It was a hellish day that saw the riders covering the Queen stage of the 2011 Giro d'Italia. Five hard climbs, 6,000 meters on drop, showers and hailstorm... the faces of all riders spoke by themselves on the summit of Gardeccia-Val di Fassa, the ending point of a route where Movistar Team went again on leading roles for all the day.

An escape by Luis Pasamontes made the first chapter, the Spaniard breaking away with 17 other riders right from the opening Piancavallo climb; after that, it was turn for the team leader, David Arroyo, who played his cards from well before the finish after his time loss yesterday. The rider from Talavera attacked with Joaquim Rodríguez in the final slopes of the Passo Giau and, after that, in the Marmolada / Passo Fedaia, the race completely broken into pieces. The ambition by Arroyo was about to pay him a big loss in the final kilometers, but the rider from Talavera sticked to the favourites’ group until the final ascent, keeping his 10th place in the GC still led by a superior Alberto Contador (SBS). Movistar Team are still in second place of the teams’ overall despite the blackout from one of their main riders, Vasil Kiryienka, and will profit tomorrow from a well-deserved rest day before the mountain ITT on Tuesday.

David Arroyo: “We didn’t expect myself to have attacked from so far from the finish, but the race circumstances led us to that. After the Giau climb, we were into a rather small group and, looking at how the race was going, with all leaders riding without team, I could do the war from behind and take advantage from the situation. We knew it was a risky move, but I thought it was the moment and had to play my cards. If you can’t make it on the one-on-one, you have to try it in another firm. I suffered a lot in the last part of the Marmolada, but I knew I had to summit with the others ay any cost. At the end I paid off from the efforts before, specially under that final storm in the Marmolada that did not make good for me. i was really lacking energy in the final kilometers. Now I’m only thinking of tomorrow. The word “rest” defines perfectly what I will be doing. It will be doing better than ever for me, because this Giro is being really hard, and tomorrow has to be a day of full disconnection.“