Bad day for José Joaquín Rojas in Tour's hardest stage to date, suffering intestinal problems that did not avoid him completing the last ride before the rest day It was a really hard day for the riders at the 2011 Tour de France, whose ninth stage covered 208 kilometers from Issoire to Saint-Flour with all ingredients from the Tour's most terrific days: rain, cold, temperature changes of more than 15 degrees, narrow roads, non-stop racing and, overall, crashes, the main figure of the day -Vinokourov, Van den Broeck and Zabriskie, among others, had to leave the race- as a dramatic descent through the Col de Puy Mary, the first out five consecutive ports into the center part of the stage, took many riders down, with fortunately all seven Movistar Team survivors riding across them with no troubles.
Nevertheless, the telephone squad had a harsh day as José Joaquín Rojas, victim of serious intestinal problems from the early morning that avoided him taking any food -barely two energy gels- during the five hours of racing. The Spanish champ struggled into the first climbs of the day and saw his physical problems paying off in the final col of the center part, where he dropped from the group with no fuel on the tank with 50k to go. However, the Murcian showed courage and completed a really difficult stage him so, counting on the rest day for him, he will keep fighting from next Tuesday for the green jersey, a ranking where Belgian Philippe Gilbert profited from his lack of energy to open an important gap.
A hard blues after Movistar Team’s success yesterday, as the squad will enjoy a more-needed-than-ever rest day in Aurillac.