It was a great stage of Caja Rural-Seguros RGA in the Vuelta a Espana. Pello Bilbao (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) sprinted to second after Ángel Madrazo had been in the early break, earning the award as most aggressive rider. In th finale Jose Goncalves was on the attack before working as a lead-out man for Bilbao. Omar Fraile still leads the mountains classifcation and the team already has 10 podiums in this Vuelta.
Eugenio Goikoetxea, Athletic Director, took stock: "We have left a very strong impression. Fantastic work of the whole team, all 9 riders. Jose and Madrazo has had the courage and strength to attack and that has made us dream about victory. In the last kilometers it was also great work of the team that supported Pello who did a fantastic sprint, but we narrowly missed out."
“I had great feelings," Bilbao said. "From the beginning we planned to save Jose Goncalves and myself for the finale. This kind of finales suited us very much. Jose proved he was the strongest. He tried on his own and then he helped me in the sprint. It is a pity, but they passed me on the line. It's frustrating to be so close after this great work of the team and Jose.
"We are having a very good presence, not only in the breaks but where the race is going on, we made an outstanding qualitative leap. We are competing with the best teams in the world."
"I had never been so close to winning in a race like this. It gives me confidence to keep trying. Every day we are closer and I am convinced that we will not go home without a stage win."
"It was a very start," Madrazo said. "Three teammates were trying to join the break. I made it and we had to ride hard all day. We're doing great, every day we are in the breaks or in the fianles. This time Jose and I tried to escape and Pello was very close to winning. We must continue with our feet on the ground and keep trying. The ultimate goal is to win a stage although we are also focused on the teams GC and Omar in the mountains competition. We are motivated and want to continue making war."
“I had the legs in the end so I tried to go in the breakaways," Fraile said. "When Gonçalves was in front, I tried to follow the attacks to stop them. In the finale, Pello Bilbao got second. We were so close. I hope we find the victory.
"I nearly got caught in the first crash. I braked, I jumped over and I avoided it. There were many riders down and I think that someone was hurt.
"I don't want to get carried away by the jersey because next week we have many climbs that will really determine the winner of this jersey. Tomorrow I will try to break away, but only to try and retain that jersey. "
01.11 - 03.11: Tour do Rio |
11.11 - 17.11: Vuelta Ciclística al Ecuador |
Julien NICOLAS 37 years | today |
Zhuo CHEN 26 years | today |
Delphine BRITS 42 years | today |
Juan Manuel AGUIRRE 49 years | today |
Elia ORI 20 years | today |
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