From the Endura Blog:
Movistar Team’s young Spaniard nets first WorldTour victory…
Jesús Herrada has claimed victories in nearly every possible way: attacking into mountain finishes, using his tactical nous to perfection into one-to-one finishes, or beating some quick guys into reduced field sprints. But he had never done it with so much fury, and against such talented riders, as he did on Tuesday at the Critérium du Dauphiné. Jesús Herrada exploited the abilities he’s developed over the course of six years as pro – yet he’s still only 25 years old – to dominate Chalmazel’s slopes (stage two, 168km) and claim an impressive, maiden stage win in 2016 thanks to an intelligent performance from Movistar Team on the way to the final Cat-3 climb.
The squad directed by Arrieta and Laguía knew how to keep their plan under wraps until the finish, waiting for the poerfect moment. It wasn’t until the final 6km climb, where the team started to play their cards, five strong into a 60-rider group. Dayer Quintana went on the attack, following the wheel of Sergio Henao (Team Sky), one of several active attackers, before Dani Moreno paved the way for Herrada who launched an unstoppable acceleration, in a Valverde-esque move, to claim his eighth success in the pro ranks and Movistar Team’s 22nd – with nine different riders – so far in 2016.
The win, with 10-second bonus and a two-second advantage over the main favourites leave Jesús in 5th place overall, 27″ behind Alberto Contador (Tinkoff Team), with Dani Moreno at 1’13”. Both will seemingly play the leading role for the Movistar Team in the Alpine course, which will tackle another intriguing finish on Wednesday with the Côte de Sécheras (Cat-2) just 21km away from Tournon-sur-Rhône.
Jesús Herrada:
I’m so happy to have won in such an important race, against so many talented riders. The pace during the stage was steady, without any real drops, but despite Tinkoff leading for the whole race, there was some point when the breakaway got five or six minutes, and that forced Etixx to take the lead and push hard. That rhythm before the climbs left only one chance and one thing to do for us: follow the wheels and save energy until the ascents.
The team managed the situation perfectly. Fran and Marc kept us well protected, Antonio helped out as much as he could and it was Rubén and Dayer’s task, mostly Dayer, to follow those moves. I knew the finish, I kept in mind that it was so good for me, but at the same time, I couldn’t spend a bit of energy more than I should, because I only had that one opportunity: the sprint.
I tried to save that bit for the end and succeded to keep myself calm until the final 500 meters, when Dani attacked, the break was finally caught and I saw my place to try the move into the final turn. I’m immensely happy with how things played out.
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