Etixx - Quick-Step rider Carlos Verona continued his protagonistic ways at 185km La Vuelta a España Stage 16 on Monday, finishing 7th out of a 10-man breakaway that was given a big time advantage. The group eventually splintered heading into the third consecutive summit finish of La Vuelta.
Frank Schleck (Trek Factory Racing) won solo, eventually leaving Rodolfo Andres Torres (Team Colombia) behind on the steep slopes of the HC summit finish after the two attacked their fellow break mates with 20.8km left to race. The gap was still 10'57" to the peloton.
Moreno Moser (Cannondale-Garmin) finished 3rd. Verona crossed 4'26" down on the stage winner, concluding a long day in the high mountains, on the last stage before the final rest day of La Vuelta.
The GC favorites attacked each other on the final climb, exploding what was left of the peloton. Gianluca Brambilla stayed with the group as long as he could, finishing 24th in the stage. As a result of the Italian rider's big effort, he moved up one position to 12th in the overall classification. Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) took over the race lead by one second, as he finished two seconds ahead of red jersey wearer Fabio Aru (Astana) in the stage.
more information
Etixx - Quick-Step has reached a one-year contract extension agreement with Guillaume Van Keirsbulck. The Belgian rider has been with the team since 2010, with his best year in 2014. He earned three victories including a stage of Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen, an overall victory at Driedaagse de Panne - Koksijde, and a win in the 7th stage of Eneco Tour. Van Keirsbulck's 2015 season was adversely affected by health complications, which required surgery.
"I'm really happy about the renewal of my contract," Van Keirsbulck said. "It was a hard period in June with two surgeries in a row, one for a hernia in my back and one for my stomach. The team was always around me and they gave me all the support necessary to rehab well and come back. I am working a lot in rehabilitation. I've recently been able to ride my bike for two or two and a half hours. Everything is going as planned. It would be nice to have the possibility to still ride this year, maybe at the end of September or early October. We will see what is possible. But the most important thing is that my physical problems are behind me. I have the trust of the team, and I can't wait to be ready for next season."
"It was a difficult year for Guillaume," CEO Patrick Lefevere said. "He started with a good part of the season, but then he had back problems, which affected the second part of the year. He underwent surgery in agreement with the team medical staff. This surgery was necessary to avoid future problems. We know Guillaume is working hard now to come back. We really hope that next year can be the first time we see the true value of Guillaume, without any physical problems."
Etixx - Quick-Step rider Petr Vakoc, 23, showed incredible heart in the 159.3km Aviva Tour of Britain Stage 2 on Monday, going solo out of an original eight-rider breakaway inside 20km to go, with the gap to a hard chasing peloton at just 19 seconds.
The peloton swept up the chasers with 12.5km remaining, and it seemed Vakoc might be doomed to be caught before the arrival in Colne. However, the Czech Road Champion never faltered, expanding the gap to 40" with 9.8km remaining. Thanks to a consistent rhythm by Vakoc ahead, he kept a 24" advantage with 4.7km left ro race.
Etixx - Quick-Step teammates gave Vakoc support from the peloton, moving to the front and disrupting the collaboration of the chasing field. They also stayed in good position to contest the minor places.
Vakoc kept his tempo even with the uphill roads of the final kilometers. Vakoc crossed the line with a fist pump in the air, as the solo victor and new race leader of Aviva Tour of Britain. Vakoc demonstrated the same impressive strength that won him Tour de Pologne Stage 2 in 2014, which was a solo victory after attacking with 25km left to race. That win was his first as a professional.
Matteo Trentin also finished 5th in the up-and-down stage.
Vakoc's victory is the 48th for Etixx - Quick-Step in the 2015 season.
"It was a really hard race, I am so happy I could finish it with a win," Vakoc said. "I was part of an eight rider group that went away with about 50 kilometers to go. At a little more than 18 kilometers to go, it looked like we would be caught. So, I tried my chance. It was a long way to the finish. But I had really good legs, so I attacked, and stayed clear. This is a huge success for me, one of the biggest victories of my career so far. It was a long day out front alone and it's so beautiful to have this win added to my palmares. Now I am the race leader, which is a huge honor. We had the chance to meet and greet the public yesterday after the stage, thanks to TourX bus powered by our sponsors Etixx and Tacx, and I have to say I was really impressed. The British public loves cycling and showed great support to our team. So, I am very motivated with this race leader's jersey on my back. We will try our best to defend this jersey in the next days. It's still early at Tour of Britain. There are six more stages to go. It will be difficult with only six riders. But I am looking forward to it with the support of my teammates, who are riding strong. A 2nd place yesterday, and now a win today, shows we are riding well as a unit. The next few days will be flatter, so we'll see what we can do in the next days."
more information
Etixx - Quick-Step riders Carlos Verona and Gianluca Brambilla did a great job staying with a blistering tempo on the Category 1 summit finale of 175.8km La Vuelta a España Stage 15 on Sunday, which dropped many riders of the peloton as Movistar controlled the front for the final actions among the GC favorites.
Brambilla finished 19th, and Carlos Verona 26th, at the top of Alto de Sotres. The duo remained with the group at 5.6km to go and a solo rider still ahead out of the original nine-rider breakaway. However, once the actions of the GC favorites began, a select group formed at a pace that even distanced GC favorite Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin).
Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) attacked with less than 1.2km to go out of the small group left to contend the stage, and he went on to win solo. Rafal Majka (Tinkoff-Saxo) was 2nd, 12" down, and Daniel Moreno (Katusha) was 3rd, 14" down.
Etixx - Quick-Step rider Nikolas Maes was a member of the original breakaway, and he also did well in staying with the leaders until the last climb of the stage.
Brambilla is now 13th in the overall classification.
Etixx - Quick-Step looks next to 185km Stage 16, from Luarca to Ermita de Alba. Quiros, on Monday. It is the last stage of La Vuelta week two, with the final rest day on Tuesday. This stage will surely feature fireworks again, as there is an HC summit finale — the third summit finish in a row at La Vuelta.
more information
Etixx - Quick-Step rider Mark Cavendish was just centimeters short of victory in the 177.7km Aviva Tour of Britain Stage 1 on Sunday, as the stage came down to a bike throw between the British rider and Elia Viviani (Team Sky). After review, the race confirmed Viviani as the victor, with Cavendish 2nd and Andre Greipel (Lotto Soudal) 3rd.
The bunch arrival was far from guaranteed, however. Two riders out of the original four-man breakaway remained ahead, but were caught with 1.4km to go in the stage. Etixx - Quick-Step did a great job organizing at the front to lead out the Manx Missile.
Mark Renshaw was, as usual, the last man to pull for Cavendish, and he put his teammate into ideal position. But a complicated finale meant the top sprinters of the peloton would have a tough fight to the line.
"I was kind of nervous about this final," Cavendish said. "Some of the guys did recon of it yesterday and they said it's really technical. We didn't know what to expect. So, we wanted to be in front at the end. The guys did super well. We put Fernando Gaviria ahead of Mark Renshaw, telling him what to do, and he was super good. After the last sharp left-hander, it was a bit technical with the wind blowing down through the buildings in the last straight. I knew I just had to lay off Mark, it was going to go uphill. When I kicked off Mark I kicked really well, but the line just wasn't coming quick enough. I could sense Greipel there and I think I just focused too much on Greipel. If I had taken the left-hand sharp, maybe I would have had it. But I was too concentrated on the right side, and Elia came through on the left ahead of me. But actually, I'm very happy with the team. They supported me wonderfully today. Congratulations to Elia as he deserved the win. We'll see what we can do tomorrow as we're already riding really well together."
more information
