Gringo Diaries: Vuelta Independencia, Etapa Dos (A & B)

By Josh Liberles

(Editor’s Note: Josh Liberles (who you may recall from his recent story about training in Maui) is a Portland, Oregon-based road racer. He is racing in the Vuelta Independencia, a 10-stage race in the Dominican Republic and will be providing VeloNews.com readers with periodic updates. His first diary entry was Tuesday.)

Without question, the best parts of today were the receptions we got in the various towns we passed through. Every school along the course – and there were many – gave students a break to line the streets, cheering for all they were worth. The day was divided into two half-stages, with a midday meal in La Romona, the finish line of Stage 2a, in between. Huge crowds and fanfare welcomed us both there and at the afternoon’s finish in Higuey, making us all feel like heroes.

I can equally adamantly say that the havoc being wreaked on my nether regions by the hot, humid races is by far the worst aspect of the day. Sitting is becoming problematic, and we’re only two days into an eight-day event. No bueno!

Stage 2a – 104kms. Santa Domingo to La Ramona. We headed west along the Caribbean, with the sea to our right and palm trees lining the course — but it was impossible to take much of it in. After a brief neutral roll-out, an early break went after our restart outside of town, causing the pack to string out in the gutter from the beginning. They were caught before long. We headed west along the Caribbean, with the sea to our right and palm trees lining the course — but it was impossible to take much of it in.

The main break of the day of ten riders went clear just after a mid-race sprint, stretching the gap past the two-minute mark. Planet Energy set the pace on the front and took control. In what’s becoming a two-team showdown, the Kazakh team, with Ablay Shgaipov Kazakhstan sitting in fifth in GC, made things interesting and launched several attacks, making the Planet Energy team accelerate to respond, then go back to pacesetting.

Some of the Kazakh’s tactics came under question — several of the team riders’ overly-aggressive style of moving through the peloton is causing some hubbub, and a two-rider Kazakh attack came just after the Planet Energy team clearly called out to the peloton that the race leader was peeing off his bike to the side of the pack. Although the move itself was short-lived and didn’t lead to much, it did lay the groundwork for bad blood.

The race passed through several towns and villages, full of exuberant fans — which was great. The problem was that every town had a series of huge speed bumps on both ends of the center, which we were bunny-hopping at full speed, with 140 riders elbow-to-elbow. There were also tons of holes, bumps and flats throughout the day. The headwind kept the rest of the pack together and made for a relatively easy ride, but also meant that the pace wasn’t fast enough to string things out. What we saved in aerobic expenditure, we more than made up for with our nerves. The pack was crammed together, much tighter than usual, and there was constant jostling. Seeing, and avoiding, road debris and holes became even an more difficult task.

With 15k to go, the day’s breakaway succumbed to the peloton, just as the skies opened up in a tropical downpour. Although the temperature relief felt great, it was nearly impossible to see or stop quickly, making it even more difficult to bypass the constant obstacles and swarming bodies. I was in the perfect spot as a breakaway move developed at 10k to go, and I joined four other riders for a brief moment of glory. Just before we were caught, I counterattacked and dangled briefly before two Dominican riders from the Mauricio Baez team joined me. We kept the pace high for a couple of kilometers before Planet Energy reeled us back in, with the yellow jersey himself providing the final push.

From there, the race action was pure chaos. Several leadout attempts fired off, but with 3k to go, there was still little organization. I pinballed off of riders left and right, both trying to maintain good position and keep myself safe. We flew into the town of La Ramona, dodging potholes, bunny-hopping speed bumps and swerving around parked vehicles and the occasional moped drivers that decided to briefly zip alongside the race.

The uphill sprint seemed interminable — at the end, Dominican rider Augusto Sanchez (Aro & Pedal) took the win in front of compatriots Manuel Peða (Arco Iris) and Euris Vidal (Mauricio Baez). Although I came in 13th, with my teammate Garrett White right behind me in 14th, the “official” results, which we didn’t receive until 36 hours later, had us in 43rd and 64th. At least they had one digit correct. Because the organizers were so late providing results, they’re allowing us to file a protest with the official a full two days later, before Stage 4. It won’t change anything at the top-end of the race, but we’ll take what we can get.

My teammate Jaime Gandara flatted once early in the race, then again with 20k to go, and got a wheel change after riding his flat another five kilometers. Surprisingly, he got his original back after the second flat – it had been repaired in the backseat of the neutral support car.

Stage 2b: La Romana to Higuey

There was a three- or four-mile neutral rollout through town, although it sure as hell looked like the start of the race. It came as a surprise to most ofthe racers – definitely those not fluent in Spanish – when the guys in front suddenly came to a stop, followed shortly by slammed on brakes, skids and minor collisions from behind.

Once the race started for real, it was a short, 54 kilometers of crosswind racing for the second half of the day. Right out of the gate, the race was on full-gas as we drilled it up a gradual 4km climb, followed by a brief respite before a descent with gravel littering the right side of the road, and claiming several tubes — including a double-flat by Garrett — immediately followed by a short, steep wall of a climb.

Those who risked the descent and warning flags, and who could climb, pinned the pace, causing splits and a whole lot of suffering behind. A four-rider break flew the coop just before the climb, composed of Nikita Umerbekov (Team Kazakhstan), Luis Sepulveda Aro & Pedal, Jose Pena (Telecable Central) and Juan Felix Salvador (Aro & Pedal). A group of ten mountain goats consolidated at the top and took off in pursuit of the leaders.

Umerbekov would go on to take both the win, in front of Sepulveda, and the yellow leader’s jersey. The other two in the breakaway faded and came back to the peloton, which finished over two minutes back. Josú Flober (Mauricio Baez) took third in a solo move, 40 seconds ahead of the pack.

New Digs, Same Food

Although we had no idea we’d be moving towns and hotels until the night before the stage, the Hotel Copa Caribe in Higuey came as a definite and welcome, although bizarre, upgrade. The hotel is apparently still under construction and perhaps yet to officially open and features stand alone townhouses geared towards a, shall we say, specific crowd. There was a big, sweet pool with a swim-up bar, loud, throbbing dance music, all in a secluded, gated location in the same region as the big tourist attraction of Punto Cana.

Accommodations were stand-alone townhouses, each with their own garages. We later pieced together that the garages were to maintain guests’ anonymity. On the garage wall, a sign warned to not leave your car running in the garage and that the hotel rate was 800 Dominican pesos (about $25) for four hours. Inside, each unit had a king-sized bed with red lights overhead, cable television with several very-adult options, a big jacuzzi and special bedside accoutrements including condoms and “personal intimate lubrication.”

The food choices have been a little rough for a vegetarian. The most flavorful options are definitely the rotating meat choices – but I’ve had yucca root, potatoes, rice, pasta, white bread and plantains which, though delicious when fried, have little flavor when boiled. Free food and what has become a true tour (vuelta) of the Dominican is a once in a lifetime experience, especially to do it within an international bike race, but I’ll definitely be excited when I have the chance to skip the institutional foods and get some good local grub.

Life in Haiti, which is only a couple hundred miles away, was much harder than in the Dominican even before the earthquake — a fact which is not lost on us. They’d be ecstatic to have our bland foods there, and we’re lucky for the opportunity to be here, racing our bikes.

FILED UNDER: News / Race Report TAGS: Vuelta Independencia