"Maybe I should never come back [to Cordoba] because I can’t remain unbeaten here! But maybe I come for holidays [laughs].
We tried to surprise the bunch. We took control the whole day and we were still there with a few strong guys to help us. But I knew people would not expect that we would chose to attack. I smelled the moment at the intermediate sprint. And with Matthew [Brennan] behind, there was no risk at all to give it a try, because we always had a good option in the bunch. That was how I like to race.
It was a bit difficult [to control the finale]. My Belgian companions [Thibau Nys and Ramses Debruyne] were really strong. They helped a lot, and so did Romele from Astana. But I think Leknessund gambled a bit for his teammate that was in the back. We kind of expected an attack from him. It started up quite late so in the last few kilometres I just wanted to keep it together and to make sure it was a sprint.
[The team’s balance in La Vuelta 26] is amazing actually. Most of the days that we thought we were able to win, we won actually. That’s pretty impressive. And on a stage like today, how we took control as a team is something to be really proud of. I have to be very grateful for the work of the boys again."
