Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) took one step closer to winning his first Vuelta al Pais Vasco on Friday, taking out the queen stage to Eibar over Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale).
Valverde closed the gap to a late attack from Michael Woods (Cannondale-Drapac) and Louis Meintjes (UAE Team Emirates) near the summit of the climb, bringing along Bardet and Rigoberto Uran (Cannondale-Drapac), who took third on the stage.
"I attacked and attacked, the others struggled, but I also suffered and it was difficult to create a gap," Valverde said of the final climb. "At the final stretch of the 'new' climb I decided to just set a steady pace, without any attacks, to catch Woods and Meintjes. That way, I could contest the sprint, where I knew I'd be the fastest.
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"I knew the finish perfectly - one who doesn't do might have his doubts about how to tackle that final turn, on full steam or braking a bit before going for the final straight. I knew I had to go full gas, that's why I took the lead with 300m to go and never let anyone go ahead."
Alberto Contador (Trek-Segafredo) trailed across the line three seconds behind Woods and Meintjes, with Ion Izagirre (Bahrain-Merida), Sergio Henao (Sky) and Simon Yates (Orica-Scott) a further dozen seconds down.
Overnight race leader David de la Cruz (Quick-Step Floors) lost contact on the steepest part of the final climb, but rallied to keep himself inside the top 10 overall, coming across the line 22 seconds behind Valverde.
How it unfolded
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest Race Results http://ift.tt/2o9IWJF
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