After riding superbly on Saturday's stage to take the red leader's jersey in the Vuelta a España and thus join Shay Elliott and Sean Kelly as the only Irishmen to lead the Tour of Spain, Nicolas Roche again pulled out a strong performance yesterday.
However, Roche's fourth place finish on the dauntingly-steep, kilometre-long ramp into Valdepeñas de Jaén wasn't quite enough to remain on top, with the Spaniard Dani Moreno (Katusha) darting away on that final climb.
He broke clear at the bottom and opened up an eight second advantage on Roche. That plus the 10 second time bonus for winning the stage overcame his 17 second deficit and saw him end the day one slender second ahead.
Remain focused
Roche, riding at his best level to date, accepted his fourth place was a good ride but was determined to fight on. "I'm not happy to lose the jersey," he told The Irish Times.
“I felt good, the finish suited him better than me and we’ll see how the race goes. I’m going to remain fully focused and keep riding as well as I can.”
Moreno, winner of the Fleche Wallone Classic this year, said he had attacked at the same point as Rodriguez had when winning the same stage two years ago. “Those last 100 metres were interminable, but if there was one day of the Vuelta I could be leader, it was today,” Moreno sai.
“Nicolas only had a small advantage, so I was determined to try and snatch the lead if I could. I’ve never led a Grand Tour before, so this was a very special moment for me.”
