Today's Stage: Sprint stage in
extreme heat. Temperatures in excess of 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
Who won today's stage? John
Degenkolb (Argos-Shimano) is the fastest sprinter in the field at the
Vuelta this year and he proved it with a stage win. Allan Davis
(Orica-GreenEdge) was second followed by Ben Swift (Team Sky) and
Elia Viviani (Liquigas-Cannondale).
What matters in the GC race?
Nobody crashed in advance of the first mountain stage tomorrow.
Jonathan Castroviejo (Movistar) retains the red jersey.
What matters in the other
competitions? This section will be hiatus until after the summit
finish on stage four.
Biggest surprise: Nothing at
all. This was a by the books sprint stage contested by the very few
sprinters in the race this year.
Biggest disappointment: The
number of mountains scared all of the big sprinters off, making days
like today that are going to end in a sprint all the more dull.
Other items of note: Most of the
big sprinters were in Hamburg today for the Vattenfall Cyclassics.
Arnaud Demare (FDJ) surprised the field for the biggest win of his
young career... Much of the rest of the peloton that isn't at the
Vuelta and didn't go to Hamburg is at the USA Pro Cycling Challenge
in Colorado. It starts tomorrow with a lot of climbing and elevation
that remains very high throughout both the stage and the entire
race... Yesterday was filled with crashes that nobody saw because of
spotty television coverage. We knew Garmin-Sharp had hit the deck
yesterday. Now, we know that Astana crashed (with Enrico Gasparatto
out of the race entirely with two broken clavicles) and OPQS had
riders follow a wayward moto right off the course (including Tony
Martin who just can't seem to catch a break in a Grand Tour this
season).
What is coming tomorrow?
Mountains, already. This Vuelta is getting down to business
immediately with a mountain stage in the Basque Country.
Tomorrow's Prediction: Igor
Anton (Euskatel), Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha), Jurgen Van Den Broeck
(Lotto-Belisol)
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