Rubén attack in Tirreno stage 4

Rubén was at his aggressive best in today's 4th stage of the Tirreno-Adriatico. He managed to break away from the pack early on with six other rider, among them big-name riders like Pozzato and Efimkin. They looked to be in with a chance of staying clear, but were finally reeled back in 4 kilometres from the line. JJ eventually turned out to be the strongest Euskaltel rider on the uphill finish, placing a good 16th, only 43 seconds down on winner Scarponi. Rubén did well to come home 33rd, 1:15 down, while Iñaki was 1:34 down, Amets a further 2 seconds down, Alan a massive 4:32, Jorge a big 11:58 and Pablo more than half an hour in arrears. These results leave JJ in 19th place overall with three stages to go. At the time being he's 53 seconds down on overall leader Scarponi. After the stage, Rubén spoke to the press. "I'm satisfied with my performance, though it's always annoying to be caught so close to the line", he said. "I thought we had a chance to stay away, but it wasn't to be. Some of the riders in my group crashed on one of the descents and we opted to wait for them. That proved to be our downfall, as those seconds turned out to be important. The team is performing well every day. JJ is here for the overall, and the rest of us are here to get into breaks. Gorka Gerrikagoitia (sports director) is doing well, and he gives every rider a chance to shine. There's still three days to go though, so we'll do our best".