Stages 2009 Vuelta a España, Stage 1 to Stage 11

1 stages

1.1 stage 1
1.2 stage 2
1.3 stage 3
1.4 stage 4
1.5 rest/travel day
1.6 stage 5
1.7 stage 6
1.8 stage 7
1.9 stage 8
1.10 stage 9
1.11 stage 10
1.12 stage 11

stages

s.t. indicates rider crossed finish line in same group 1 receiving time above him, , therefore credited same finishing time.

stage 1

29 august 2009 — assen (netherlands), 4.5 km (itt)

the course first individual time trial flat gets; there no rises in elevation whatsoever. stage 1 lap through tt circuit assen, noted motorcycle course.

the time beat put euskaltel–euskadi rider markel irizar, stopped clock @ 5 43 . time beaten trio of liquigas riders came hour after him. time, italian team held top 3 positions, daniele bennati, roman kreuziger, , polish national champion maciej bodnar, , took lead in teams classification after stage these results. around time liquigas trio finished rides, rain began fall, making course more difficult riders follow. caused carlos barredo slip , fall, losing several seconds, left starthouse; subsequently, turf put down on ramp.

after tom boonen , tyler farrar in turn posted provisional best times, olympic time trial champion fabian cancellara took course , stopped clock in 5 20 win stage , gain first golden jersey. cancellara expressed surprise @ win after stage, saying had come vuelta thinking of preparation world championships.

stage 2

30 august 2009 — assen (netherlands) emmen (netherlands), 202 km

the first mass-start stage flat. fourth-category climb of 30 meters in elevation race s first. did not afford points mountains classification, though first rider past climb point got first red jersey.

the breakaway in stage 2.

a five-rider group away of stage. breakaway comprised francisco josé martínez, tom leezer, dominik roels, david garcía, , lieuwe westra. westra had tried make breakaway honor deceased father, , teammates vacansoleil wore black armbands in memorial well. leezer first across relus climb first mountains jersey, 1 assured hold through next day, stage 3 course had no categorized climbs on it.

all westra caught 20 kilometers left race. westra fought on, caught 9 kilometers later, leading expected field sprint finish. team columbia–htc did of work going finish, on team sprinter andré greipel pulling @ front of peloton in stage s final 5 kilometers. in end, milram s gerald ciolek winner, @ head of sprint close ciolek himself unsure had won. selection made in final 2 kilometers of stage, alexander vinokourov , samuel sánchez notably losing 18 seconds, , other groups had been peloton losing , on minute.

stage 3

31 august 2009 — zutphen (netherlands) venlo (netherlands), 185 km

the string of dutch flat stages continued. course did not have categorized climb, though had uncategorized hill two-thirds of way stage. stage briefly visited germany, , included cobbled passages, have been skipped if weather inclement.

the breakaway stage comprised lars boom, johnny hoogerland, , jesús rosendo. though 2 dutch riders decidedly more familiar weather conditions , roads course offered, rosendo stayed out front longest. breakaway s maximum advantage neared ten minutes, peloton had no trouble catching them, rosendo reeled in 20 kilometers finish. team columbia–htc set sprint in stage s final kilometers, had season, not main sprinter andré greipel took win, rather leadout man greg henderson. henderson intending lead greipel in, when did not see german in stage s final 150 meters, sprinted win himself, , edged out borut božič @ line. team columbia–htc s 72nd win of season.

stage 4

1 september 2009 — venlo (netherlands) liège (belgium), 224 km

this flat stage, though had 3 fourth-category climbs. visited of same roads used yearly amstel gold race , liège–bastogne–liège. stage finish, liège city can boast having hosted stages of giro d italia, tour de france, , vuelta. after stage, riders traveled plane catalonia continuation of vuelta on spanish soil.

with 3 fourth-category climbs on course offering vuelta s first mountains points, important stage in make breakaway. not mountains classification red jersey go member of breakaway, combination classification white jersey, qualification restricted riders had scored points in mountains classification. 4 made breakaway javier ramirez, lars boom, dominik roels, , sergey lagutin. boom topped 2 of 3 climbs in first position gain red jersey, while roels wound in white. breakaway s maximum advantage on peloton on 14 minutes, still peloton caught them long before finish, 30 kilometers go. after several attempted escapes, end of stage again field sprint, won time man denied teammate day before, andré greipel. big crash caused majority of field fall or jam behind, caused top 7 of riders 2 teams.

the day marked consistent rainfall, made stage s final few kilometers perilous. many riders crashed, perhaps notably jakob fuglsang, lost control of bike , ran parked truck. while fuglsang able continue, charly wegelius, chris horner, , robert kišerlovski put out before race reached spain. many other riders sustained minor injuries, , coming rest day, uncharacteristically coming after 4 flat stages, welcomed of peloton.

rest/travel day

2 september 2009

stage 5

3 september 2009 — tarragona vinaròs, 174 km

the first stage in tour of spain take place in spain, course offered first real climb riders, second-category alto de fatxas after stage begun. breakaway had gained lead of 4:30 before reaching climb. breakaway consisted of julián sánchez, aitor hernandez, josé antonio lopez gil, julien el fares, matthé pronk , serafin martinez. group collected set of climber s points day, aitor hernández collecting maximum take red jersey. on behalf of sprinters, stijn devolder of quick-step lead charge catch breakaway group. caught 30 km go. david de la fuente , philippe gilbert both tried make late move @ 7 km go, liquigas led peloton gave them no more 20-second advantage. once sprinters launched assault, tom boonen looked have advantage, andré greipel overtook him in last few meters take second consecutive win , acquire both green , yellow jerseys.

stage 6

4 september 2009 — xàtiva, 186 km

this out-and-back stage in xàtiva includes 2 third-category climbs never before visited in vuelta. course concludes vuelta s first finishing circuit, 2 laps end @ xàtiva s castle national monument.

stage 7

5 september 2009 — valencia, 30 km (itt)

the first race of substance against clock takes place on formula 1 urban racing circuit. flat, gentlest of rises in elevation coming halfway circuit.

stage 8

6 september 2009 — alzira alto de aitana, 206 km

this difficult stage, 7 categorized climbs on course (three second-category , 4 third-category) serving warm-up special-category alto de aitana @ finish. course longer typical mountain stages in grand tour, @ 206 km, , figures vuelta s first selective stage. stage produced 1 of biggest shocks of race far retirement of andy schleck, pre-race favourite.

stage 9

7 september 2009 — alcoy xorret del cati, 188 km

the ninth stage of vuelta takes place between alcoi , xorret del catí. stage has similar layout of previous day: many mountain climbs , mountain finish. however, time climb not long , steep aitana: xorret del catí short, explosive climb requires sprockets of 25 , 27 teeth.

stage 10

8 september 2009 — alicante murcia, 186 km

this stage started high in elevation , undulated little before drastic descent two-thirds of way course. alto de la cresta del gallo before finish kept sprinters teams having on day.



a breakaway of 19 riders formed in race, consecutive attacks on alto de la cresta del gallo produced group of 4 held on until finish. alexander vinokourov, ryder hesjedal, simon gerrans , jakob fuglsang worked until finish in sight. came close standstill leading riders began jockey drafting position start of sprint. vinokourov first jump, gerrans waited patiently behind , able hold off hesjedal , fuglsang take win.

stage 11

9 september 2009 — murcia caravaca de la cruz, 191 km

this stage sees vuelta leave murcia. course has 3 categorized climbs, 1 each in first, second, , third categories, , none of have been visited in vuelta previously.