Pereiro fully recovered from crash

Spaniard Oscar Pereiro (Caisse d'Epargne) has reported he's in good condition following a crash on Stage 2 of the Vuelta a España. The Spanish squad's top man believes he's almost completely recovered from the accident and even felt well enough to attempt an attack during yesterday's Stage 3.

"I feel well - much better than what I feared last night after my crash," said Pereiro after Stage 3. "I had a small discomfort during the first two hours of the race, which was absolutely normal, but as soon as the wounded zone warmed up I was okay. In the last kilometres of the stage I again felt this small discomfort, which remembered to me that I crashed yesterday, but nothing serious so that in the final difficulty I saw that there was an opportunity to go for the stage win and I tried to take advantage of it."

Pereiro is looking forward to today's Stage 4, the first of the Grand Tour's mountain stages, and likens himself as a possible victor of the 185.1 kilometre test which features a mountain-top finish.

"Tomorrow will be another day, completely different," he added. "The stage of Covadongas will be the first mountain stage, it is going to be an important for all the favourites. I am very curious to see how I will manage with this first appointment, but I hope to arrive first at the top."