Daniel Moreno wins the fourth stage of the Vuelta a Andalucia
Daniel Moreno of Team Katusha won the final stage of the Vuelta a Andalucia with a lead of 2 seconds over Alejandro Valverde.
The Spaniard claimed his first win of the season after a tremendous display of his abilities at the 135.7 kilometre chase to La Guardia.
The 30-year-old was overwhelmed with the stage win and he is looking ahead to continue his winning streak for the season ahead.
Moreno helped the Russian side, Team Katusha, with its third stage win of the season. Oscar Freire opened the winning account for the team after he claimed the fourth stage of the Tour Down Under.
Freire also won the third stage of the Vuelta a Andalucia but Daniel’s win at the fourth stage is considered as the best victory for the team in the season so far.
Moreno mentioned that the stage win came out of nowhere, "This victory is really unexpected, I felt in good shape today, but my rivals today were very strong, especially Valverde who is back to his usual standard".
The 30-year-old also noted that overcoming someone like Valverde was very difficult, especially when he is hitting such a splendid form.
He said, "I was able to surprise him and everybody else by anticipating the sprint with 500 metres to go. I took a good advantage and when they replied it was too late".
Valverde finished two seconds behind Daniel but his overall performance at the race was good enough to claim the overall victory.
Alejandro Valverde, Samuel Sanchez, Sergey Lagutin and Jelle Vanendert claimed the next four positions at the race.
Valverde secured the first overall win for himself and his side, Team Movistar. Rein Taaramae, Jerome Coppel, Denis Menchov and Sergey Lagutin achieved the second, third, fourth and fifth positions after the final general classifications.
Daniel also acknowledged the superb effort by Team Katusha, "I'm very happy for this result, we proved to be a very strong team which fought for the win every day".
Moreno is now targeting the Tirreno-Adriatico, scheduled from March 7th to March 13th, 2012. He is hopeful that his team will come up with flying colours during the seven-day race in Italy.
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