Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team rider Kevin De Weert proved he was amongst the toughest in the break on Saturday, battling on steep gradients of up to 23% in the final kilometers of 170.7km Stage 20 of La Vuelta a Espana.
De Weert was able to keep pace with Richie Porte (Team Sky Pro Cycling) and Denis Menchov (Katusha Team) on HC climb Bola del Mundo: 11.4km long, 8.6% average gradient. The other 17 riders, including OPQS teammate Gert Steegmans, could not keep pace through all the brutal climbs of the penultimate stage.
De Weert fatigued as the brutal climb went into the final 5km, but he was able to maintain his 3rd place position with grueling work in the saddle throughout the day.
Menchov won the stage, Porte 2nd.
There was no change in the top of the GC.
"When two riders attacked at the bottom of the climb, I was on their wheel and followed immediately," De Weert said. "Immediately Menchov also arrived, and attacked. I followed him, but the tempo was a little bit too high for me. Still, I stayed on the wheel of Porte and Menchov to try and recover, but it's not so easy to recover on such difficult percentages of the climb. In the last 2km or 3km I lost contact because they went just a little bit too fast. I tried to keep up my tempo and climb with my pace. You never know, maybe you can return or maybe they will be busy looking at each other and you can return. I knew this climb pretty well, I did it already in 2010. I was hoping they'd lose some time on the climb, as you can lose your tempo on a climb like that in a moment. But they kept going good. I did my best and I am happy about my performance."
"In the last big stage of the Vuelta we were there in the break with Kevin," Sports Director Davide Bramati said. "Before and after we won a stage with Dario Cataldo, we worked hard to be protagonists. We tried with Tony, other riders, and today with Kevin. It's a shame we didn't make win again, but Kevin did his best so we can't complain. In the end it was a positive performance. The whole team has been doing well in the last days. I am happy about it. I think we will finish the Vuelta with a good feeling. We tried every day, we did our best to get a 2nd stage victory many times, so it's not so bad."
