Top performance atop Grossglockner
20 May 2011

Movistar Team did a tremendous effort to stay on front during the first of the three Dolomitic stages in the 94th Giro d'Italia, with up to five categorized climbs in the 169k route on stage 13 from Spilimbergo to the climb of Grossglockner, where Venezuelan José Rujano (AND) took the win ahead of race leader Alberto Contador (SBS).

David Arroyo has jumped just nine seconds off the provisional podium of the race -Nibali (LIQ), already three minutes behind the maglia rosa, and Scarponi (LAM) lead the Spaniard- after the telephone squad’s leader resisted with bravery within the favourites in the demanding final climbs, where also shone a remarkable Vasil Kiryienka -9th in the stage results, with Arroyo in 11th-, whose attack in the final three kilometers came after a lack of energy into the first real attacks.

A fine performance into the breakaway also came from Branislau Samoilau and Pablo Lastras, riding for more than hundred kilometers into a group that reached a 5-minute advantage and which allowed the Belarusian, who came on top through the three opening ascents, to dream of wearing the race’s KOM maglia verde, a chance he virtually kept until the finish. The emotions of the 2011 Giro will keep rolling tomorrow with a key stage: 210 kilometers from Lienz to the steep Monte Zoncolan, with the Monte Crostis -covered on gravel roads for the final part of the uphill and the beginning of the descent- as the main difficulty prior to the finish.

David Arroyo: “It was another difficult stage tomorrow where we had to stay with the GC guys and I did it, so I have to be satisfied. It was a day to hold in there and spend as little energy as possible, because the fuel you empty today will be missed on the weekend. We have two really hard stages coming up and anything you save is important. At the end it went good, just as we planned it. The moment to take risks will come. We saw again an unstoppable Contador, who always attacks and stays clear in every single mountain-top finish. i suppose we will see the same tomorrow and he’ll jump like a catapult, although he has a solid gap already. Rujano has also showed he’s doing really well and the group that went together through the Etna is still on equal forces. I feel myself riding at their level right now. The stages on Saturday and Sunday are more suited to my way of riding. It was a hard climb today, but full of pace changes: a slope, some rest, another slope, rest, slope… and that doesn’t help you build a decent pace, so it doesn’t make good for my characteristics. The team is helping me a lot and I want to thank them for that. They’re giving me great confidence and are always at my side, bringing me bottles, on front at the breakaways… and having Kiryienka with me in the finale is also important. I hope to reward him by getting as close to the top as possible.”