A ferocious late surge by Classics specialist Philippe Gilbert netted the Belgian a solo win in the Tour of Spain third stage on Monday and his first lead in a major Tour.
Gilbert took off 900m from the steep uphill finish in Malaga’s Gibralfaro Castle to claim the day’s victory.
Second behind the Omega Pharma-Lotto rider was Spain’s Joaquim Rodriguez, three seconds back, with Spaniard Igor Anton in third, 13 seconds behind.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Best-known as a one-day rider, Gilbert told reporters the final 2km finish climb was similar to the finale of the Netherlands’ top one-day race, the Amstel Gold Race Classic, which he won this April.
“I came to check out the climb this morning and I could see it was very like the Amstel finish,” he said. “I think knowing every corner and slight change of gradient on such a short-but-difficult ascent made all the difference today.”
“I came here for a stage win, but getting the leader’s jersey of a big Tour for the first time in my career is a huge added bonus,” Gilbert said. “I was close in the Tour de France back in 2007 and once in the Tour of Italy, but today’s the first time it happened.”
CAVENDISH DROPS
After overnight leader Mark Cavendish was dropped on the first climb of the day, the peloton kept up a fast pace along Malaga’s coastline behind seven breakaways.
Gilbert himself was dropped on the day’s one big challenge, the 16km Puerto de Leon, but regained contact for the finale.
“I knew the last 3km of the big climb were the steepest so I eased back before making a really fast descent and rejoining the bunch,” he said. “Once I was there and we’d caught the break, I was in my element.”
While Cavendish finished more than 25 minutes down, Tour de France runner-up Andy Schleck of Luxembourg lost more than 14 minutes and is now out of overall contention.
“Andy just didn’t have the legs today, he’s not comfortable in all this heat,” Schleck’s sports director Bradley McGee told reporters. “There’s no point in pushing him, Andy’s only here to help [brother Frank Schleck of Saxo Bank, ninth overall] and we’ll keep him tucked under wraps for now.”
The Tour of Spain finishes on Sept. 19 in Madrid.
ILLNESS
Meanwhile, a mystery illness has struck Team Sky, forcing two riders to abandon the Tour of Spain during the third stage on Monday, while three others have also been left feeling very sick.
“John Lee [Augustyn] and Ben [Swift] both pulled out today because they literally could not continue as they were so sick,” team principal Dave Brailsford told reporters. “Another three, Simon Gerrans, Ian Stannard and Pete Kennaugh are all really bad. How Simon and Pete got through today I just don’t know, they were suffering so much.”
Two sports directors and other members of staff have also been affected by the illness, which first hit the team on late Saturday.
“It’s basically they can’t stop vomiting, but we don’t think it’s food poisoning,” Brailsford said. “We’ve got our own chef and the riders and staff eat separately and we’re always very vigilant about hygiene.”
Sky’s top rider, Lars Petter Nordhaug of Norway is 34th overall, but Brailsford said their main concern was about the health of the riders rather than the race itself.
“Right now, we want to try and keep the team afloat. Then we’ll see what happens,” he said.
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