The final day of the first week of the Vuelta a España was an animated affair and Cannondale-Garmin was in on the stage ten action. Ben King and Davide Villella made a 40-rider group that split from the main bunch before the early categorized climb.

“Days like this are good for the breakaway, so we had to the idea to go into the move,” said sport director Bingen Fernandez. “Everyone else had this idea, too, so the break was too big, but I was happy to see the guys were active and following the plan. It was also good that Villella showed he was good today after his crash yesterday.”

With 55 kilometers left to race, the escape group had returned to the bunch. Counter-attacks were plentiful, but the peloton hit the bottom of the final categorized climb as one large bunch.

“They raced very hard up the climb,” explained Fernandez. “Our objective was to have André Cardoso in the group at the end, and he was there.”

“It was a good day but an intense day,” said Fernandez. “It was not an easy day for anyone.”

“It’s been an intense first week, so I think everyone is looking forward to the rest day tomorrow,” said Fernandez.