In the midst of the Vuelta

Sixteen stages of the Vuelta have come and gone and we have had all the ups and downs that come with a Grand Tour. Throughout the course of three weeks, so much can happen. The team time trial on the first day seems just a distant memory. For us, we have had our share of success: a stage win and podium with Michael Matthews. There’s also been some bad luck with Wez Sulzburger and Simon Gerrans crashing out of the race. We came to the Vuelta focused solely on stage wins. With a strong sprint train, the flat days were our main priority. Matthews had shown some great form at the Tour of Utah. With the low number of sprinters in the Vuelta, it was a great chance for him to nab his first Grand Tour victory. But with a sprinter comes the responsibility of controlling the race on the sprint days.

With Wez crashing out in Stage 4, the majority of the work chasing the day-long breaks was going to be mostly left to me as we were trying to save as many guys as possible for the final lead-out train. This arrangement was fine by me as I truly enjoy my days just sitting in the front riding away at a steady on pace, a peaceful place to be. We managed a fine sprint victory early on in the race. It may have taken the pressure off of us, but also left us even more hungry for success and the pursuit of another victory. It was very unfortunate to loose Gerro as I truly believe he had a stage win in him. He was very motivated for some success ahead of the world championships later on in the month. His crash happened pretty early in the race, but he continued race for another 10 days thinking he had just suffered a bit of bruising and a strained muscle. Since he wasn’t getting much better, the team decided on an MRI. It turns out he had been riding that whole period with a fractured hip. He left our room for a quick MRI and came back on crutches with strict orders to keep all weight off the hip and to keep off the bike for six weeks. I really felt for him as he had been working hard in the buildup to the worlds and I think he was up a good result.

For me, the Vuelta has seemed to go by pretty quickly so far. It has been busy either pulling on the front or riding in a few breakaways, which doesn’t leave you much time to get bored sitting in the bunch just cruising along. There have been a couple days, however, that have been quite difficult due to the extreme weather we had during the two days in the Pyrenees. The stage into Andorra was crazy as majority of the peloton was focused on getting through the day, trying to stay warm enough just to keep pedalling and make it to the finish. I saw guys shivering so hard they struggled to handle their bikes: lips blue, teeth chattering and more than a few just pulling over and stopping the race completely. It was a crazy experience. The mental battle on days like that are immense: questioning yourself on more than one occasion if you can actually make it through, but also wondering if the race organizers and the UCI really do have the best interest of the riders in mind. To say the least, I am really enjoying the second rest day, relaxing, napping and eating before the final push to Madrid.