The twelfth stage of
Vuelta a Espana concluded with
Richard Carapaz’s victory. Arkea–Samsic rider Elie Gesbert finished in sixth position, almost a minute behind Carapaz.
“I have no regrets,” said Gesbert. He describes his experience, “I was on the offensive on the climb of the last pass. My luck was to have Lukasz Owsian at my side in front. He rode and maintained the breakaway so that we could take time and play for the win. I thank him for his work,” said Gesbert.
Since he is already improving compared to the start of the tour, not winning the stage is not a disappointment to him. During the last few stages, he was also in poor health but has now recovered and looks forward to the next stage. “This stage was played out on a dry climb, which I appreciate. There were a lot of “big clients” and I decided to attack in order to anticipate the big accelerations like the one of Carapaz that we saw in the final.”Nothing ventured, nothing gained. I have no regrets. I was a bit unwell a few days ago and I am happy to have my legs back, especially because there are still a lot of nice stages to ride in this Vuelta Ciclista a España,” concluded Gesbert.
He currently holds 47th position in GC, 56 minutes and 25 seconds behind overall leader
Remco Evenepoel.