David Arroyo (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) was one of the main players in the 13th stage of the Vuelta a Espana, making it into the day’s escape. Omar Fraile is still the leader of the King of the Mountain classification, although Rubén Plaza is edging nearer with a total of 28 points.

David Arroyo summed up the stage: “In the meeting before the stage we’d already mentioned that it was a stage where the escape could last until the finish line. The terrain was right for it and it was hard to control. I was lucky to be able to make it into escape, always with the objective of winning the stage, but with a group of 24 riders it’s very complicated. So no luck, but I’m happy with my performance."

The rider from Talavera de la Reina added that: “It is very complicated to win in such numerous escapes, especially when there are teams with more than one representative there, you can’t always be in every breakaway and keep your eye on everyone. Anyway, the winner proved to have very good legs and he did it. For my part, I feel better and better every day, we now have three tough mountain stages ahead, let’s see if everything goes well and we can have good races."

Regarding the level of cycling coming from the team, he concluded: “Right now we’re happy, we’re having good presence, fighting for stage victories, like when Pello [Bilbao] almost won and with the King of the Mountain jersey for almost two weeks now. We’re happy, but we’re still missing the icing on the cake, a stage win, we know it’s very difficult but we are trying for this every single day and we won’t give up until the Vuelta finishes in Madrid."

“The stage was a torture," Fraile said. "We tried to go in the break, it was a crazy start. It took 70 km for the break to go. Then we stayed in the peloton to save strength for tomorrow. I rested.

"It seems that tomorrow can be a quiet day for me, because I'm not interested in the break. The key will be the two stages in the Asturias. My rivals will be Plaza and people who can go in the breaks. It is important to catch one some day and take as many points as I can."