After a cunning victory in Tirreno-Adriatico, a similarly well-calculated last-minute attack by Stephen Cummings (Dimension Data) enabled the Briton to claim the stage 3 win ahead of the teeth of the peloton in the Vuelta al País Vasco on Wednesday.
Cummings tore out of the pack on the run-in to Lesaka with about 600 metres to go, and though the peloton was snapping at his heels all the way to finish, he managed to stay away to the line for victory. It was also a welcome win for Dimension Data after their narrow miss in the Scheldeprijs, where Mark Cavendish lost to Marcel Kittel (Etixx-QuickStep).
Having celebrated on the podium wearing the traditional, huge Basque beret that is given to stage winners in the race - “I’ve always wanted one of those,” he said afterwards with a grin - Cummings told a small group of reporters that “it was a really important win. This race means a lot to the people here, because it’s so difficult. It’s great to win here because the level’s so high.”
ADVERTISEMENT
As Cummings observed, the intensity of the racing in the Basque Country, is something very special indeed. Barely a metre of flat, frequently tough weather, a starstudded line-up, and tricky finishes - not to mention the usual large numbers of fans on every one of the hilltops to help keep your adrenalin high - all make getting through the six-day race, let alone winning, an exceptionally demanding experience.
“There are no easy days here, every day is difficult,” Cummings observed. “You talk about it in the peloton, everybody has sore legs, it’s hard terrain, hard weather, it doesn’t get much harder.”
Still, when it came to seeing where a stage win could best be captured, Cummings had definitely done his homework, and sharing a hotel room with local rider Igor Anton, he said, helped a great deal in the preparation process.
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest News http://ift.tt/1PV1DFt
No comments:
Post a Comment