TOUR OF SPAIN (August 24 – September 15)
Stage 4, Lalin-Fisterra (189 km)
Dani Moreno won stage 4 of the 2013 Vuelta a España in an amazing location: the end of the world, so is called the extreme west part of Galicia where an enormous crowd gathered to attend the event. Right in front of the Finisterre lighthouse, the Spaniard from Katusha whose name means tanned found the way to shine again after winning his first classic, the Flèche wallonne, in April this year. As a gap was recorded in the peloton, Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) took the jersey back from Chris Horner who crossed the line in 26th position in the final sprint contested by 63 riders only.
After nine kilometers of racing, nine riders took off: Danylo Wyss (BMC), Nicolas Edet (Cofidis), Jussi Veikkanen (FDJ.fr) and Dennis Vanendert (Lotto-Belisol). Alex Rasmussen (Garmin-Sharp) joined them at km 12 while Winner Anacona (Lampre-Merida) reacted a bit too late and couldn’t bridge the gap. The maximum lead they got was 7.19 at km 93 where Omega Pharma-Quick Step started helping out the RadioShack team of race leader Chris Horner. The deficit of the peloton was reduced to less than one minute at the bottom of the Mirador de Ezaro where Joaquim Rodriguez won a stage of the 2012 Vuelta. Edet rode away from his breakaway companions and reached the top with an advantage of 38 seconds.
In the downhill, Amets Txurruka (Caja Rural) accelerated and rejoined Edet with 29 km to go, so did Luis Leon Sanchez (Belkin), Jose Herrada (Movistar), Dominik Nerz (BMC) and Angel Vicioso (Katusha). The RadioShack-Leopard team chased in order to prepare a stage victory by Fabian Cancellara. The last man to insist, Edet again, got reined in 14km before the end.
Moreno attacked within the last kilometer and resisted to Cancellara’s return while Michael Matthews (Orica-GreenEdge) came home third. Nibali will wear the red jersey again on stage 5 from Sober to Lago de Sanabria (174.3 km).
The quotes on the finish line
Vincenzo Nibali (Astana): “Chris Horner’s team had the objective to keep the red jersey, it comes as a surprise for me to get it back. I don’t know what happened. There might have been a gap somewhere… I didn’t do any great action. We targeted the stage for Maxim Iglinskiy but it was difficult to position him in this very fast sprint. It’s been a very nervous stage from 30km to go till here at the “end of the world”. We’ll ride the next stage with serenity. As I said the previous days, the Vuelta is still long. You have seen as well as I did who are my main rivals, Valverde, Rodriguez…, those who have taken some time bonus atop the hills. But we haven’t experienced the real climbs of the Vuelta yet. It’s been more of a nervous kind of racing so far. My team has managed to keep me up the front with caution and avoid too big gaps.”
Former race leader Chris Horner (RadioShack): “It’s not a bad thing to lose the red jersey by only a few seconds. It’s even better because it makes this my last interview until we reached the mountains where I’ll get the jersey back. For the sponsors, it’s better to see the red jersey every day but for me, it’s better this way. I have good legs. If my team takes care of me the way they can, I’ll have a fantastic Vuelta.”
Michael Matthews (Orica-GreenEdge), third: “When I jumped, the peloton slowed down a little bit. It sort of shocked everyone. I didn’t win but I’m happy with my sprint, I’m happy with the work the team did for me. I seem to have the form I need to contest the bunch sprints here.”
Gianni Meersman (Omega Pharma-Quick Step), 4th: “This was a hard stage with the ascent to the Mirador de Ezaro. It hurts! I’ve been dropped but I got back on in the downhill and I did my best to always stay up front. With 500 or 600 metres to go, Moreno attacked too strongly for me. I was right behind Boasson Hagen. I passed him with 200 metres to go. From the sprinters, only Matthews beat me out. It’s a missed opportunity.”
Nicolas Roche (Saxo-Tinkoff), king of the mountains: “At the Mirador de Ezaro, I saw there was a point up for grab just ahead of me, so why not going and getting it. But I’m not racing for the KOM competition nor for the green jersey.”
Thibaut Pinot (FDJ.fr): « I climbed the Mirador de Ezaro on only one gear (28) because a rider hit me and broke my derailleur. At the top, Alexandre Geniez gave me his bike and I got mine back ten kilometres further. Like Kenny Elissonde, I finish at the front but I’m sorry for my team-mate who sacrificed himself for me.”
Breakaway rider Nicolas Edet (Cofidis): “I was disappointed about my first three days at the Vuelta. Yesterday, I crashed and I lost a lot of time while I was feeling physically better. So I intended to do something today. When the counter-attack came across to me after the Mirador de Ezaro, I thought it might be the right move, but Quick Step rode behind. My legs are good, I want to try again.”
Reinhardt Janse van Rensburg (Argos-Shimano): “I punctured in a downhill and I only got back on two kilometers before the finish. My team did a good job taking me back but it took me the energy I lacked with 1km to go. That was a fast finish!”
Angel Vicioso (Katusha): “This kind of small hill to finish was great for Dani Moreno. We positioned him and Joaquim [Rodriguez] but we were not obsessed about winning the stage. We were more focused on not losing time.”
Daniel Moreno : “We’re like a family”
How do you feel about winning stage 4 at the end of the world?
I’m extremely happy because this year, I haven’t been as lucky as in the previous seasons. I have four or five more years of pro racing ahead. We’re going to celebrate this victory first and take the rest of the Vuelta day by day. There’s still a long way to go and I believe stage 9 to Valdepeñas de Jaén will be one to appreciate. We’ve had four difficult days in Galicia where racing is always hard.
Had the Katusha team given you the green light for attacking in today’s finale?
We’re like a family. We have fun together when we train and when we race. With ‘Purito’, we always discuss which finale is better for him or for me and we adjust our ambitions to the circumstances. This time, Luca Paolini helped me getting the perfect position and we’ve worked hard for nobody to be able to follow the acceleration.
Where do you train during the off-season?
In Cordoba, Argentina. I don’t feel comfortable with winter time, so I go there, where my wife is from.
1º 127 MORENO, Daniel ESP KAT 4:37:47 10″
2º 181 CANCELLARA, Fabian SUI RLT m.t. 6″
3º 178 MATTHEWS, Michael AUS OGE m.t. 4″
4º 164 MEERSMAN, Gianni BEL OPQ m.t.
5º 41 MOLLEMA, Bauke NED BEL m.t.
6º 192 BOASSON HAGEN, Edvald NOR SKY m.t.
7º 19 NOCENTINI, Rinaldo ITA ALM m.t.
8º 22 BARGUIL, Warren FRA ARG m.t.
9º 191 HENAO, Sergio Luis COL SKY m.t.
10º 205 ROCHE, Nicolas IRL TST m.t.
11º 1 VALVERDE, Alejandro ESP MOV m.t.
12º 27 PREIDLER, Georg AUT ARG m.t.
13º 212 BOLE, Grega SLO VCD m.t.
14º 165 PAUWELS, Serge BEL OPQ m.t.
15º 121 RODRIGUEZ, Joaquin ESP KAT m.t.
16º 31 NIBALI, Vincenzo ITA AST m.t.
17º 107 ROUX, Anthony FRA FDJ m.t.
18º 58 SANTAROMITA, Ivan ITA BMC m.t.
19º 201 KREUZIGER, Roman CZE TST m.t.
20º 46 SÁNCHEZ, Luis León ESP BEL m.t.
21º 156 HUZARSKI, Bartosz POL TNE m.t.
22º 56 NERZ, Dominik GER BMC a 6
23º 71 BASSO, Ivan ITA CAN a 6
24º 2 CAPECCHI, Eros ITA MOV a 6
25º 103 ELISSONDE, Kenny FRA FDJ a 6
26º 184 HORNER, Christopher USA RLT a 6
27º 139 ULISSI, Diego ITA LAM a 6
28º 186 KISERLOVSKI, Robert CRO RLT a 6
29º 158 SCHORN, Daniel AUT TNE a 6
30º 151 KONIG, Leopold CZE TNE a 6
31º 141 DE CLERCQ, Bart BEL LTB a 6
32º 198 URAN, Rigoberto COL SKY a 6
33º 91 SÁNCHEZ, Samuel ESP EUS a 6
34º 189 ZUBELDIA, Haimar ESP RLT a 6
35º 101 PINOT, Thibaut FRA FDJ a 6
36º 209 ZAUGG, Oliver SUI TST a 6
37º 216 MARCZYNSKI, Tomasz POL VCD a 6
38º 11 POZZOVIVO, Domenico ITA ALM a 6
39º 25 JANSE VAN RENSBURG, RSA ARG a 6
40º 202 MAJKA, Rafal POL TST a 6
41º 63 CARDOSO, Andre POR CJR a 6
42º 148 VANENDERT, Jelle BEL LTB a 6
43º 92 ANTON, Igor ESP EUS a 6
44º 111 MARTIN, Daniel IRL GRS a 6
45º 36 KANGERT, Tanel EST AST a 6
46º 48 TEN DAM, Laurens NED BEL a 6
47º 5 HERRADA, José ESP MOV a 6
48º 8 MORENO, Javier ESP MOV a 6
49º 78 SARMIENTO, Cayetano José COL CAN a 6
50º 131 SCARPONI, Michele ITA LAM a 6
51º 96 NIEVE, Mikel ESP EUS a 6
52º 61 ARROYO, David ESP CJR a 6
53º 82 BAGOT, Yohann FRA COF a 6
54º 81 COPPEL, Jerome FRA COF a 6
55º 166 SERRY, Pieter BEL OPQ a 6
56º 157 MENDES, José Joao POR TNE a 6
57º 16 GASTAUER, Ben LUX ALM a 6
58º 52 EIJSSEN, Yannick BEL BMC a 6
59º 154 DE LA CRUZ, David ESP TNE a 6
60º 126 LOSADA, Alberto ESP KAT a 6
61º 85 MATE, Luis Angel ESP COF a 6
62º 69 VELASCO, Ivan ESP CJR a 6
63º 206 SÖRENSEN, Chris Anker DEN TST a 6
64º 76 PATERSKI, Maciej POL CAN a 19
65º 9 SZMYD, Sylvester POL MOV a 22
2º 181 CANCELLARA, Fabian SUI RLT m.t. 6″
3º 178 MATTHEWS, Michael AUS OGE m.t. 4″
4º 164 MEERSMAN, Gianni BEL OPQ m.t.
5º 41 MOLLEMA, Bauke NED BEL m.t.
6º 192 BOASSON HAGEN, Edvald NOR SKY m.t.
7º 19 NOCENTINI, Rinaldo ITA ALM m.t.
8º 22 BARGUIL, Warren FRA ARG m.t.
9º 191 HENAO, Sergio Luis COL SKY m.t.
10º 205 ROCHE, Nicolas IRL TST m.t.
11º 1 VALVERDE, Alejandro ESP MOV m.t.
12º 27 PREIDLER, Georg AUT ARG m.t.
13º 212 BOLE, Grega SLO VCD m.t.
14º 165 PAUWELS, Serge BEL OPQ m.t.
15º 121 RODRIGUEZ, Joaquin ESP KAT m.t.
16º 31 NIBALI, Vincenzo ITA AST m.t.
17º 107 ROUX, Anthony FRA FDJ m.t.
18º 58 SANTAROMITA, Ivan ITA BMC m.t.
19º 201 KREUZIGER, Roman CZE TST m.t.
20º 46 SÁNCHEZ, Luis León ESP BEL m.t.
21º 156 HUZARSKI, Bartosz POL TNE m.t.
22º 56 NERZ, Dominik GER BMC a 6
23º 71 BASSO, Ivan ITA CAN a 6
24º 2 CAPECCHI, Eros ITA MOV a 6
25º 103 ELISSONDE, Kenny FRA FDJ a 6
26º 184 HORNER, Christopher USA RLT a 6
27º 139 ULISSI, Diego ITA LAM a 6
28º 186 KISERLOVSKI, Robert CRO RLT a 6
29º 158 SCHORN, Daniel AUT TNE a 6
30º 151 KONIG, Leopold CZE TNE a 6
31º 141 DE CLERCQ, Bart BEL LTB a 6
32º 198 URAN, Rigoberto COL SKY a 6
33º 91 SÁNCHEZ, Samuel ESP EUS a 6
34º 189 ZUBELDIA, Haimar ESP RLT a 6
35º 101 PINOT, Thibaut FRA FDJ a 6
36º 209 ZAUGG, Oliver SUI TST a 6
37º 216 MARCZYNSKI, Tomasz POL VCD a 6
38º 11 POZZOVIVO, Domenico ITA ALM a 6
39º 25 JANSE VAN RENSBURG, RSA ARG a 6
40º 202 MAJKA, Rafal POL TST a 6
41º 63 CARDOSO, Andre POR CJR a 6
42º 148 VANENDERT, Jelle BEL LTB a 6
43º 92 ANTON, Igor ESP EUS a 6
44º 111 MARTIN, Daniel IRL GRS a 6
45º 36 KANGERT, Tanel EST AST a 6
46º 48 TEN DAM, Laurens NED BEL a 6
47º 5 HERRADA, José ESP MOV a 6
48º 8 MORENO, Javier ESP MOV a 6
49º 78 SARMIENTO, Cayetano José COL CAN a 6
50º 131 SCARPONI, Michele ITA LAM a 6
51º 96 NIEVE, Mikel ESP EUS a 6
52º 61 ARROYO, David ESP CJR a 6
53º 82 BAGOT, Yohann FRA COF a 6
54º 81 COPPEL, Jerome FRA COF a 6
55º 166 SERRY, Pieter BEL OPQ a 6
56º 157 MENDES, José Joao POR TNE a 6
57º 16 GASTAUER, Ben LUX ALM a 6
58º 52 EIJSSEN, Yannick BEL BMC a 6
59º 154 DE LA CRUZ, David ESP TNE a 6
60º 126 LOSADA, Alberto ESP KAT a 6
61º 85 MATE, Luis Angel ESP COF a 6
62º 69 VELASCO, Ivan ESP CJR a 6
63º 206 SÖRENSEN, Chris Anker DEN TST a 6
64º 76 PATERSKI, Maciej POL CAN a 19
65º 9 SZMYD, Sylvester POL MOV a 22
66º 123 GUSEV, Vladimir RUS KAT a 22
67º 218 VALLS FERRI, Rafael ESP VCD a 24
68º 89 ZINGLE, Romain BEL COF a 24
69º 115 HOWES, Alex USA GRS a 24
70º 214 FLECHA, Juan Antonio ESP VCD a 27
71º 44 CLEMENT, Stef NED BEL a 32
72º 68 TXURRUKA, Amets ESP CJR a 32
73º 167 STYBAR, Zdenek CZE OPQ a 34
74º 37 TIRALONGO, Paolo ITA AST a 36
75º 47 TANNER, David AUS BEL a 39
76º 77 RATTO, Daniele ITA CAN a 46
77º 143 HANSEN, Adam AUS LTB a 55
78º 195 KNEES, Christian GER SKY a 58
79º 94 LANDA, Mikel ESP EUS a 58
80º 24 HUPOND, Thierry FRA ARG a 1:28
81º 97 OROZ, Juan Jose ESP EUS a 1:28
82º 35 IGLINSKIY, Maxim KAZ AST a 1:28
83º 32 BRAJKOVIC, Janez SLO AST a 1:39
84º 79 WURF, Cameron AUS CAN a 1:39
85º 84 EDET, Nicolas FRA COF a 1:39 4″
86º 18 MONTAGUTI, Matteo ITA ALM a 1:39
87º 122 CARUSO, Giampaolo ITA KAT a 1:39
88º 12 BERARD, Julien FRA ALM a 1:39
89º 136 MORI, Manuele ITA LAM a 1:39
90º 95 MARTÍNEZ, Egoi ESP EUS a 1:39
91º 65 GARCIA, Marcos ESP CJR a 1:39
92º 33 FUGLSANG, Jacob DEN AST a 2:14
93º 159 VOSS, Paul GER TNE a 2:14
94º 174 COOKE, Baden AUS OGE a 2:25
95º 59 WYSS, Danilo SUI BMC a 2:25 2″
96º 177 MEIER, Christian CAN OGE a 2:28
97º 66 LASCA, Francesco ITA CJR a 2:28
98º 149 VANENDERT, Dennis BEL LTB a 2:33 2″
99º 128 PAOLINI, Luca ITA KAT a 2:50
100º 162 DE WEERT, Kevin BEL OPQ a 2:50
101º 129 VICIOSO, Angel ESP KAT a 2:50
102º 39 ZEITS, Andrey KAZ AST a 2:50
103º 152 BARTA, Jan CZE TNE a 2:50
104º 99 VERDUGO, Gorka ESP EUS a 2:50
105º 73 DALL’ANTONIA, Tiziano ITA CAN a 2:50
106º 183 HERMANS, Ben BEL RLT a 3:04
107º 187 POPOVYCH, Yaroslav UKR RLT a 3:05
108º 188 RAST, Grégory SUI RLT a 3:05
109º 199 ZANDIO, Xabier ESP SKY a 3:05
110º 173 CLARKE, Simon AUS OGE a 3:33
111º 21 ARNDT, Nikias GER ARG a 4:27
112º 182 BUSCHE, Matthew USA RLT a 5:50
113º 108 SOUPE, Geoffrey FRA FDJ a 7:46
114º 213 DE GENDT, Thomas BEL VCD a 10:49
115º 53 KOHLER, Martin SUI BMC a 10:49
116º 119 VAN SUMMEREN, Johan BEL GRS a 13:17
117º 145 REYNES, Vicente ESP LTB a 14:21
118º 43 BROWN, Graeme AUS BEL a 14:21
119º 57 PINOTTI, Marco ITA BMC a 14:21
120º 113 FARRAR, Tyler USA GRS a 14:21
121º 185 IRIZAR, Markel ESP RLT a 14:21
122º 3 ERVITI, Imanol ESP MOV a 14:21
123º 45 GARATE, Juan Manuel ESP BEL a 14:21
124º 17 MONDORY, Lloyd FRA ALM a 14:21
125º 72 BOIVIN, Guillaume CAN CAN a 14:21
126º 4 GUTIERREZ, José Iván ESP MOV a 14:21
127º 88 SIJMENS, Nico BEL COF a 14:21
128º 7 LASTRAS, Pablo ESP MOV a 14:21
129º 86 PETIT, Adrien FRA COF a 14:21
130º 208 TOSATTO, Matteo ITA TST a 14:21
67º 218 VALLS FERRI, Rafael ESP VCD a 24
68º 89 ZINGLE, Romain BEL COF a 24
69º 115 HOWES, Alex USA GRS a 24
70º 214 FLECHA, Juan Antonio ESP VCD a 27
71º 44 CLEMENT, Stef NED BEL a 32
72º 68 TXURRUKA, Amets ESP CJR a 32
73º 167 STYBAR, Zdenek CZE OPQ a 34
74º 37 TIRALONGO, Paolo ITA AST a 36
75º 47 TANNER, David AUS BEL a 39
76º 77 RATTO, Daniele ITA CAN a 46
77º 143 HANSEN, Adam AUS LTB a 55
78º 195 KNEES, Christian GER SKY a 58
79º 94 LANDA, Mikel ESP EUS a 58
80º 24 HUPOND, Thierry FRA ARG a 1:28
81º 97 OROZ, Juan Jose ESP EUS a 1:28
82º 35 IGLINSKIY, Maxim KAZ AST a 1:28
83º 32 BRAJKOVIC, Janez SLO AST a 1:39
84º 79 WURF, Cameron AUS CAN a 1:39
85º 84 EDET, Nicolas FRA COF a 1:39 4″
86º 18 MONTAGUTI, Matteo ITA ALM a 1:39
87º 122 CARUSO, Giampaolo ITA KAT a 1:39
88º 12 BERARD, Julien FRA ALM a 1:39
89º 136 MORI, Manuele ITA LAM a 1:39
90º 95 MARTÍNEZ, Egoi ESP EUS a 1:39
91º 65 GARCIA, Marcos ESP CJR a 1:39
92º 33 FUGLSANG, Jacob DEN AST a 2:14
93º 159 VOSS, Paul GER TNE a 2:14
94º 174 COOKE, Baden AUS OGE a 2:25
95º 59 WYSS, Danilo SUI BMC a 2:25 2″
96º 177 MEIER, Christian CAN OGE a 2:28
97º 66 LASCA, Francesco ITA CJR a 2:28
98º 149 VANENDERT, Dennis BEL LTB a 2:33 2″
99º 128 PAOLINI, Luca ITA KAT a 2:50
100º 162 DE WEERT, Kevin BEL OPQ a 2:50
101º 129 VICIOSO, Angel ESP KAT a 2:50
102º 39 ZEITS, Andrey KAZ AST a 2:50
103º 152 BARTA, Jan CZE TNE a 2:50
104º 99 VERDUGO, Gorka ESP EUS a 2:50
105º 73 DALL’ANTONIA, Tiziano ITA CAN a 2:50
106º 183 HERMANS, Ben BEL RLT a 3:04
107º 187 POPOVYCH, Yaroslav UKR RLT a 3:05
108º 188 RAST, Grégory SUI RLT a 3:05
109º 199 ZANDIO, Xabier ESP SKY a 3:05
110º 173 CLARKE, Simon AUS OGE a 3:33
111º 21 ARNDT, Nikias GER ARG a 4:27
112º 182 BUSCHE, Matthew USA RLT a 5:50
113º 108 SOUPE, Geoffrey FRA FDJ a 7:46
114º 213 DE GENDT, Thomas BEL VCD a 10:49
115º 53 KOHLER, Martin SUI BMC a 10:49
116º 119 VAN SUMMEREN, Johan BEL GRS a 13:17
117º 145 REYNES, Vicente ESP LTB a 14:21
118º 43 BROWN, Graeme AUS BEL a 14:21
119º 57 PINOTTI, Marco ITA BMC a 14:21
120º 113 FARRAR, Tyler USA GRS a 14:21
121º 185 IRIZAR, Markel ESP RLT a 14:21
122º 3 ERVITI, Imanol ESP MOV a 14:21
123º 45 GARATE, Juan Manuel ESP BEL a 14:21
124º 17 MONDORY, Lloyd FRA ALM a 14:21
125º 72 BOIVIN, Guillaume CAN CAN a 14:21
126º 4 GUTIERREZ, José Iván ESP MOV a 14:21
127º 88 SIJMENS, Nico BEL COF a 14:21
128º 7 LASTRAS, Pablo ESP MOV a 14:21
129º 86 PETIT, Adrien FRA COF a 14:21
130º 208 TOSATTO, Matteo ITA TST a 14:21