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Pujol ninth in long breakaway effort

September 05, 2010 - Filed under: TestTeam

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Cervélo TestTeam’s Oscar Pujol (ESP) crossed the line ninth after finishing in the winning breakaway in Sunday’s seven-climb stage from Calpe to Alcoy at the Vuelta a España.

Pujol snuck into the day’s 11-man attack in Sunday’s 187.7 km ninth stage to assure a Cervélo presence in a potentially explosive stage. David Lopez (ESP) won out of the breakaway and Pujol crossed the line 3:52 back.

“I am just empty right now,” Pujol said at the line. “We wanted to have someone in the breakaway today because you never know what could happen. I tried yesterday and today I managed to work into the group. It was a hard stage, with a lot of climbs. I am content to be out there, but I didn’t have the legs to try to play for the stage victory.”

With Pujol in the move, Cervélo’s Carlos Sastre (ESP) and Xavier Tondo (ESP) could ride safely in the main pack. Overnight leader Igor Antón (ESP) retained the leader’s jersey as the main pack crossed the line at 7:02 back, with Sastre and Tondo in good position.

Tondo remains fourth overall at 42 seconds behind and Sastre slotted into 17th at 2:11 back.

“It was a very hard stage today, with headwind the entire time, so we couldn’t really try to take advantage of it,” Sastre said. “I think people are very tired from this first week of the Vuelta. It’s been hot and the stages have been a real battle every day. This is a very hard Vuelta this year. The real battle begins in the north of Spain, in Lagos de Covadonga, Cotobello and the Bola del Mundo. That’s where the Vuelta will be decided.”

Staff and riders from Cervélo TestTeam drove 400km following the stage going into Monday’s first of two rest days. The 65th Vuelta clicks back into gear Tuesday with the 10th stage.

Vuelta a España Stage 9 Results: Calpe – Alcoy 187.7 km

1^st	David Lopez (ESP)	5:20:51	35.10 km/h (21.81 mph)
2^nd	Roman Kreuziger (CZE)	+0.06
3^rd	Giampaolo Caruso (ITA)	+0.13
4^th	David Moncoutie (FRA)	+0.21
5^th	Blel Kadri (FRA)	+0.27

9^th	Oscar Pujol (ESP)	+3.52
27^th	Xavier Tondo (ESP)	+7.02
29^th	Carlos Sastre (ESP)	s.t.
39^th	Íñigo Cuesta (ESP)	+7.19
92^nd	Philip Deignan (IRL)	+14.46
142^nd	Theo Bos (NED)	+26.08
151^st	Xavier Florencio (ESP)	s.t.
163^rd	Stefan Denifl (AUT)	s.t.
180^th	Thor Hushovd (NOR)	s.t.

General Classification after Stage 9:

1^st	Igor Anton (ESP)	37:56:42	38.01 km/h (23.62 mph)
2^nd	Joaquin Rodriguez (ESP)	s.t.
3^rd	Vincenzo Nibali (ITA)	+0.02

4^th	Xavier Tondo (ESP)	+0.42
17^th	Carlos Sastre (ESP)	+2.11
30^th	Íñigo Cuesta (ESP)	+5.56
51^st	Oscar Pujol (ESP)	+17.19
94^th	Xavier Florencio (ESP)	+48.25
123^rd	Philip Deignan (IRL)	+1.08.54
131^st	Thor Hushovd (NOR)	+1.13.49
133^rd	Stefan Denifl (AUT)	+1.15.02
174^th	Theo Bos (NED)	+1.36.14