Pinfold takes 3rd out of break in rolling Stage 4 of Vuelta Mexico

Cuernavaca, Mexico - Andrew Pinfold returned to the podium after taking 3rd in the fourth stage of the Vuelta Mexico.

Pinfold was part of the main break of the day that finally slipped off the front about 70km into the stage.

“The start was crazy with lots of attacks,” said Brad White of OUCH Presented by Maxxis. “We had one or two guys in every move.”

The move with Pinfold, eventual stage winner David Vitoria (Rock Racing), Francesco Rivera (Amica Chips) and Arquimedes Lam (Tecos) turned out to have the right mix of riders and teams. The peloton, controlled by Serramenti, the team of race leader Gilberto Simoni, and Canel’s, which had Carlos Lopez in 2nd overall, gave the break enough leash for them to extend the gap out over nine minutes.

The rolling 200 km stage featured four rated climbs, including a moderate climb to the finish. The break started to fall apart on the second to last climb, when Vitoria and Lam attacked. Rivera and Pinfold were both dropped. Rivera drifted back and through the peloton. Meanwhile, Pinfold kept at it solo.

“Pinner basically had to time trial the last 20 km to stay ahead of the chasing pack,” said team director Mike Tamayo. “When the break split, he had 3:45 on the field. He came in just under a minute ahead.”

Lam and Vitoria stayed away as well, Vitoria with gapping Lam on the final climb, which featured a steep last kilometer, the final 500 meters of which was cobblestone. Vitoria crossed the line 0:20 ahead of Lam, while Pinfold came in 1:53 down on the stage winner.

“Pinner had another great ride today,” said team director Mike Tamayo. “He’s showing this week with his ability to get over the climbs that he’s going to be a force to be reckoned with this season.”

Notes

Karl Menzies lost his sprint leader’s jersey to Pinfold’s break-mate Francesco Rivera (Amica Chips), and sits 2nd, five points behind Rivera. Pinfold moved up into 3rd place in the sprint competition by virtue of winning the first two of the four intermediate sprints, with a 3rd and 2nd place in the final two. “We’re confident we can get the sprint jersey back for Karl tomorrow,” White said.

The remainder of the team all finished safely in the main group, 2:49 behind the stage winner. John Murphy was unable to start today’s stage due to suffering from a fever.

Race Results