The Sierra Nevada Mountains have made their impact on the peloton. Striking out solo seven kilometers from the finish, Alberto Contador (Saxo-Tinkoff) has once again proved himself King in his home country of Spain.  Chris Froome (Sky) meanwhile had to settle for the runner-up position in the face of Contador’s domination.  IAM Cycling’s Sébastien Reichenbach crossed the line in a strong 9th place for the Swiss squad.
 
Looking at the profile of the roads between Montril and Alto Hazallanas offered a chilling prospect for the races.  With more than 1600 meters of elevation gain and pitches of 18% up the final climb, it was a formidable stage.  But even if it was enough to drain the blood from the face of many a rider, it so happened that Sébastien Reichenbach was not among them. 

“What we had planned today was to protect Jérôme Coppel because it worked well on previous stages, and it was still possible for him to climb into the top-10 on the standings,” Reichenbach explained.  “I helped him by working for him at the foot of the climb to try and improve his position, but when we got to the hardest part, I saw that he was not at ease.  So I took the rest of the climb at my own pace, to use mostly as training.” 

The steep slopes did not scare Reichenbach. 

“This is the kind of climb that I like,” he explained.  “When I can go up at my own pace, I can manage my effort very well since I am familiar with these sorts of gradients, which I find on my training routes at home in the Valais.  So I like it very much.”
 
Statements such as these bode well for Reichenbach on the eve of the second mountain stage, which will treat him to gradients of up to 21%. 

“Saturday will be relatively similar, but slightly longer,” the IAM Cycling rider continued.  “It will be important not to forget that we’ll all be a little more fatigued after today, so it will be interesting to see how I recover.”