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Bos crashes, hot day for all at the Vuelta

August 29, 2010 - Filed under: TestTeam

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Cervélo TestTeam's Theo Bos brushed off a crash early in Sunday's second stage at the Vuelta a España, but did not contest the finale. Thor Hushovd (NOR) led the way for Cervélo in the bunch sprint with 32nd after not seriously contesting for the victory in his first major sprint since the end of the Tour de France in July. Taking the victory was young Belorussian Yauheni Hutarovich, who out-kicked favorites Mark Cavendish (GBR) and Tyler Farrar (USA) to claim his first grand-tour stage victory. Cavendish retained the leader's jersey.

"It was a very hard day, too hot," Bos said after the stage. "In the final, I had two problems, first with the knee, if I put pressure, it was painful. I have to look at that. Then, with the heat, I lost too much power during the stage, and I could see the best sprinters were ahead of me."

Cervélo's other riders avoided major trouble in the hot and hilly 173.7km run from Sevilla to Marbella that saw temperatures soar into the high 30sC. Strong winds blasted the peloton most of the stage, making for a long and difficult day in the saddle.

"This stage was very difficult. We saw a lot of riders who were dropped during the stage due to the late finish last night and they are very tired this morning. It was very hot and hard. We finished with a bunch sprint, but everyone was very tired," said Cervélo sport director Philippe Mauduit. "We planned to try something with Theo because he's here to gain experience for his future. It was not really the goal for Thor today and we wanted to take the chance today with Theo. When Thor says he's ready to try something, we trust his decision and we will give him full support."

An early, three-man breakaway went off the front early in a no-hope bid to fend off the sprinters. They were reeled in on the final run into Marbella to set up the peloton's thoroughbreds.

In interesting change worth noting, Cervélo TestTeam was bumped up to third from fourth in Saturday's team time trial after race officials recalculated the finishing times. That only further confirms the great performance Cervélo enjoyed in the opening day of the 2010 Vuelta.

The 65th Vuelta continues Tuesday with the 157.3km third stage from Marbella to Málaga. The route features the first difficult climb of the 2010 Vuelta, with the first-category Puerto de León coming at 120km into the stage.

The long, 18km climb could eliminate a few favorites who cannot match the pace set by the climbers. From the summit, there's a very fast descent back into Málaga along the Mediterranean Sea before a short, punchy climb to the finish line.

"I am here to help Carlos so that's the most important thing. (Tomorrow's) stage could be difficult, with the heat and it's early in the race," said Cervélo's Xavier Tondo. "Maybe we will see some of the favorites lose time. We have to be alert."
1 Yauheni Hutarovich (BIR) FDJ
2 Mark Cavendish (GBR) Team HTC-Columbia
3 Tyler Farrar (USA) Garmin-Transitions

32 Thor Hushovd (NOR) Cervélo TestTeam