The 10th stage of Vuelta a España covered 186.8km of hot and hilly inland terrain. "The first half is straightforward but then come two tough GPMs," explains José Azevedo. "The first will produce a selection. The final climb is not so long but it's very steep, so this will be an important day for the GC contenders as it is the first big test of their condition."
RadioShack Leopard's skilled veteran, Chris Horner, passed the test with an exceptional performance and stage victory. The 41 year young American pulled away on the final climb with 4.5km to go and left 48 seconds between himself and Vincenzo Nibali.
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Chris Horner, racing at approximately 65kg, crossed the line in just over four and a half hours with an average power of 211 watts. Horner's average speed was 36.4kph with a 67rpm average cadence. Total altitude gain for the day was 3,379 meters and throughout the race he burned over 3,800 kilocalories.
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With 4.6km to the summit finish, Horner made his attack on the steep pitch to Alto de Hazallanas. He averaged over 390 watts in the final 4.5km with an average cadence of 73rpm at 18.3kph average speed.
Chris Horner: "I said to myself it was time to go as hard as I could. I thought if I could get a little gap that the others would play with some tactics behind me with none of them really wanting to work too hard. I don’t have quick acceleration, but once I get up to speed I can maintain it. So I knew if I could get a small gap I would be able to keep that speed all the way to the finish.”
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As Chris powered up the climb to create a gap he rarely broke from his out-of-the-saddle position and in the first kilometer of the attack averaged 413 watts. He extended his lead from 28 seconds to 41 seconds in this 4 minute segment.
After the win Chris added, "Fabian Cancellara was fantastic for me. Really the entire team was unbelievable today, they have worked so much for me. I couldn’t be happier."
| Time | 3:30:22 min |
| AVG Power | 210.9 watts |
| AVG Heart rate | not available |
| AVG Speed | 36.39 kph |
| AVG Cadence | 67.0 rpm |
| ALT Gain | 3,379.0 meters |
| Distance | 186.8 kilometers |
| Energy | 3,905.45 kilojoules |
Roadracer007 - 21.10.2013
Love this article! great to see data files with no drops or missing segments! Truly the difference from other power "meters"! Nice work SRM!
Harry - 14.09.2013
Can someone do a SRM analysis to compare Horner's prior similar performances?
Gordon Craig - 13.09.2013
Awesome! Let's see more of Horner's data!