Despite rainy conditions in Eibar, Colombian Nairo Quintana managed to win the fourth stage of the Tour of the Basque Country two seconds ahead of his countryman Sergio Luis Henao.
Despite rainy conditions in Eibar, Colombian Nairo Quintana managed to win the fourth stage of the Tour of the Basque Country two seconds ahead of his countryman Sergio Luis Henao.
Quintana, who rides for Movistar, broke free from a group of seven general classification (GC) contenders to claim victory for the particular stage. Overall, he is placed six seconds behind Henao. Richie Porte of Team Sky and Alberto Contador of Saxo-Tinkoff are tied in the third spot. Simon Spilak of Katusha finished 10 seconds after Porte and Contador. All of these cyclists finished the stage in the lead group.
Carlos Alberto Betancur Gomez and Jean-Christophe Peraud, both riding for AGR2 La Mondiale, also managed to finish in the leading group. Tejay van Garderen of BMC and Andrew Talansky of Garmin-Sharp didn’t make it in time.
Henao finished in third place during the stage but still managed to maintain the overall lead in the competition.
With regards to his win, Quintana said that it was an important one because the Tour of the Basque Country is one of biggest races that is part of the World Tour. He added that his victory is a major confidence boost because of the difficulties, especially with the weather encountered during the race.
He also stated there were just few attacks, because the rain made it hard to determine how rival riders were faring. He said he kept his mind cold during the Arrate climb to prevent errors in timing then took risks while riding downhill. He added that he took chances during the final metres, and it eventually paid off.
Peter Velits of Omega Pharma-Quickstep, Eduard Vorganov of Katusha, Matteo Montaguti of AGR2 La Mondiale, Daniele Ratto of Cannondale, and Rein Taramae of Cofidis launched attacks with just 100km left in the fourth stage. Of these riders, Velits, Ratto, and Montaguti managed to last the longest but still failed to make it in the end.
The next phase these cyclists have to face is a 166-km long stage with 10 rated climbs. Quintana says he knows this route well but adds that it will be hard because he and other competitors will be facing strong riders like Sergio, Contador, and Porte.
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