Antón 5th today, 4th overall

Igor Antón is really approaching top form. Today he took 5th at the top of the Alto de Nevacerrada, and now lies 4th overall going into the last and hilly stage of the Vuelta a Castilla y León. Alan Pérez once again impressed, as he was a part of a break that went after only 10 km. Alan showed his good form, attacking the break right before the last ascent. Alan opened up a small gap, but it was to no use, as the pace set in the bunch by Discovery Channel was far too high for the break to succeed. As the break was reeled in, the attacking started. Igor was on the offensive several times, but when Alberto Contador and Koldo Gil left, he tried, but couldn`t keep up. Though, Igor came in an impressive 5th, only 28 seconds back. Igor now lies 4th overall. Here`s how the Euskaltel riders placed today:

• 5th, Igor Antón, 0:28
• 30th, Iñigo Landaluze, 2:30
• 58th, Amets Txurruka, 3:42
• 93rd, Haimar Zubeldia, 5:00
• 108th, Alan Pérez, 9:12
• 116th, Andoni Aranaga, 11:02
• 118th, Aitor Galdos, 11:43
• 120th, Andoni Lafuente, 11:43

Overall:

• 4th, Igor Antón, 0:48
• 26th, Iñigo Landaluze, 3:11
• 76th, Haimar Zubeldia, 5:44
• 79th, Amets Txurruka, 5:56
• 114th, Alan Pérez, 12:53
• 115th, Aitor Galdos, 13:04
• 119th, Andoni Aranaga, 20:08
• 122nd, Andoni Lafuente, 21:11

Euskaltel lie 7th in the team classification. After the stage, Alan Pérez and Igor Antón spoke to www.fundacioneuskadi.com. First up, Alan :"Finally we managed to join a break. The truth is that in the previous stages we guessed wrong, we always joined the soon-to-be unsuccessful breaks. We`ve tried a thousand times, but we couldn`t do it. That forced us to work at the front, and that is always hard. We (the break) knew it would be hard to make it, as today`s stage was hard and there are people here who are in very good form backed up by strong teams, as was the case with Contador and Discovery. They did not give us enough leeway, and they brought us back when they wanted. I tried to go solo on the Nevacerrada, but it didn`t work. I felt good today, but it was impossible to succeed because of the pace of the peloton". Igor had this to say :" I`m very satisfied with my ascent. When Koldo Gil and Contador left, I tried to follow, but they were way too fast for us and impossible to catch. In the end I placed 5th, but the most important thing for me is that I`ve been at the front and felt well. Tomorrow is a complicated stage, with two hard ascents, and you never know what can happen".