The riders did the last 58 kilometers of the stage. Early in the morning they set out in Pola de Lena, accompanied from the car by the Asturian masseur Ignacio Bernardino, “Tato”. The Movistar leaders passed through Mieres to head towards Riosa, where the Cordal climb begins, the third of the ascents on race day. Taking extreme precautions in the descent, they reached Pola de Lena again to face what will be the last ascent, through La Cobertoria to the top of Gamoniteiru.
Once at the top of the new Asturian colossus, Enric Mas was surprised, both by the harshness of the port and by the beauty of the landscape. “This stage is going to be super nice. With a clear day the views are spectacular ”, said the Mallorcan, very excited about the Vuelta:“ I feel even better than on the Tour. We have rested and trained well, so very motivated. We are going to see how the Vuelta takes us, how we started and how we got here ”.
A few minutes later, Supermán López reached the top, leaning on the railing to get air. “You couldn’t go higher, of course. Here we touch the sky “, exclaimed the Colombian, who after drying his sweat and changing his clothes said:” This stage is going to be special. Not only the end, La Cobertoria is endless, then these 5 kilometers added and the entire stage itself with the ports that exist before ”.
López took the ascent more relaxed, since the marked training required it. “I had never done the ascent of La Cobertoria on this side, it is the first time that we climbed against it and although there is a little break, in the end this becomes very hard.” The Colombian climber, who was forced to leave the Tour after suffering several falls, says he is fine. “I went home, I rested with the family, charging the batteries, then we did a good training block. Let’s see if we’re doing well here ”.
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