Vuelta Interview - Thomas de Gendt

Thomas De Gendt winning Stage 7 of
Paris-Nice after an impressive solo effort.

Thomas De Gendt took the cycling world by surprise when he ended 3^rd overall in the Giro d'Italia earlier this year. Originally Vuelta España was the Belgian's target this season, but it seems like the Giro podium cost him too much energy in order to repeat the performance in Spain.

Thomas, first of all, congratulation on your marriage and your amazing performance in Giro d’Italia. Now when it’s been some months, have you realized what you actually did back in May?

I haven’t really thought about it. I got a lot of attention from the media and from the other riders and of course a lot of attention from the people in Belgium. I can see in the way that I’m not being allowed to attack much anymore. I tried to attack really hard in Eneco Tour, but even though I was way down in the general classification I was never allowed more than a 100 meters gap. I guess that is the impact of what I did in the Giro.

I know you had been working hard to peak in the Giro this year, but since you never really had been going for the GC in a Grand Tour before it was more like a trial-run for the Vuelta. Do you think you can make another podium in Spain?

I don’t really aim for the GC now. It’s true that I went to the Giro to use it as a trial-run for the Vuelta, but since I was up there in the GC I had to dig deep in the last week. So even though I had the Vuelta as my goal I’ve actually already got my podium spot this year and that cost me a lot of energy. Therefore I don’t know if I will be able to go hard in another Grand Tour this year already. And to be honest, I don’t feel as good right now as I did just before the Giro.

Like Contador you used Eneco Tour as warm-up for the Vuelta. Are you satisfied with the answers you got?

Not at all. The first days were very difficult for me and even though I got stronger during the race I never really felt good. I decided not to finish the race in order to save some energy for the Belgian National Time Trial, but that didn’t went the way I wanted it either. I didn’t feel I had any power in my legs and I’m really disappointed with my performance.

Looking at the route for the Vuelta, what do you think about it? Does it suit you?

I haven’t really checked out any stages, but I know there are some uphill finishes already in the first week. Personally I’m happy that the stages are shorter than in the other Grand Tours. Short but hard, just like I want it. Still, I will just take it day by day and make a status after the first week. As I said the GC isn’t really a goal for me from the beginning so I won’t cry if I’ve already lost a couple of minutes after the first stages.

Alberto Contador is the big favorite for the overall win. Do you think anyone can beat him without any bad luck?

I think we can already name the winner. Contador will win this Vuelta, but I think Froome will be up there too. He might be tired after the Tour, but I expect him to be in the mix. The last guy I see for the podium is Rodriguez. I don’t really think there will be any other riders able to follow these three.

What do you think about the Vacansoleil-DCM team for the race. Anyone specific we should keep an extra eye on?

I think Pim Ligthart. He has a very good sprint after a hard stage and there should be a lot of stages that suits him well in this Vuelta.

Last one. What is most important for you in this Vuelta;  a stage win or Top10 in the GC?

I would say a stage win, but then again it depends on place in the Top10. There is a big difference in being number 4 or being number 9 for example. If a Top10 spot means being 2^nd, 3^rd or 4^th I would pick that over winning a stage, but compared to ending 10^th overall I would take the stage win right away.

Vuelta Exclusive: Froome ready to take on Contador

Photo: Michelle Cound / www.Chris-Froome.com

About a year ago nobody talked about Chris Froome. The ex-Kenyan had been sidelined by illness and injuries for a long time but in the Vuelta España he showed his true potential. Without yet having signed a new contract for the following season, Chris Froome ended second overall in the Spanish Grand Tour where he probably would have won had Team Sky not having him wait for Bradley Wiggins in the mountains.

Nine months later Froome showed himself on the biggest scene of them all, being the strongest rider in the Tour de France taking second place overall. An achievement proving that Chris Froome isn't just a onetime wonder.

"It hasn't been the easiest year by any means. I think many people were questioning if the Vuelta performance last year was a once off, so to come back and do it again at the Tour de France has been very reassuring", Chris Froome tells me.

Now it's time for the Vuelta España and if you thought Chris Froome only had been focusing on the Tour de France this year, you're dead wrong. Froome has been aiming at the Vuelta from the beginning of the season, but he also knows that with Alberto Contador in the race it will be a tough one.

"Alberto has proved on many occasions that he is a great Grand Tour rider and I'm sure he will be raring to go at this year's Vuelta after his ban. I've never raced against him, so I'm not 100% sure what to expect. For me it will be difficult to ride two Grand Tours back to back, especially with the Olympics between, but I will go to the Vuelta with a positive mentality & hope to ride to the best of my ability", he explains.

In the Tour de France this year it was clear to see that Chris Froome had more in the tank and he got to show and looking ahead Froome is also very clear about his ambitions next year.

"I would be disappointed not to be allowed to at least try and win the Tour de France next year", he says.

Vuelta España starts on Saturday the 18th of August and to help Chris Froome take the win Team Sky sends the following riders to Spain: Juan Antonio Flecha, Sergio Henao, Danny Pate, Richie Porte, Ian Stannard, Ben Swift, Rigoberto Urán and Xabier Zandio.

Impressive Chris Froome!

Chris Froome with his Olympic medal.

Despite having said that the Olympic time trial didn't really suit his characteristics, Chris Froome still managed to take home the bronze medal after only being beaten by the World Champion Tony Martin and rider-of-the-year Bradley Wiggins.

The Olympic course was super flat and even though Chris Froome has been great against the clock ever since the Vuelta España last year, it still came as a surprise to see the ex-Kenyan  beat time trial specialists like Marco Pinotti, Michael Rogers and young-gun Taylor Phinney with a minute. Also Fabian Cancellara (injured, but still...) got beaten with more than a minute by Chris Froome.

As you could read in the preview. I asked Chris Froome about his ambitions for the time trial and he didn't really think he had much to say in the fight for medals. "It's too flat for me. This course is for the real time trial specialists", he explained. So I guess we can conclude that Chris Froome now is a 'real time trial specialist' - even on a pancake flat course.

It will be very interesting to see if Chris Froome can keep his amazing shape for the Vuelta España starting in only 2½ weeks. If so we are in for a real treat as Contador and Froome goes mano-a-mano which very well could be a test-run for the Tour de France next year! 

Olympic Preview - The Time Trial

Mark Cavendish and Team GB failed, despite a strong performance, to take a medal in the Olympic road race and therefore it's now last chance for the home soil favorites. 

Fortunately the chances are also pretty good. Because if Mark Cavendish was the big favorite for the road race (and he was!), Bradley Wiggins is an even bigger favorite for the time trial.

Route:

If you think this time trial will be like the first one in the Tour de France you better think twice and keep your money in the pocket. With a total 'climbing' of just 125 meters this 44 km time trial it's really just a basic, flat one suited for the riders with a big engine. With only a few tricky corners and a tiny 'hilly' section on Seven Hills Road, riders like Tony Martin and Fabian Cancellara would have had a medal waiting with their name on if it hadn't been for their recent crashes. 

One could argue that Chris Froome would be a good candidate for this time trial after his outstanding performances in the Tour, but asked by me about his chances Froome says that the course is too flat for him. "It's one for the the real time trial specialists, but of course I'll give it my all", he explains.

Favorites:

German Tony Martin
World Champion.

Tony Martin had a terrible crash earlier this year, when he got hit by a car, but still managed to come back and get ready in time for the Tour de France. In the prologue he was on his way to a super fast time but punctured in the final and saw his chances of a top spot disappear. Martin then changed his focus to the long time trial on stage 9 but crashed again the very next day causing a fractured scaphoid bone in his hand. Once again he managed to get ready (more or less) for the time trial but just like in the prologue he punctured and lost time to the best riders. Tony Martin withdrew from the Tour after the time trial and has ever since been spending all his time and energy on getting ready for this Olympic Time Trial - a major goal for Martin this season.

In the road race Tony Martin was the only other rider helping Team GB in chasing the breaks but after a great effort in the front of the peloton - where he could stay out of troubles - Tony Martin withdrew half way through the race in order to get ready for the time trial. Tony Martin is super motivated to win an Olympic medal for Germany and hopes that it will "help making cycling popular again" in his home country. I think this course suits Tony Martin perfectly and if the pain from his hand doesn't affect him too much he could very well be the biggest threat to Bradley Wiggins.

Bradley Wiggins won the silver medal at the World Champions last year.
Now the Brit aims at the Olympic gold!

 And make no mistakes. Anything but an Olympic gold medal will (almost) be a disaster for Bradley Wiggins. It may sounds odd to talk about a disaster for a man who just won the Tour de France, but remember that this is what Wiggins has been working on for so many years;  to win the Tour and Olympic gold. Plus if Wiggins takes home another Olympic medal it will be his career's seventh medal and that is more than any other Brit has ever won. Last year he crashed out of the Tour and quickly changed his focus to a test-run for 2012 by doing Vuelta+World Champs. He ended 3rd overall in the Vuelta and took silver in time trial at the World Champions in Denmark. A pretty good preview for what could happen this year I would say!

Bradley Wiggins and Team Sky won, as planned, the Tour de France and even though Wiggins said he felt some fatigue in the road race (who wouldn't?!), I think it's safe to say that it will be a massive surprise if Bradley Wiggins doesn't win this time trial. At least the way I see it...

As said in the beginning this time trial looks pretty good for Fabian Cancellara as well but after he crashed (hard) out of the Olympic road race I doubt he will be able to be at his best already. Still, this time trial has been his biggest goal of the season and if Cancellara manages to ride through the pain he should take a medal.

Outsider:

The way I see it there is one super strong outsider that you simply must not forget! Sylvain Chavanel has been improving his trial skills quite a lot over the last few years and has shown to be among the best riders in the discipline this year. He beat Contador in the time trial in Tour de San Luis back in January, won in Driedaagse De Panne where (at the moment monster strong) Lieuwe Westra was beaten by four seconds and right before the Tour de France he become French national champions and got fifth in the time trial in Criterium du Dauphiné in front of super time trialists like Chris Froome, David Millar, Cadel Evans etc etc.

Sylvain Chavanel has been among the best in all the time trials this year.

I think you get the picture, but just to make it even clearer Sylvain Chavanel took 3rd place in the Tour prologue and 5th in the long time trial on stage 9. Unfortunately Chavanel got sick during the race and after suffering a few days he decided to quit the race in order toget ready for the Olympic time trial. In the road race last Saturday he showed he was back at his best level and I honestly think that Sylvain Chavanel will be able to take medal Wednesday afternoon.

Joker:

Gustav Erik Larsson started out this season in a fantastic way for his new team, Vacansoleil-DCM, when he won the opening time trial in Paris-Nice. Unfortunately the Swedish time trial specialist hasn't been able to follow up on that strong performance. In the Giro d'Italia he did well when he took 5th (in the prologue) and 7th (in the final time trial) place, but in the Tour de France he didn't do much. Still Larsson did manage to put in a good performance in the time trial on stage 9, before withdrawing on stage 11 due to back problems. Despite "feeling like shit" the day before the time trial, Larsson finished 21st and even though that might not be such a good result it still showed that the Swede was about to find his legs again.

Gustav Erik Larsson always performs well at the big one day events!

The Olympic time trial has been the biggest goal for Gustav Erik Larsson this season and even though I strongly doubt he will be able to win it you have to remember that Larsson really knows how to peak at the big one day events. I think he will be in mix...

Winner pick: Bradley Wiggins

Top3: Tony Martin

Outsider: Sylvain Chavanel

Joker: Gustav Erik Larsson

Vino takes it all

Alexander Vinokourov impressed a whole cycling world by winning Olympic gold in London 12 years after he was forced to let team mate at that time, Jan Ullrich, take the gold medal in Sydney.

Here are a few pictures of the most important moments in the race:

Rigoberto Uran punctured after a few kilometers.
240 km later he was about to take Olympic gold...

Team GB had control of the race from the very beginning.
But on the last time on Box Hill they let too many attack...

Tony Martin was the only rider helping out GB in the chase.
He withdrew halfway through thinking of the time trial...

Fabian Cancellara was in a perfect position but crashed.
Vino, right behind him, managed to stay up and later won...

Uran made a mistake on the last 150 meters and Vino wasn't
late to take advantage and make sure he couldn't get caught.

12 years after having to "give" Ullrich the win in Sydney
Vino now finally got his Olympic gold medal...

A devastated Cancellara knew he could have won. Instead of
the podium he went to the hospital to get his shoulder checked.

Vino 1st, Uran 2nd, Kristoff 3rd. If you had that combination
right before the start, I salute you! 

It's real! Alexander Vinokourov wins Olympic gold in his last
season as professional! That calls for respect...

Olympic Preview - The Road Race

A few days off after the Tour de France and now it’s back to work again with the Olympic road race on Saturday the 28^th of July. It’s the perfect opportunity for the producers to show off London and the historical sights from the helicopter cameras and hopefully we will get a great start of the Games with this road race.

The route:

With its 250 kilometers the Olympic road race is one of the longest one day races on the calendar (about the same lengths as the Sunday Spring Classics). The riders start out at 10:00 (UK time) on the The Mall in London and hereafter head south-west to cross the River Thames at Putney Bridge. Going into Surrey the race will start for real with 9 laps of 15,5 km on the Box Hill circuit. The climb itself isn’t that hard but after nine laps no wild cards will be handed out for the finale. After the last lap there are still about 50 kilometers to go before the riders finish on The Mall next to Buckingham Palace in the center of London around 16:00 (UK time).

The favorite:

There is one (and only one!) massive favorite for the Olympic gold medal and that is of course Mark Cavendish. Since he won the Olympic test event back in August last year and the World Champions just a month later everything has been build around winning gold on home soil for the fast Manxman. Cavendish changed his training and diet and lost four kilos over the winter - all so he shouldn’t get dropped on the nine laps of Box Hill. Before the Tour de France this year Cavendish said that; “I will not be as successful in the Tour as I have been in the past. I will win stages but I may not win five. My sprint has suffered a little bit, but I am so much faster than the others anyway I can afford to lose a few percent in the sprint in order to be able to get to the line”. Mark Cavendish won three stages in the Tour, two of those within the last three days which shows that his condition is exactly as good as it needs to be in order to take the Olympic gold medal.

Mark Cavendish won the Olympic Test Event in front of Sacha Modolo.

Mark Cavendish also has one of the strongest team in the race to protect him. Bradley Wiggins (Tour winner), Chris Froome (Tour runner up), David Millar (Tour stage winner) and Ian Stannard (British champion) have all showed great shape within the last few weeks and even though they are only four riders (and not 9 like when Cavendish won the World Champion in Denmark last year) I think they will manage to make sure that Mark Cavendish will take the first gold medal for Great Britain at the Olympic Games.

The outsiders:

As stated, I think this will come down to a sprint. Not a typical Tour de France bunch sprint with a big peloton together in the end, but probably around 40 riders. One of my personal outsiders is Sacha Modolo from Italy. The young Italian might have surprised some of you when he took 4^th place in Milano-San Remo in 2010 and even though he hasn’t been winning as much as he should have the last two years, he is still a very strong rider on the course like this one. Hasn’t he been working so hard for  Daniele Bennati at the World Champions last year, I’m sure he would have been near the podium in that sprint and don’t forget that Modolo actually got 2^nd in the Olympic test event last year  Lately Sacha Modolo won two stages in Tour of Austria plus he took 3^rd place on the stage of Tour de Pologne with the hard uphill cobblestones finish won by Zdenek Stybar.

The Italian team is almost as strong as the British one and even though they will be riding a lot more aggressively they still have fast riders like Matteo Trentin (or Elia Viviani) and Luca Paolini to help out Modolo in the end. I will honestly be surprised if this road race ends without an Italian medal of some kind (you can be s.u.r.e. that Vincenzo Nibali will come a strong attack at some point in the final…).

The joker:

There is one guy that you simply can’t count out for the this race; Peter Sagan! The Slovakian ‘Tourminator’ destroyed all competition for the Green Jersey in the Tour de France with three stage wins and I actually think he could have won an additional won two or three stages with a little bit of luck. One of these was the last stage in Paris, where he got caught up behind Andre Greipel in the final corner and had to close a gap of 10 meters before trying to pass Cavendish. Had Sagan been in the wheel of Goss I think he would have won that stage…

Peter Sagan won three Tour stages and made it look easy.

Anyway, this is the Olympics and the big difference here is that Peter Sagan won’t have anyone to help him. And I really mean no one! Peter Sagan is the only Slovakian rider (the system is fucked, sorry, because Bulgaria has two riders, Brazil three, Iran three, Turkey three and even Malaysia has one more than Slovakia with two riders on the start list). Being without team mates also means that Sagan will have to get back to the cars to get water and food by himself and that will probably drain him a tiny bit more than for example Cavendish and the other contenders with a strong team to help out. Still, if Peter Sagan is in the front group in the final only very few riders will be able to beat him and that means at least a bronze medal for the Slovakian wonder kid.

Winner pick: Mark Cavendish

Outsider: Sacha Modolo

Joker: Peter Sagan

Vacation time

This year's Tour de France is now over and that means it's now time for a little relaxation before it's on again with the Olympics and the Vuelta España in the near future!

The Olympic road race is already on Saturday (28th of July) so make sure to check back soon in order to find the preview and the winner picks for the Olympic medals!

Thanks for reading and stay tuned!


Mikkel Condé