Quotes
Stage 21
18| Marc SOLER
Soler: “It’s a reward for all my work”
Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates): “In the end, [the Super Combative award means] that I fought to get those stage wins and that I was in the breakaway a lot. It's a reward for all that work. It has been a very hard Vuelta, but yes, in the end it was good for me that it was more demanding and with more gradient to be able to be in breakaways and fight for stages and get the stage victory in Lagos, which is very important. I'm very happy, and now I'm going to enjoy it. [Without Joao Almeida's withdrawal] it would have changed a bit, but well, in the end we overcame it...
Stage 21
15| Jay VINE
Vine: “It’s fantastic after the year that I had”
Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates): “Two years ago, I was on cloud nine, two stage wins and in the mountain jersey with a comfortable lead, ready to come to Madrid, and then disaster struck on stage 18. And now to finish that up is fantastic, especially after the year that I had. I feel like my season is just starting, so I’m looking forward to the rest of it. It’s pretty incredible [to be here after the crash I had in Itzulia]. The recovery that I’ve had is amazing. At the time, we didn’t really know if I would be able to ride again, let alone compete....
Stage 21
41| Mattias SKJELMOSE
Skjelmose: “This is more a milestone than a breakthrough”
Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek): “Yes, job is done! I wasn’t feeling very good, to be honest, but I think none of the GC guys were feeling really good. It’s been a crazy hard Vuelta, emptying the tank almost every day, no easy riding almost from Portugal. I think everybody started to feel it. Confident is a big word, but I know we have good equipment, I know I can do good time trials, and I knew that, if everything was right, I could do it. And we did it today. This is more a milestone than a breakthrough. I think my breakthrough was more at the Tour de Suisse...
Stage 21
61| Primoz ROGLIC
Roglic: “Four La Vuelta wins is crazy”
Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe): “It’s nice [to hold the record for most overall victories in La Vuelta]. Today, I wanted to finish it off. It was tough but everything went fine and I’m happy. I saw [Stefan Küng’s performance]. We all know he’s strong in this kind of flat time-trials. Still, I tried to motivate myself to go for it, otherwise it’s even harder. So I pushed and in the end it was hard but I definitely want to congratulate him, he did a really good job. He was incredibly strong today. On my side, I’m enjoying....
Stage 21
105| Stefan KÜNG
Küng: "It’s been a long time in the making"
Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ): “It’s amazing. I’ve been fighting for a Grand Tour stage win for a very long time. I really wanted that win today and I knew with this parcours you had to go out hard and keep it together until the end. That’s what I did I suffered a lot today but I think everyone did at the end of this hard Vuelta. And I’m just so happy that I got this win. It’s been a long time in the making. It’s always nice if you win with more than half a minute. It shows that you were absolutely the best, it was no coincidence...
Stage 20
15| Jay VINE
Vine: “Marc is a really great teammate”
Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates): “Yes, we spoke with Marc [Soler] on the rest day that I had an unfinished business, and Marc agreed that he would help me on the last day. He was able to help to tire out the other two that were trying to go for the the points, and also to keep me super fresh, so that I could go into the finale of the stage and try to keep the team GC as well. It turns out we didn’t need that because we had Isaac [Del Toro] finishing ahead of me, but he helped out a lot and his legs were super strong. He’s a really great teammate. I was told...
Stage 20
41| Mattias SKJELMOSE
Skjelmose: “I feel the last three weeks in my legs”
Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek): “It was a lot of pain, from the start. I didn’t feel very good. I feel the last three weeks in my legs. I hope I can keep the white jersey. I know [Florian Lipowitz] is a really good time trialist. I would say I am as well so I hope I can keep it. I think my TT is really great, I’m the Danish champion and that says quite a lot I believe. But we will see. Tomorrow is the last day of three hard weeks and bad legs can mean a lot but I’m looking forward and whatever happens I’m happy about this Vuelta.”
...
Stage 20
61| Primoz ROGLIC
Roglic: “Luckily I’m quite fine for the moment”
Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe): “The team was not at its best but everybody gave it their best, big respect, they just put everything they had. Luckily I’m quite fine for the moment so it was a nice day. We did quite a big work in these three weeks and we just have to finish it off. Let’s wait! We’re definitely one day closer, we’re going in the right direction but tomorrow is a real GC day. I always say I’m not a time trial specialist. I just have to give everything on the road.”
Stage 20
141| Edward DUNBAR
Dunbar: “Moments like this don’t come around too often”
Eddie Dunbar (Jayco AlUla): “This one definitely feels a bit sweeter. I said to a few people after the stage win last week that it was never a way I imagined to win a Grand Tour stage, I always imagined winning on top of a climb. I just felt good that second part today. I just backed myself on that climb. I paced myself really well. I knew that climb from a few years ago, we did it in Vuelta a Burgos 2020. I just paced the steep parts pretty hard and I rode the flat bits just making sure not to totally empty the tank. At first, when Sivakov went, I saw Bora were willing...
Stage 19
18| Marc SOLER
Soler: “We'll fight for the jersey tomorrow”
Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates): “We rode easy. In the end, we wanted to put a man in the breakaway just in case there was a chance that he could make it, but Bora controlled it. Now we have to think about tomorrow. Yes, [tomorrow is an important day] both for me and Jay [Vine]. Let's see how he is after today's crash. We'll see how it goes, and we'll fight for the jersey.”
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