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Sports Director Marc Wauters reflects on the Vuelta: "We showed fighting spirit despite losing our 2 leaders"

With the time trial in Madrid, this Vuelta came to an end last night. Sports Director Marc Wauters looks back on three weeks in Spain with mixed feelings: "The first week was particularly good, when we were still defending Lennert Van Eetvelt's place in the GC."
Race 09 September 2024
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A fifth place in stage two, an impressive second place behind Primoz Roglic on Pico Villuercas, and nearly the entire first week in the top ten of the general classification. With Lennert Van Eetvelt leading the charge, the first week of the Vuelta started off strong. "That second place was very close," Marc Wauters recalls. "We could have won there. The general classification with Lennert was the main goal, and we had a strong start. We remained in the top ten throughout that first week, and that’s obviously motivating. It elevates the team to a higher level. You have a reason to stay in the front, the peloton respects that, and everyone on the team wants to give their all in those moments, no matter how much work it takes to support a GC contender."

"But then Andreas Kron crashed. Victor Campenaerts also crashed, as did Sylvain Moniquet. And then we saw Lennert start to fade and eventually drop out due to illness," Wauters continues. "That kind of thing really disrupts a team, of course. We lost our two team leaders early in this Vuelta and had to search for new objectives and a new focus. When you're no longer in contention for the general classification, you have to shift to aiming for stage wins. But Andreas is a guy who could have competed and finished strong. And with Lennert, we could have tackled the tough climbs in the final week, but without them, we weren't really in the race. However, we did show fighting spirit. We came close with Jonas Gregaard in Santander. In that same stage, Campenaerts also tried. And in the final time trial, we were in the mix but had to settle for seventh place. Arjen Livyns sprinted into the top ten a few times, and we managed a couple of early breakaways. The circumstances were tough in this Vuelta, unfortunately. So, we have to stay humble and hope things go better next year."

 

Picture: PhotoNews