Vuelta a España (st. 15)
Spaniard (4th) courageous, fully committed at Covadonga climb; remains as main threat to Yates' (MTS) lead before final rest day.
Alejandro Valverde (Movistar Team) continues to stand his ground in an enormous display of effort and character throughout the Vuelta a España. The Queen stage of the Spanish Grand Tour, over four rated climbs and lots of little ascents towards the legendary Lagos de Covadonga, witnessed another exhibition of course by the Spaniard, 4th in the day at just half a minute from winner Thibaut Pinot (GFC). The marvel from Murcia multiplied himself on the road to take care of the team’s chances, while recovering from several moments of difficulty to once again finish within the top contenders.
Astana’s enormous pressure through the last 80km of the stage led to an attack by Miguel Ángel López before the famous La Huesera straight, 7.5km from the end. The response to his attempt was a splendid turn at the front by Richard Carapaz -the most active from the Blues at the head of the race, following a long break by Imanol Erviti, neutralized into the opening slopes of Los Lagos-, who caught the Colombian and left room to a series of moves which Valverde countered, while Nairo Quintana stayed on the wheels.
An acceleration by Pinot and the hesitation between the other favourites awarded the Frenchman a famous victory, while Valverde, dropped back several times, joined the group once again and spent all of his energy on chasing down Pinot, race leader Yates (MTS, 3rd) and López, who got to the finish with a handful of meters over the GC group, also including Quintana (7th). ‘Bala’ and Nairo remain in second and third overall, half a minute behind Yates, in the eve of the final rest day of La Vuelta – prior to a crucial 32km ITT to Torrelavega on Tuesday.
REACTIONS:
Alejandro Valverde: “It was another tremendously difficult day. I finished again with the top contenders, happily I’m still there. Astana set a really fast pace from way before the foot of the climb, and made things really difficult for the rest. Miguel Ángel launched a strong attack from near the bottom of the ascent and added some extra pain – which I sort of enjoyed, despite the pressure. It was a beautiful day, all things considered. It’s the fastest climb I’ve done to this climb in my career, no doubt. I tried to keep a steady pace, push at the front for Nairo when I was keeping the group’s pace, then also attempting to lose not too much time. I also tried to close the gaps when they attacked, just like I did when Yates. Nairo told me: ‘Go for him! Go for him!’. I tried to have some air, went after Yates, but then struggled a bit more. As I once again got dropped, they continued to attack, but they stopped afterwards. I tried to continue going as steady as possible, and knowing the final part was less steep, made a final effort to bridge back.
“We lost basically no time, neither myself nor Nairo. The wear and tear, I think it was the same for everybody, though you all could see that Yates is the biggest contender, the strongest man on course. Enric Mas continues to improve with every day passing and it makes me so happy to see him up there.. Nairo is doing well, Pinot is also doing well even if he’s got more time to recover… It’s a really tight race at the moment. We’ll continue to go day-by-day, without getting too obsessed about the GC lead. The red jersey is not an aspiration ‘per se’, though I’m feeling strong and close to the top guys. Tuesday’s route shouldn’t be bad for me; hopefully I can have a good day. I still think it will be tough for anyone to make a real gap in the GC to win this one.”
Nairo Quintana: “I got less benefit than benefit (sic) from this stage. We were pretty equal against each other, but in the end, López got some more seconds on us. It was a race full of nerves up the climb. Yates and López were quite close in strength to myself, which Pinot took advantage from to attack and take the stage. Astana was really focused, had this stage marked down as a chance and made a really nice effort, putting us all under pressure, but another rival profited from that. We’re still in contention, we’got great condition and now we hope to do well in the TT, hopefully better than our rivals.”