Britain’s Mark Cavendish of HTC-Columbia took his second straight stage win of the Vuelta a Espana on Friday, before accusing sprinters in rival teams of collaborating to put him at a disadvantage.
He was the fastest in the bunch sprint that decided stage 13 from Rincon de Soto to Burgos, ahead of Norway’s Thor Hushovd and Italy’s Daniele Bennati.
However, Cavendish, leading in the points competition, complained that American Tyler Farrar of the Garmin-Transitions team and Belgian Wouter Weylandt of the Quick Step team had joined forces against him.
PHOTO: REUTERS
“Wouter’s helping Farrar and that’s going to make it more difficult for us to control the points competition,” Cavendish said. “If you’ve got two guys from different teams working together, that’s always going to be harder.”
Cavendish made an official protest to race officials about an intermediate sprint early in stage 13, at Calahorra, when he said the two blocked him in, but said it was unsuccessful.
“One went left, the other went right and they deliberately closed the door on me,” Cavendish said. “I’ve never ever made a protest about this sort of sprint before, but I feel I was put at a disadvantage.”
Garmin-Transitions and Quick Step were not immediately available to comment.
Cavendish’s overall lead in the points competition is now 21 ahead of Farrar.
“It’s a nice cushion, but I’ll take every stage as it comes,” he told reporters.
Spain’s Igor Anton retained the overall race lead ahead of Italian Vincenzo Nibali and Spaniard Xabier Tondo.
“Anton could get points in the upcoming mountain stages, although there’s still a couple more sprints to come, but, unfortunately, now Weylandt’s actually working for Farrar in the intermediate sprints, that’s a disadvantage,” Cavendish said.
Cavendish did not let his disappointment over his rivals alleged tactics stop him from “bunnyhopping” over the finish line as he secured his 10th win of the season.
“I just like to do special victory salutes like that,” he told reporters. “I did one in the Tour de France for [team co-sponsor] HTC last year and it’s nice to be able to give something back to people who do something for the sport.”
The 25-year-old also praised teammate Matt Goss of Australia who, for a second successive day, guided Cavendish through the peloton to a winning position.
“We’d done our homework and we knew that last corner was wide. Everybody braked, but Goss went straight up the inside at a phenomenal pace,” Cavendish said. “It was hard for me to stay on his wheel at one point and I had to sprint a little bit later because I was a little bit in the red, but he did an incredible job, as did the other guys, and we could get the win.”
■GRAND PRIX DE QUEBEC
REUTERS, QUEBEC CITY, CANADA
French champion Thomas Voeckler crowned a paradoxical season with victory in the inaugural 189km Grand Prix de Quebec on Friday.
“I didn’t have the most perfect season in terms of leading a healthy life and training hard, and here I am. It goes to show that cycling is not an exact science,” the Frenchman said.
Voeckler attacked in the last kilometer under the St Louis Gate opening into the Quebec old town, outwitting pre-race favorites Edvald Boasson-Hagen of Norway and Dutchman Robert Gesink, who had to settle for second and third.
Voeckler had come to Quebec hampered by stomach pains and he was worn out after a long season that saw him win the French national title, as well as a Tour de France stage in Luchon.
On the day before the race, he was even spotted lazing in the swimming pool of the Chateau Frontenac, the luxury hotel lodging the peloton in Quebec City, instead of riding his bike.
“I spent most of the early race at the back of the bunch, without any ambition, but the crowds kept shouting my name,” the 31-year-old Frenchman said. “I didn’t know I was that famous in Quebec, it spurred me into reacting and trying something.”
It paid off beyond expectations, to the point that Voeckler, who had decided against taking part in the world championship in Melbourne, Australia, on Oct. 3, is now reconsidering his position.
“I had no idea I was so strong. I’m going to discuss it with French national coach Laurent Jalabert, but for now I’m sticking to my plan not to go,” he said.
Local favorite Ryder Hesjedal, seventh in the Tour de France, finished just off the podium places in fourth place and he was cheered by an unexpectedly large crowd that lined the winding paved streets of the old town.
“It was great to race in such [an] atmosphere,” third-placed Gesink said. “The setting was just gorgeous and the course very similar to a world championship course. I think Quebec would stand good chances if they decided to stage a world championship race.”
Quebec is considering bidding for the 2015 road worlds.
The ProTour circuit stays in Canada for the Montreal Grand Prix today.
Taiwanese world No. 1 women’s doubles star Hsieh Su-wei on Saturday overcame a first-set loss to win her opening match at the Madrid Open. Top seeds Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium, with whom she last month won her fourth Indian Wells women’s doubles title, bounced back from a rocky first set to beat Asia Muhammad of the US and Aldila Sutjiadi of Indonesia 2-6, 6-4, 10-2. Hsieh and Mertens were next to face Heather Watson of the UK and Xu Yifan of China in the round of 16. Thirty-eight-year-old Hsieh last month reclaimed her world No. 1 spot after her Indian
EYES ON THE PRIZE: Armed with three solid men’s singles shuttlers and doubles Olympic champions, Taiwan aim to make their first Thomas Cup semi-final, Chou Tien-chen said Taiwanese badminton star Tai Tzu-ying yesterday quickly dispatched Malaysia’s Goh Jin Wei in straight sets, while her male counterpart Chou Tien-chen beat Germany’s Kai Schaefer, as Taiwan’s women’s and men’s teams won their Group B opening rounds of the TotalEnergies BWF Thomas and Uber Cup Finals in Chengdu, China. World No. 5 Tai beat Goh 21-19, 22-20 in a speedy 33 minutes, her fourth straight victory over the world No. 24 shuttler since they first faced each other in the quarter-finals of the 2018 Malaysia Open, where Tai went on to win the women’s singles title. Malaysia followed up Tai’s opening victory
Chen Yi-tung (陳奕通) secured a historic Olympic berth on Sunday by winning the senior men’s foil event at the 2024 Asia Oceania Zonal Olympic Fencing Qualifiers in United Arab Emirates. Chen defeated Samuel Elijah of Singapore 15-4 in the final in Dubai to secure the only wild card in the event, making him the first male Olympian fencer from Taiwan in 36 years and only the sixth Taiwanese fencer to ever qualify for the quadrennial event. The last appearance by a Taiwanese male fencer at the Olympics was in 1988, when Wang San-tsai (王三財) and Cheng Ming-hsiang (鄭明祥) competed in Seoul. The
Rafael Nadal on Tuesday lost in straight sets to 31st-ranked Jiri Lehecka in the fourth round at the Madrid Open, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced to the semi-finals in the women’s doubles. Nadal said that he was feeling good about his progress following his latest injury layoff. Nadal called it a “positive week” in every way and said his body held up well. “I was able to play four matches, a couple of tough matches,” Nadal said. “So very positive, winning three matches, playing four matches at the high level of tennis. I enjoyed a lot playing at home. I leave here with