Barry: Danielson has grown as a rider

By Shane Stokes in León

Discovery Channel's Michael Barry enjoyed some glory today when he and two of his team-mates were on the podium as the best squad. After collecting a nice trophy for their efforts, Barry gave his thoughts on the team's performance on yesterday's mountain stage and said that GC hope Tom Danielson is stronger mentally and physically than he was last year.

"Overall as a team we had a really good day yesterday," the tall Canadian said. "At the bottom of the last climb there were 60 guys and the whole team was still in the front. Janez [Brajkovic] did surprisingly well. Tom maybe didn't go as well as he might have expected, but it was the first day in the mountains and there is a lot of racing to do yet. He didn't lose that much time, and he can get that back.

"He is definitely more confident in himself than last year. He gained a lot of experience by doing so well in the race last year and being up the front the whole time. Also, I think doing the Giro with Paolo [Savoldelli] this year also helped him out a lot. He has a year more experience, he is a year stronger as well.

"I didn't race much with him in the run up to the Vuelta but he told me he was feeling good in training and he did a good race in the Tour de l'Ain, helping Triki (Manuel Beltrán) out a lot there. He seems confident, a lot more confident coming into the Vuelta this year. So overall he is doing well and I think it is looking good for him as regards a strong performance here."