It's been weeks since I last saw the peloton which is far too long, so naturally I rearranged things so that I could catch the final of the year's Grand Tours, the Vuelta a España.
Today's stage took the riders over just one category 3 climb in its 164 kilometers and featured a flat final quarter of the course so the win was expected to go to a sprinter. The peloton roared up the road with Edvald Boasson Hagen (far right) trying to open up a gap.
He managed to break away but my friend Philippe Gilbert grabbed his wheel and, with 25 meters to go, flew by Boasson Hagen to take the stage.
Boasson Hagen finished second.
Johan Vansummeren in 70th place.
I loved watching Danilo Wyss and Gregory Rast cross the line (88th and 89th, respectively). Wyss was slapping Rast on the back and yammering away in Rast's face while the RadioShack rider just kept riding.
Oliver Zaugg finished in 111th place.
Tony Martin soft pedaled to finish in 115th place, but you can't fault the man for being exhausted after his heroic and legendary solo break away for nearly every inch of the 205 kilometer stage one week ago today.
I'm sorry to have missed getting a photo of Gilbert crossing the line, but I'll never forgot the look on his face. Sure, every rider who wins a Vuelta stage is going to be thrilled, but Gilbert, the reigning world champion who has had a good-but-not-stellar season, finally got his first victory and at the tail end of the season. He was ecstatic and his whole body radiated it.
On the podium, the man was positively giddy and at the same time completely relieved. Gilbert was certainly up there for quite some time. First they gave him flowers and a statue.
He tried to leave but they kept him on stage.
Then they gave him more flowers and a glass.
Again he thought he was finished but the organizers told him to stay put!
And finally they gave him his victory champagne.
Vincenzo Nibali wore the red leader's jersey again.
Nicholas Roche kept the white combined jersey. I really like the concept of this jersey. It acknowledges a rider for his all around skills by combining his standing in all of the different classifications.
Chris Horner retained the king of the mountains jersey.
Fabricio Ferrari was awarded the combativity prize.
Dani Moreno put on the green jersey on his birthday.
Astana came out to accept the best overall team award.
And that it was for the stage! I happily boarded a bus and got to my next hotel where who did I find waiting for me but Movistar and Saxo Tinkoff?
Movistar bikes: Jose Ivan Gutierrez, Sylwester Szmyd, and Beñat Intxausti. Below: Alejandro Valverde's bike.
The Saxo mechanics were hard at work, but they were happy to have an audience and chatted away with me.
