News

08 September 2009

Simon has become the first Australian to claim a stage win in all three Grand Tours when he took out Stage 10 at the Vuelta Espagna today.

From kilometer zero, the pace was high with a number of riders wanting to get in the days break. A big group went from the start which included Cervelo's Dominique Rollin however after 5km it was brought back. Simon went with the next attack and after some fast racing a group of 19 was formed. With Caisse d'Epargne controlling the peloton behind, the breakaway group were able to establish a strong time gap of 4 minutes after just one hour of racing. The gap eventually went out to 8 minutes and at this point it was clear that the winner would come from the group of 19.

"The closest rider in the group on GC was at about 13 minutes so the peloton had no reason to bring us back. The breakaway wasn't working very well with quite a few guys missing turns every now and then but we did just enough to make sure our time gap was ok and we would stay away to the finish. I was feeling pretty good throughout the stage but as there were so many of us in the break we didn't need to ride that hard. When there's a group this size you're not hitting the wind that often so I was feeling good but it was still a bit unknown how everyone would be on the last climb".

With the breakaway of 19 riders dominated the 162km stage from Alicante to Murcia, it was left until the final climb up the fourth category Alto de la Cresta del Gallo before the attacks started. Linus Gerdemann (Milram) and Aitor Perez Arrieta (Contentpolis-Ampo) were the first to attack and gained a gap on the chasing riders. After Gerdemann and Arrieta were brought back, a four-man breakaway including Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Slipstream), Jakob Fuglsang (Saxo Bank), Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana) and Simon was formed.

"When Hesjedal, Fuglsang, Vinokourov and myself got away and it was looking like the winner would come from one of us so I was quite confident that if it came down to a bunch sprint I could win.The other guys were attacking a lot so I was trying to control the race as best I could".

As the four riders rode under the flamme rouge, the cat and mouse tactics started. Simon was well placed in 3rd position with Vinokourov behind him. As Vino started the sprint, Simon was quick to latch onto his wheel and claim the victory from a fast finishing Hesjedal with Fuglsang rounding out the podium.

"I'm very happy with the win. Since my non-selection in the Tour de France it has been an objective of mine to race the Vuelta and go for a stage so to achieve this today is just awesome"

RESULTS

1st Simon Gerrans (Cervelo Test Team)
2nd Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin)
3rd Jakob Fuglsang (Saxo Bank)

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