Ride London winner 3rd in Vuelta Finale

2013_March_questbikes600x75

Jempy Drucker of the BMC Racing Team sprinted to third in Sunday’s final stage of the Vuelta a España to notch his first career podium result in a grand tour

RST Cycle Clothing & Trigon Bikes

Ride London winner 3rd in Vuelta Finale

John Degenkolb (Team Giant-Alpecin) took the victory ahead of Danny van Poppel (Trek Factory Racing) in the 98.8-kilometer race that finished in the streets of Madrid. Winner of the Prudential RideLondon-Surrey Classic last month, Drucker’s result added to a pair of fourth place finishes on Stages 3 and 5 and a sixth place on Stage 12.

“With 500 meters to go, I was a bit boxed in,” Drucker said. “But I found some space. When I started my sprint, I was on van Poppel’s wheel. I could still move up and was close for second. Degengkolb was simply the fastest.”

Drucker was one of five BMC Racing Team riders who finished the three-week race. Alessandro De Marchi soloed to victory on Stage 14 and finished third on Saturday while Darwin Atapuma and Amaël Moinard both finished the Vuelta and the Giro d’Italia this year. Drucker and Joey Rosskopf both completed their first career grand tours.

“I can’t say I am totally done. I still feel pretty good,” Drucker said. “Of course, I feel the fatigue but my tank is not totally empty, so that is already a good sign. The third week, there were riders who suffered much more than me. I hope to take a lot of profit from these three weeks.”

In addition to De Marchi’s stage win, the BMC Racing Team also won the Stage 1 team time trial and put Peter Velits in the race lead for a day. But Velits withdrew due to fatigue while injuries forced the withdrawals of Marcus Burghardt, Samuel Sánchez and Tejay van Garderen.

Fabio Aru (Astana Pro Team) won the overall title 57 seconds ahead of Joaquin Rodriguez (Team Katusha), with Rafal Majka (Tinkoff-Saxo) in third, 1:09 back. Atapuma, in 56th, was the BMC Racing Team’s best-placed rider overall.

Send your results as well as club, team & event news here

Other Results on VeloUK (including reports containing results)

Other News on VeloUK

Tags: