Vuelta a España (st. 12)
Spaniard from Cofidis puts nine minutes on GC contenders at Estaca de Bares' finish, takes red with three-and-a-half minutes on Valverde (3rd), Quintana (4th); Blues looking forward to La Camperona, Les Praeres, Lagos (Fri thru Sun).
A man who wore the Movistar Team jersey for seven years with so many good results, Spaniard Jesús Herrada (COF), took to the GC lead in the 2018 Vuelta a España on Thursday via an eighteen-man escape, let go by Mitchelton-Scott’s Simon Yates, during stage twelve from Mondoñedo to Estaca de Bares (181km).
The lead group kept opening its gap on the favourites’ group until reaching 11 minutes of advantage, a gap which the Movistar Team, authors of a big effort and performance at the Ribeira Sacra on Thursday, tried to control only into the final 50km, once the situation was irreversible. The work by Anacona, Amador and -into the last kilometers – Erviti and Oliveira helped the main come across the line barely nine minutes behind Herrada -who was, in turn, dropped by 2’30” from stage winner Alexander Geniez (ALM)-, which meant the new leader had a 3’22” advantage over Yates and few more seconds on Valverde (3rd) and Quintana (4th).
The two Blue leaders will seek for a trio of grueling mountain stages from Friday through Sunday, in León y Asturias, which will play a crucial impact in the final outcome. The first course will be La Camperona (Cat-1; 8.3km at 7.5%, maximum gradient near 20%), which will close a 174km route starting at Candás and previously covering the long ascent of Tarna (Cat-1), halfway through stage 13.
REACTION:
Nairo Quintana: “We tried to control the gaps in the finale, but it was clear that the gaps were really huge, and the lead change was inevitable. I feel so happy for Jesús, though – he’s a really talented rider, who does well in all terrains. He was a team-mate of us for so many years, and he really deserves this. Let’s ee what happens in the next three stages. Mitchelton were leading the race up until now, and had to control the race, while we worked where it was in our best interest, without caring about the others. It might be a very different situation tomorrow, considering the race situation, the upcoming terrain and the fact Cofidis is now in the lead. We start these three days in the mountains with La Camperona, which is an incredibly tough climb. The only thing which really matters there is finding some good legs – it we got them, we will try to take advantage.”
Alejandro Valverde: “Mitchelton pushed to try and control the break, but it was a big one and that task was soon evident to be difficult. We took to the front only into the final third of the stage, to try and get as close as possible. Having Jesús in the lead makes us all happy. We knew he was up there, and only pushed near the finish. We didn’t really set a pace so as to take him out of that virtual lead – we did just to keep the race under control. He’s always going to be a threat, because Jesús is a great rider, but there’s still so much left in this race, so many tough stages, he’s also spent a lot trying to get into the breakaways. Still, I think he can retain the race lead for long. He’s a very talented rider, and having the red jersey on your shoulders is always a boost of morale. I’m so happy to see him in the lead. Tomorrow? Let’s see. Anything can happen. Getting to the race lead tomorrow doesn’t look feasible. I don’t think Jesús will lose much time. I don’t feel like there should be huge time gaps tomorrow – but if they are, I hope we can put those on our rivals (smiles).”
Picture (c): BettiniPhoto.net / Photo Gomez Sport