Poels and De La Cruz make the break

06 Sep 2019

Poels and De La Cruz make the break

Related riders

Vuelta a Espana – Stage 13: Bilbao – Los Machucos, 166.4km

Wout Poel and David de la Cruz put in a valiant effort in the breakaway on stage 13 at the Vuelta a Espana.
 
The Team INEOS duo were able to ride their way into a 29-man move on a brutal day of climbing. Poels was active from the very off and was the last of the pair to be caught on the final climb – the Alto de Los Machucos.
 
Poels had held firm as the breakaway riders began to counter-attack one another on the Collado del Ason climb, and was able to secure a number of mountain points on the day, eventually finishing 37th.

At the stage finish it was the Slovenian pairing of Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) and Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) who broke clear in the final metres. Pogacar took the stage victory, while Roglic extended his race lead to 2:25.
The stage began in the stadium of Atletico Bilbao

The stage began in the stadium of Atletico Bilbao

Reaction

- Wout Poels

“I did this climb once before two years ago. The break just didn’t quite have a enough time to make it stick today. I wasn’t feeling super but I gave it a go. 
 
“At the beginning I felt okay. It was full gas the whole day and you had to concentrate and go with the flow to stay with the lead riders. It was a hard day.”