Published on : 10/25/2020
With Pierre-Luc Périchon, Victor Lafay and Guillaume Martin in the breakaway, the Cofidis team has once again shown its colours despite the rain, the fog and the 5°C in the air. Martin finishes 6th and is now 3rd in the best climber ranking, a great result before a well-deserved rest day.
This particular season definitely likes to play with our expectations. This Sunday, the roads of the Vuelta looked like an autumn classic. The day's stage took place in a majestic setting in the heart of the Aragonese Pyrenees, the scene of so many mythical arrivals in the history of the Vuelta. This Sunday, more than ever before, it was necessary to resist on the tiny roads before Sallent de Gallego, the last stop before the slightly snow-covered summits.
Awards and then the battle
Before taking off, Cofidis had been honoured on the podium of Biescas. The team has indeed taken back the trophy of best team of the stage of the day before and Guillaume Martin (2nd yesterday in Sabiñánigo) was awarded the title of most combative rider. Then, from the very first kilometres, the riders of Cofidis tried to integrate the breakaway. And it worked out well: Pierre-Luc Périchon, Victor Lafay and Guillaume Martin successfully joined it.
A great opportunity in the mountain classification.
The leader of the Cofidis team took advantage of this opportunity to gain some precious points in the best climber classification (3 pts in Alto de Peralba, 5 pts in Puerto de Cotefablo). In the last kilometres, the rider from Normandy held on and only lost a few seconds to the winner (27 sec) by finishing 6th of the stage.
Guillaume keeps on proving that he is one of the best climbers of the time and that this long season doesn't really affect him. After this great effort, Martin and his team-mates will try to recover well on the first rest day in Vitoria. After that, they will have to think about the second week of the race with the same enthusiasm and the same ambition.