Alan 5th overall in Tirreno

Alan Pérez enjoyed a great day out in the Tirreno-Adriatico today. The 27-year-old got into the break of the day, snatched both intermediate sprints and, despite being reeled in with 3,5 kilometres to go, is now classified 5th overall in the race, mainly thanks to his accumulated bonus seconds. Elsewhere, all the other guys, except for Pablo and Aitor Hernández, came in with the main pack. Pablo ended up 2:25 down, while Aitor came in a massive 9:34 back. The race is probably way too hilly for Alan to keep his high overall placing, but still it's a big plus for him as well as the team. "We're satisfied with what we did today", he said after the stage. "We've been active and been protagonists, and that's important in a race of this calibre. The director told us before the race started to be on the attack and get into breaks, and so we did. We all tried to get away, but none of us were successful until I got away with Ignatiev and two others. We worked well together and built up a decent lead, though they never let us get too far ahead. I'm pretty well placed in the overall standings now, but I know there's a lot of hard stages to come. Our team car will be fifth in line tomorrow. That's a good thing, as that way we'll be closer and it'll be easier for our guys in the car to read the race."