Miguel Angel Superman Lopez Takes Third Place in Vuelta a España atop Sierra Nevada
Miguel Angel Lopez showed his strength and determination in the Vuelta a España as he finished third atop Sierra Nevada. In a strong attack, Lopez joined forces with Enric Mas and together they caught most of the riders from the early break, gaining valuable time. However, Tijmen Arensman managed to stay ahead and claim the stage win. Lopez finished 1’23” behind Arensman but gained time on other top contenders like Evenepoel, Roglic, Ayuso, and Rodriguez.
“I tried again, and I will keep on trying, even if it is just for a few seconds. It’s already very important for me to be in the mix again. I don’t make a choice in my way of racing – stage win or top 5 in GC – a stage win would be welcome but anyway I try to finish as high as possible every day. It was already a tough Vuelta, the race seems to be harder every day. I welcome the rest day tomorrow,” – explained Miguel Angel Lopez.
Miguel Angel Lopez remains in sixth place in the general classification but his gaps with the higher ranked riders are closing. Reflecting on his performance, he said, “I feel better and better. It’s a pity I lost a lot of time in the first week. After my injury in the Giro d’Italia, I had as good as no competition before the Vuelta. And then you arrive here to race against riders who did the Tour de France. I paid a price for that, but most important is that I feel good now,” Lopez added.
Vincenzo Nibali was another standout rider, leading the decisive break of 29 riders. However, he suffered a crash on melted asphalt 20 km from the finish. Fortunately, Nibali did not sustain any major injuries.
Photo credit: @Gettysport
