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Vuelta a España. Stage 11. Solid 6th place for Aleksandr Vlasov atop Alto de La Farrapona
Astana Pro Team rider Aleksandr Vlasov attacked from the red jersey group at the final kilometer to the top of Alto de La Farrapona and finished 6th, right behind five riders from the daily breakaway.
The leader of the Kazakh team was able to gain some seconds on his rivals. In the end of the day he is still 15th in the general classification, 6.47 behind the race leader Primoz Roglic, who still keeps the red jersey. In the same time Vlasov is just 2 minutes far from the Top-10 of the overall standings.
- The stage was very tough with many hard climbs and in the end everyone was tired. However, I felt quite good during the day and my teammates did a perfect job for me. I started the final climb with five riders around me and they provided me a good help. On the decisive part of La Farrapona I still had Gorka and Ion Izagirre next to me. It’s a pity we did not catch the break, but anyway, when I saw a possibility, I tried to attack to gain some time on my rivals. Now I hope to recover well after today’s performance because tomorrow we will have the queen stage with the finish atop Angliru, - said Aleksandr Vlasov.
The 11th stage of La Vuelta moved the peloton to the Asturian mountains: the riders passed a 170-km-long distance from Villaviciosa to the top of the first category climb Alto de La Farrapona (16.5 km, 6.2%). Alongside the last very long and hard ascent, there were four more climbs (3 first category climbs and 1 third category climb).
There were many attacks at the start and in a moment a group of 8 riders went away together with Astana’s rider Ion Izagirre. But, on the slopes of Alto de la Colladona the peloton came across this group, while after several new attacks another group of 8 riders broke away to create the daily breakaway.
Five riders from this breakaway could stay clear in front till the end, playing the stage victory: David Gaudu won ahead of Marc Soler in head-to-head uphill sprint after both riders attacked from the break.
Astana’s Aleksandr Vlasov, who was staying in front in the group of the red jersey, made his attack at the last kilometer of the stage to finish 6th.
Tomorrow will be held the queen’s 12th stage of the Vuelta a España: 109.4 km from Pola de Laviana to the top of the iconic super hard climb Alto de l’Angliru.
Photo credit: © Getty Images
