The first mountain top finish of the Vuelta a España lay in wait for the peloton on late Tuesday afternoon, with the brutally steep Pico Villuercas climb to end the day which featured an almost three kilometre long section that averaged 13 percent in gradient.
It was a fierce start to the stage with lots of attacks in the beginning of the day, before things regrouped and a five rider break forged clear. With all Team dsm-firmenich PostNL riders in the peloton, focus remained on keeping each other safe and bringing Max Poole into the final climb in the best possible way. Progressing through the stage the intensity in the peloton increased as they caught the remaining breakaway riders just as they made the turn onto the steep “goat track” segment of the climb. At that point the incredible pace saw the peloton explode with Poole fighting hard and digging deep. Unfortunately, the effects and hard knock from his crash on stage two came to fruition and he wasn’t able to fully put the power down as he wanted to on the climb, having to ride at his own rhythm all the way to the line.
Team dsm-firmenich PostNL coach Phil West expressed: “It was another tough and hot day at the Vuelta. This was really the first test for Max with the hard uphill final after his crash the other day on stage two. We started well and had good protection around him. Even after the hard start and first few climbs we were still there as a team. We positioned Max going into the climb and he was there in the first part of the peloton. In the end, he just didn’t have the legs for it today, perhaps still suffering from the crash but also that combined with the super hard racing that we saw. It’s always interesting what happens on a day like this but it’s a long race so we will stay positive, control what we can control, go forward to the next stages and get stuck into it.”