One day after Carlos Betancur’s win, Daniel Moreno continued the process of making up for Movistar’s disappointing performance in the queen stage at the Vuelta Asturias by making it two in a row for the Spanish team on the final stage of the race. Having joined forces with the Caja Rural pair on the final climb, the Spaniard easily beat Sergio Pardilla and Hugh Carthy in the 3-rider sprint in Oviedo but third place was enough for Carthy to win the race overall, with Pardilla making it a 1-2 for Caja Rural.

We have gathered a few reactions.

Hugh Carthy battles through bad moment to secure breakthrough win in Asturias

Caja Rural - Seguros RGA continues its ongoing winning streak. On Monday, Hugh Carthy was crowned overall winner of Vuelta a Asturias with teammate Sergio Pardillajoining him on the podium as runner up in second place. Carthy paved the way for his first GC win in the green colors of the team by winning the queen stage of the race in front of Pardilla on day one.
 
The Caja Rural - Seguros RGA riders were very active throughout all three stages of the Spanish race. On stage 2, Fabricio Ferrari finished second and on the final stage, Pardilla and Carthy crossed the line in second and third place, respectively, after Daniel Moreno (Movistar). Ángel Madrazo (7) and Ferrari (10) helped the team finish with no less than four riders in top10 overall and win the team classification.
 
Hugh Carthy said: “I wanted to win the first stage on El Acebo. We thought it was possible and therefore, we worked very hard that day. I knew that I had to attack to gain time on my rivals before the last two days. I’m glad it worked out. It’s always difficult to control a race. I had a bad moment on the climb yesterday but to win a race, you have to be able to overcome such moments. I suffered but you always have to suffer in order to win”.
 
The next race for Carthy and Caja Rural - Seguros RGA is Vuelta Ciclista Comunidad de Madrid, which takes place this week from the 7th-8th of May.

Daniel Moreno dedicates first Movistar victory to newly-born daughter

Movistar Team claimed all the successes not gathered by Briton Hugh Carthy (CJR), overall winner of the Vuelta a Asturias, to close an impressive five weeks before the Giro. Fourteen victories in barely 36 days - 18 in total this season, with eight different riders; just two short of the pre-'Corsa Rosa' record set a year ago - have been claimed by the Blues after today's success in Oviedo by Dani Moreno, a rider who came to the 'Vueltina' with a lot of wear and tear, both physically and psychologically, yet bounced back to find the right path and close the Spanish stage race with a big smile.

The favourites didn't move today until the decisive Alto del Violeo (Cat-2), just 7km from the end of a short (120km), lumpy, moving stage. A strong team acceleration from the José Luis Jaimerena-led group was countered by an attack from Carthy, quickly reached down by Dani Moreno before Pardilla (CJR) and Figueiredo (RPB) bridged back to cross the KOM banner together. As the Portuguese rider was left behind on the descent, the trio cooperated perfectly until the finish, where a well-timed effort from Moreno was enough to beat Pardilla (2nd) and Carthy (3rd). Today's win also takes Moreno up to 3rd overall.

Dani Moreno said: 

“It's been a great satisfaction, how this Vuelta a Asturias has ended for us. We did a great race also on day one, but Caja Rural was too strong for us. It's been a good taste for us after all, with yesterday's win by Carlos and mine today.

"I didn't know the Violeo climb, and it hwas a tough one for me. I was actually holding my horses a bit through the ascent, because I didn't have a clear idea of how the final slopes were. We started it off strong after Ucha was caught because the peloton was already strung out and, from man number five or six in the peloton, suffering was too much to overtake and enter the climb in good place. Once Carthy attacked, I started to control the gap, seeing how long I could let him go while I saved some legs for the last part of the climb. Later on, seeing that I was going well, I followed his wheel, with 'Pardillita' reaching us a bit later. We took some good turns until the finish and I could win this one for the team.

"It's a very happy, special win for me, because my daughter Lisa was born last week and I had only three, four days to spend with her and her mum before coming to Asturias. I'm so excited to get back home and profit from my rest weeks to stay with her. It's being a hard start to the season: many weeks on top form, lots of time out of home, at altitude training, competitions where the weather wasn't good for us... I plan to enjoy every single second of my rest and give my best in the second part of the season."