Thursday, August 17, 2006

Up Next: The Vuelta Aug. 26-Sept. 17

The Vuelta, or Tour of Spain, is next.
(Sorry, Tooth: I care.)

Spain's Oscar Pereiro, the No. 2 finisher in the Tour de France who could be No. 1 without pedaling another mile, won't be sneaking up on anyone in a breakaway in the Vuelta, he admits in a story I found on Reuters.

"We have a fantastic team for the Vuelta (Tour of Spain) but in my case I will no longer have the benefit of the element of surprise," the Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears rider says. "When the others see me a minute or two in front the alarm bells will start ringing and I don't like that as I prefer to try and catch people off guard."

Pereiro, who is just 29, bolted into the Tour leadership when the peleton chose not to chase him down and granted him a 30-minute breakaway. Without it, Andreas Kloden or Carlos Sastre might be the champion-in-waiting.

"We were delighted with second place because it was an important triumph for the team but right now we can't celebrate second or first place," Pereiro said. "We are ready to savour the triumph but our celebrations are being put on hold by what is happening. It shouldn't take much for everything to be confirmed and for victory to be ours."

Pereiro is likely to have to share team leadership in the Vuelta with Alejandro Valverde, who was forced to quit the French race after breaking his collarbone in a crash.

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Thursday, August 17, 2006

Up Next: The Vuelta Aug. 26-Sept. 17

The Vuelta, or Tour of Spain, is next.
(Sorry, Tooth: I care.)

Spain's Oscar Pereiro, the No. 2 finisher in the Tour de France who could be No. 1 without pedaling another mile, won't be sneaking up on anyone in a breakaway in the Vuelta, he admits in a story I found on Reuters.

"We have a fantastic team for the Vuelta (Tour of Spain) but in my case I will no longer have the benefit of the element of surprise," the Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears rider says. "When the others see me a minute or two in front the alarm bells will start ringing and I don't like that as I prefer to try and catch people off guard."

Pereiro, who is just 29, bolted into the Tour leadership when the peleton chose not to chase him down and granted him a 30-minute breakaway. Without it, Andreas Kloden or Carlos Sastre might be the champion-in-waiting.

"We were delighted with second place because it was an important triumph for the team but right now we can't celebrate second or first place," Pereiro said. "We are ready to savour the triumph but our celebrations are being put on hold by what is happening. It shouldn't take much for everything to be confirmed and for victory to be ours."

Pereiro is likely to have to share team leadership in the Vuelta with Alejandro Valverde, who was forced to quit the French race after breaking his collarbone in a crash.

No comments: