The sprint finish between COLUMBIA’s Marcus Burghardt and QUICKSTEP’’s Carlos Barredo was a contrast in sprinting styles. After 196km of barely flat roads, the finish was decided in a two-up sprint between a German and a Spaniard. Compared to 5ft10in Barredo, Burghardt is a hulking 6ft3in and outweights the Spaniard by 15Kgs, which makes Burghardt an important player in the one day cycling classics! The reason I’m pointing these statistics is that in a flat sprint, it is usually the bigger rider who will win.
Barring any accident to Burghardt, I knew that he’d win 99 times out of hundred against Barredo. The Spaniard was essentially riding for second place if wasn’t going to do anything.
And did everything he did. A four year veteran in the peloton, Barredo attacked from everywhere- flats, climbs, corners, when Burghardt wasn’t looking and even when the German was zipping his jersey. The only thing he didn’t do was throw the kitchen sink!
In the last K, Barredo was in the perfect position, controlling the German from behind. You see, the person who starts his sprint first usually loses. The rider at the back gets a draft and a slingshot effect from the rider at the front and more importantly, he only gets his face on the wind at the last moment.
Burghardt wasn’t sprinting stupidly from the front either. To negate the advantageous position of the rider behind you, tactic says that you ride nearest to the edge of the road or in this case, near the barriers. This way, you’ll be watching the rider from one side only since you are shutting down the opening from the opposite side. And if the sun is in a perfect position, you only need to watch your rival’s shadow if he is about to make a move. And that was what Burghardt did.
Another thing I noticed was the pedaling cadence (a cadence is one complete rotation of the crankarm) of Barredo was higher than Burghardt, meaning, he was using a smaller gear compared to Burghardt and I think it was a terrible mistake coming from a professional! It’s like starting a sprint in 4th gear compare to a first gear! Barredo did everything right tactically, it’s just that he was up against rider who was superior to him that day.
The loss was a microcosm of QUICKSTEP’s luck in this year’s Tour. A few weeks before the Tour started, their star rider, Tom Boonen was barred from the race after he tested positive for cocaine. Although it was an out of competition test and therefore not a doping violation, the Tour told QUICKSTEP that the former World Champion wasn’t invited. Their designated overall contender, Stijn Devolder, dropped out of the race on the 15th stage and their designated Boonen replacement, sprinter Geert Steegmans, was totally outclassed by Burghardt’s teammate, Mark Cavendish. They still have to win a stage this year.
While most of the rider in the peloton are friends before and after the race, the pressure to win a big one, especially in QUICKSTEP’s situation, is pretty high especially in the final K. You could see Barredo’s reaction after losing- he slammed his fist hard on his handlebar out of frustration.