It has been a long time since my last big win. I've always worked hard and tried to do my best, but it feels great to get a victory again.
I was in the breakaway the other day when [Alexey] Lutsenko won. I felt very good then. Even though the stage wasn't well suited to my characteristics, I still finished fourth so I knew my shape was pretty good. Today the team wanted me to go in the breakaway. I tried to save as much energy as possible and gave it my all in the final. I knew the final was well suited to me because I'm good in the descent so I know that if I come over the top with some guys that I have a chance of winning the stage if I go away in the downhill.
I'm very happy for myself and the Team UAE Emirates who gave me a chance to ride in the Vuelta and to win a stage for them.
Today, I think a special mention to Ian Stannard and Christian Knees, they did pretty much the entire stage on the front today. The rest of the team were fantastic in the final. Today was a lot more relaxed for us, a lot more in control. It's another good day to tick off and now we can start thinking about tomorrow. Tomorrow is another tough final. There will be ramps of over 18 per cent in the final 5k of the climb before we descent to the finish. It's going to be a big GC battle tomorrow.
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
The main goal today was to not lose time from the main GC contenders. We did it and it was fine. There was a bit of stress in the final because there was some wind but in the end it went fine and we can be happy.
Stannard, Knees and Puccio did a really good job today. They were really strong, I don't know how they do it. Anyway, with those guys in the team you can take the possibility and pull the whole day like we did yesterday. We are a strong team here and we can try to keep this jersey.
It looked like a good move. I'm glad that we managed to do what we did. I tried to follow as best as I good today. It was very aggressive in the climb and then in the downhill. The guy that own it today really deserved it. It was a tough day.
