Chris Froome climbed to a thrilling stage win atop the Peña Cabarga to move up to second overall at the Vuelta a Espana.

Froome kept pace with his rivals up the famous six kilometre climb and then followed the attack of race leader Nairo Quintana in the final kilometre of stage 11, before rounding the Colombian to take a resounding victory.

He only closes the gap to Quintana by four seconds - he now trails the Movistar man by 54 seconds overall - but he was able to leapfrog Alejandro Valverde (Movistar), who now sits third, one minute and five seconds back, after he crossed the line third, six seconds down.

Leopold Konig helped Froome up the climb and then held on to take a fine fourth place, crowning a magnificent day for the team in Spain. He stays sixth overall, three minutes and nine seconds off Quintana.

'Special memories'

Speaking after the stage, Froome referenced his stage win atop the same climb in the 2011 Vuelta.

He said: "I've got some special memories here from 2011 and today adds to that. It's an incredible feeling.

"Quintana is really strong at the moment. He has the leader's jersey and I'm just trying to do as much as I can day by day, and hopefully I can keep getting closer to him.

"I just want to thank my team-mates for all the hard work they've done and also my family at home, for all the motivation and support, because at this point in the season after all the work I've done, it's really tough for me at the moment. A big thank you to them. I'm looking forward to coming home soon."

It was a ferociously fast day in Spain, with an average speed of 46km/h ahead of the final climb, and the breakaway was quickly reeled in at the bottom of the first category ascent.

The racing remained calm until Esteban Chaves launched a strong attack 2km from the top, but Quintana then set off in pursuit, and Froome was the only man able to stay on his wheel.

The pair then passed Chaves and forged on for the line, briefly playing a spot of cat and mouse before the uphill sprint started. Quintana then had no answer for Froome, and the Brit punched the air as he crossed the line, in scenes reminiscent of his famous 2011 win.

'We are pretty on it'

Konig came home in the same time as Valverde and spoke of his happiness and form after the stage.

He said: "I'm happy. We executed a plan. It's nice. We've won a stage and finally I could pull a little bit for Chris.

"After a rest day you never know how you'll feel, but we are pretty on it. Let's hope for a better second part of the race. 

"On the Covadonga [on stage 10] I lacked the endurance because I've had so few racing days this year. I was a long time injured. But I think I can be up there in the hard climbs in the Pyrenees, play a wild card for Chris and occasionally help him."


Team LAMPRE-MERIDA

Koshevoy e Durasek, attaccanti dell’est

Koshevoy and Durasek, attackers from the East

31 agosto 2016 

Dopo il primo giorno di riposo della Vuelta a Espana, la LAMPRE-MERIDA si è presentata alla ripresa della corsa spagnola con un rinnovato spirito battagliero.

Non a caso, ben due corridori blu-fucsia-verdi hanno animato la principale fuga della 11^frazione, la Colunga-Pena Cabarga, 168,6 km con arrivo in salita.
Il team diretto dal duo Pedrazzini-Vicino è stato rappresentato nel drappello dei 23 battistrada dal croato Durasek e dal bielorusso Koshevoy (foto @lavuelta).

La fuga è nata dopo un'ora esatta di corsa, 60 minuti caratterizzati da una grande battaglia in gruppo che ha portato a percorrere ben 49 km.
L'azione nella quale erano presenti i due corridori della LAMPRE-MERIDA ha raggiunto un vantaggio massimo di 5' sul gruppo, che ha però reagito veementemente in vista dell'approccio dell'ascesa finale, 5,6 km al 9,8% di pendenza media.

Le ambizioni di Koshevoy e Durasek si sono infrante nei primi metri della salita, quando il gruppo ha neutralizzato la fuga e ha dato il via alla battaglia tra i pretendenti alla maglia rossa, difesa con autorità da Quintana con il 2° posto di tappa con lo stesso tempo del vincitore Froome.

Il primo ciclista della LAMPRE-MERIDA a raggiungere il traguardo è stato Meintjes, 22° a 1'24" da Froome.
In classifica generale, Meintjes è 20° a 8'10" da Quintana.

Il ds Pedrazzini ha sottolineato "Andare in fuga oggi non era semplice, dato che si sono susseguiti scatti per tutta la prima ora di gara, nella quale il gruppo ha percorso poco meno di 50 km. 
Acquistano ancora più valore le presenze di Durasek e Koshevoy tra i battistrada: in particolare, va fatta una menzione speciale per Ilia, reduce da una rovinosa caduta nella quale ha rimediato punti di sutura alla faccia e una serie di notti insonni.

Peccato che il gruppo, su spinta della Tinkoff, non abbia concesso sufficiente libertà ai fuggitivi, altrimenti Durasek avrebbe potuto lottare per un buon risultato".

ORDINE D'ARRIVO
1- Froome 3h44'47"
2- Quintana s.t.
3- Valverde 6"
4- Konig s.t.
5- Contador 8"
21- Meintjes 1'24"
56- Grmay 4'42", 75- Arashiro 6'01", 105- Durasek 8'47", 114- Conti 10'20", 140- Mario Costa 10'42", 148- Koshevoy 11'37", 160- Cattaneo 14'18"

CLASSIFICA GENERALE
1- Quintana 42h21'48"
2- Froome 54"
3- Valverde 1'05"
4- Chaves 2'34"
5- Contador 3'08"
20- Meintjes 8'10"
 

After the first rest day of the Vuelta a Espana, LAMPRE-MERIDA faced the 11th stage (Colunga-Pena Cabarga, sumit arrival after 168,6 km) with a lively fighting spirit.

As confirmation, two blue-fuchsia-green cyclists joined the main breakaway of the stage: among the 23 attackers there were also Kristijan Durasek and Ilia Koshevoy (photo @lavuelta).

The breakaway went clear from the bunch after one hour of race, during which the peloton covered 49 km, and the attackers had a maximum advantage of 5' on the bunch.
The chasers reacted in view of the final climb and the breakaway was neutralized in the early meters of the ascent to the arrival (5,6 km at 9,8% of average degree).

After that the ambitions of Koshevoy and Durasek had vanished, the top contenders for the general classification began their battle for the red jersey, which was detained by Quintana thanks to the 2nd place at the arrival, with the same time of the the winne Froome.

The first blue-fuchsia-green rider who crossed the finish line was Meintjes, 22nd at 1'24". In the general classification, the South African climber is 20th at 8'10" to Quintana.

"It was not easy to be in the main breakaway today, because the first 50 km in the race were characterized by the very high speed of the bunch and by a series of attack attempts - sports director Pedrazzini explained - Congrats to Durasek and Koshevoy, in particular we were happy to see Ilia in the front group after that he suffered a lot in the past days because of the consequences of a crash.

It was a pity that the peloton, when Team Tinkoff was in the head position of the bunch, decided to control the breakaway and to neutralized it, otherwise I feel that Durasek could have obtained a good result".

STAGE RESULTS
1- Froome 3h44'47"
2- Quintana s.t.
3- Valverde 6"
4- Konig s.t.
5- Contador 8"
21- Meintjes 1'24"
56- Grmay 4'42", 75- Arashiro 6'01", 105- Durasek 8'47", 114- Conti 10'20", 140- Mario Costa 10'42", 148- Koshevoy 11'37", 160- Cattaneo 14'18"

GENERAL CLASSIFICATION
1- Quintana 42h21'48"
2- Froome 54"
3- Valverde 1'05"
4- Chaves 2'34"
5- Contador 3'08"
20- Meintjes 8'10"

sito internet: www.teamlampremerida.com
 
 

Vuelta a Espana #11: Kudus and Janse van Rensburg animate break of the day

Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka shows fighting spirit

After a much needed rest day for most of the peloton the Vuelta a Espana continued today with stage 11. Chris Froome (Sky) managed to cross the finish line on the Pena Cabarga in first position ahead of overall leader Nairo Quintana and Alejandro Valverde (both Movistar). Merhawi Kudus was the team’s best placed finisher. He spent most of the day in the break but was caught by the aforementioned riders with 4km to go and eventually crossed the line 2.45min down.

The race started with a blistering pace and it took a long while until 23 riders managed to break clear from the peloton. Kudus and Jacques Janse van Rensburg managed to jump into the group. However, Movistar and Tinkoff were not overly keen on letting the group get a big gap and kept a striking distance. In the finale the gap dropped below the 1min mark and it was then that both Kudus and Janse van Rensburg showed our African team’s fighting spirit. The latter was one of the first to attack from the break, but he was pulled back by the others. Kudus then tried to stay out as long as possible, yet when the GC favorites decided to start their fireworks it was all over for him and the remaining break.

Esteban Chaves (Orica-BikeExchange) was the first to give it a real go. He couldn’t sustain his gap though and was reeled in inside the final kilometer, when both Valverde and Quintana tried to outclimb Froome, who eventually stayed calm enough to take the win on the day.

Merhawi Kudus – Rider

After yesterday’s rest day a lot of teams tried to be present in the break. At the beginning it was really hard. The break took more than one hour to forge clear, but luckily I made it together with Jacques. With 90km to we had a gap of nearly 5min, but then the peloton really picked up the pace and the gap came down quickly. In the end I gave all I had to stay upfront. We got caught on the final climb, but I guess that cycling.


Team Dimension Data For Qhubeka

Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka was founded in 2007, steadily working its way up from a regional team to now being a World Tour team with bases in South Africa and Italy. It’s also known as Africa’s Team due to its focus on helping African talents to the world stage of cycling. The team races to raise funds for the Qhubeka Charity to mobilise people on bicycles in Africa. To contribute to the #BicyclesChangeLivescampaign, click here.

Qhubeka is an Nguni word that means “to progress”, “to move forward”. Qhubeka (qhubeka.org) is part of World Bicycle Relief (worldbicyclerelief.org), a global non-profit organisation dedicated to advancing education, health and economic opportunities by providing simple, sustainable transportation through the power of bicycles.  

Dimension Data (dimensiondata.com) uses the power of technology to help organisations achieve great things in the digital era. As a member of the NTT Group, we accelerate our clients’ ambitions through digital infrastructure, hybrid cloud, workspaces for tomorrow, and cybersecurity. With a turnover of USD 7.5 billion, offices in 58 countries, and 31,000 employees, we deliver wherever our clients are, at every stage of their technology journey. We’re proud to be the Official Technology Partner of Amaury Sport Organisation, organiser of the Tour de France, and the title partner of the cycling team, Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka.

Learn more about the team at www.africasteam.com. 

All images attached to the press release can be used with the respective image credit in combination to this release.