Tour (14th) / V. Pol. (6th)
Andalusian now 11th overall -tied 6th- after showing great fitness level in the finale of Queen stage in Bukowina Tatrzanska - Italian Moreno Moser (LIQ) back in the lead after sprint victory
VIDEO: Tour de France stage 14 highlights
Movistar Team did not lose the chance to show up at the front at the Queen stage of the 69th Tour de Pologne (UCI World Tour), over 191 kilometers and five laps over a very tough circuit in Bukowina Tatrzanska, including the categorized ascents to Zab and Gliczarów plus the final slope to the finish. Andalusian Javi Moreno was the top performer from the Blues as he made the decisive group of around thirty riders, neutralized the attacks into the fginal climb and was later able to keep the favourites’ wheels to finish in 12th spot, 7 seconds behind Moreno Moser (LIQ) as the Italian re-seized control of the yellow jersey with his second victory in this year’s race. Monday will offer a final buynch sprint in Kraków, with 7 laps and 131k where Moser and Polish rider Michal Kwiatkowski (OPQ) will contest the overall, now separated by five seconds. Moreno will also fight, at the bonus sprints and the position account, for his second WorldTour overall top-10 in an already brilliant 2012 season.
POSITION RANKING: 6. Nocentini (ALM) 132p; 7. Machado (RNT) 184p; 8. I. Izagirre (EUS) 187p; 9. Geniez (ARG) 206p; 10. Urán (SKY) 270p; 11. Moreno (MOV) 284p.
Not to be at Pirenaic entrance
In turn, the six Movistar Team riders had no chance to show off the squad’s colours at the first Pyrénées stage in the 2012 Tour de France, a tough, 191-kilometer course from Limoux to Foix including the climbs of Portel (Cat. 2), Lers (Cat. 1) and the Mur de Péguère (Cat. 1) where Spaniard Luis León Sánchez (RAB) took a solo attack with 10k from the finish to fruition over a four-man pursuit led by Peter Sagan (LIQ). The bunch including race leader Bradley Wiggins (SKY) -with Costa, Valverde, Cobo and Karpets inside, after a final descent full of pucntures within the main favourites- reached the finish almost twenty minutes after the escapees. Monday will bring the 15th stage, the last one before the second rest day over a flat 158’5k from Samatan to Pau.