Simon Gerrans (Orica-GreenEdge) finished off the splendid work from teammate Pieter Weening when he outkicked Peter Velits (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) and Angel Vicioso (Katusha) in a sprint from a 16-man group in the Vuelta al Pais Vasco. His victory was the result of a carefully planned strategy and proves that the Australian is ready for his key objectives in the Ardennes classics.

Simon Gerrans' victory in the Basque Country today once again proved his excellent ability to point out specific targets in a stage race and race for the win on the day. He kept his focus in the hectic phase on the day's final climb and used all of his strength to crest the summit in one of the front positions.

That proved to be a wise decisions as a crash at the top split the peloton, and 16 riders gained a gap on their competitors. His Dutch teammate Pieter Weening had also made the split, and he quickly realized the great opportunity at hand. With his hard tempo inside the final kilometres, the group stayed away, and Gerrans unleashed his final sprint to take a convincing victory.

According to Gerrans, Weening's final efforts were just part of a perfect teamwork all day long.

“The plan of attack was formed around me today,” he said. “The whole team committed to the stage win. It’s nice to repay the team’s work at the end of the day. Christian (Meier, ed.) did a great job looking after me early on in the stage. The rest of the guys rode fantastic in the hills. They set me up for the stage win and Pieter up for GC.”

“After the crash at the summit, Pieter saw that I had made the split and was in good position,” he explained. “He did a fantastic job on the descent and in the final. It was basically thanks to him that I won. He set me up perfectly.”

Careful preparation

The stage win did not come by coincidence. The team's sports director Neil Stephens lives in the Basque Country and has an thorough knowledge of the roads used for the WorldTour race.

When he heard of today's stage, he immediately made a plan to win.

“I know these roads, and when I heard about this stage a month ago, I knew it was a day for Simon,” he explained. “Ten days ago, I came out and previewed the stage. This morning, Pieter, Simon and I left the hotel a little early and we had a look at the last 30 kilometres. We obviously couldn’t have predicted the crash at the end, but the rest of the race unfolded exactly as we would have expected. If we were going to win today, it was going to be with Simon. We put all our energy into him.”

The team's focus on Gerrans meant that there was no space to mingle in any early breakaways. With no established GC and no leaders in the pack, chances were that an escape could be successful, but Stephens chose to risk everything in his attempt to set up Gerrans.

“I asked the boys not to get involved with the early action,” he explained. “I was quite concerned about a series of hard climbs 50-60 kilometres into today’s stage. I wanted the boys to conserve energy for that. It was important for them to get over that harder area in order to execute what we wanted to do at the finish. It was a small risk not to be involved, but the race was well-controlled by teams that have aspirations with GC.”

Dual objectives

The team has entered the race with a dual objective. The first of those has been accomplished with today's stage victory while the second revolves around Weening's attempt to land a top 10 in the GC. Hence, Weening's efforts also rewarded his own chances as he managed to gain time on a number of his rivals.

“Pieter is a great team player,” Stephens said. “He drilled it for Gerro and whatever seconds he got for himself was purely luck and a bit of a reward for the hard work he did for a teammate. In the end, we achieved both objectives. Simon won the stage and Pieter is in a good spot for the overall.”

“It was an effort from everybody today,” he continued. “All the riders were great, and the staff was really good as usual. When we don’t win, it’s not because we’re not putting in the effort. We’re putting in the effort all the time, and we’re happy when our efforts produce a win. Congratulations to all the team and huge thanks to our supporters.”

Ready for the Ardennes classics

Gerrans' participation in the Basque Country primarily serves as a crucial part of his build-up to his main objectives in the Ardennes classics. With his victory in today's stage joining his triumph on a similar stage in the Volta a Catalunya on the Australian's palmares, he is optimistic ahead of his most important events.

“This is perfect, ” he said. “I focused on winning one specific stage at Catalunya and another stage here. I’ve accomplished both goals, and it shows that my form is coming up nicely. My preparation for Milan-Sanremo wasn’t what I had hoped, but it’s turning around to work out really well leading to the Ardennes. We’re still a couple weeks out, and I just need to keep building on the form that I have now.”

Before he gets to the big one-day races in the North of Europe, he will, however, have to finish his Basque adventure. With the leader's jersey on his shoulders, he knows that it will be impossible for the team to hide as much as they did today.

“We’ll have to take a bit more responsibility in the race tomorrow now that I’m in yellow,” he said. “I’m sure the team is up for it.”

The race continues with one of the race's easier stages which finishes in the city of Vitoria. With the mostly flat run-in only interrupted by a couple of category 3 climbs, the stage should be another one for the fast men before the GC riders take center stage on Wednesday.

Starting at 14.45, you can follow all the action on CyclingQuotes.com/live.