It was not an easy ending to the Vuelta a Andalucia (Ruta del Sol) Sunday with a rolling 169.8-kilometer stage culminating with an tricky, uphill sprint finish.

 

Most at risk was race leader Chris Froome (Sky) who could not afford to finish behind a time gap with a precarious two-second lead over Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo), but he avoided misfortune with a 6th place in the sprint and cemented the overall for the five-day race in Spain.

 

While Juan José Lobato (Movistar) pulled off another surprise early jump to win the thorny finish, an attentive Bob Jungels finished in the top 15 and ahead of the first inevitable split, moving him into 10th overall. 

 

 

"Bob knew it was important to be in the front for the finish and it paid off. We knew there would be time gaps in this finish, and he was 13th and didn’t lose any time and gained one spot in the GC,” said director Kim Andersen. “It was a very hard week of racing and yesterday was very difficult in the wet and cold. Today we had Jesse [Sergent] unable to start as he fell ill overnight with a fever so we had only four start today.”

 

Although Jungels sprinted to the highest finish for Trek Factory Racing the team plan revolved around Fabio Silvestre in the finale. They assisted him into a great position into the last kilometer, but after a week of steep climbs and hard racing his legs did not comply with the tough rise to the line.

 

“It was not easy for the last kilometer; it was uphill and 6% [gradient] for the last bit,”explained Josu Larrazabal, Trek Factory Racing’s trainer and second sport director for the race. “We were looking to Fabio Silvestre for the sprint, and the team put him in good position into the top 10 at the end, but it has been a hard week, and also today was very fast, and he just did not have the power on the uphill finish. But we are happy that he was second the first day, and also today he showed he was able to get into good position at the end, he just didn’t have enough left to finish it off.”

 

It was an arduous week for Trek Factory Racing as untimely punctures, crashes, and illness wreaked havoc on the team leaving them with a skeleton crew by the final stages. Fränk Schleck and Bauke Mollema were forced from the race in the first days, a result of injury and illness, but Bob Jungels, 22, picked up the reins and rode amazing all week, capping it today with a strong finish and sliding into the top 10 GC.

 

Larrazabal heaped praise on the young talent: “He did a great week; we are very satisfied with how he rode, especially in the time trial. From that point on he did his best, but honestly the climbs did not suit him. Also, without losing the 46 seconds from the puncture on the second stage he would be seventh in the GC and in a race like this, with such an exceptional field, it is a very good result.”