“I’m really very happy with this victory. After the Tour de France I continued working hard because I really wanted to try and clinch this race, which is particularly suited to my skills. Last year I arrived third behind two champions like Van Avermaet and Sagan. This year I told myself that if I arrived with them I would get beaten again, so I decided to race on the attack. My team mates were fantastic, especially Marcato and Conti, who worked the flanks and checked my adversaries, finally pushing to the limit in the main break. Sometimes to win you have to risk losing it all, and I was determined to achieve success all the way, today.
- Diego Ulissi
Day off for Lotto-Jumbo: Today's a nice day to ride, why not cruise Montreal on a Bixi?
Thank you La Vuelta it was exciting to follow...
Chapeau El Pistelero
Congratulations to the new Tour/Vuelta champion whilst enjoying pizza.
Michael 'Rusty' Woods rode to an impressive first ever top 10 grand tour finish in only his second grand tour race. He rode his first grand tour, the Giro in May. Amazing and a talented rider he's become. Woods is 30 years old came to the sport late following an elite running career ended by injuries. He finished seventh overall, 8'27" down on Chris Froome. Woods notched up four top ten stage results and I truly believe can develop as a top grand tour contender for #rideargyle And even better news is Woods signed a two-year contract with Team EF Education first-Drapac powered by Cannondale!
"I think the biggest lesson learned here is that I'm able to ride with some of the best riders in the world. Prior to this race, I thought I might have the legs. I was putting out numbers that showed I was capable of having a performance like this, but I didn't yet have it between the ears. And now I do - and a lot of that has to do with the experience I've gained here and the good guidance the team has provided. I really found my mojo during the race. The day that stands out the most for me is stage nine. Before the race, we had a long talk on the bus. We were all reeling from the bad news. We were distracted. Juanma stood up on the bus and gave a really emotional speech. He told us that he understood if we needed to seek results and focus on ourselves, individually. He gave us that option. And then he presented option two, that we work as a team and focus on our original goals. Every guy on the bus raised his hand for that second option. Then we got off the bus and rode on the front all day. We proved that we belonged and that we weren't going to go down without a fight. We raced like champions. I didn't win, which would have been the perfect ending, but I had the best race of my life up until that point to come away with third. There was a big collective release after that. We could all feel a sense of pride within the group, and we go a lot of respect from the peloton. The way we rode allowed us to move forward with our heads high and with positive momentum we could draw from throughout the race."
- Micheal Woods
"Until stage ten, we never mentioned the words 'general classification' to Mike. We didn't call him our leader. I didn't forget him, but I wasn't showing that we were taking care of him because I didn't want to put that pressure on his shoulders from the first day. It was only after the uphill final in stage nine that we started talking about the GC."
- Junama Garate, sports director
"The biggest challenge was being in the breakaways as often as possible in the first week and the third week. In the second week, when there were less points that I could take, I had to focus on recovering. It was really special to pull on the jersey for the first time in Andorra three weeks ago, and it was even more special to wear it in Madrid.
- Davide Villella
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