Today’s Vuelta stage is the longest of all at 225 kilometers and travels through 4 categorized climbs.
Igor Anton of Euskaltel was the first rider to sign on this morning.
Graeme Brown gave an interview.
Juan Antonio Flecha.
Evgueni Petrov was my first Saxo autograph of the day. He seemed really excited when I asked him to sign for me which I always appreciate.
Johan Vansummeren and Alex Rasmussen passed each other between the buses and podium.
After years of being forced to write thank you notes as a kid, it’s now an ingrained habit. I had made a card for the Garmin riders and staff thanking them for making the Vuelta so much fun and when I gave it to Tyler Farrar, he was happily surprised to receive it. I suppose teams don’t get too many thank you cards.
Alex Howes.
It’s great to get autographs from the big names (Fabian Cancellara still eludes me!) but I often prefer meeting the rest of the peloton. Fabricio Ferrari, who won the combativity award for his work in the stage 12 breakaway, was delighted when I called his name on his way to the sign on and was more than happy to give me his autograph. Guys like Amets Txurruka and David Arroyo has been around forever, so it was cool to finally meet them, especially since their entire team didn’t seem to notice me at the stage 13 sign on! I met Maxim Iglinskiy at Eneco Tour and again at the Vuelta this morning and both times he looked giddy when I asked for his autograph. When Adam Hansen signed for me, I told him I’d seen him at all 3 Grand Tours this year. He was impressed but his streak of starting in the last 7 consecutive Grand Tours is far more impressive!
As predicted, with just a few minutes until sign on closed, a surge of riders showed up. Moments like this are really hectic which can make it difficult to get autographs but none of the riders seemed remotely concerned about the time and I was able to get several more signatures!
The special jerseys all waited until the last moment to sign on and once they were done, I said good morning to my friend who is a chef at Saxo while Chris Sørensen finished his final preparations.
I made my way to the start as riders did the same. Recognizing guys like Gregory Rast, Oliver Zaugg, and Winner Anacona among others, I wished them all luck on the race’s queen stage.
When Gilbert rode by, I said, “Allez, Philippe!” He turned around and recognized me from 3 different races in 5 different countries in the past few months and said, “Hey! How are you?” The answer, obviously was, “GREAT!” It’s hard to be anything else when such an accomplished and in demand cyclist like Gilbert greets you like an old friend!
I told Tony Martin they wouldn’t start without him which made him laugh.
Daniele Ratto was still beaming from yesterday’s well deserved victory and enjoying his King of the Mountains jersey. The Cannondale mechanics must have been up late last night to repaint his bike to match, but I don’t know how they got him polka dot arm warmers so fast!
The tail end of the peloton mingled and double checked their equipment as they waited for the start.
I headed towards the front, pausing to cheer one more time for my favorite riders, including Tyler Farrar who must be one of the happiest guys in the peloton.
Rafael Valls and Alejandro Valverde.
Caleb Fairly of Garmin and Orica’s Simon Clarke and Mitch Docker.
Johan Vansummeren, Alex Howes, and Tyler Farrar. See what I meant about Tyler? The man is always smiling.
The stage got underway. Usually the special jerseys ride at the front to start the day off, but for whatever reason that wasn’t the case today.
A Saxo rider making friends with Ratto.
Edvald Boasson Hagen at center and Vincenzo Nibali far right.
With the team cars and buses cleared out of the parking lot sign on area, everyone made their way home.
In the past, I’ve collected autographs on Canadian flags or a shirt, but today I used a poster advertising the 2 Andorran stages. When I stopped for a tea after yesterday’s mountain stage, I noticed the poster in the window and asked if I could buy it. The woman said she had too many of the posters already as her daughter was one of the main people who coordinates events in Andorra so gave it to me for free!
Today I got 19 autographs from #13 Carlos Betancur, #23 Johannes Fröhliger, #35 Maxim Iglinskiy, #49 Robert Wagner, #59 Danilo Wyss, #61 David Areoyo, #64 Fabricio Ferrari, #68 Amets Txurruka, #104 Alexandre Geniez, #143 Adam Hansen, #161 Tony Martin, #174 Baden Cooke, #176 Leigh Howard, #186 Robert Kišerlovski, #188 Gregory Rast, #193 Dario Cataldo, #203 Michael Morkov, #204 Evgueni Petrov, and #209 Oliver Zaugg.
In just 2 days I got autographs from over a quarter of the surviving peloton!