In the Vuelta a España’s mountainous stages last year, Pete Kennaugh (Sky) was a key factor for teammate Chris Froome, and again in Spain on the Vuelta a Andalucia’s toughest ascent of Hazallanas on Friday, the current British national champion was once more in strong climbing form, and again alongside Froome.
Hard work by Kennaugh on the crucial steep segments of the stage’s 17-kilometre final climb thinned out the chase group behind Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) before Froome went clear. Having played his role, the Isle of Man rider still managed to finish in an impressive eighth place, 2:16 back.
“I’m a lot further ahead than I was this time last year,” Kennaugh told Cyclingnews after the stage as he warmed down outside the Team Sky bus. “My consistency has been really good, starting off well in the Tour Down Under, not playing catch-up as I was last year.
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“I did a lot of work in the winter. I had a good block in January with the Tour Down Under too.”
As for the Hazallanas climb itself, it was not just Contador and Froome who were revving up their engines for the season ahead. Kennaugh was testing a different strategy for himself, too, choosing to ride steadier for a longer period, rather than risk burning through his energy levels too quickly by trying to match Contador’s accelerations.
“I was trying to do what Chris was doing, to be honest. I could have just gone with Contador when he went, but I would maybe have lasted two minutes. Instead, I wanted to pace it and limit my losses.”
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