Quotes
Stage 9
27| Mads PEDERSEN
Pedersen: "We keep fighting"
Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek): “No, I didn't try to reach the breakaway, we tried to control the race for [Giulio] Ciccone, we had to be in the mix to control the breakaway. I don't even know what happened in the race, I know [Jonas Vingegaard] won and that's it. Maybe you have to ask me the day after (laughing). I know that he won, good job, and I have to see what happened with Cicco. If [Vingegaard] keeps winning the mountain stages, he will earn the points and the [green] jersey, it is what it is, but we won’t give it up for free and he can't also win...
Stage 9
8| Jay VINE
Vine: "It's never good to lose time"
Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates-XRG): “Today was a lot more decisive than anyone predicted. It was not really harder than we thought, but the first two hours were really intense and it was a hard day, very intense, also with the weather conditions… It ended up being a long hard day. It’s never good to lose time but we’ve got a rest day tomorrow. We’ll regroup and see what we can do in the final two weeks. I need to write down all the [KOM] points and how the breakdown is on each stage. There’s still stages that have 30 points on offer if...
Stage 9
108| Torstein TRÆEN
Træen: "Quite happy that I got some help and managed to hold on"
Torstein Træen (Bahrain Victorious): "At the end of the climb I was thinking I will not be in the red jersey, so I’m obviously quite happy that I got some help and managed to hold on. I didn’t expect [Jonas Vingegaard] to be that fast. He went really fast when he attacked, and then it was just about surviving basically. At one point, I got help from two Jumbo guys, so it felt a bit like maybe they didn’t want Jonas to have the jersey yet. Now I’m looking forward to the burger tonight!"
Stage 9
45| Giulio PELLIZZARI
Pellizzari: "Vingegaard surprised me a bit"
Giulio Pellizzari (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe): “Jonas Vingegaard attacked really early in the climb. I was a little bit behind in the group, it surprised me a bit. But in the end, when you lose almost two minutes, it means he was just too strong. I had good legs, I felt good. The last part of the climb was a little bit easier. We tried our best with the team… We’ll see how it goes in the next mountain stage. The GC is more important than the white jersey. I want to do my best with Jai [Hindley] and we’ll see in Madrid if I’m in white or not.”
...
Stage 9
11| Jonas VINGEGAARD HANSEN
Vingegaard: "I thought I was closer to the finish"
Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike): "The moment I put my team at the front on the last climb is the moment when we decided to make today a GC battle. I felt super great all day, I asked them if they could speed up, they did, and I tried. It was amazing team work and I’m super happy that I could finish it off. I couldn’t have done it without them. To be honest, maybe I didn’t do my homework well enough. I thought I was closer to the finish when I attacked and then I was surprised to see the 10-km-to-go banner. I had a gap and I had to keep going. I was...
Stage 8
8| Jay VINE
Vine: "I think the GC guys will go for it tomorrow"
Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates-XRG): “I’d say today was a recovery day physically, not so much mentally. There was a lot of stress all day with possible crosswinds. In the end, after we turned left, it was clear it was not gonna happen today. The legs got a good recovery session, and ready for some more! It was not as hot as I’ve had before in the Vuelta. Winning with the polka-dot jersey tomorrow would be really incredible, but I have to see what the team says. I think tomorrow, with not much else on offert except for the final climbs, it will be the GC guys...
Stage 8
45| Giulio PELLIZZARI
Pellizzari: "A bit of stress today"
Giulio Pellizzari (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe): "(Sprint stages are) too fast, too dangerous! (laughing) Today, there was a bit of stress at the start and for the win, but the final was really fast and everything was good. There was a lot of chaos in the bunch but in the end everything was good, we are happy and we will see tomorrow. Tomorrow in another uphill finish, today the legs were really good so I hope tomorrow will be good."
Stage 8
108| Torstein TRÆEN
Træen: "I was enjoying a bit more than yesterday"
Torstein Træen (Bahrain Victorious): “To be honest, normally I’m pretty bored in these stages, but today I was enjoying a bit more than yesterday. It was less stressful, and we were not so nervous about losing the jersey. It was easier to enjoy. To be honest, I haven’t looked much at the course. We’ll see what happens tomorrow.”
Stage 8
27| Mads PEDERSEN
Pedersen: "Just not good enough"
Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek): "It was 13 points to grab at the intermediate sprint, so of course we had to go for it. The final sprint was just not good enough. To not even be in the top 10 is not what we hope for. It is what it is. We can’t change the results now, we can only look forward and keep trying to win a stage. I want to win stages. The points in the intermediate sprints are something we need to do while winning is the important thing. That’s part of the game."
Stage 8
71| Jasper PHILIPSEN
Philipsen: "Every Grand Tour stage win is special"
Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck): “We won, so there’s nothing to complain about! I lost my teammates’ wheel. I think they did an incredible lead-out again but I was not there. I tried to communicate but it’s difficult in the last kilometre, so I needed to find a way through the wind. My leggs felt like concrete but I managed to win so I’m really happy. My 15th victory in a Grand Tour? Every one of them is special. It’s never easy. We suffer through the mountains to get here. It’s a tough Vuelta, but with two wins we can be happy.”
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