Having been one of the most combative teams in this year’s Vuelta a España, Israel – Premier Tech finally got its reward on Friday as Mike Woods triumphed on Puerto de Ancares following a day-long breakaway.
The Canadian road race championwho helped initiate a 24-rider lead group alongside teammate Dylan Teuns, went solo 4.6 kilometers from the top of the arduous climb and never looked like being caught.
This is IPT’s first Grand Tour stage victory since Woods soloed to win on Puy de Dôme at the Tour de France last year.
That run without success was not for the want of trying, though: in this year’s Vuelta alone, Marco Frigo finished second in Yunquera on stage 6while George Bennett was in the group that contested for victory two days ago in Padrón, both having infiltrated successful breakaways.
“I’m on cloud 9 right now,” says Woods. “My big goal was to win a race with this Canadian jersey. I’ve had a tough season this year with illness and I’ve had a tough race with some bad luck, a lot of mechanicals, crashes and mistimed moments. So, this is a big moment of catharsis, a big moment of relief. The pressure has been building and to get this win now, I’m on cloud 9.
“I was super lucky to get in the break with Dylan Teuns, and Riley Sheehan did a great job and helped me a lot to get into the break. I was a bit isolated later on when we had Jay Vine, Brandon McNulty and Marc Soler attack me but I just tried to keep fighting with them. Then when Brandon and Jay crashed it really scared me and I hope they’re ok, but I knew that I was the guy to beat on that climb.
“I had Puy de Dome in the back of my head. I knew that as long as I was in striking distance of the other guys, I had a shot of winning on the final climb because it’s a good climb for me. I didn’t want to go as early as I did but with Mauro Schmid attacking me, I had to go then. It was a long four kilometers.
“It’s my third Vuelta stage win and I’m really proud of that. Just the Giro d’Italia stage win is missing. I’m not getting any younger so it’s always nice to win at this age. I’m going to savour this one.”
أخبار متعلقة :