Late attack yields just seven seconds for the Catalan rider but earns him more confidence for future stages
After another time trialling disaster on stage ten, Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) took back some morale boosting time at the stage eleven finish on la Manzaneda. The Catalan rider was only seven seconds ahead of the select group of riders that he had attacked from, which included new race leader Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky) and defending champion Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale); with the gradient more gentle than many other climbs, and with a strong headwind to deal with, his condition is what gives the Katusha captain confidence for the stages ahead.
"I would have attacked earlier,” he explained after the finish, “but the strong wind didn’t allow me to do what I had in my mind.
"Anyway,” he continued, “my shape is still brilliant and, even if today I didn’t gain a lot, maybe in the next stages things could be even better and I can gain 20 or 30 seconds more."
Although he is still 2’56” behind Wiggins, Rodriguez has effectively gained 27 seconds on the red jersey, since he was 3’23” behind Wiggins’ teammate Chris Froome after the time trial. With the kilometres against the clock well and truly over for this Vuelta, and with plenty more mountains on the way – including a stage finish at the legendary Alto de L'Angliru on Sunday – he feels confident that he can rise back up the classification.
“Also because non-climbers spent a lot of energy today, so tomorrow they might be tired and lose some more seconds. After this stage I have even more motivation, because I feel I can still fight for this Vuelta.”
Rodriguez’ ninth place on the stage also earned him seven points in the green jersey classification, further cementing his lead in the competition.