Already a stage winner in Eibar on the third day of the Vuelta, Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) has made it to in Andorra in the climb of La Gallina. A Spanish trio sprinted for victory with Joaquim Rodriguez coming second again and Alberto Contador regaining fifteen seconds plus four of time bonus over arch-rival Chris Froome who lost contact at the very end of the steep hill.
Team Sky didn’t get paid back for the huge amount of work they did chasing the breakaway formed of Javier Aramendia (Caja Rural), Javier Ramirez (Andalucia), Amaël Moinard (BMC), Mickaël Buffaz (Cofidis), Martijn Keizer (Vacansoleil-DCM) and Cameron Meyer (Orica-GreenEdge) after 75 kilometres of racing. Meyer was the last man caught by Froome and Contador who had dropped Valverde and Rodriguez off. Contador chose to not contribute to Froome’s big coup and the royal quartet was reunited. Froome suffered the final accelerations of Valverde and Rodriguez who came across to lone attacker Contador.
The final kilometer was a celebration of ‘Purito’ (literally a small cigar) by his fans on home soil. The Andorran resident was offered a big cigar on stage for his fourth day with the red jersey but Valverde proved once again to being the fastest.
The quotes on the finish line
Race leader Joaquim ‘Purito’ Rodriguez: “It’s been a very special day to climb up here with the red jersey in front of a crowd just as enthusiastic as in the Basque country. I’ve enjoyed one of my most beautiful days in cycling. I was riding strongly and fighting with some of the world’s best riders. I wanted to win but hats off to Alejandro for his final sprint. I’m not disappointed. I’m also realistic: at this point, Froome and Contador are in a great shape and they are more efficient than me against the clock. To win the Vuelta, I’d need to ride the best time trial of my life and I’d also need Froome and Contador to have a bad day.”
Runner up Chris Froome: “The team set me up to the last climb for helping me improve my GC position. But I just didn’t have the legs to follow my three rivals. Tactically, they rode well, waiting for the last moment. That climb is grueling! It has a really steep section at the end. Possibly the outcome could have been different if Contador had worked with me when we got this gap. He’s got the legs for winning the Vuelta but it’s interesting to see that he’s been caught after attacking solo. It means that among the favourites, we all have limits. Contador has showed today that he’s not invincible. It keeps the race very exciting with the four of us still together. What’s going to happen in the next two weeks remains unknown after today’s stage. This is the first time I’m doing two Grand Tours consecutively with only four weeks between them. I don’t know if I can keep my level of form until we reach Madrid. But I’m confident. We’ll suffer a lot in the mountains and I’m not able to calculate in advance what will come out of the time trial. I only know that I’ll have to do it flat out.”
Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff, 3rd): “I would have liked to win but I’m happy anyway. It was important for me to create a difference over Froome. I’ve missed a bit of strength in the final metres but I’m getting better and better, even though I wasn’t on a fantastic day today. It’s always better to win but I’m satisfied with this result. It was the first taste of high mountain and at the end of the day, I’m better than Froome. Regarding ‘Purito’ and Valverde, we’ll judge in Madrid.”
Juanjo Cobo (Movistar, 53rd): “It’s sad that my bad day in this Vuelta came during an important stage. I had had bad feelings from the beginning of the race with mild stomach pain due to heat and the strong pace. With such big time lost, I’ll be leaving out my GC chances and help Alejandro as much as possible.”