ProTeam Fourth place for Elia Viviani in opening stage of La Vuelta

Our team approached the day with a clear plan, and executed it well. “It was a pretty good day in general. The whole team did what we spoke about in the meeting this morning. Especially in the final, everyone worked really hard”, Elia Viviani explained. “The team did a really good job in positioning me. Lars (Craps) and Jasper (De Buyst) were the guys helping me with the leadout. Jasper did an amazing job in putting me in a good position for my sprint. Even more, he went onto the roundabout in first position and made sure we were in the exact position where we wanted to be.”

Looking back on the result, with Jasper Philipsen who took a convincing win, Elia is satisfied with his fourth position, though he admitted more might have been possible: “The team from Alpecin-Deceuninck did the perfect leadout. On one hand it is a bit disappointing because in my opinion I could have done a second place. But on the other hand we all know how strong Jasper Philipsen is.”

“From a team perspective, it was a good start. We were really focused in the final and the whole team was motivated to do well. My fourth place probably doesn’t pay off the hard work done but it looks promising for the upcoming stages. We have shown that we are out there and that we want to play the game.”

Tomorrow we go for the first hilly stage of 159,5 kilometers from Alba to Limone Piemonte.

Photo: Harry Talbot