Madariaga praises fans

Miguel Madariaga was quick to praise the huge turn-out of fans on yesterday's epic stage into Bilbao in the wake of Antón's equally epic win. The Basque fans (or is that fanatics) did their country and region proud by turning up in their thousands on the Vivero, in downtown Bilbao and, well, pretty much everywhere along the route. "This must surely be the Vuelta stage with the biggest amount of fans lining the road. Ever", he told BiciCiclismo. "No team in the entire world has this many fans. So this is obviously the most emotional and important victory. The last few kilometres were so hard because we knew the route inside-out and knew we needed a 30-second gap. We really suffered - the pressure was on us all day - but we knew Antón could make it to the line when he had 32 seconds at the top of the Vivero. It was emotional".