La Vuelta – the Spanish version of the Tour de France – went through the Valle de Tena yesterday passing through Biescas and Sallent de Gallego before finishing at the ski resort of Formigal.

The leading group passing through Biescas

We got ourselves a good spot on the bridge and watched the bikes go by – it’s amazing the speed they go but what I find most impressive is how close together they are.

The Astana team heading up the peleton

The stage started in Graus passing through Ainsa near Torla and Ordesa and then over the Cotefablo pass and down into Biescas before heading up the Valle de Tena. By the time they reached Biescas a group of around 10 had formed a breakaway. They were only about 30 seconds ahead but managed to stay out front which was surprising given the way the Astana team were heading up the peleton and looked intent on chasing the breakaway group down.

Uran the Colombian rider of Team Sky nearly one the stage but was ppped at the post by Barguilof France by a few millimetres. The stage might prove costly for Nibali as he was dropped by the 3 other main contenders in the final 3 km and lost about 25 seconds – around half of his lead.

The support vehicles following the peleton

After the peleton come a whole host of support vehicles screeching round the corners and struggling to keep up with the bikes.

Isabel and Anna enjoying the race

It was a great fun day in the village with everyone out watching. I recorded the race on TV and the ariel shots of the valley from the helicopter looked fantastic – great weather and the mountains looked fantastic. All our guests staying in Biescas and Sallent enjoyed the race and hopefully it will pass through again next summer.