Valencia stage 3: McCarty attacks; Hesjedal finishes 5th

Ryder Hesjedal winds up for a 5th place finish.

Slipstream/Chipotle came out firing for today’s penultimate stage of the 2008 Volta a Valencia. The four-climb stage was animated by repeated attacks with several members of the burrito brigade joining in the fun.

Hoping to build on his 11 mountain points, Timmy Duggan joined an early break that got caught after 20 km. Then Pat McCarty made the next jump with two riders. The threesome had almost a 5′ lead at one point, but were caught on the last climb. Along the way McCarty, scooped up ten mountain points and put in a great effort.

“I knew I wasn’t quite ready to be riding for the overall, so I had a go with the breakaway. I’ve done plenty of hard stages like this before, so I knew what I was getting into,” said McCarty. “Plus, Trent and Ryder were great today finishing in the front.”

“Everyone on the team is riding like we belong here,” said McCarty. “Very aggressive and very strong. It’s a nice feeling to have everyone’s head in the game!” Still in contention for overall classification, Trent Lowe and Ryder Hesjedal also impressed today. Hesjedal finished 5th on the stage and both riders are just 31″ off the leader.

Slipstream stage 3 results
1. Manuel Vazquez 4:08:49 +

5. Ryder Hesjedal :16
22. Trent Lowe :16
43. Lucas Euser 2:25
45. Dan Martin 5:34
49. J. Pat McCarty 8:22
120. Timmy Duggan 26:16
125. Julian Dean 26:16
126. Chris Sutton 26:16

Slipstream GC after stage 3
1. Ruben Plaza 12:26:55 +

8. Ryder Hesjedal :31
16. Trent Lowe :31
35. Lucas Euser 4:21
44. Pat McCarty 10:22
53. Dan Martin 16:49
93. Timmy Duggan 33:06
101. Chris Sutton 38:56
103. Julian Dean 38:56