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Papillon: The Joe Papp Diary 2005
Joe Papp is a UCI Elite rider with the UPMC cycling team. He was a double stage winner at the 2003 Vuelta a Cuba (UCI 2.5) and has finished in the top-10 three times at the UCI Pan American Continental Championships (2005, 2004, 1996). Joe's writing is good enough to make boring races intriguing and intriguing races captivating.
A Cuban Odyssey
Part 6 - What doesn't kill you...
Stage eight included the infamous climb of Topes de Collantes, a day on which I normally throttle way back and look for the laughing group. I did have a go at the metas volantes but found that my timing was way off and basically ended-up leading out the sprints for my nemesis Joel Mariño (Cuba B), who was riding his final Vuelta. Once we started climbing Topes, I had the pleasure of flatting then getting a bad wheel change that necessitated stopping to adjust my own wheel, before getting knocked down by a bystander who stole both of my water bottles. Par for the course while racing in Cuba, as was losing 28 minutes by the finish line in Santa Clara. I always look for Mariño in the mountains, since he climbs worse than me but is a great bus driver and I know that if I'm with him we'll make it well before the time cut. Our Canadian-Mexican teammate Brian, who was a non-factor all race (except when it came to tying up the mechanic's time switching components from one broken frame to the next), was eliminated today. Ciao.
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The energy I saved on the road to Santa Clara came in handy during stage nine, when I finally won a meta volante from a small breakaway group that went early in the stage! The day's course was basically flat, and after the winning two-man break went with 40km to the line, I had a chance to conserve energy before the final sprint.
Cienfuegos has always treated me well (I won my second stage of the Vuelta there, and briefly led the Tour of Cienfuegos), so I felt confident about throwing down for third. Alas, Mariño really is riding his last Vuelta, and he's on incredibly form, so he pasted me easily, though I did nab fourth thanks to a great lead-out by Aaron (and by extension the Italians - grazi!).
The finish of stage 10 was "a brothel," to paraphrase Aaron, and I just missed the points by claiming 11th in a very mad dash to line. Unable to banish the thoughts of Andrea's crash completely from my mind, I eased up a little during the bump-and-grind rather than risk a stupid fall. A wise man once said that when it's apparent that you're not going to be competitive for a spot in the top-5, pull the pin and save it for tomorrow. I did take second and third in two of the intermediate sprints, earning some TV time for the team along the way.
Friday, February 18th was the second double-day, though the morning's individual time trial was more a nuisance than anything else for me. I rode at 90% and finished in the top-50, saving precious kJ's for the evening's ride to San Antonio de los Baños. We rode at a controlled pace until the final 10km, and I pulled 4th place out of my butt after skirting a near-crash in the final turn. Though I'm lacking leg speed, this stage's uphill finish suited me well and I looked forward to the finish of stage 12 to Pinar del Río (it has an even longer climb to the line). Damian basically won the Vuelta by virtue of his ride in the ITT. The Venezuelans won't be able to make-up the time they lost, though the word on the street is that a strategically-placed motorbike gave Martinez a bit of a boost during the windier sections of the 43km point-to-point course!
I was fourth again in Pinar del Río after Aaron gave me a great lead-out. He positioned himself to the right of the Slovenian team's train (they were driving relentlessly at the front, and Mariño was following their last rider), which meant that I could ride in his draft, just to the right of Joel without having to fight to be on his wheel. Before the final turn, which comes at the base of the 500m-long climb to the finish, I latched onto my nemesis's wheel. The Slovenians were doing a perfect job of leading us out, though I was left with my mouth agape when Mariño made his move. He DANCED by the two Slovenians and won easily, leaving the rest of us floundering. I tried to pass the third guy on the right hand side as we were reaching the summit, but the crowd was drifting onto the road and there just wasn't room.
Despite failing to climb the podium again in Pinar, it was finally starting to sink in that after two weeks of suffering I would indeed cross that magical line in Havana and give my wife her gift. Wow. That's good stuff.
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Salazar was beside himself because I was only five points out of third place in the points competition behind Spaniard Jesus Tendero. While I knew I was getting better as the race went on, I didn't realize that this consistency had put me within striking distance of an actual points GC trophy! Salazar - who is my Cuban mojo - got me totally, totally fired up for the final stage. As I write this, I'm thinking back to all the crazy stuff we've been through, from the time he slept in an armoire in Todd's and my room in Santiago de Cuba in 2003, to when he took3 of my money and turned it into a bag of 40 Baracoa chocolate bars...to the morning of the final stage in this year's Vuelta when he woke Aaron and me by strumming a tune on his guitar and singing a Cuban folk song. I wanted to win the last stage as much for Salazar as I did for myself or Yuliet or the team.
The final stage is traditionally a procession into Havana, with racing saved for the last 20km. I'm fine with that, though there were still three intermediate sprints that I was determined to contest in search of more points. There is a protocol to follow, however, so before the start I checked in with Mariño, the points leader, to let him know that I planned on racing for the metas volantes, but that I wouldn't try to break away until we got into the outskirts of Havana. He understood completely and gave me his blessing, as did the other jersey holders.
This was only the second time in four tries that I started the last stage of the Vuelta a Cuba, and the sensations I experienced in San Cristóbal as we were called to the line were even stronger this year than last. That I almost hadn't started the race, and then almost quit after three days, yet was in contention for the podium on the final day is difficult to explain. The sense of satisfaction and accomplishment and contentedness is something that I will carry with me forever, tucked away in a private little corner of my heart. It's for experiences like this that I've stayed so long in cycling, and given up so much of the "real world" to continue on the bike.
As could be expected, we rolled along gently through the countryside, basking in the adoration of the thousands of fans who lined the roads to watch us pass and cheer for Damian Martinez, who wore the leader's yellow jersey. Thanks in part to a strong lead-out from Robert Schmidt of Germany I had a clean run at the first meta volante in Guanajay, where I convincingly beat Tendero, who nevertheless came second and signaled his intention to defend his lead.
The second and third sprints were washes, since Tendero had me marked like he owned me. I didn't want to have to expend as much energy as the first sprint cost me if it meant that I would only gain one point for each effort. Aaron basically told me the same thing, to just sit in and have a go of it in the finale since Tendero would have to attack before the finish if he wanted to win but that his staying away solo was highly unlikely given the speed of the finish and the motivation of EVERYONE in the field to win on the last day.
With just over 10km to the line and racing well underway, we turned right off of the Malecón and climbed through the Vedado section of Havana towards the Plaza Antiimperialista. Aaron made a huge effort here that actually split the field and sent a bunch of riders off the back and into the caravan. There was a counterattack as we crested the hill, and the field split again, this time because of a crash as we passed the University of Havana. There were two riders up the road as we went through the roundabout by the Ciudad Deportivo, but Damian and Romero of Cuba A both went to the front to chase on behalf of Mariño, who desperately wanted this final stage.
For once, no one hassled me as I followed Joel through the field and up to the front, where I switched to Aaron's wheel as we turned onto the Paseo del Prado for the final run-in to the line. The Prado is a wide road that's in terrible condition, so my attention was divided equally between staying close to the front without blowing up while also avoiding the bomb-crater-size potholes. Aaron gave it one final turn of speed as we veered gently to the left for the sprint that would end in front of the Capitolio, a replica of the US Capitol Building!
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Mariño, Josue Aran and I were all within a few inches of each other towards the left as the sprint started, with the Italians on the far right (leading out Biasci) and some miscellaneous Cubans in the middle of the road. The Slovenian train had been derailed at some point on the Prado, though Matija Kvasina would manage to crack the top 5.
As you can imagine, everything happens very quickly in a sprint and it's often difficult to remember a linear series of events. However, I clearly recall the sound of Mariño's foot coming out of his pedal, my going around him and then passing Costa Rica but not being able to come close to catching Aran or Biasci, who would win the stage for the second time (first time was in 2003). I also will never forget Salazar's contented face and skyward glance (thank-you God?) when he realized I was third and not fourth. I remember the utter pleasure that I experienced knowing that I not only finished third on the stage and would climb the podium for that, but also that I had convincingly taken third in the points. I will never forget seeing Yuliet and the kiss she gave me, nor the pride and joy I felt upon finally having a floral bouquet from the race to give her. Climbing the steps of el Capitolio towards the podium was a dream; the only thing that could have made it better was if I'd been first for something besides a meta volante, but that would be getting greedy and I prefer to revel in that which I accomplished as opposed to that which I would have liked to have done.
It's a rare moment when a stage race finishes and you have nothing for which to repent, yet miraculously that was the 2005 Vuelta a Cuba for me. I apologize for the length of this entry, but this was a special moment in time for me. I applaud you if you actually read to the end and promise not to be so long-winded the next time I send a diary to cyclingnews.com. I should quit now while I'm ahead, but apparently I'll next be off to Taiwan for a criterium held in conjunction with the Taipei bike show. Ah, the life of a full-time cyclist...
Email Joe at joe@cyclingnews.com
