Andrew August (INEOS) bides his time in the breakaway.
For Andrew August, Stage 3 of the Volta a Comunitat Valenciana was meant to be a day of work: pulling and covering moves for others. Instead, the 20-year-old joined the final breakaway alongside Florian Vermeersch, Jonathan Vervenne and Arne Holter. The other three riders took long turns, August sat behind the last wheel - pointing to the sprinter he had behind him as his justification. The breakaway companions were clearly unimpressed, but the tactic worked as a fresher August held off the charging peloton to claim his first professional victory
“I didn’t expect this at all. With 50 kilometres to go, the team told me to ride on the front, but I stayed in the peloton over the climb. After that, I followed Vermeersch’s attack - and I had no reason to work. We had Ben for the sprint behind, and I use that to my advantage, and that’s what made this victory possible.”
-Andrew August
Teamwork was key
“Today I want to thank my teammates, because they did a super incredible job from the start to the finish. We controlled the race, but, unfortunately, four guys went into the breakaway, and we did all that we could do to catch them. I almost sacrificed everyone until the last moments - it’s just that the other guys in the front were super strong, I would have liked to win this race to finish off the hard work of my teammates but I’m just super happy with my shape right now.”
-Biniam Girmay
Comments