© Tim De Waele
The French champion has become the fourth leader in four days at the Vuelta a España. QuickStep’s Sylvain Chavanel took the Red Jersey after Jakob Fuglsang, Daniele Bennati and Pablo Lastras. He did so at the top of the first mountain finish in Sierra Nevada at an altitude of 2100 metres. He limited the damage after he suffered a strong acceleration by Eros Capecchi who was pacing hard with 8km to go in favor of his team captain Vincenzo Nibali who benefited from the difficult terrain to gain some time over other favorites like Igor Anton who showed some weaknesses.
CYCLINGTIME.com: How hard was the Sierra Nevada for you?
Sylvain Chavanel: I hung on during the whole ascent to the Sierra Nevada thinking that the Red Jersey was at the end of the road. It was difficult because I could feel the fatigue of yesterday’s breakaway in my legs. I wanted to pass the first five or six kilometres of the final climb with no problem because I knew that it would be easier further up, but when the Liquigas team accelerated with 9km to go, I blew. I hung on as much as I could. I’ve lost a bit of time at the end but I had enough of a margin to get the jersey.
CT: Don't you mean to get the jersey back?
SC: Yes, I got it once before but it wasn’t the same color. I had the “jersey de oro” but only for one day in 2008, that was the last time I rode the Vuelta, so I feel great to have it again. I like the red as well.
Photo (c) Tim De Waele
CT: Are you going to defend it?
SC: Yes, for sure. I have a lot of respect for a leader’s jersey at a Grand Tour. I’m going to defend it as much as I can. Stage 5 ends up with a climb that has an uphill section at 23%. It’s not exactly my forte but I’ll give everything. It doesn’t suit my characteristics like [Joaquim] Rodriguez but I’m not going to finish five minutes behind him. I’ll give a call to Philippe Gilbert to ask him if I can hire his legs for one day…
CT: At the beginning of the Vuelta, you said that your goal was a stage win. Isn’t it anymore?
SC: I still have this target at the back of my mind but I know that I’ll only have the possibility to try and do so once I’ll be a bit behind on GC. I was disappointed to miss out on the stage win yesterday but today’s achievement is a nice compensation. I didn’t make this attack and ride a whole stage at the front for nothing.
Chavanel just misses the stay win behind Pablo Lastras (Movistar) Photo (c) Tim De Waele
CT: Does this Red Jersey make you forget the difficult time you’ve had at the Tour de France?
SC: Yes, a bit, but it’s part of racing to crash sometimes. I didn’t do it on purpose! I finished the Tour very tired with a lot of pain in my body but I did take a rest for riding well at the Vuelta. I’m not the kind of guy who keeps looking behind and regrets about missed opportunites. Because of a crash, I couldn’t have a Tour de France like last year but I also finished it while other riders couldn’t do so and went home. I quickly switched my motivation onto the Vuelta and I’m very happy to be here. I’ll also go for the world championship and all the races till the end of the season.
Photo (c) Tim De Waele
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hoto (c) Tim De Waele
