Roche wins the 18th stage of the Vuelta and faces the Sky their first victory

USPA NEWS - The Irish cyclist Nicolas Roche released Thursday his team, Team Sky, as victorious in a magnificent day of cycling, especially in the final third of the 18th stage of the Vuelta. Dumoulin retained the leader's red jersey.

Candidates for the red jersey measured forces on the ramps of the Alto de la Quesera, 1st category, the culmination of many kilometers undulating in which fatigue was gradually accumulating in the legs of runners. Fabio Aru (Astana) tried again and again to Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin) topped with excellent note that the first of three tests before coming to Madrid. The Dutch not only was welded to the wheel of Italian, but even bared his teeth at a later ledge to the last drop. Just an appetizer for the excellent menu ahead.

The early stage circulated to over 50 km / h, with continuous escape attempts aborted by the ambition of different teams in the peloton. The side wind speed and even led the group fragmented into two parts, with the leader Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin) in the rear. Fixed issue for the red jersey, forged the strongest move of the day, consisting of 25 riders: Nicolas Roche (Sky), Sebastien Minard (Ag2r), Darwin Atapuma (BMC), José Gonçalves and Angel Madrazo (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA ), Cyril Lemoine and Dominique Rollin (Cofidis), Pieter Serry (Etixx-Quick Step), Arnaud Courteille (FDJ), Simon Pellaud and Vicente Reynes (IAM).

Also Kristijan Durasek (Lampre-Merida), Bart De Clercq, Adam Hansen and Tosh Van der Sande (Lotto-Soudal), Jose Joaquin Rojas (Movistar), Jim Songezo (MTN-QHUBEKA), André Cardoso (Cannondale-Garmin), Jerome Cousin and Cyril Gautier (Europcar), Eduard Vorganov (Katusha), Timo Roosen (LottoNL-Jumbo), Daniele Bennati and Pawel Poljanski (Saxo-Tinkoff) and Haimar Zubeldia (Trek).

They quickly reached six minutes before starting to climb the Alto Santibanez de Ayllon, 3rd category. However, MTN-QHUBEKA and Giant-Alpecin rushed to control the break. South Africans defended the tenth place overall Louis Meintjes, threatened by Belgian Bart De Clercq (Lotto-Soudal). His was the work until the last 50 kilometers of stage, just as Astana decided to take over. The leak was dismantled before the start of La Quesera, with the strongest in the top positions. Two of them, Roche (Team Sky) and Zubeldia (Trek), crowned the port with enough advantage to settle including the stage win. Most top speed of the Irish gave Team Sky their first win in this Vuelta.