"Our objectives have changed"

After Antón's dismal run of results continued yesterday - coupled with Nieve's slightly below-par performance - Euskaltel DS Gorka Gerrikagoitia admits it's time for a rethink. Talking to DEIA, the veteran DS explained that the team will no go all out for stage-wins and not put too much focus on the GC. "It's obvious that we need to change our plans", he said. "We have to start looking for stage-wins. Yesterday was an important test for us, and the results show that Antón is not quite there. He ceded close to two minutes again, so for him it'll be important to recover well. Maybe it's time we start aiming for certain stages. We need to change our approach as we've performed below what we thought we would. We're not too pessimistic, but we have to face the facts and admit that we're not where we expected to be. Our objectives have changed".

Despite Mikel Nieve occupying a healthy 15th overall, Gerrikagoitia revealed his performances haven't been as good as they had hoped for. "We also thought Mikel would be a bit stronger. 15 riders crossed the line before him and he's capable of much more than that. He's 15th on GC now, but normally he'll lose quite a chunk of time in today's ITT. He'll cede several minutes, but this will be a hard Vuelta. I expect many breaks will go up the road and I imagine the pack will struggle to contain them. In that scenario, Mikel will have to be at his best".