Vuelta a Andalucía (st. 5)

Spanish youngster from Movistar Team completes good effort, alongside GC favourites until halfway through Hazallanas climb; sits now immediately behind top-ten, arguably his best pro result so far.

Héctor Carretero continued to be the Movistar Team’s top performer in the 65th Vuelta a Andalucía – Ruta del Sol at Saturday’s Queen stage, a 120km parcours from Armilla to Granada with four rated ascents which included the Cat-1 Alto del Purche and Alto de Hazallanas.

The Madrigueras native from Albacete in La Mancha, southeast Spain, was able to stay with the top contenders into the Güéjar Sierra climb, with only 15 riders in the lead including another Blue contender in Carlos Verona. As the Madrilian dropped back just after former GC leader Tim Wellens (LTS), Carretero struggled yet kept in sight a final selection of seven riders, from which Simon Yates (MTS) attacked to take the solo victory. Héctor was eventually caught by Dylan Teuns (TBM) and Luis León Sánchez (AST) into the descent and took a decent 10th place, 2’51” behind Yates, while Verona completed the day’s race alongside Edu Prades into a third group, 3’26” back.

Carretero’s effort, both in Friday’s TT and in the Granada mountains, leaves him just short of the overall top-ten -he sits in 11th spot, 3’50” down on Jakob Fuglsang (AST)- before Sunday’s sprinters’ showdown on a slightly uphill finish in Alhaurín de la Torre (164km).

Cover picture (c): Photo Gomez Sport