Today was the day of stage 8 of the Vuelta 2017. The plan was this morning to get to see the race pass through Villena, just prior to the food station and then head by car to try and see the finish.
Arrived in Villena in plenty of time, so had a drink in a small bar on outskirts of town, but still on the route. The police were ready to place barriers over the side roads to make the route sterile for the race. We then headed into the town to watch the caravan pass and managed as always to get some hats from Carrefour.
The caravan passed through and we headed back to where the car was parked to make a quick exit from the town after the broom wagon had gone past. The anticipation was increasing as could hear the helicopter overhead. The police shut the roads and whistled at anyone that tried to drive along the road. The helicopter went overhead again… Now the first cars and motorcycles of the convoy went through.
The position we had chosen to watch the race was just prior to the feed station, my thoughts being we didn’t want to fight to get any discarded musettes, but the speed would slow down slightly as the opportunity to get refreshments in the race was imminent. This proved to be the case as the breakaway, consisting of about 24 riders went through, clearly after some time in the break the chance to get food and drinks was high.
The anticipation continued to grow as 1 person asked if that was it… The break at this time had about 5 mins on the peloton so enough time to grab a drink of water without missing any of the action. Then the sight of more headlights on full raised the interest again. The peloton were coming through the town and would soon be with us!
I positioned myself ready to capture the action. Just further down the road the course narrowed as it winded its way to the feed zone and the climb at Biar.
The wind that there was, only slight was coming across the road so at right angles to the route. The peloton approaches with Sky doing their thing on the front and controlling the race. I set the camera rolling again to catch the action and used zoom to get a better picture, as I was on the curb watching the activity. The peloton arrive, Froome in his red jersey with about 7 riders in front of him from Sky and the rest in close proximity following. Fabio Aru was resplendent in his Italian Tricolour jersey. I think Toms Skujinš was about 2/3rds the way back in the group.
As the peleton went past, clearly Sky were employing a hard pace, and Froome shouted out about getting out of the way as they raced past, all my thoughts about easing up for the food station had gone out of the window!
Once the race and broomwagon had past, within a few minutes the road was clear of spectators as those who lived in the houses close by returned to get out of the heat and hopefully sit down to watch the final stages of the race on TV, but who knows… The road cleared and we headed back to get on the motorway to head to the finish…
All went well until we arrived on the CV837 from Petrer to the finish at Cati. The road as about 10km, we started to drive and gain altitude all the while. Passing cyclists heading up the mountain to see the conclusion of the stage. About 8km from the top and thus the climax of the days racing, the road was closed by the police. They said that the road was closed and there was no parking any further up the hill. We had to make a choice, try and get parked somewhere near there and walk up in the heat; or accept defeat and be destined not to see the conclusion ourselves. With an 8km walk there uphill, and a 8km walk down afterwards, we chose the latter and headed back to Petrer.
Given that we could rush back to Alicant and hope to see the conclusion on TV or take a more leisurely pace home, we headed slowly back home and stopped off at a most beautiful castle, originally of Islamic construction it has been adapted and modified through the ages.
Sanctuary of St Maria Magdalena
As some of you may know, I am due to meet up with Thoms from Cannondale, as the 5000th follower for him on Twitter I am looking forward to getting a present from him for the feat. He is well worth the follow @Tomashuuns
The Spanish police may have prevented me from meeting him today, and can understand the security and logistics of the decision, but I will manage to get to the finish tomorrow at Benitatxell
to be continued….
White Bridge 