American Tyler Farrar Wins Stage 11 of the Vuelta a Espana

American Tyler Farrar finally broke through and won a stage of a grand tour and he happened to do it in grand fashion at the Vuelta a Espana today. Farrar of the Garmin-Slipstream team had played the bridesmaid so many times on the grand tours but after falling back on the last climb of Stage 11, Farrar worked his way to get in position for a long sprint at the end.

“When I started the stage I wasn’t feeling very optimistic because there were 3,000 meters of climbing, so I didn’t think it would be a sprint,” Farrar said. “After the second climb, I saw that Greipel was dropped, so we had people working together. Anything from now on is a bonus.

“I’ve been on the hunt for a stage win for all year. It’s true I didn’t win at the Tour, but I came out of there with great form. That’s why I won at Vattenfall and Eneco Tour, and that’s why I won today.”

Many experts felt like it was just a matter of time until Farrar broke through in a grand tour and he finally accomplished that goal. Alejandro Valverde remained in the golden jersey as the head of the general classification. Australian Cadel Evans is seven seconds behind.

Tomorrow is the last rest day of the race and then it's 10 straight days of racing before the final day pulls into Madrid on September 20.