Aitor Hernández reclaims the mountains jersey

Aitor Hernández today reclaimed the mountains jersey he first got on the first stage of this year`s Vuelta al País Vasco. That was the only good thing to come out of the day for Euskaltel, who missed the 12-man break and had to chase all day. The break went early without any Euskaltel representative in it, so Jorge Azanza, Unai Etxebarria, Iñigo Landaluze, Aitor Hernández, Gorka Verdugo and Rúben Pérez had to lead the peloton alone for the whole stage. No other team, with the exception of Gerolsteiner and Saunier Duval at the end, helped Euskaltel with bringing the break back, so the team naturally arrived totally exhausted at the finish line. Though, Jorge, Mikel and Samu all managed to come in with the main group, 2:40 adrift. Here`s how the Euskaltel riders placed today:

• 26th, Jorge Azanza, 2:40
• 27th, Mikel Astarloza, 2:40
• 56th, Samu Sánchez, 2:40
• 122nd, Rúben Pérez, 7:08
• 127th, Gorka Verdugo, 12:16
• 128th, Unai Etxebarria, 12:06
• 131st, Iñigo Landaluze, 13:05
• 134th, Aitor Hernández, 14:44

In the mountains classification Aitor has obtained 45 points, 5 more than Manuel Beltrán, while Euskaltel lie 8th in the team rankings. On GC, Samu is 9th, 2:31 adrift, while Mikel is 20th, 3:20 back.