Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin) would put in a blistering ride at the Vuelta a Espana stage 17 individual time trial to not only win the stage, but to also move into the overall race lead. Steve Cummings was our top placed rider in 9th.
For MTN-Qhubeka p/b Samsung the plan today was to have a good go at the stage with Stevo and for Louis Meintjes to retain his top 10 place on GC. The rest of our riders, not known time trial specialists, looked to get around the 39km course in one piece with 3 tough stages still to come.
Steve would have a mid-field start today which saw him go through the 2 intermediate time checks in 1st and then 2nd position respectively. At the finish our British star would clock the 2nd fastest time of the day after averaging 47.8km/h, a solid effort given the windy conditions out there.
Attention was then focused on the GC battle and whether our young South African could hold off Domenico Pozzovivo (AG2R La Mondiale) to retain his 10th place on the general classification. Louis started out conservatively which saw him lose as much as 40 seconds to Pozzovivo by the 2nd time check, but a super strong finish saw Louis claw back some seconds and comfortably held on to 10th overall.
Once all riders had come in, Steve would be left with 9th place on the stage. Another consistent result against the clock after his top 10 placing at the Tour de France time trial earlier in the year as well.
Steve Cummings – Rider
