August 27/13 21:52 pm - Vuelta a Espana: Stage 4

Posted by Editoress on 08/27/13
 

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 kilometres 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 gained was 7:19 by km 93 when 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 kilometre 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)

Quotes

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.

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.”

Results from the fourth stage in Spin