RSLT - Stage 8#lavuelta2013 Horner: “The climb wasn’t quite steep enough and Nibali was watching my wheel real close. Every time I attacked, he followed. Then of course Roche put in a great attack. It seems like he and I are the ones who trade off on getting a little bit of freedom every few days. Maybe my turn is next. He’s riding really well.” A late attack by 25 year old Leopold Konig gave wildcard team Net App Endura their first Grand Tour win. Second place went to Daniel Moreno (Katusha) with Nicholas Roche (Saxo-Tinkoff) crossing in third and taking the last available time bonus. His performance earned the Irishman the race lead by 17-seconds to Horner. Nibali dropped to fourth place. Horner continued: “You saw today how strong the RSLT guys are riding but I just couldn’t get the gap after I tried at 3km to go. Then Roche put up a big move with two other guys. When Nibali went it took me a bit to get back to him, but then he ran out of steam and I wasn’t going to chase Roche down.” The final climb came at 14.5km to go. A 13-man break held one minute but once the pitch went upward, all efforts fell apart in the group. Matthew Busche was part of the break and was there to ride when Horner needed it most. Busche: “I am happy with the way I rode today. It wasn’t so much planned that I would be in the break today, but it was a big fight and I saw Katusha and Movistar trying to be there, and I knew to get in there as well so we wouldn’t have to work behind. I saw a Movistar guy go and I went on his wheel and that was the move of the day. On the last climb I knew I needed to be there to help the team so I dropped back to be there for Chris. Fabian did his work and then I took over, just riding a solid tempo up the climb. It was a good day for us.” The 167km stage began in Jerez de la Frontera and ended in Estepona on the climb of Alto de Peñas Blancas, a climb not used in the Vuelta before today. Early on the climb Fabian Cancellara rode tempo for Horner, setting a strong pace and keeping Horner in the wheel. Midway through the climb, Busche took over from the Swiss champion and continued the fine work for RSLT. Horner: “It was another beautiful stage, the course was very nice and reminded me of Southern California where I live. The last climb was hard and I’m sure it made good action for the fans on the road and those watching on TV. The guys are riding so well. You saw Cancellara today and Matthew Busche. They were amazing.” More mountains, please! Stage 9 does bring more although not as big a climb as today’s stage included. However, plenty of up and down throughout the day and a little kicker at the end. The 165km stage begins in Antequera and ends in Valdepeñas de Jaén.
Posted on: Sat, 31 Aug 2013 17:27:13 +0000
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