RABOBANK’S GESINK GAINS TIME ON VUELTA LEADERS!

Young Dutchman Takes Third on Stage 12 and Gets Closer to Top of GC.

At the start of Stage 12 of the Vuelta a España, Rabobank’s Robert Gesink sat in third place in the G.C., 36 seconds behind overall leader Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d’Epargne), and 29 seconds behind Cadel Evans (Silence-Lotto), the rider in 2nd place.

At the end of the 174km stage, after a furious acceleration in the final kilometer on his Giant TCR Advanced SL bicycle, the 23-year old Dutch rider secured a third-place stage finish and has substantially reduced those G.C. time deficits. He’s now only 18 seconds behind Valverde, and 11 seconds behind Evans. And he gained valuable time on the rider who sits in fourth, Garmin-Slipstream’s Tom Danielson.

The scene in the final two kilometers was this: On the punishing slopes of the Alto de Velefique, Canadian Reyder Hesjedal (Garmin-Slipstream) and Spaniard David Garcia (Xacobeo Galicia) were 37 seconds ahead of a group of riders including Gesink, Valverde, and Evans.

Gesink attacked, using the superior climbing and sprinting power afforded to him by the light and stiff Giant TCR Advanced SL. “When I attacked, I didn’t think about what I was doing,” he later told Giant. “I felt really strong the whole day so I just went for it!” He pulled away from Valverde and Evans, who would not—or could not—respond to his jump.

Pedaling furiously up the steep climb, Gesink approached the two stage leaders, Hesjedal and Garcia, in a bold attempt to claim the stage and win valuable bonus seconds. “I really wanted to take the leader’s jersey,” he said. “I know tactically it wouldn’t have been the brightest of things to do, but I didn’t care.”

He nearly caught the pair ahead; but Hesjedal managed to win the stage just ahead of Garcia. Six seconds later Gesink powered in for his third place finish, 10 seconds ahead of the group with Valverde and Evans. Those 10 seconds, coupled with a crucial 8 second bonus for finishing third on the stage, puts Gesink safely in third place in the overall GC, and significantly threatens the placement of the two riders ahead of him: Valverde and Evans.

“My only regret,” he told Giant, “is that I couldn’t get the stage win. They don’t come cheap in races as big as the Tour of Spain. But there will be other opportunities. In any case, 18 seconds is a good haul from today’s stage. And I’m not going to stop here!”
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