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Top-20 for Bos in Vuelta sprint

September 03, 2010 - Filed under: TestTeam

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Cervélo TestTeam’s Theo Bos (NED) sprinted to 17th in Friday’s seventh stage at the Vuelta a España as the Dutch sprinter continues to make progress in the bunch sprints.

Cervélo’s stage-winner Thor Hushovd (NOR) stepped aside a day after winning in Murcia to let Bos, a former track cycling star, have a shot at the bunch sprint Friday. Alessandro Pettachi (ITA) won the stage and Philippe Gilbert (BEL) retained the overall leader’s jersey.

“The team did a great job putting Theo into position, as he is still learning how to handle the sprints in a grand tour,” said Philippe Mauduit, sports director. “The sprints at the Vuelta are harder than anything Theo has done so far on the road and today’s was a narrow finish. But he’s a quick learner and I believe we will see a better sprint from him before the end of this race.”

The final kilometers were very tight as the peloton squeezed through some narrow chicanes, so much so that the pack split up in the closing kilometers. That resulted in Xavier Tondo (ESP) and Carlos Sastre (ESP) both losing 18 seconds on the stage. Tondo slipped out of the top-10 into 13th at 1:07 back and Sastre settled into 27th at 2:33 back.

“I am very angry right now, because the group split into two parts and I lost time. The last two kilometers were very fast. Some riders finished their work and then sat up, and the group was broken,” Tondo said. “I made a big sprint to try to catch the first group. It was very close. I almost caught them. It is my own fault. I should have been more attentive and in the front group.”

The 65th Vuelta shifts gears Saturday for the challenging, 190 km eighth stage from Villena to Xorret del Catí. There are four moderate climbs before the short but steep Cat. 1 Alto de Xorret del Catí, which tops out just three kilometers from the finish line.

“Tomorrow the Vuelta starts for real. Catí is short, but it’s very steep and we will see who is in condition to try to win this Vuelta,” Tondo said. “The first week has been very nervous, but it hasn’t been so hard. On these two stages this weekend it will be very important not to lose time.”

Vuelta a España Stage 7 Results: Murcia – Orihuela 187.1 km

1^st	Alessandro Petacchi (ITA)	4:36:12	40.64 km/h (25.25 mph)
2^nd	Mark Cavendish (GBR)	s.t.
3^rd	Juan-jose Haedo (ARG)	s.t.
4^th	Andreas Stauff (GER)	s.t.
5^th	Tyler Farrar (USA)	s.t.

17^th	Theo Bos (NED)	s.t.
18^th	Thor Hushovd (NOR)	s.t.
41^st	Stefan Denifl (AUT)	s.t.
63^rd	Xavier Florencio (ESP)	s.t.
87^th	Xavier Tondo (ESP)	+0.18
109^th	Íñigo Cuesta (ESP)	s.t.
114^th	Carlos Sastre (ESP)	s.t.
121^st	Oscar Pujol (ESP)	+0.24
153^rd	Philip Deignan (IRL)	+1.02

General Classification after Stage 7:

1^st	Philippe Gilbert (BEL)	27:12:38	39.13 km/h (24.31 mph)
2^nd	Igor Anton (ESP)	+0.10
3^rd	Joaquin Rodriguez (ESP)	s.t.

13^rd	Xavier Tondo (ESP)	+1.07
27^th	Carlos Sastre (ESP)	+2.33
36^th	Íñigo Cuesta (ESP)	+4.27
62^nd	Xavier Florencio (ESP)	+15.12
70^th	Oscar Pujol (ESP)	+18.48
113^rd	Thor Hushovd (NOR)	+40.36
146^th	Stefan Denifl (AUT)	+50.30
157^th	Philip Deignan (IRL)	+54.15
168^th	Theo Bos (NED)	+57.56