David Arroyo and Luis Leon Sanchez found themselves in a good position when they had joined the right break in today's stage of the Vuelta a Espana. In the end, they left the race empty-handed but David Arroyo is pleased with his improved feelings.

David Arroyo had gone into the Vuelta a Espana with lofty GC ambitions but the Spaniard has gradually lost lots of time. Today he bounced back with a strong showing when he and teammate Luis Leon Sanchez joined the right break in stage 14.

In the end, both ran out of legs and Arroyo had to settle for 8th. However, he is now 21st overall and feeling better and Sanchez took the mountains jersey.

"The feelings are gradually getting better so I am happy," he said. "Now we reach a terrain that suits me better. When we were in the break, some riders didn't work. We raised the tempo and nobody joined. We preferred to keep the pace up and we were caught.

"Then the group was smaller and we cooperated better but it wasn't to be even though we had hoped. But it was one more day where we fought for the victory. That's the beauty and in the coming days we will continue making war and trying.

"Every day we get closer to the win and I hope that we will hit the jackpot. We will keep looking for the victory that we deserve. We have already been on the podium 20 times and it is a reward for our fight. We will see if we can take the victory that would be the icing on the cake."

"We really wanted to make it happen," manager Jaime Garzon said. "The problem was the lack of cooperation in the first break. Then there was a selection but it is a shame that we lacked the strength at the end. But have to remember the emotion and excitement of the fans. Maybe we didn't have the best day but we were up against strong rivals.

"We defended the mountains jerseu but we had started to dream about the stage win. We had two good riders in the break and that gave us hope. We got a lot encouragement from fans along the road, on the internet and in private messages. We will try to make the race exciting. People appreciate stages likes this one and we will continue to chase the win."