Tour de France (st. 14)
Andrey (18th) suffers in fast-paced, demanding Massif Central Stage; Mikel -6th overall- tries move in Croix-Neuve yet struggles later on, with Quintana just 10" off race leader Thomas -Colombian still in 8th spot-.
Putting all their heart and legs to the fight in the 2018 Tour de France. Stage 14 of the ‘Grande Boucle’ -this year’s only route through the Massif Central, 188km finishing at the Mende aerodrome through the finishing Côte de la Croix-Neuve (Cat-2)- was another show of the courage, with no rewards, from the Movistar Team in the race. The day, starting out with some serious crosswinds -breaking the peloton into four groups-, ended with an agonic effort where the Blues put all their strength to the table.
Andrey Amador, a member of the early, winning 32-man break which served as launchpad for Omar Fraile (AST), fought with no success to make the Eusebio Unzué-led squad proud into a group which ammassed a 20-minute gap over the peloton. Behind at the GC group, Erviti and Bennati set Valverde, Quintana and Mikel Landa to the fore, the Basque not hesitating to go on the attack as soon as he found an opportunity. The Basque’s move, though, dropped him out of a leading echelon where Nairo shone alongside the GC’s top three contenders -Geraint Thomas, Chris Froome (SKY) and Tom Dumoulin (SUN)-, yet also getting dropped after reaching the top with them.
Quintana crossed the line 10″ after the trio -which was, in turn, preceeded by a strong Primoz Roglic (TLJ)-, while Landa lost 28″, made less than what could have been thanks to crucial work from Alejandro Valverde. The Blues’ GC placings do not vary from the eve’s standings –Mikel remains in 6th spot; Nairo sits in 8th; and Alejandro is 11th– before the final stage of the TDF’s second week, Sunday, over the Pic de Nore (Cat-1) 41km before Carcassonne’s arrivée.
REACTIONS:
Andrey Amador: “It was such an awful day for me. It was a great chance, but I just couldn’t take advantage. When you don’t have the energy it takes, you simply can’t. Things had gone well for me so far, but I didn’t have the legs that I needed today. The crosswinds in the early part of the stage caught us out of position, and as soon as I bridged back and joined the break, I was under serious pressure, not being able to cope with the pace. I paid all those efforts. I had to go on ‘attacking pace’ several times, I didn’t drink as much as I needed, and at the non-categorized climb after the Cat-3 ascent, I was dropped. I had cramps, and was worried because I though I wouldn’t make it to the finish. It was definitely a stage I could have profited from better, but it wasn’t to be.”
Nairo Quintana: “The most important thing today is that I’m back to the pace of the strongest riders, and it’s even more rewarding to see myself so close in such a steep finish. I lacked some energy in the final part, but I’m satisfied with this effort. It was also significant for the outcome not to have to bear such heat as in previous days – it makes my body react better to the most intense efforts. Let’s hope we enjoy such weather in the final week. Our confidence remains high, we won’t settle. We’ve got to keep fighting to take some victory or achieve some of the goals we had before the start. We’ve lost time, but we’re not surrendering.”
Mikel Landa: “I wanted to give it a try, to see what my chances were and check who was doing better or worse inside that group, but in the end, the one who was having the worst legs was me (laughs). I was too optimistic with that move, and paid my effort. I was lucky to have Alejandro Valverde in that group, he worked so hard in the finale to help me not lose time. The pace was high in the beginning, with those crosswinds, but we know we would enter roads with better shelter later on and we’d bridge back. My back still hurts pretty much – I just want for the rest day to come, so I can recover better. The wear and tear from the two weeks of racing, my crash last Sunday – it all combines to make me suffer. My main goal is recovering and then, see what we can do in the Pyrenees stages.”