Obregón, 5th of September – 2014
Today’s 188.7 kilometer long 13th stage of the Vuelta a Espana from Belorado to Obregón at Parque de Carbárceno contained three minor categorized climbs. All placed in the final part of the stage, the short slopes split up the breakaway, which finally lead to its demise. Tinkoff-Saxo once again defended the overall lead in a thrilling high-pace finale.
A group consisting of Alexey Lutsenko (Astana), Jay Thomson (MTN-Qhubeka), Peter Sagan (Cannondale), Paolo Longo Borghini (Cannondale), Jasper Stuyven (Trek Factory Racing), Damiano Cunego (Lampre-Merida), Stef Clement (Belkin), Luis Leon Sanchez (Caja Rural), Danilo Wyss (BMC), Damien Gaudin (Ag2r-La Mondiale) and Vegard Breen (Lotto-Belisol) created a gap at the stage.
However, the group split up on the final slopes of the stage. In the peloton, the Tinkoff-Saxo riders were constantly focusing on guiding Alberto Contador safely through the hectic finale without worrying too much about the escapees, as they posed no threat in the overall standings.
The sprinter teams ultimately caught the front group and entering the final ten kilometers, Tinkoff-Saxo’s Matteo Tosatto leaped forward with his teammates on his tail. On the final steep incline to the finish line, Dani Navarro (Cofidis) managed to create a crucial gap to the GC favorites and he took the stage win while Tinkoff-Saxo’s Alberto Contador finished 7th – 5 seconds behind Navarro with the other GC contenders.
Contador still leads overall by 20 seconds ahead of Valverde.
DS, Steven De Jongh comments:
“After a fast start of the stage, things cooled down for while when the break was established. But it surely became fast and furious towards the end of the day. Our main focus was to bring Alberto safely through the day without accidents and time gaps to his rivals and I think the boys rode very well again today. Tomorrow’s going to be hard for the peloton and we’ll probably see much bigger time gaps in the field. We’ll be protecting Alberto and hopefully the overall lead”.
Stage result
1 Daniel Navarro Garcia (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 4:21:04
2 Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Spa) Team Katusha 0:00:02
3 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team 0:00:02
4 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Movistar Team 0:00:05
5 Nacer Bouhanni (Fra) FDJ.fr 0:00:05
6 Damiano Caruso (Ita) Cannondale 0:00:05
7 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Tinkoff-Saxo 0:00:05
8 Robert Gesink (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team 0:00:05
9 Daniel Martin (Irl) Garmin Sharp 0:00:05
10 Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Omega Pharma – Quick-Step Cycling Team 0:00:05
Overall rankings
1 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Tinkoff-Saxo 48:59:23
2 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Movistar Team 0:00:20
3 Rigoberto Uran Uran (Col) Omega Pharma – Quick-Step Cycling Team 0:01:08
4 Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky 0:01:20
5 Joaquin Rodriguez Oliver (Spa) Team Katusha 0:01:35
6 Samuel Sanchez (Spa) BMC Racing Team 0:01:52
7 Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:02:13
8 Winner Anacona Gomez (Col) Lampre-Merida 0:02:37
9 Robert Gesink (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team 0:02:55
10 Damiano Caruso (Ita) Cannondale 0:03:51
