Winner Anacona took his first professional victory on the biggest scene of them all when he won today's big mountain stage in the Vuelta a Espana. Having missed the overall lead by just 9 seconds, the Colombian had initially targeted the race lead but quickly changed his focus to the stage win.

A few days before the start of the Vuelta a Espana, Lampre-Merida saw their big plans for the race getting ruined when Chris Horner was taken out of the race due to high cortisol levels. Today the team bounced back from the disappointment when an excellent Winner Anacona won the big mountain stage that finished on the Aramon Valdelinares climb.

Having recently finished third in the Tour of Utah, Anacona had shown good form going into the race and he nearly made the big coup as he was in the virtual lead all day and just missed out on the red jersey by 9 seconds. However, that didn’t take anything away from an impressive ride though that was crowned by an excellent solo performance on the final climb.

"Today I am in seventh heaven," he said. "I have to say thanks to the whole team, from the management that has always believed in me even in the hardest times, the DS in today's race as he motivated me toachieve this victory, to all the staff who always do a perfect job. Finally, let me dedicate the victory to myself and the work I have done to get out of bad luck after I turned professional. Now I hope to have continuity in performance and give plenty of those joys to Lampre-Merida.

"When the group was formed, I didn’t think we’d go very far. Being three minutes down on GC, I thought the bunch wouldn’t give us much space but we’ve reached an advantage of 8.20 and I’ve started believing that I could become the race leader.

"I knew this was a difficult stage towards the end and I attacked in the second last climb with the aim of taking the red jersey. But when I heard that Sky was pulling behind, I decided to attack a second time with 6km to go but this time, it was for the stage win.

"I came to this race aiming for a top 10 overall. Because of negligence, I lost thirty seconds at Arcos (stage 3). Also yesterday, I lost about one minute in the echelons. But my goal of finishing in the top has revived today. I’d like to look for another stage win as well.

"I started 2013 on the back foot and I was left with no racing for six months [he broke his ankle in a crash caused bya dog]. I only resumed racing at Tour de Pologne, just before the Vuelta but I knew that last year’s Vuelta was my first step towards performing in this year’s Vuelta.

"What Parra and Lucho [Herrera] achieved was very big. But Colombian cycling didn’t die after them. In the meantime there have been good cyclists like Santiago Botero or Álvaro Mejía. Now a great generation carries the flag for our country, Nairo, Urán, Chaves, the boys from Team Colombia… and there are many more to come. Yesterday, Ayer Miguel López won the Tour de l’Avenir in France. I’ve heard of his qualities but I don’t know him personally even though we come from the same province (Boyaca).

"This is the third time I’m taking part in the Vuelta and I’ve always been asked the question [about his first name]. My father Rodrigo Antonio Anacona who is a policeman has always been a big cycling enthusiast. He was used to listening to the cycling reports on the radio and he was a fan of Andrew Hampsten and Peter Winnen in the 80s. He wanted to name me under his two idols. He didn’t know any word of English though, so he made a mistake and I became Winner. It’s the first time in my pro career that I can pay homage to my name. I’m obviously delighted.

"I’m up for contract with Lampre-Merida. My agent is considering various options. We’ll chose what’s best for my future."

The great day for the team was completed by Damiano Cunego who finished third.

""Today we hope reverse the fortunes of our Vuelta," sports director Joxean Fernandez Matxin said. "The tactic this morning was clear, we could not miss the escape of the day. The stage was perfectly suited to Winner as the path and I immediately saw a great desire to redeem his presence in the race.

"He was the best man in the GC and he knew that if the peloton had not controlled the race today we could do harm to so many people. I had asked at least one teammate to join him and I have to say that Damiano has really done his best to comply with this request, I am grateful to him as he worked well and I'm happy for him as he finished the stage in 3rd which shows that his condition is improving.

"Winner was phenomenal in the finale and I hope that with this victory he has finally left behind the bad luck that has dogged him since he turned professional."