When sprinting, Pedersen has no shadow

A break before the final battle, arrival on the flat and massive sprint, reign of Mads Pedersen to round out the script established by his team, the Trek-Segafredo. It turned out to be a mid-season stage because the mountains, which dotted the day in Talavera de la Reina, did not wreak havoc, few ambitions of the contenders for Madrid’s laurels, little bad drool from the teams for wearing down the strongest, little chicha or energy after three weeks riding. For what now remains this Saturday the Puerto de Navacerrada, the last bullet for the closure of the Vuelta, the only resource for Enric Mas in his attempt to uncrown Remco Evenepoel, also for Supermán López or Carlos Rodríguez to snatch the third podium drawer from John Ayuso.

It was presumed, in any case, that this Friday’s stage was a trap, an unusual route because the mountains were not at the end but in between, double ascent to Puerto del Piélago, 9.3 kilometers of ascent, average gradient of 5.6% . The ideal profile for Pedersen, the sprinter in the peloton who endures light climbs, who knows that in a sprint few can overshadow him. So Trek was at the front of the pack and setting the pace, busy closing the gap and time with the trio of breakaways. Those were Caicedo (EF), McNulty (UAE) and, of course, Okamika (Burgos-BH), the cyclist with the most kilometers on his legs as an escapee, the runner who was a triathlete two seasons ago.

Craddock (BikeExchange), unapologetic as he has been throughout the Vuelta, wanted to jump out of the peloton and seek to link up with the escapees -they were three minutes away-, a decision that did not please the escapees because if they arrived too tight they would lose their chances of winning final, although validated from the beginning by the platoon. Until the Trek, already at the foot of the first ascent, got down to work, a devilish pace that stretched the worm multicolored, which punished everyone’s legs. And Craddock gave up on him, sucked into the Trek’s rockets. Unstoppable missiles because on the second ramp, also in front of the Bahrain team, they caught the escapees. “It’s a port where if the teams harden the race, it’s hard for the sprinters to pass with the group. It’s going to hurt. So it is possible that the stage will not be resolved in a massive arrival, ”said Fernando Escartín, technical director of the race, early in the morning. But it didn’t happen, even though the fierce pace of the peloton gradually broke down the runners who no longer tolerate any more climbs in their legs. So with 49 kilometers to go, seven uphill and the rest downhill and flat, a new stage began with just 40 cyclists, all the favorites included. Although no one wanted to comment anymore, runners with their tongues out, perhaps some thinking about tomorrow. And the sprint was reached.

There was no misfortune like the one Roglic suffered three stages ago, then second overall and the real threat to Evenepoel. There was speculation about several options, if he had collided with Wright’s wheel -although the runner denied that he had touched the Slovenian-, if he slipped on a bit of plasticine that was on the asphalt… None of that. “The accident was not caused by a bad road or lack of safety, but by the behavior of a cyclist. I have no eyes on my back. Otherwise I would have gone astray. Wright came from behind and took the handlebars out of my hands before I knew it”, accused Roglic; “This should not happen. This is not the way I want the sport to continue and I want to make that clear.” As diaphanous as there is no one to overshadow Pedersen in the sprint -especially since Sam Bennett, winner of the first two massive arrivals and retired by covid, is not there-, again pure electricity, fierce pedaling, blows of kidney and new victory, the third so far in the Vuelta. Now is the penultimate chapter of the Vuelta, Mas’s opportunity to shake the tree of a round that Evenepoel has governed with authority.

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