Originally Posted by oneradtec

My guess is that he needed the leverage provided by pulling on the hoods. As you totally exhaust the glycogen in the muscles from such efforts...the legs just can't push down on the pedals anymore. This means that more upper body has to come into the game. Of course it isn't nearly as effecient...but merely survival. Aitor had nothing left in his legs...so my guess is that he was using the hoods for leverage...using his upper body to help keep the pedals turning by pulling on those hoods. This is a sure sign that Aitor left everything he had out there on the race course. He was dead empty in the closing kilometers. What a gutsy ride! A win well deserved.