Fight until the very end
16 June 2013

Route du Sud (st. 4)

Madrazo -four out of four days in the break- and Javi Moreno try their way off the bunch at crazy last stage, won by Frapporti (AND). Voeckler (EUC) takes overall as Plaza finishes in 6th

A massive 46kph average was achieved by the survivors in the 2013 Route du Sud during the last stage, over 146 kilometers between Saint-Gaudens and L’Isle Jourdain with no major difficulties on the road. The flurries of attacks were constant, despite controlled by final winner Thomas Voeckler’s Europcar, still not avoiding the Movistar Team riders to give it a shot into two of the moves.

Spaniard Ángel Madrazo escaped for the fourth consecutive time into a 12-man attempt that reached almost one-and-a-half minute’s advantage before being brought back with 40k from the finish. It was then time for Javi Moreno, back to competition after his winning streak in Madrid and Asturias – the man from Jaén went away with 10 other riders and kept Blue chances for victory alive until the last kilometer, when he was caught while Italian Marco Frapporti (AND) held off the charge by the sprinters by very few centimeters to take the day’s honours.

Thanks to the position points, Rubén Plaza jumped a place higher in the overall to end in 6th as best Movistar Team peformer, trailing to Voeckler by 20 seconds.

Picture (c): Maxime Lafage / La Route du Sud