Threadjack!
Alexis Gougeard of AG2R-La Mondiale made a daring escape from the day's breakaway with more than 40km to go, first with company but mostly by himself, and made it stick with a memorable stage win of the Vuelta a Espana in Ávila. The 22-year-old track/ITT specialist showed his powerful form by holding on to a slim lead over his chasing ex-break-mates Nelson Oliveira, Andrey Amador and Maxime Monfort, holding mere seconds in hand before lengthening it in the final few km for a 40 second win. Well after Gougeard's moment in the sun, Tom Dumoulin of Giant-Alpecin made his own powerful move, stealing back three more seconds from Astana's Fabio Aru, who suffered on the climb and suffered earlier in the stage, calling for a doctor. Aru sped away from the podium ceremony as well, leading to speculation about whether he's OK ahead of tomorrow's final showdown.
Stage Results:
- Alexis Gougeard, AG2R La Mondiale 4:19:20
- Nelson Oliveira, Lampre-Merida, at 0:40
- Maxime Monfort, Lotto Soudal, at 0:44
- Andrey Amador, Movistar Team, s.t.
- Tiago Machado, Team Katusha, s.t.
- Amaël Moinard, BMC Racing Team, s.t.
- Fabio Duarte, Colombia, at 0:53
- David Arroyo, Caja Rural-Seguros RGA, at 1:03
- Christian Knees, Team Sky, at 1:17
- Francisco Ventoso, Movistar Team, s.t.
GC:
- Tom Dumoulin, Team Giant-Alpecin, 78:20:51
- Fabio Aru, Astana Pro Team, at 0:06
- Joaquim Rodriguez, Team Katusha, at 1:24
- Rafal Majka, Tinkoff-Saxo, at 2:31
- Nairo Quintana, Movistar Team, at 3:02
- Alejandro Valverde, Movistar Team, at 3:24
- Esteban Chaves, Orica GreenEdge, at 3:39
- Daniel Moreno Fernandez, Team Katusha, at 3:46
- Mikel Nieve, Team Sky, 4:19
- Louis Meintjes, MTN - Qhubeka, 7:00
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Medina del Campo - Ávila 185.8 km
Welcome to Day 2 of the "Tom Dumoulin tries to hang on to 3 seconds by the skin of his teeth"-show. On todays show our young Dumoulin faces what looks like an easier task than yesterday but he will still have to remain vigilant.
Wall conqueror of the Day: Alejandro Valverde
Because I'm not stupid and Ávila has a proud history with guys of Balaverde's ilk.