Cycling: What a game of seconds for the overall victory of the Vuelta a Andalucia! Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) has again taken the overall lead. The Spaniard missed today's victory in the time trial by just under a second, but in the fight for red he is now one second ahead of compatriot Alberto Contador (Trek-Segafredo). The two finished second and third today. The Belgian Victor Campenaerts (LottoNL-Jumbo) surprisingly secured the day's victory.
Alejandro Valverde is in line for the fifth overall victory
From Lucena to Córdoba, the riders led the twelve-kilometer individual time trial today. In a time of 14:55, Victor Campenaerts was surprisingly ahead. The Belgian started the race very early as he was far behind in the overall classification. His top time should last until the end, but the leader had to fear for his lead several times. Especially when it came to the overall classification, the times of his opponents got even faster. Alejandro Valverde missed by just one second, Alberto Contador by seven seconds and Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) by nine seconds. It is precisely these three drivers who will now decide the victory of the Ruta Del Sol 2017 among themselves. All three are within six seconds. There is already a larger gap behind it. The Sky trio of Wout Poels, Diego Rosa and Mikel Landa are fourth to sixth, 21, 45 and 48 seconds behind leader Valverde.
Georg Preidler still in mountain jersey
Even if the three stages that are probably the most decisive for the overall standings are now behind us, the fight for the red jersey is certainly not over yet. There are no time bonuses and the mountain finishes and time trials are history, but due to the short distances between them, Contador and Pinot are guaranteed to plan something else. Tomorrow the stage from La Campana leads over 178,5 kilometers to Seville. There are three rather easy climbs to overcome, which are in the middle of the route. After that it just leads to the goal. The final stage on Sunday could therefore provide more movement. Although the mountains here are more at the beginning of the stage, the end is a bit bumpier. Either way, it will be difficult to drive Valverde, who is in top form, out of the red jersey. The Austrian Georg Preidler (Sunweb) will feel even more secure. He continues to wear the mountain jersey and enjoys a clear lead. With almost twice as many points as Daniel Turek (Israel Cycling Academy), the jersey should hardly be taken away from him.
Leave a Comment