Fabian Cancellara (Radioshack) proved that he is approaching his best form when he finished 2nd behind Daniel Moreno (Katusha) in yesterday's uphill finish of the Vuelta a Espana. He was, however, unable to match the impressive acceleration by the Spaniard and jokingly pointed to the weight difference as the explanation.

Fabian Cancellara has set his sights on the world championships and has built up the second half of the season entirely on the road race in Firenze in September. He currently rides the Vuelta to finish his preparation for his biggest target.

Along the way, he will test himself in a number of select stages and he tried his hand in yesterday's uphill finish. When he launched his attack, Daniel Moreno had, however, already opened up a massive gap and the Swiss was unable to bridge across, ultimately finishing 2nd.

The classics specialist was not too concerned by his loss against the diminutive and explosive climber.

“When 55kg are jumping away it’s different from 85kg going,” he said with a laugh.

Many have suggested that Cancellara may have won the stage, had he timed his action a little bit better. He refused the criticism and claimed that he had not even been sure whether to make an attempt or not.

“At the end it’s easy to say I went too late, but I had a great team today, riding well for Chris (Horner, ed.) and then for me on the stage," he said. " The last 20k I was trying to decide if I should try for it or not.  I figured I had nothing to lose.  It was something I needed to try, so I’m happy and good with the result.” 

The day was full of runner-up spots for the Luxembourgish team as race leader Chris Horner missed a split in the peloton and fell to 2nd, 3 seconds behind Vincenzo Nibali (Astana). The 41-year old American was not too concerned about the loss. His great sensations lead him to believe that he may even win the race overall and in the bigger picture, it may be an advantage not to lead the race too early.

“It was a beautiful stage, but there was a small gap at the end and that happens sometimes," he said. "For me it’s no big problem since now I can finish the stage, return to the bus, shower, relax and prepare for the next stage.  There is only a small time difference of three seconds so we will try to take the jersey again when we go to the mountains.  I’m going to always remember yesterday and how it felt to take the jersey but the important day to have it is at the end.  It’s not ideal for the sponsors to lose the jersey of course, but it’s ok for now and I will use my good legs to get it back.  I plan to have a fantastic Vuelta.”

The Vuelta continues with what could be the first stage for the sprinters. Starting at 15.00 you can follow the action on CyclingQuotes.com/live.