61st Vuelta a España 2006: Stage 15 Results

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Robert Förster (Gerolsteiner)(Image credit: AFP)

Gerolsteiner rider Robert Förster followed up his victory on the final stage of the Giro d’Italia in June with a fine sprint win on stage 15 of the Vuelta. The 28 year old timed things to perfection to gallop in ahead of Stuart O’Grady (CSC), Danilo Napolitano (Lampre) and points leader Thor Hushovd (Crédit Agricole) at the finish at the Ford Factory in Almussafes. Alessandro Petacchi was one of those who was impeded by a slight left hand curve close to the line.

It was, along with the Giro win, the biggest result of his career. It is also a very important result for the Gerolsteiner team, who have lost over half of their squad so far. Indeed, their biggest name Davide Rebellin was one of those who chose not to start today. “This is great for the team, we targeted a stage win in the race,” Förster said after the finish. “We have lost five guys, some had problems with the heat and Fothen was not so strong since the Tour. But it has worked out well today.”

Förster’s victory comes after a tough time so far in Spain. “This year I won the last stage of the Giro. It was also a three week race, it was very hard but the last week worked out perfectly. I felt the same as here, I wasn’t in the best condition for the Vuelta and the first two weeks were so hard. In the mountains I was dropped and I had to fight back. Then yesterday I called my coach in Germany and he said I must go on until the end [of the Vuelta]. It was better today, this was my best stage. I have now taken one in the Giro and one in the Vuelta; I hope now to win a stage of the Tour at some point.”

The 182 kilometre stage saw a couple of attempts to go clear before two riders succeeded and built up a maximum advantage of 6’30. Jorge García (Relax-Gam) and Kjell Carlström (Liquigas) worked together until the latter sat up, with the Spanish rider being caught with 15 kilometres remaining. The sprinters’ teams – including the Crédit Agricole squad of Hushovd – drove things from there to ensure a bunch sprint.

“It was very dangerous,” said Förster when asked about the sprint. “In the last kilometre I was in 20th position and my team-mate Hasselbacher put me on Napolitano’s wheel. It was not the perfect wheel, we wanted to go behind Petacchi as I had noticed that Zabel had a problem with his back wheel with three or four kilometres to go. I thought that Petacchi would make the sprint and that is why we tried to get there.

Carlos Sastre spoke to Onda Cero radio and said that it was a nerve-wracking stage. “I am here, alive… trying to recover myself after these stressful kilometres. We were riding a stage that seems not to be important, but could cause harm [through accident]… The breakaway came early on and it was a day when the sprinters’ teams had one of the few chances left in this Vuelta to control the race and to end in a bunch sprint. That goal was accomplished.”

After seven kilometres, two riders attacked the peloton and got a gap, Jorge Garcia Marin (Relax) and Kjell Carlström (Liquigas). The peloton allowed the duo to escape, as a two-man breakaway would be easy to control for the sprinters' teams. The duo led the race by 6'30 at km 41. From that point on, however, their advantage narrowed, as the bunch didn't want to let Garcia Marin and Carlström go. Around km 90, the Finn couldn't keep up the tempo, leaving the Spaniard alone, less then five minutes ahead of the peloton.

It was a long bunch sprint with a straight of more than a kilometre, but with a tricky chicane just before the line, and the final metres were incredibly fast and nervous. With around 150 metres to go, Claudio Corioni (Lampre) obstructed Petacchi in his bid to give his team-mate Sylvester Szmyd the victory, but it was Robert Förster (Gerolsteiner) who came out with the best position and finally prevailed, followed by Stuart O'Grady (CSC) and Napolitano.