Vuelta 2008 Wrap-up

Photo courtest flickr user koke00

Well, the Vuelta is over and as I expected, Astana’s Alberto Contador ruled the race, winning the general classification and two stages (including the queen stage up the beastly climb of the Alto de El Angliru.) While the result itself wasn’t a surprise it was interesting to watch because it’s been something of a mystery as to how Contador would handle the pressure of being the odds-on favorite to win a grand tour.

With the Tour last year, he had expectations, but they were probably for stage wins and white, and wasn’t even the team leader when the race began. Similarly, with the Giro this year he had so little preparation no one knew what to expect and the pressure wasn’t really on him to live up to any pre-race hype.

Not so this Vuelta. Here Contador was pegged as a favorite from the moment it was announced early in the spring that the Astana team would be allowed to ride the race.

Well, the race is run and he certainly delivered on all counts. Joining a select group of five riders who have won all three Grand Tours, Contador rode an excellent tactical race, showed strength in the time trials and consistently proving he was the best climber in the mountains. He never really tore the race apart a la Lance Armstrong, but simply took every advantage available slowly burying his rivals. It was fun to watch and even with the 3 minute gap back to Sastre, seemed very competitive.

Photo courtesy Flickr user Guillermo Lopez

Beyond the Contador story it was a fun race to watch for the overall competitiveness and especially for accomplishments of some of the sport’s other great stars.

• American Levi Leipheimer was clearly the second best rider in the race, winning two stages, two golden jerseys and finishing less than a minute behind his teammate for his third grand tour podium (and second at the Vuelta.)

  I for one am excited to see what sort of form Levi can carry over to the World Championships this week. With Cancellara skipping the time trial due to fatigue, Levi (if he’s got anything left) has to be one of the favorites to take over the rainbow jersey.

  Fingers crossed for that to happen, by the way. I’d love to see Levi in the rainbow jersey next year. It would serve as a perfect capper on an excellent year for the American.

• Tom Boonen, Óscar Freire and Paolo Bettini all certainly proved they’re on form for the upcoming World Championsip road race. I love watching all three of them race and each showed a little glimpse of what makes them great. The Worlds should be interesting.
• Alejandro Valverde was once again his manic self. Showing flashes of brilliance balanced against bad days and lapses in judgment, Valverde once again proved to be a difficult rider to gauge in grand tours. After another uneven three weeks we have to question, will he ever be a true grand tour contender? He’s got the talent. I just wonder if he can string it together over three weeks.

  Still, a top five finish, a stage win and a golden jersey isn’t a terrible haul and whatever the result h certainly electrifies the race.

All in all, the 2008 Vuelta was a real treat to watch and serves as a fine finale to an interesting year in the grand tours.