Challenging Lagos de Covadonga ascent sees Max Poole take 3rd place on Stage 16 at Vuelta

With the final rest day behind them, Team dsm-firmenich PostNL were back in action at the Vuelta a España for yet another mountain stage and a famous finish atop Lagos de Covadonga with its steep ramps and often mythical misty conditions. Another potentially good day for the breakaway, the team set out with the aim of trying to make the move with Max Poole and ideally have numbers in there.

Some strong team riding saw just that happen with Poole and Martijn Tusveld infiltrating the break of the day. With no GC threat in the group of 18, the gap was allowed to grow out to over ten minutes at one point with 50 kilometres remaining, so it was clear those out front would fight it out for the stage win. Tusveld and Poole kept the pace going in the break with the Dutchman doing one last turn on the front as they hit the lower slopes of the climb. With over ten kilometres to go attacks flew in the break and things whittled down quickly to just four riders with Poole one of them. The young Brit rode strongly and several times tried to break the elastic and snap clear of Zana and Soler, but he was unable to shake them. A stinging attack from Soler saw him get a gap as they approached three kilometres to go, while Poole and Zana fought hard behind. Giving everything he had, Poole crossed the finish line in third place after another strong showing; his third stage podium of the Vuelta so far.

Poole said: “It was again quite a fight to get in the break but the guys did a really good job and I managed to get in there with Martijn, who did a really nice ride all day to help me. Then once we got the gap, we knew it would all come down to the hard last climb. I felt strong and tried to do what I felt was best in the moment but in the end I cracked a bit towards the top when Soler put in that last attack. It’s nice to be in the mix again in week three and hopefully we will get another few chances to go for it from the break here.” 

Team dsm-firmenich PostNL coach Phil West continued: “It’s another day where we in the bike race. We wanted to make sure we were in the right breakaway combination so we could have the chance to go for the stage with Max. Again with some good teamwork we were able to do that and we had support in the break with Martijn which was good. After that it was about coming into the final as efficiently as possible so that we had enough energy to be able to race it out later in the stage. We wanted to be patient and wait until the climb took its toll and then be able to go for it in the deep final. I think in general we did a good job but Max exposed himself a little too much too early and when Soler attacked for one last time, Max just couldn’t follow and he had to ride it at his own pace to the finish. We can be satisfied with another stage podium, although of course we always hope for more in a situation like this, but there are more mountain opportunities to come in the race where we can try it again.”