Cycling News

05 September 2009

After one week of racing Simon is placed 55th, 3 minutes 17 seconds behind leader Fabian Cancellara (Saxo Bank) who impressed in todays 30km time trial. There were major changes in the general classification after the time trial with the serious contenders coming out to shine over the wet and windy course. The time trial comes after 5 days of racing and one rest day where the riders transferred from Holland down to Spain. Simon commented on the racing in Holland stating that "the peloton was very nervous for the first few days. We were on small roads so there was a fight to be up the front which which created a some of chaos and resulted in a number if crashes. I normally prefer to stay up the front as it tends to be a lot easier. With small roads and lots of corners there is always a lot of stop start, so you tend to be able to save some energy when you're positioned well. I crashed on the stage into Liege with about 80 other riders but apart from that I was lucky to avoid the other crashes". After the first 4 days of racing in Holland, the riders had a rest day and transfered down to Spain to continue the final Grand Tour of the year. "Having the first rest day after only 4 days makes the last stint of the race long. We will have another rest day after stage 11 so the last part of the race will be hard. It will be interesting to see how everyone fairs in that last block ". With bunch finishes to date highlighting the strength of Columbia-HTC and the other sprinters teams, Simon was optimistic about some breakaways succeeding heading into the 2nd week of racing. "It's normally hard for breakaways to stay away to the finish when the general classification has been so close. Heading into todays stage, the sprinters were all up there on GC so their teams were successfully controlling the race. The finishes have also been suited to bunch sprints so it has been very difficult for the breakaways to survive. Now that there has been a change on GC after todays time trial and with the hill top finish in tomorrow's stage, there should be a better chance for the breakaways to start claiming some stage wins". When asked about his opportunity to get in a breakaway, Simon was positive that if the chance was there he would try everything to get in a move. "I've got my eye on a couple of stages that could be good for me but we will see how the racing goes from here on. I'm super motivated for this race and keen to see how my form is progressing". The Vuelta heads south tomorrow with stage 8 covering 204.7km. The stage will be tough with 8 categorized climbs finishing up the hors category 21km Alto de Aitana assent.

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