Joaquim Rodriguez saw his spot on the podium in the Vuelta a Espana slip further away when Chris Froome distanced him significantly in today's queen stage. However, the Spaniard was full of praise, admitting that he had been beaten by a stronger rider.
The queen stage of climbing in Monday’s Vuelta a España created wider time gaps in the top of the classification, seeing Joaquim Rodriguez retain his fourth place, but the battle for second and third heating up between Chris Froome and Alejandro Valverde.
"It was a hard stage right from the beginning. The group went at kilometer zero and we were not quite awake yet so we had to chase. The team did very well all day. In the finale we saw a strong rider than us. Froome was amazing today. I can accept when I am beaten in an honest way. These past few days people have said Froome was over and out, but now you see. Alberto and Chris were the strongest today. But I am very happy about the work of the team. There is still one week left in this Vuelta. It’s not over yet because I don’t think all are satisfied with the current situation. There are exciting things still to come," said Team Katusha leader Joaquim Rodriguez.
“Clearly, Contador and Froome were the strongest today. But there’s one week left. The good thing is that it’s not worth for Froome riding for second place. He’ll give his skin to try and win the Vuelta. The favorites of this race are great cyclists and they’re here for a reason. It’s been a tough Vuelta so far and the 5000 metres of difference in altitude have made some damage today.”
Team Katusha once again won the stage in teams classification and now leads comfortably in the overall teams classification with 14.34 over Movistar.
After three summit finishes in a row, it’s time to rest. Tuesday brings the second and final rest day before the last five days of racing continue in the 2014 Vuelta a España. Wednesday’s stage 17 at 191 km begins in Ortigueira and ends in Coruña and is followed on Thursday by yet another climbing stage.
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