Monte Castrove, 11th of September – 2014
Except from the final 700 meters of descending, today’s 157 kilometer long 18th stage of Vuelta a Espana from A Estrada to Monte Castrove contained the penultimate uphill finish in this year’s Spanish tour. Three riders created today’s breakaway but they were swept up by the speeding GC teams entering the uphill finish where Tinkoff-Saxo’s Alberto Contador successfully defended his overall lead after another heavy bombardment.
Hubert Dupont (AG2R), Johan Le Bon (FDJ) and Luis Leon Sanchez (Caja Rural Seguros) tenaciously tried to maintain the gap throughout the stage. But already on the penultimate climb of the stage, they were back in the field while Tinkoff-Saxo made sure Contador was well-protected until the final ramps.
On the first of two climbs, Tinkoff-Saxo took control of the pace and at the top, only 40 riders were left in the select group of favorites and the last standing escapee was reeled back in. On the lower slopes of the uphill finish, the first attacks were launched and the attacks kept raining down on the mountainside.
With two kilometers to go, Chris Froome (Sky) leaped up the ascent alongside Fabio Aru (Astana) while Tinkoff-Saxo’s Contador stayed behind Valverde and Rodriguez who were now forced to chase the front duo. While Aru took the stage win, Froome climbed to overall second place as Valverde and Rodriguez did not agree on the workload.
Tinkoff-Saxo’s Alberto Contador finished 5th, 13 seconds behind Aru and retained the overall lead. The Tinkoff-Saxo Spaniard leads by 1 minute and 19 seconds ahead of Froome.
Sergio Paulinho covered the early attacks on the final climb:
“It was another stage with a very fast start and the first 60 kilometers were crazy. Then there was a breakaway and Movistar started to control for a stage win. The pace was really fast throughout the day and I think that, at the end, it was quite a good day for us.”
DS, Steven De Jongh comments:
“It was a very fast day and a long fight for the final breakaway to go away. Then, as we had expected, Team Sky pushed very hard for the first time. In the finale, Aru went away and Frome got across. Alberto was together with the two other Spanish riders, so he lost a few seconds but that wasn’t too bad. Tomorrow will be all about survival and Saturday will be the final battle in the mountains.”
Stage result
1 Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana
2 Christopher Froome (GBr) Sky 00:00:01
3 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar 00:00:13
4 Joaquim Rodriguez (Spa) Katusha
5 Alberto Contador (Spa) Tinkoff-Saxo
6 Samuel Sanchez (Spa) BMC 00:00:17
7 Daniel Navarro (Spa) Cofidis 00:00:33
8 Daniel Moreno (Spa) Katusha 00:00:48
9 Damiano Caruso (Ita) Cannondale
10 Warren Barguil (Fra) Giant-Shimano
Overall classification
1 Alberto Contador (Spa) Tinkoff-Saxo 71:38:37
2 Christopher Froome (GBr) Sky 00:01:19
3 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar 00:01:32
4 Joaquim Rodriguez (Spa) Katusha 00:02:29
5 Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana 00:03:15
6 Daniel Martin (Irl) Garmin-Sharp 00:06:52
7 Samuel Sanchez (Spa) BMC 00:06:59
8 Warren Barguil (Fra) Giant-Shimano 00:09:12
9 Daniel Navarro (Spa) Cofidis 00:09:44
10 Damiano Caruso (Ita) Cannondale 00:09:45
