Nacer Bouhanni (Cofidis): “I’m delighted to win. It was very hard, the pace was really high in the finale. I really wanted to win today after the fake news that circulated about me yesterday. Kenneth (Van Bielsen) and Loïc (Chetout) have always kept me in a perfect position. I know how to do this when I have good legs, I go from one train to the other in order to follow the right wheel. I went for it in the last 200m. I also thought about my victory four years ago at Albacete. I had finished last the day before… I had a very serious accident last year at the Tour of Yorkshire. It might have been downplayed but I could have lost my life and I suffered with vision problem for a long time. I was wondering when it would come back. Even now I don’t think I’m back to my best condition. I’ve had a very difficult season. I was affected (by public criticism from the management). I felt humiliated but I figured I had to go beyond that. I was very disappointed to not participate in the Tour, I was in great shape. I’m not going to hide it, I’ve had touches with other teams but Thierry Vittu (the team president) called me before La Vuelta to tell me I had his full support. I’m very happy to win for Cofidis.”
