By Shane Stokes in Burgos
Illes Balears rider Joaquín Rodríguez was part of yesterday’s breakaway in stage 11 of the Vuelta a España, policing the move for the Caisse d’Epargne-Illes Balears team. He eventually finished 10th, 3.37 minutes behind the winning time of Discovery’s Egoi Martínez.
"Today was similar to yesterday in that it was obvious for us that we had to place a rider of the team in every breakaway," Rodríguez said. "Today it was my turn to be ahead. There were many attacks in the first kilometres. We tried to control them all but when that breakaway went with so many riders, it was almost impossible to do that.
"But considering the fact that there was nobody dangerous for the general classification the team let them go. That gave Alejandro Valverde the possibility to have a quiet day, and that is exactly what we wanted."
