It was ommendable stage for Jose Gonçalves (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) who obtained 3rd place. The Portuguese rider was close to triumph by being in the day’s escape along with his teammate, Ángel Madrazo. Roche and Zubeldia fought for the stage with Gonçalves, getting ahead at the end. This is the 6th top 10 position for the team in this Vuelta. For his part, Omar Fraile has become the virtual winner of the King of the Mountain Award, all he needs to do now is make it to Madrid in order to win the jersey. Ángel Madrazo made it to the podium as the stage’s Most Combative Rider for the second time this Vuelta, totalling 22 podiums for the team so far this Vuelta.

Omar Fraile was clearly satisfied at the finish-line: “This is a great joy, but we still have to make it to Madrid, we can’t lose sight of that. To win the King of the Mountain Award is something you dream of before you even start, even though you know it’s very difficult, luckily I’m so close now. I wasn’t sure how my body would respond in the third week of my first grand tour, luckily it went better than expected. We almost won a stage with Gonçalves, it’s a shame, we have three chances left to see if we can aim a bit better and get lucky."

Manager Eugenio Goikoetxea had this to say about the day: “We got very close to triumph today, it was within our reach, it’s a shame that they got a bit ahead of him and he wasn’t able to do it. It was a good day for the escape, we got two fresh riders, who are in good shape, in the escape, we can hold nothing against them, we would like to congratulate them and encourage them to keep on fighting, there is still hope. On the other hand, with Omar, let’s hope nothing strange happens, such as falls or illnesses, and we can make it to Madrid without any problems."

Jose Gonçalves said: “It’s a shame because I felt good and I tried to obtain a stage victory, it was so close. They got a few metres ahead of me and I couldn’t catch up. We have three more opportunities left, let’s see how strong we are”.