It’s time for the Queen stage of this race. 133 flat flat before the climb starts. 18.6 km at 5%, but with the flat section the gradients are probably a bit higher.
Everybody looks at Valverde at the start and he’s being interviewed a lot. He doesnt make it a secret he came here to win! Perez Cuapio and Nazaret are looking to challenge him though, and especially the last one is backup up by a very strong squad (Benfica).
The break went away fairly quick and contains mostly riders suited for flat stages, and two pairs from one team: Mancuso, Balck, Giancecchi + Sawada, Chacon + Sutton and two climbers who migth be sent up front for their teamleaders? Starbucks and Benfica are planning something as they sent Jaramilli abd Colorado in the break. A third rider from Team Ultra Adventure Pro Cycling - Sponsored by Hello Kitty, Shimada, attacks a little later but will never make it to the first groupe, since their intelligent Directeur Sportif told the two riders up front to keep relaying.
Gianchecchi wins the first sprint ahead of Mancuso and Chacon.
In the pack Molteni controls the gap for race leader Vandenbroeck, while Sutton won sprint 2 in front of Colorado and Chacon. They’ve now got 5’30 with 70k left as the pack speeds up a bit.
Besides the gap coming down slowly and Shimada being caugth, there’s a status quo until we reach the climb. On the first uphill section the two best climbers in the break, Jaramillo and Colorado, pull away from the rest of the groupe, just before reaching the flat section, after which the gradients don’t go below 5% anymore.
Back in the pack, things start to hot up on the same section as Duque is the first to launch an attack. He’s followed by Visconti, Marquez and, suprizingly, Valverde! He’s descided to go early hoping to crush the opposition for the GC.
While Molteni keeps setting the pace, Valverde’s attacked triggerd another load.
Valverde now leads a Chase groupe with Marquez, Thuaux, Ventoso and Visconti. They are 2 minutes behind Jaramillo and Colorado and 30 seconds in front of the pack.
With 10km left, Valverde storms past the dropped riders from the early breakaway as he dropped everyone else. Thuaux and Marquez try to bridge the gap, but they don’t succeed.
And shortly after, they’re all caugth. Except Valverde:
7km to go and a new bunch of attacks try to go after Valverde: Lowe, Moreno, Taaramae, Samoilev, Criel and race leader Vandenbroeck and off.
They don’t come any close to Valverde though, as Lowe, Moreno, Taaramae and Samoilev form a Chase groupe, 20 seconds ahead of Criel and Vandenbroeck, who are 20 seconds in front of the pack.
Meanwhile, whith Valverde closing in, Colorado rides away from Jaramillo.
The small pack, now lead by Wii Racing, is closing in on Criel and Vandenbroeck. The four chasers keep their gap, but are still 1’20 behind on Valverde. It’s looking good for the Spaniard.
But heading into the final km, he realises Colorado is out of reach! He’s still 30 seconds in front of him, thats surely impossible to bridge in a single kilometer?
They’ve got 1’30 to the Chase groupe and another ’40 to the pack.
And it’s indeed Colorado who wins the mountain stage in Spain, bringing home the victory, and the leaders jersey wit hit, for Benfica. Valverde is second with Jaramillo taking third.
As Colorado and Jaramillos teammates pass the line, the photofinish descides that it’s Moreno just in front of Lowe for fourth. Taaramae and Samoilev are closly behind though.
Efimkim leads home the peloton, over 2’30 behind Colorado. Note Vandenbroeck, in the attack earlier, having trouble to keep up with the pace here.
And so it’s not Valverde, but Colorado taking the jersey going into the fianl hilly stage. There is still 50 flat km after the last hill tomorrow though, so it’s likely to become a sprint of a small groupe. We all know that favours Valverde, but will it be enough tob ring him overall victory?
Stage result
1
Francisco Colorado
Sport Lisboa e Benfica - Michelin
3h34'25
2
Alejandro Valverde
Santander
+ 34
3
Remberto Jaramillo
Team Starbucks
+ 53
4
Daniel Moreno
Sport Lisboa e Benfica - Michelin
+ 1'59
5
Trent Lowe
Team Starbucks
s.t.
6
Rein Taaramäe
Team IKEA - Bianchi
+ 2'11
7
Branislav Samoilev
Team Energie - Diesel
s.t.
8
Vladimir Efimkin
Team Starbucks
+ 2'36
9
Jose Alarcon
Team IKEA - Bianchi
s.t.
10
Florentino Marquez
Sport Lisboa e Benfica - Michelin
s.t.
11
Julio Alberto Perez Cuapio
Team Energie - Diesel
s.t.
12
Magno Nazaret
Sport Lisboa e Benfica - Michelin
s.t.
13
Gustavo Veloso
Team Energie - Diesel
s.t.
14
Benjamin Noval
Molteni
s.t.
15
Oscar Sevilla
Team Energie - Diesel
s.t.
16
Nuno Ribeiro
Sport Lisboa e Benfica - Michelin
s.t.
17
Iñigo Landaluze
Molteni
s.t.
18
Tiago Machado
Sport Lisboa e Benfica - Michelin
s.t.
19
Jurgen Vandenbroeck
Molteni
+ 3'03
20
Johann Tschopp
Team Starbucks
s.t.
21
Phillip Thuaux
Team Ultimate
s.t.
22
Tom Criel
Team Starbucks
s.t.
23
Juan Manuel Gárate
Santander
+ 3'42
24
Justo Tenorio
Santander
+ 3'51
25
Juan Mora
Wii Racing
+ 4'08
26
Francis De Greef
Molteni
s.t.
27
Angel Madrazo
Santander
s.t.
28
Viatcheslav Dyadichkin
Team Starbucks
s.t.
29
Jorge Nogaledo
Team Energie - Diesel
s.t.
30
Luis Perez Rodriguez
Molteni
s.t.
31
Ludvig Lundberg
Team IKEA - Bianchi
s.t.
32
Nicolas Brolin
Team IKEA - Bianchi
s.t.
33
Amets Txurruka
Molteni
s.t.
34
Francisco Ventoso
Santander
s.t.
35
Rui Costa
Sport Lisboa e Benfica - Michelin
s.t.
36
Julián Becerra
Wii Racing
s.t.
37
Paolo Savoldelli
Wii Racing
s.t.
38
Paulo Lucas Martins
Team Energie - Diesel
s.t.
39
Maurizio Biondo
Team Energie - Diesel
s.t.
40
Giovanni Visconti
Team Starbucks
s.t.
41
Leonardo Duque
Wii Racing
s.t.
42
Anthony Roux
Wii Racing
+ 6'08
43
Dries Devenyns
Molteni
s.t.
44
Jonathan Tiernan-Locke
THE CONTROL TEAM
+ 6'16
45
Peter Williams
THE CONTROL TEAM
s.t.
46
Kristian House
THE CONTROL TEAM
+ 6'24
47
Salvatore Mancuso
Team Ultimate
s.t.
48
Timothy Johnson
IrnBru - RBS
+ 6'56
49
Wilson Rincón
Team Ultimate
+ 7'04
50
Gert Rajala
Team Ultimate
s.t.
51
Christopher Sutton
IrnBru - RBS
+ 7'12
52
Behnam Khalilikhosroshani
Team Ultra Adventure Pro Cycling - Sponsored by Hello Kitty
+ 7'20
53
Arnold Jeannesson
Team Ultimate
s.t.
54
Jesus Del Nero
Santander
+ 7'28
55
Ananias Ananias
THE CONTROL TEAM
s.t.
56
Tommy Zaini
IrnBru - RBS
+ 7'36
57
Lars Petter Nordhaug
Wii Racing
+ 7'52
58
Sebastian Balck
Team IKEA - Bianchi
+ 8'00
59
Dario Giancecchi
Team Ultra Adventure Pro Cycling - Sponsored by Hello Kitty
+ 8'08
60
Miguel Chacon
IrnBru - RBS
+ 8'24
61
Kensyo Sawada
Team Ultra Adventure Pro Cycling - Sponsored by Hello Kitty
s.t.
62
Ronan Van Zandbeek
Team Ultimate
+ 8'32
63
Wes Sulzberger
IrnBru - RBS
s.t.
64
Pedro Merino Criado
Santander
+ 8'40
65
Yannick Stoltz
Team Ultimate
+ 8'48
66
Junya Sano
Team Ultra Adventure Pro Cycling - Sponsored by Hello Kitty
+ 8'56
67
Robert Förster
Wii Racing
+ 9'04
68
Dan Craven
IrnBru - RBS
+ 9'20
69
Yoshiaki Shimada
Team Ultra Adventure Pro Cycling - Sponsored by Hello Kitty
+ 9'44
70
Fredrik Ericsson
Team IKEA - Bianchi
s.t.
71
Evgeny Wacker
Team Ultra Adventure Pro Cycling - Sponsored by Hello Kitty
s.t.
72
Lars Andersson
Team IKEA - Bianchi
+ 9'52
73
Gregory Henderson
IrnBru - RBS
+ 10'08
74
Kazuki Aoyanagi
Team Ultra Adventure Pro Cycling - Sponsored by Hello Kitty
+ 10'48
GC
1
Francisco Colorado
Sport Lisboa e Benfica - Michelin
11h00'10
2
Alejandro Valverde
Santander
+ 29
3
Remberto Jaramillo
Team Starbucks
+ 1'16
4
Daniel Moreno
Sport Lisboa e Benfica - Michelin
+ 2'05
5
Trent Lowe
Team Starbucks
+ 2'14
6
Rein Taaramäe
Team IKEA - Bianchi
+ 2'19
7
Branislav Samoilev
Team Energie - Diesel
+ 2'22
8
Gustavo Veloso
Team Energie - Diesel
+ 2'52
9
Julio Alberto Perez Cuapio
Team Energie - Diesel
+ 2'58
10
Florentino Marquez
Sport Lisboa e Benfica - Michelin
+ 2'59
11
Benjamin Noval
Molteni
s.t.
12
Iñigo Landaluze
Molteni
+ 3'00
13
Nuno Ribeiro
Sport Lisboa e Benfica - Michelin
+ 3'02
14
Jurgen Vandenbroeck
Molteni
+ 3'03
15
Oscar Sevilla
Team Energie - Diesel
+ 3'05
16
Vladimir Efimkin
Team Starbucks
+ 3'06
17
Magno Nazaret
Sport Lisboa e Benfica - Michelin
+ 3'15
18
Tom Criel
Team Starbucks
+ 3'17
19
Tiago Machado
Sport Lisboa e Benfica - Michelin
s.t.
20
Jose Alarcon
Team IKEA - Bianchi
+ 3'19
21
Phillip Thuaux
Team Ultimate
+ 3'26
22
Johann Tschopp
Team Starbucks
+ 4'03
23
Justo Tenorio
Santander
+ 4'05
24
Juan Manuel Gárate
Santander
+ 4'10
25
Leonardo Duque
Wii Racing
+ 4'19
Points
1
Alejandro Valverde
Santander
71
2
Daniel Moreno
Sport Lisboa e Benfica - Michelin
47
3
Jurgen Vandenbroeck
Molteni
40
4
Fredrik Ericsson
Team IKEA - Bianchi
35
5
Rein Taaramäe
Team IKEA - Bianchi
30
6
Francisco Colorado
Sport Lisboa e Benfica - Michelin
29
7
Trent Lowe
Team Starbucks
26
8
Leonardo Duque
Wii Racing
25
9
Francisco Ventoso
Santander
25
10
Branislav Samoilev
Team Energie - Diesel
23
KOM
1
Francisco Colorado
Sport Lisboa e Benfica - Michelin
16
2
Alejandro Valverde
Santander
12
3
Remberto Jaramillo
Team Starbucks
10
4
Ronan Van Zandbeek
Team Ultimate
10
5
Daniel Moreno
Sport Lisboa e Benfica - Michelin
8
6
Kensyo Sawada
Team Ultra Adventure Pro Cycling - Sponsored by Hello Kitty
8
7
Trent Lowe
Team Starbucks
6
8
Wes Sulzberger
IrnBru - RBS
6
9
Rein Taaramäe
Team IKEA - Bianchi
4
10
Anthony Roux
Wii Racing
4
Young rider
1
Remberto Jaramillo
Team Starbucks
11h01'26 (1)
2
Trent Lowe
Team Starbucks
+ 58 (2)
3
Rein Taaramäe
Team IKEA - Bianchi
+ 1'03 (3)
4
Branislav Samoilev
Team Energie - Diesel
+ 1'06 (4)
5
Florentino Marquez
Sport Lisboa e Benfica - Michelin
+ 1'43 (5)
Teams
1
Sport Lisboa e Benfica - Michelin
33h06'14 (1)
2
Team Starbucks
+ 40 (2)
3
Team Energie - Diesel
+ 2'28 (3)
4
Santander
+ 3'05 (4)
5
Molteni
+ 3'23 (5)
6
Team IKEA - Bianchi
+ 4'12 (6)
7
Wii Racing
+ 8'06 (7)
8
Team Ultimate
+ 11'53 (8)
9
THE CONTROL TEAM
+ 15'26 (9)
10
IrnBru - RBS
+ 17'38 (10)
11
Team Ultra Adventure Pro Cycling - Sponsored by Hello Kitty
