Trentino recidivism, Rock approach of Froome

Photo: Jose Jordan, Agence France-Presse
“I really wanted this victory. It was a long time that I thought to this step because the climb was tough but steady,” said Matteo Trentin to the finish.

Alhama de Murcia — Italian Matteo Trentin (Quick-Step), winner of the 10th stage of the Tour of Spain, earned her second victory of the Tour 2017 Tuesday in Alhama de Murcia (south-east), where the British Chris Froome has retained the red jersey despite the offensive and the Irishman Nicolas Roche.

Trentino, already a winner of the 4th stage in Tarragona in a bunch sprint, this time won a mid-mountain stage : he used a tactic that would not have denied the world champion, Peter Sagan, escaping within a group of a dozen riders to make the full points in the green jersey classification.

After have stood up well in the final ascent, the Italian was easily beaten on the line his last companion breakaway, the Spaniard José Joaquin Rojas (Movistar), a native of the region of Murcia. Another Spaniard, Jaime Roson (Caja Rural), finished third.

“I really wanted this victory. It was a long time that I thought to this step because the climb was tough but steady. It is a climb that I can control, ” said Trentino on arrival.

The honors continued for the team Quick-Step, which already has four bouquets in this Vuelta thanks to the Belgian Yves Lampaert (2nd step) and the French Julian Alaphilippe (8th step).

And after winning five stages of the Tour of Italy and then five of the Tour de France, the belgian team can also do well in Spain : “We need to win five here, too !” was launched in Trentino, which also aims at the conquest of the green jersey.

The work of Nicolas Roche

Among the favorites, arrived at over 4 minutes, the good shot of the day is the work of Nicolas Roche (BMC), 3rd in the general : Irish party in the winding downhill to the arrival, he grappillé 29 seconds on the other tenors and he is closer to only 36 seconds to Froome (Sky) in general, to the height of the Colombian Esteban Chaves (Orica, 2nd at 36 seconds).

“Nico [Roche] do not worried me too much. I wanted to stay in safety, but it has clearly made a good performance. It is in a great form at The Vuelta, so congratulations to him, ” admitted Froome, beautiful player.

For the rest, this transition did not deliver major changes to the general, in spite of an acceleration in the ultimate descent of the Italian Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain), which has not had the desired impact.

“[Nibali] has a little pressure in the descent, ” said Froome, who is very vigilant. Me, I didn’t want to take risks. I am in a good position overall, and there was a certain distance between the foot of the climb and the finish. We went there quietly with my teammates and we kept control. “

On Wednesday, the first major arrival in the mountains with the 11th step (187,5 km), ending at the astronomical Observatory of Calar Alto (Andalusia), at more than 2000 meters of altitude. Two passes of 1st category are linked in the last 60 kilometres, a breeding ground for offensive of great magnitude, especially if the rain and the cold weather in the mix…