Damien Gaudin excelled in unusual terrain when he climbed with the likes of Luis Leon Sanchez and Damiano Cunego in today's stage of the Vuelta a Espana. The Ag2r rider is using the race and his aggressive riding to prepare for next year's spring classsics.

Known as a strong time triallist and a rider for the cobbled classics, Damien Gaudin was the great surprise in today's stage of the Vuelta a Espana. When the big 11-rider break split on the final climb, the Frenchman managed to stay with some great climbers like Luis Leon Sanchez and Damiano Cunego

In the end, the break was caught but that was no big issue for Gaudin. The Ag2r rider mainly used his effort to train for his favourite races in next year's sprint.

“It’s been a while I didn’t breakaway in a bike race," he said. "It feels good. We didn’t make it to the finish but I enjoyed. This is my first Grand Tour since 2010. I want to finish it to gain power for the Spring Classics next year. I feel better and better at the Vuelta. I won’t need to race too much before my goals in April.”