Team missed out on “well-deserved” stage win but Adrian Palomares awarded overall combativity prize
The Andalucia-Caja Granada team has declared itself well satisfied with its performance in the Vuelta a España. Although the team failed to pick up what it regarded as a “well-deserved” stage victory, its riders were on the attack almost every day; a move that netted rider Adrian Palomares the overall combativity prize for the three week race.
"The team performance was truly splendid,” said the team’s general manager Antonio Cabello. “I feel great satisfaction with the work, confirmed by the podium for Palomares, who really represents the whole team. Everybody contributed and I’m very happy about it.
“We have been by far the most combative team in a competition with the best teams in the world," he added.
There was at least one Andalucia-Caja Granada rider in the stage-long breakaway on fifteen of the twenty-one stages of the Vuelta – with two of the twenty-one being time trials – usually in the company of one or more members of the Cofidis team. Palomares himself was present in the long breaks on stages six, eight and eleven, and was awarded the stage combativity prize on the second and third occasion.
Teammate Jesus Rosendo was out front on stages two, fifteen, sixteen and seventeen, but was only awarded one daily combativity prize on the third of those occasions. Jose Vicente Toribio was in three long breakaways, Jose Alberto Benitez and Antonio Cabello were both in two, while Vicente David Bernabeu and Jose Luis Roldan were in one each.
Unfortunately for Andalucia-Caja Granada though, the team’s race-long aggression did not translate into stage victories, making the Professional Continental team the only one of the race’s four wildcards not to win. French team Cofidis was almost as aggressive as the Spanish team, and picked up two stages through David Moncoutié and Rein Taaramäe, as well as picking up the mountains jersey through Moncoutié.
Skil-Shimano took a stage through emerging German sprinter Marcel Kittel, while Geox-TMC took stage through Juan José Cobo, with the Bisonte de la Pesa, of course, winning the race overall.
As a small team with no big names though, Andalucia-Caja Granada is very pleased with itself.