Astana’s Sanchez in breakaway in Vuelta a España Stage 8

Astana’s rider Luis Leon Sanchez made part of this break, but he dropped from the leading group on a slippery and very dangerous descent in the final part of the race, preferring not to take too much risk.

Astana Pro Team once again spent the stage, controlling the race in front of the peloton, protecting Miguel Angel Lopez and trying to chase the break. However, due to a very bad weather at the second half of the distance, the Kazakh team decided not to force the situation and to give the break a bit more space. Thus, a rider from the breakaway, Nicolas Edet gained enough time to become the new leader of La Vuelta, wearing the red jersey after the finish in Igualada.

Miguel Angel Lopez finished safely in the main group and in the end of the day he lost his overall lead, moving down to the third position, 3 minutes 1 seconds behind the leader. In the same time, he is still leading the best young rider classification.

«It was a hard day with a lot of action and very bad weather in the end. Honestly, the last part was quite dangerous with all these slippery roads and descents. So, we decided not to risk too much and to finish this stage in safe. The break gained some good minutes of advantage, we tried to control it, but once again we decided to be more pragmatic, saving the team for tomorrow’s queen stage in Andorra. Would be nice to keep the jersey, but we have to think about the most important days,» said Dmitri Sedoun, sports director of Astana Pro Team.

Today, at the Vuelta a España will be held one of the most important stages of the race: 94.4 km from Andorra la Vella to Cortals d'Enchamp.