Today’s stage did not appear all that challenging based on the profile, but the riders themselves made the day difficult. After 1 hour and 40 minutes a group finally went for it, Movistar did the main work today. About five kilometers before the finish line there was a mountain classification – Katusha really stepped on the gas here in order to give Oscar Freire the best opportunity in the sprint and outdistance the one or the other competitor. There was a group of about 30 riders at the end and there were five NetApp riders including me in the mix. Our goal was to put our fast-finishing Daniel Schorn in a good position for the final stretch, and now we had the best opportunity to do this.

Eighth place overall

It went headlong and not always without some risk through the narrow and winding streets of the city on the stretch leading downhill. Bartosz Huzarski set Daniel up well and my countryman displayed his qualities. In the end he only had to concede defeat to the multiple world champion Oscar Freire – no shame in that! My respect and congratulations to Daniel! The team’s joy is of course huge and the mood is super. It almost could not have gone any better. I was able to position myself at 15th today and improve my standing in the overall classification by one spot to eighth place. As a small team we have showed ourselves capable of competing. This of course greatly motivates me for tomorrow’s last day when again there will be an uphill finish. My stated goal is to remain in the top ten.

Hasta mañana,
Matthias