EThe UAE and the Jumbo are sanctioned after the stage of the Alpe d’Huez. They did not show up for the signature check and that led to a sanction. The fine is 500 Swiss francs and 15 UCI ranking points.
More: “This step gives me confidence”
Enric Mas, that one day after losing more than 8 minutes in the general classification of the Tour de France he kept up with the best, assured that his performance allows him to regain the confidence lost the day before. “This stage allows me to restore confidence in the team and in myself. I took it, I arrived a few seconds behind them, I’m very happy”pointed out the Movistar hallway.
Mas fell behind the group of favorites on the Alpe d’Huez ramps, but he chained himself on the home straight and lost just 3 seconds in the final sprint. “I tried to regulate, it went more or less well. I’m very happy. Thanks to the team because they trusted me,” said the Spanish cyclist, who received a visit from the president. from Movistar. “I would have liked to be able to dedicate a victory to him on such a special day, but it was not possible”, he commented.
The Mallorcan made a positive reading of the day and stressed that it allowed him to regain confidence to continue climbing positions in the general classification. Mas admitted that fighting for the podium, which was his goal at the start of the Tour, now seems “very difficult”, as he is more than 7 minutes from third place, but indicated that he can continue to climb. positions and maybe fight for a stage win if the favorites give him some room. The Spanish cyclist assured that he still does not know what happened to him the day before and said that it could be due to a digestive cut. “I don’t know how to describe what happened yesterday. For the Spanish fans it’s as stupid as it is for me. I hope you will continue to trust me and will climb the positions”manifest
Carlos Verona: “Let’s see if we can win a stage with Enric Mas”
Carlos Verona (Movistar) underlined the boost in morale of the team and its team manager, Enric Mas, after reaching the summit of Alpe D’Huez, where the Balearic Islands offered a very different image than 24 hours earlier in the Granon and entered the group of best in the general classification.
“Seeing Enric Mas like today gives us confidence. After the Granon stage, the morale was not very high, but now we see things differently. Let’s see if we can fight and win a stage with our boss”, underlined the Madrid cyclist, winner of a stage this season at the Dauphin.
Before leaving the Tower of the Alps, Verona He hopes that in the Pyrenees the Movistar team can get closer to their objectives, which now consist of winning a stage and moving up the general classification with Mas, who is now in ninth place, 9.32 minutes behind the leader, the Dane . Jonas Vingaard.
“There are a lot of Tour left, now we are entering the Massif Central and then the Pyrenees will do damage with their long climbs. Anything can still happen. It’s true that Jumbo has a great team that is impressive, but we have to continue to fight.” “, he concluded.