Vuelta stage 3, flat TT ; 5º Makarov
5th favorite Makarov easily defended his red jersey.
Vuelta stage 4, HFMFM ;2º Stubbe An amazing solo result on 0:12" because he could not challenge any favorites. With big thanks to his excellent helper Den Bakker.
Makarov finished as 189º on 8:36" and lost the red jersey, but he was happy that he finished within the time limit.
Vuelta stage 5, FFFFM ( with dh in s5 ) ; 10º MacannaziRmarkable ; a good result in a very bad race.
Because he started too slow and was suddenly isolated in s4, and therefore not the important extra bonus in s5.
I guess that many other contenders had just as much, or even more tactical difficulties, in this windy race with high pace caused by Ophiuko.
Vuelta stage 6 MDHHM ;1º Den Bakker -->
victory !
A magnificient solo race, because helper Stubbe failed, and Den Bakker had only help in s1 of the climbers, who dropped unexpectedly in s2.
But Den Bakker could follow the s2 break away group of just 15, and in s3 also where the front group was reduced to just 10.
In s4 it even narrowed down to just 4 cyclists ; 2x Astanadena ( incl. helper ), 1x Vicam, and 1x SPORTLIFE.
In s5 it came down to a sprint-á-deux with Astanadena teamcaptain Ken Hansen ( the GC leader ), and Den Bakker won !
Till now the 30yo Den Bakker had nothing on his palmares, and 5 weeks ago he was bought for just 102k, what proved to be a bargain.
And there was another much more important victory ;
Hummelsby (
SPORTLIFE ) won the CFF Cup final !
Congrats vos.
Thanks
