The Cat pounces in the Ruta once again as the break is caught late; Valverde holds his overall lead
Oscar Freire (Katusha) proved that he is not over the hill just yet, taking his second victory of 2012 in the third stage of the Vuelta a Andalucía – the Ruta del Sol – between Montemayor and Las Gabias, on the outskirts of the city of Granada. Like the previous day’s winner, and race leader, Alejandro Valverde (Movistar), Freire picked up a stage win at the Santos Tour Down Under, but this was his first sprint victory in Europe since his tow stages in the previous year’s Ruta.
The three-time World champion beat 23-year-old Austrian Daniel Schorn (Team NetApp) to the line, with 21-year-old Australian Michael Matthews (Rabobank) taking third.
The rolling 157.1km stage was characterised by a breakaway from stage one winner Javier Ramírez (Andalucía), Fabrizio Ferrari (Caja Rural), Tristan Valentin (Cofidis), Gregory Habeaux (Accent.jobs-Verandas Willems) and David Le Lay (Saur-Sojasun), who escaped after 60km. Le Lay was a danger to Valverde’s overall lead, starting the day in 22nd place, just 38 seconds behind the Murcian rider.
After a long, patient chase from Valverde’s Movistar team, along with Katusha and Rabobank, the fugitives were pulled back inside the final 10km. Le Lay held out for a little longer, but was caught before he reached the top of the final 3rd category Alto de la Malahá; the peloton took the descent to the finish together, where Freire was the fastest in the sprint.
“Today the team worked really well for me,” said Freire. “We managed to keep a high tempo and not so many riders could stay with us. Regarding the sprint, I knew the last, difficult bend was more important than the last straight, which was downhill; it was not an easy rush, but [Luca] Paolini took me almost to the end.
“Our team spirit is great,” he continued. “We’re improving day by day, so I think this year we can get great results, also in more prestigious races. I feel in a good shape; obviously I’m not at my best level, because there’s no need to be at this time of the season, but I´m working well in order to be at my top later.
“Anyway, these two victories are very important because they give us the right motivation to continue this way and maybe improve”
The break takes a long while to form and then is not allowed to get far
The stage began with a number of attackers, attempting to break free, with Steven Kruijswijk (Rabobank), Eduard Vorganov (Katusha) and Jean-Marc Marino (Saur-Sojasun) among the first to try. The three of them managed to get ten seconds clear, inside the first 20km, but were quickly shut down by Valverde’s Movistar team.
After Meta Volante sprint leader Luis Angel Maté (Cofidis) took the first of the stage’s sprints, in Cabra after 38.2km, another group escaped on the climb to the Puerto del Mojón. Jimmy Engoulvent (Saur-Sojasun), David De La Fuente (Caja Rural), the previous day’s breakaway hero Mickaël Buffaz (Cofidis) and Adrian Palomares (Andalucía) managed to get 30 seconds clear, but were caught within a kilometre of the summit, where Kruijswijk led the peloton over.
On the descent though, as the peloton split into three pieces, the five man group got away; this time the peloton was in no mood to deny them, but would never allow them to get far away.
Over the next Meta Volante, at Priego de Córdoba after 64.2km, the quintet was a minute clear, which gradually grew to 2’13” as Le Lay led them over the 3rd category Alto de las Caserías after 87km. At just over 120km, with 35km still to race, the group led by 3’08”, but with Le Lay a serious overall threat to Valverde, the Movistar team began to close it down again.
With the peloton enjoying a relatively straight run towards the finish, the group’s advantage came down steadily; with 15km to go they had just 50 seconds and, as they entered the final 10km, the five riders were just 20 seconds clear.
It all seemed to be over for the breakaway and with 7km to go, as the final climb to the 3rd category Alto de la Malahá was beginning, four of them were caught by the peloton, but Le Lay was determined and was fighting to hold them off over the top of the climb; from there, there just remained a 5.5km descent to the finish.
The Frenchman still held a ten second lead as he approached the summit, but was caught before he reached the top, and the peloton hit the descent all together, where the Katusha team took control. Freire’s victory was his ninth stage in the Vuelta a Andalucía, which he also won overall in 2007.
The pressure from Katusha on the final descent split the peloton into several pieces. Despite this, the majority of the overall contenders managed to stay close to the front, with Olympic champion Samuel Sánchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) the only rider in the top ten to miss out.
Valverde heads into the final stage with his three-second lead over Estonian Rein Taaramäe (Cofidis) intact, with Frenchman Jérôme Coppel (Saur-Sojasun) in third at eight seconds.
Result stage 3
1. Oscar Freire (Spa) Katusha Team
2. Daniel Schorn (Aut) Team NetApp
3. Michael Matthews (Aus) Rabobank
4. Marco Marcato (Ita) Vacansoleil-DCM
5. Simon Geschke (Ger) Project 1t4i
6. Pim Ligthart (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM
7. Kenny van Hummel (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM
8. Daniele Bennati (Ita) RadioShack-Leopard
9. Rein Taaramäe (Est) Cofidis
10. Sergey Lagutin (Blr) Vacansoleil-DCM
Standings after stage 3
1. Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team
2. Rein Taaramäe (Est) Cofidis @ 3s
3. Jérôme Coppel (Fra) Saur-Sojasun @ 8s
4. Denis Menchov (Rus) Katusha Team @ 14s
5. Sergey Lagutin (Uzb) Vacansoleil-DCM @ 15s
6. Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Project 1t4i @ 18
7. Fränk Schleck (Lux) RadioShack-Nissan @ 22s
8. Matthias Brändle (Aut) Team NetApp @ 23s
9. Haimar Zubeldia (Spa) RadioShack-Nissan @ 26s
10. Mikel Astarloza (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi @ 27s