“It was a tough day, Bahrain came to help us, they wanted to go for the stage as well, and fight for the GC. It was good for us, a hard pace all day and then on the climb, Florian attacked first and he did a really good job, but luckily I could survive on his wheel and he launched really early, and then it was a fight to finish line.
I knew I needed to go all out to the finish line, but actually, when I attacked and then Florian counter-attacked, it was really impressive. It was a pain in the legs, I must admit. Then we worked a little bit together, I didn’t want to work too much in the final because I knew I needed to have a good kick in the end. Florian started his sprint; it felt like 600m to the finish line, and I just committed and passed. I had to commit to the finish line, but it was really long.
Noemi Ruegg (EF Education Oatly) pulled on the iconic Vuelta’s famous red jersey after she won the opening stage. On a day of rain, slick descents, and a late crash that split the bunch, Ruegg launched with 175 meters to go for the win. Six stages to go!
“I knew this finish was perfect for me. If I was to draw my dream stage, it would end exactly like this, so I knew I could trust on a long sprint. I knew from the last corner I wanted to go full gas and all in, and the team put me in a great position, and then I just went all out from the last corner. I didn’t want to have any regrets, and I had a gap pretty immediately. I just kept going, and I looked back and saw I could make it to the finish. It was a dream.”
-Noemi Ruegg
