo Montaguti (Ag2r La Mondiale) joining forces. Of those, Montaguti had started the day best-placed of the quartet, just thirteen seconds back in fifteenth place.
The group worked together and opened a decent lead. Talansky had started the day 57th overall and with his deficit being one minute and three seconds, his team opted to call him back to the bunch to help Nathan Haas. The latter aid prior to the stage that he was determined to fight for the general classification, and Talansky’s help was deemed useful in that.
Haas had crashed on yesterday morning’s on the opening stage but was given the same time as the bunch as he fell inside the final kilometre. He was then nineteenth in the time trial, eleven seconds behind the winner Cadel Evans, and started the day the same amount of time off yellow.
With 40 kilometres to go, the BMC Racing Team-led peloton was three minutes and ten seconds behind the three leaders. Bennett, Vogondy and Montaguti knew they had to push hard to maintain a buffer before the final climb, and were just over two minutes ahead with twenty kilometres remaining.
Three kilometres later, Bennett was dropped seventeen kilometres from the finish. The other two continued to work together for a while, but the gap was tumbling quickly. With fifteen kilometres remaining it was down to forty seconds and the two leaders were looking resigned to their fate.
Vogondy pushed on alone soon afterwards, while Montaguti sat up, took off his gloves prior to the final climb and tried to recover some energy prior to his recapture.
The road was kicking up more steeply and Vogondy was hauled back very soon afterwards. The Euskaltel Euskadi and Sky Procycling teams were prominent, while race leader Evans sat close to the front, waiting for the attacks.
With twelve kilometres remaining, Euskaltel continued to push the pace, setting things up for Igor Anton. Defending champion Frank Schleck (RadioShack), Evans and the latter’s closest rival Michael Rogers (Sky Procycling) were sitting together, keeping an eye on each other and waiting for the explosion in pace.
The final act plays out:
Inside the final ten kilometres, the Colombia Coldeportes team lit the fuse, ramping up the speed. At the back, former Tour de France mountains jersey winner Anthony Charteau (Europcar) cracked and went south.
His team leader Pierre Rolland and five-time race winner Jens Voigt (RadioShack) also got into difficulty as the screw continued to be turned. Nine kilometres from the end, 2011 race winner Frank Schleck exploded and lost contact, his form clearly very different to last year.
Evans still looked good at this point. 1T4i rider Alexandre Geniez attacked hard and had a fourteen second gap with eight kilometres left. The chasing group was down to 21 riders, with another casualty of the pace being the Colombia Coldeportes team leader Fabio Duarte.
Geniez continued to plug on and had a 21 second gap with seven kilometers to go. Euskaltel Euskadi’s Mikel Landa Meana was concerned by the growing lead and kicked clear in pursuit. However his initial surge tapered off, and he was hauled back after approximately five minutes of freedom.
Passing the four kilometre to go board, Geniez was 25 seconds ahead and continuing to thrash the pedals. Those behind looked smoother, Evans sitting on his team-mates wheel and awaiting the attacks.
That chase group drew gradually closer and closer. Igor Anton surged with three kilometres left, resulting in an answer by Evans. He went after the Basque with Rogers on his wheel, then Rogers’s team-mate Lars Peter Nordhaug himself accelerated hard and caught the leader.
Evans sensed danger and jumped across, leaving Rogers behind. He moved to the front as the climb ramped up, but slid back temporarily when Garmin-Barracuda’s Christophe Le Mevel surged, then blew.
Rinaldo Nocentini (Ag2r La Mondale) kicked hard and immediately got a gap. Evans was quickly onto the move and went under the kite with the Italian. Behind, Nordhaug chased hard and almost got back on, prompting Evans to put his head down and try to move ahead.
Nocentini scurried back up to his wheel, while FDJ’s Pierrick Fedrigo and Nordhaug were also able to close up and were there when the sprint to the line started.
Fedrigo proved strongest there, riding alongside Nocentini and then pulling further ahead to grab the win. The Italian took second ahead of Nordhaug and Evans, while behind Saur Sojasun’s Guillaume Levarlet beat Le Mevel for fifth. Rogers finished with this group, and consequently dropped from second to third overall. Still, for a rider who has suffered health issues, it represents a welcome return to form and one which will motivate him.