Nicolas Roche (Saxo-Tinkoff) continued his outstanding Vuelta a Espana when he rode up the steep Alto de Hazallanas alongside the race favourites. In the end, he lost a bit of time and dropped to 3rd on GC but is satisfied with his performance on one of the toughest stages of the race.

Nicolas Roche has been a positive surprise in this year's Vuelta a Espana. Today he faced his first big test on the steep Alto de Hazallanas and the brutal climb was expected to give an indication of Roche's ability to fulfil his top 5 ambition.

The Irishman did a good job to stay in the main chase group which rode in pursuit of Chris Horner (Radioshack), dangling off the back on numerous occasions but always clawing his way back. In the end, he lost 8 seconds to that group to take 7th and his gutsy ride kept him on the provisional podium in 3rd, 53 seconds behind Horner.

Despite the time loss, Roche was happy with his ride.

”Well, I went 100% and really dug deep in myself all the way up the final brutal climb jumping in and out of the group of favourites," he said. But I'm content and happy with my performance. After doing my very best and going to my maximum physical ability, I can't be disappointed."

Sports director Fabrizio Guidi was equally pleased and now feels that he has a genuine podium candidate in his ranks.

"It was a very tough finish and Nico fought heroically all the way up to the finish line," he said. "After being distanced a few times he made his way back to the other favorites and it is this kind of attitude and condition, which makes him a podium candidate in Madrid."

Teammate Rafal Majka finished 10th to move into 9th on GC and remains a second GC option for the Danish team. Guidi was pleased with the performance of the youngster who is riding his second grand tour this season following a 7th place in the Giro.

"Rafal did an impressive effort as well," he said. "He is still very young, but he is very close to the top riders already. Tomorrow, we'll embrace the rest day re-charging our batteries but we'll also be inspecting the route for the time trial."

The race has its first rest day tomorrow and resumes on Wednesday with the only time trial. Starting at 13.10 CEST you can follow that stage in its entirety on CyclingQuotes.com/live.