Wout Poels (Bahrain Victorious) managed to win a stage in the Vuelta a España in a formidable fashion, following yet another stage win in the Tour de France. The Limburger outwitted Remco Evenepoel at the finish line, securing the first (and probably only) Dutch stage victory in this Vuelta, which of course left him overjoyed.
Poels had previously won a Vuelta stage, but he could never celebrate with his hands in the air because it was a stage taken away from Juan José Cobo. On Saturday, in the hills near Madrid, he was able to raise his arms after a thrilling sprint. This marked another milestone for him after his impressive stage win in the Tour de France, this time in the Vuelta.
"I'm like a bottle of fine wine: the older, the better," Poels playfully remarked at the beginning of his post-race interview. "This is fantastic. It was a very tough stage, so it's great to beat guys like Evenepoel after such a race. I'm very happy," said the cyclist from Blitterswijck after the stage.
"I knew there was a curve 350 meters from the finish, and I wanted to be the first to dive into it," the eventual stage winner said of his long sprint. "I'm quite fast, I know that about myself. When we were in the lead group, I saw guys like Marc Soler, Geraint Thomas and Evenepoel around me. So, I had to have a plan, and fortunately, it worked!" Evenepoel made a strong surge in the final fifty meters but couldn't catch up with the Dutchman's sprint. The Belgian expressed his frustration with a curse as he crossed the finish line, but even he will eventually be happy for the likable Poels' victory in the Vuelta.