Philippe Gilbert wins the ninth stage of the Vuelta a Espana 2012
Philippe Gilbert of Team BMC had to wait a while before securing his first victory of the 2012 season after a terrific past season.
The Belgian filled his bag with a much needed victory after he crossed the finish-line during the Vuelta in a total time of 4 hours, 45 minutes and 28 seconds and occupied the top spot.
“The team’s plan was for Alessandro Ballan to attack on the steep climb and I was to wait for the sprint,” Gilbert explained after crossing the finish-line.
“But I realised that the climb was longer than it seemed in the road book”.
“Ballan went a bit early and exploded a little, so when I saw Rodriguez up there, I knew I had to follow him. On the last 50 metres of the climb I went full gas and made it across”.
“I knew he was riding more for the seconds than the win and I knew I would be faster than him in the sprint,” he concluded.
Joaquim Rodriguez Oliver of Team Katusha, Paolo Tiralongo of Team Astana, Tomasz Marczynski of Team Vacansoleil-DCM and Daniele Bennati of Team RadioShack-Nissan occupied the next four positions.
Mickael Buffaz of Team Cofidis and Le Credit En Ligne succeeded at the 96 kilometre and the 162 kilometre first and the second sprint of the race.
Bertjan Lindeman of Team Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team and Philippe Gilbert of Team BMC succeeded during the first two mountains of the event.
Javier Chacon of Team Andalucia rode aggressively and won the most aggressive rider award during the event.
Joaquim Rodriguez Oliver has extended his overall lead over Christopher Froome to 53 seconds while Alberto Contador of Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank holding the third position with a further deficit of 1 minute.
Alejandro Valverde, Robert Gesink and Daniel Moreno Fernandez hold the fourth, the fifth and the sixth positions in the respective order.
Alejandro Valverde Belmonte leads the mountain classifications with a total number of 21 points to his pocket.
Joaquim Rodriguez Oliver of Team Katusha, Simon Clarke of Team Orica-GreenEdge, Pim Ligthart of Team Vacansoleil-DCM and Luis Angel Mate Mardones of Team Cofidis claimed the next four positions.
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