The real racing finally got underway today, with stage 2 of the Vuelta. The goal for the team today was to bring the race down to a field sprint, one that hopefully Robbie would win. There were two cat. 3 climbs at the start of the stage, but with another 150 km of racing after the summit of the second climb, most teams felt that the race would come down to a mass sprint.
The day ended up being pretty low key, with most of the peloton content with just cruising along at a leisurely pace. One guy spent most of the day out front, attacking on the first climb, but he was brought back before the finish. It ended up being a sprint, as predicted. I tried to do a little to help Robbie, but that guy can pretty much do it all himself. Just like at the Tour, I seemed to wander around in the wind trying to help without really managing to accomplish anything useful. But at least I keep trying!
Robbie was close at the finish, but it didn't quite work out this time. That’s the way it goes some days, but we'll try again tomorrow. That’s the nice thing about bike racing; there’s always another race.
Once again, thanks for reading. Only 19 stages and 2 rest days to go, with lots of excitement still to come!
From being the USA's top domestic rider for several years to riding for a ProTour team in the Tour de France, Chris Horner is always on the up. A talented all-rounder, Chris had a successful year Saunier Duval-Prodir in 2005, and is now riding for Davitamon-Lotto. As one of the team's key men in the Vuelta, Horner will be detailing his progress in this special diary for Cyclingnews during the race. Australia UK USA
