Alberto Contador put in a solid display of climbing on the first mountain finish of the Vuelta a España, just one day after a heavy fall put his whole race in jeopardy. True to his motto ‘querer es poder’, where there is a will, there is a way, El Pistolero showed his fighting spirit.
At the end of the 14km final climb to the line, after a largely flat stage, Alberto was only bested by Nairo Quintana of Movistar to the line. Ahead, the day’s early break took the stage, but Alberto moved himself up to seventh overall with his performance, finishing 13th on the day, second from the GC favourites.
Sport Director Steven de Jongh said after the stage: “I’m proud of what the team and Alberto, in particular, achieved today. He had a very hard crash and we were all worried but he fought hard all day, he rode well on the climb and had a very strong finish, which was really important. This result is good for team morale and promising for the upcoming stages. He showed his fighting spirit and that it is important to keep riding and never give up.”
“It was a very straightforward day and everything played out the way we had planned. The squad worked hard to place Alberto in a good position and he took over from there. In such a hot day, hydration was important and the riders were coming back for water bottles. Everybody did their job perfectly today.”
The race got underway with an early break of 11 riders, working well from the off to pull out over seven minutes advantage. When the chase picked up behind, it was more for control than to bring the break back, and towards the base of the final climb it was clear the break would fight out the stage with still 10 minutes advantage.
Behind the GC battle kicked off proper, with the attacks coming as the road kicked up. Tinkoff put Alberto in position at the base of the climb and despite initially losing ground to some of the GC favourites, he fought back to set his own pace and limit his loses, passing others on the way to the finish.
Looking back at the race, Alberto said: “There is no doubt today’s result is important for my morale. It is also important for the morale of the staff and my teammates that work their fingers to the bone for me. After yesterday’s crash thousands of thoughts were in my head but I didn’t want to think I would again go back home, even if it was a possibility.”
“We managed to save the day today and my only thought was to make it alive to the finish. We lost time to Nairo Quintana and this is a problem because he’s one of my direct adversaries. But looking at the positive, we gained a few seconds on other riders. Now the most important is to recover as much as possible, thinking about tomorrow’s stage, which could even be harder for me than today. Quite often, the second day after a crash is the worst one.”
“It hurt during the stage today but it hurts even more when I get off the bike. When you ride there isn’t as much tension on the calf as when you walk. The sensations I have aren’t the best but I remain optimistic. Riding the final kilometers of the race, cheered by the spectators who were urging me not to give up was extraordinary. My motto is ‘querer es poder’, where there is a will there is a way. We will take the rest of the Vuelta day-by-day and see what we can achieve.”
Tomorrow’s ninth stage is another tough test with five classified climbs along the 164.5km route, the last of which is the second category Alto del Naranco, which takes the riders to the finish line.
“We have two difficult stages ahead,” commented de Jongh. “Tomorrow we have another uphill finish but not as steep as today. However, rain is expected and as a result we will have to be careful. The day after tomorrow will also be hard with a finish to the famous Lagos de Covadonga. It will not be easy but Alberto doesn’t give up easily!”
