Martin and Roche round off Vuelta with top 20 placings

Dan Martin and Nicolas Roche completed the Vuelta á Espana in the top twenty overall as Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale) took the final stage in Madrid and Juan Jose Cobo (Geox) celebrated victory overall.

Sagan clinched his third stage win of the race after overpowering Daniele Bennati (Leopard Trek) and Alesandro Petacchi (Lampre ISD) as the short 94 kilometre stage came down to an inevitable bunch sprint.

Roche (AG2R La Mondiale) placed 22nd on the stage finishing 16th overall over 10’25” behind Cobo who secured his win by a mere 13 seconds margin over Chris Froome whose Team Sky teammate Bradley Wiggins rounded out the final podium.

Martin (Garmin-Cervelo) was 36th on the stage as he achieved his higher ever placing in what was his third Grand Tour. The 26 year old finished 13th overall just 7’22” off the pace.

The race saw Martin make a breakthrough as a Grand Tour rider as he added stage nine to the summit finish at La Covatilla to his palmares after placing third on stage four to Sierra Nevada.

The Garmin-Cervelo rider achieved two other top ten placings including fourth spot on the mountainous stage seventeen to Pena Cabarga which underlined his climbing prowess and notable ability to sustain his competitiveness in the final week of a Grand Tour.

Martin can take many positives from the race including two days as leader of the mountains classification and the honour of wearing the white jersey as best all round rider.

Roche, while disappointed not to repeat last year’s success of finishing in the top ten overall, once more proved his fighting spirit and his consistency by achieving four top ten placings.

His all round ability was reflected in his fifth places on the flat stage three to Totana and on the mountainous stage 13 to Ponferrada. The 27 year old was also prominent in a number of breakaways.

Both riders will have a week to recover before joining the Irish team for the World Road Race Championship in Copenhagen on Sunday, September 25th where their ability to decide the race should not be discounted.

Results:

2011 Vuelta á Espana

Stage 21: Circuito del Jarama – Madrid, 94 kilometres

1.  Peter Sagan (Svk) Liquigas-Cannondale 2:20:59     
2.  Daniele Bennati (Ita) Leopard Trek          
3.  Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Lampre - ISD          
4.  John Degenkolb (Ger) HTC-Highroad          
5.  Nikolas Maes (Bel) Quickstep Cycling Team          
6.  Pim Ligthart (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team          
7.  Christopher Sutton (Aus) Sky Procycling          
8.  Koen De Kort (Ned) Skil - Shimano          
9.  Bauke Mollema (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team          
10. Vicente Reynes Mimo (Spa) Omega Pharma-Lotto

22. Nicolas Roche (Irl) AG2R La Mondiale – same time
36 Dan Martin (Irl) Garmin-Cervelo – same time

Final General Classification:

1.  Juan Jose Cobo Acebo (Spa) Geox-TMC 84:59:31     
2.  Christopher Froome (GBr) Sky Procycling 0:13:00     
3.  Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Sky Procycling 0:01:39     
4.  Bauke Mollema (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team 0:02:03     
5.  Denis Menchov (Rus) Geox-TMC 0:03:48     
6.  Maxime Monfort (Bel) Leopard Trek 0:04:13     
7.  Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 0:04:31     
8.  Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto 0:04:45     
9.  Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Spa) Katusha Team 0:05:20     
10. Mikel Nieve Ituralde (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0:05:33

13. Dan Martin (Irl) Garmin-Cervelo at 7 minutes, 22 seconds
16. Nicolas Roche (Irl) AG2R La Mondiale at 10 minutes, 25 seconds   

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