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ST13 : Vuelta a España :: Bilbao - Urdax-Dantxarinea - 213 km
Good 9th place for Smukulis after a long escape
"I knew there was space for escaping - said Gatis Smukulis - because tomorrow there will be a very tough stage and many riders wanted to save energy".
"We left after 20 km - continued the Latvian rider - in what was the longest stage of this Vuelta 2016. Glad about my ninth place, but I'll try again soon”.
The peloton arrived after 30 minutes and no changing in the GC always led by the Colombian Nairo Quintana.
"It has been a waiting day - commented sport director Alexandr Shefer - before the mountain stages. Scarponi rode in the bunch well protected by his teammates and tomorrow we can do well "
Tomorrow, in fact, we expect the queen stage of this edition arriving in the French territory. Will be three first category climbs with the final climb of the Col d'Aubisque: over 16 km with an average gradient of 7.1%.
