Not content with winning the women’s Fleche Wallone on Wednesday Marianne Vos hopped on a plane and flew out to the west coast of the United States to take part in the Sea Otter Classic races. The Sea Otter event is one of the traditional curtain raisers for the mountain bike season made more high profile as the event used by the industry to showcase new models and innovation via their teams and riders. After collapsing onto her bars after winning up the climb of Mur de Huy most onlookers could be forgiven for thinking that the prospect of a transatlantic flight and less than two days recovery would have prevented Vos from competing let alone winning the short track event in California.
Not unfavourably compared to Eddy Merckx for her amazing palmares Marianne Vos is a throwback to the days when professional racers expected to take part and were expected to do well in all types of races rather than the specialists seen today. While it’s true that the women’s pro tour does not feature stage races equivalent in length to the grand tours the men race there is enough variety in the parcours the women race over to allow some specialists to emerge like Kirsten Wild.
Vos is special because she is strong across a range of disciplines and not just her ability to climb and sprint (among other strengths she has) within road racing. Where Merckx was nicknamed ‘The Cannibal’ because of a need to win for Vos it’s more that she enjoys winning.
A key rival and last years winner at Fleche Evie Stevens of Specialized Lululemon was missing from the race this year due to injury but the rider who is emerging a potential threat to the Vos train this year and in the longer term is Trofeo Alfredo Binda winner Elisa Longo Borghini who finished on the podium here.
VCSE has secured some footage of Marianne at Sea Otter. It’s a little light on race action (the track itself doesn’t look especially challenging) but you can judge for yourself how well she copes with jet lag!
Race report and video from yesterdays Trofeo Alfredo Binda. Look out for Marianne Vos having a singalong on the start line; not too sure about her taste in music!
The weather across Europe has showed solidarity with even Corsica resembling the UK this weekend. The stage race in 48 hours that is the Criterium International had opened with Saturday’s short (sprint) stage followed by a time trial.
Richie Porte (Photo credit: Petit Brun)
Richie Porte echoed some of the form that had seen him win the Col d’Eze time trial at Paris Nice a few weeks ago taking a one second advantage into today’s final stage to the top of the Col de l’Ospedale. But where was Chris Froome? Richie admitted that he had come to ‘work for Froome’ so it was perhaps a result that even Sky hadn’t planned for.
Sky’s preferred tactic of riding off the front in stage races hasn’t won them universal praise but as we have mentioned in previous posts the Sky system isn’t infallible. Bradley Wiggins’ preparations for the Giro haven’t exactly gone according to plan as he lost his support riders as the highest summits and steepest ramps approached. Wiggins coped manfully with this in Catalunya attacking at pace and blowing the peloton apart on more than one stage. However both of Sky’s leaders look vulnerable when they have burnt all of their (supporting) matches.
Until today that is, as the peloton approached the finish with Porte in yellow. Sky had been doing their normal job with Kiryenka leading, Froome mostly out of camera shot sheltering Richie. With seconds between the GC including Tejay Van Garderen (BMC) and Andrew Talansky (Garmin) the race was finely poised. An attack from Johann Tschopp (IAM) did for Kiryenka and with BMC and AG2R holding a numerical advantage Sky looked susceptible to attacks.
What happened instead was that Froome attacked! Rain and cloud prevented seeing it, but the confusion of Van Garderen and the others was palpable. Was Froome chasing down Tschopp? Had he realised he had lost Porte? While minds were blown Froome raced away and by the time Van Garderen and Talansky responded the damage had been done. Porte showed he still had the legs by riding away himself and claiming second although he would be relinquishing the overall to Froome.
From VCSE’s perspective the result could open up a new way of winning for Sky. In Porte Sky have a rider who looks like a potential GC contender. If Sky were to take two potential GC winners into the grand tours this year they could make themselves much harder to mark if they were prepared to flip the leaders jersey the way they did today in the Criterium.
It’s a tactic that could really pay off as a number of Sky’s rivals for GC honours do not possess a strong second leader, Katusha an obvious example. The question is; was today’s result for Sky by accident or design?
The return of Spartacus – wheelie’s optional
A win to please everyone (well most people!) saw Fabian Cancellara win Friday’s E3 Harelbeke. The race named after a motorway, while not one of the top classic races, had a strong field including Tom Boonen and Peter Sagan.
There’s been a lot of discussion about Cancellara’s continued ability to ride people off his wheel and Spartacus himself had shown his frustration at doing the hard work in races like Milan San Remo last year only to lose out in the final sprint to the line.
Boonen and Cancellara had been in an elite breakaway over the famous climbs of Flanders but it was Boonen that cracked first as Cancellara’s pace proved too much for everyone. Cancellara showed signs of hitting form at the right time last week at Milan San Remo but for Boonen following his abandonment at the same race there are signs that he could be having the kind of luck in the classics this year that Cancellara had last year.
Fabian Cancellara (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Another rider hitting form at the right time is Peter Sagan, although with Sagan it seems he is always capable of doing something. Podium spots at E3 and Milan San Remo have been eclipsed today with victory in Gent Wevelgem.
If the first few races of the classics season have been a battle of attrition against the weather then Sagan has proved to be the most hardy member of the peloton following another abandonment by Tom Boonen (following a crash) and Cancellara.
Everything is nicely poised for next weeks Tour of Flanders. Can Tom Boonen rediscover the form that made him so dominant last year? Unless it was the ultimate hubristic gesture, Boonen’s wearing of a jersey listing the number of his wins at E3 suggests he believes he is capable of winning this year.
if the weather doesn’t improve in the next seven days Flanders could throw up another surprise winner like a Ciolek or require the consistency of a Sagan or Cancellara. VCSE suggests a good each way bet could be someone prepared to animate the race like Heinrich Haussler.
Super Sub
Bradley Wiggins wasn’t the only rider at the Volta a Catalunya this week preparing for the Giro. Ryder Hesdejal had chosen the race as his first of the season where he will be hoping to defend his title in Italy against another face from this weeks action Jaoquim Rodriguez.
Unfortunately for Hesdejal things didn’t go quite as planned and he looked out of sorts in the mountains during the mid week stages. The good news for Garmin was that Dan Martin was in great touch and his solo on the queen stage on Thursday was VCSE’s ride of the week.
Dan has talked in recent weeks about his chances and while his overall win went down to the wire around the Olympic park in Barcelona today his closest rival Rodriguez failed to offer much resistance. Whether the result will see the emergence of Martin as a grand tour contender this year remains to be seen but as with Richie Porte it provides his team with options.
Unstoppable? Maybe..
The next round of the women’s world cup took place in Italy today with the Trofeo Alfredo Binda. The inevitable question of who could challenge Marianne Vos for the win was answered by a native. Elisa Longo Borghini (Hitec). Part of two rider break with Amanda Spratt (Orica), Borghini broke away to the delight of the understandably partisan crowd.
VCSE’s own favourite’s Wiggle Honda didn’t figure today but have got off to a great start in their inaugural season with wins for Georgia Bronzini and Emily Collins in recent weeks.
Velo Club Sud Eglise 