GESINK SLIDES OUT OF CONTENTION IN VUELTA
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;setCaption(document.image_thumb); "A disappointed Robert Gesink is helped to the Rabobank bus by teammate Juan Manuel Garate at the end of Stage 19 of the 2009 Vuelta a España. Photo by Cor Vos.")
;setCaption(document.image_extra_one_thumb); "Rabobank’s Robert Gesink, with the support of his team, tries to keep up with the peloton in stage 19 of the 2009 Vuelta a España. Photo by Cor Vos.")
Through no fault of his own, Robert Gesink’s dream of finishing on the podium of the Vuelta a España ended on stage 19’s mountainous ride from Avila to La Granja. The Rabobank rider’s knee injury from a crash during stage 17 made merely continuing a major effort.
The young Dutchman hung on as far as the second of the three major climbs of the day, before starting to crack. And on the final ascent of the Navacerrada, he lost nearly five minutes.
By the end of the stage, Gesink was in 33rd place, 4 minutes and 44 seconds down on the main favorites. He is now sixth overall, essentially meaning “game over” for Gesink despite giving it 100 percent from the beginning.
“The combination of the injury and three weeks racing just proved too much for me,” Gesink said later. “I was able to continue with the bunch up until the second climb, but when the race speeded up I had to go on at my own pace.”
After abandoning the Tour de France in July because of a crash where he fractured his wrist, this is Gesink’s second big disappointment of 2009.
“It was really bad luck,” team sporting director Erik Breukink said, “to lose so much so close to the finish is much worse than what happened to him in the Tour de France. Really there’s only tomorrow’s time trial to get through and that’s it, but we don’t want to affect the rider’s health, either. We’ll make a decision about what we do closer to the time.”
“He’s ridden brilliantly throughout this race,” Breukink added, “so whatever happens Robert can leave Spain feeling very proud of himself, his team, and what he’s achieved.”