Now 40 years of age, Euskaltel - Euskadi's Luis Angel Mate is in the 12th and final Vuelta a Espana of his near two decade long career. Proving he still has it though, the Spaniard will don the polka-dot jersey on stage for the 2024 edition of his home Grand Tour after two long days in the breakaway.
"I’m very happy, it's a very special jersey for me," reflects Mate in his post-stage interview, having previously worn the King of the Mountains jersey for 15 days back in 2018, while riding for Cofidis, although he ultimately missed out on the final victory in the classification to Thomas De Gendt, who notably is also riding the final Grand Tour of his career at this Vuelta a Espana.
"Six years makes for a long time [he last wore the polka-dot jersey in 2018] and they go by very quickly," Mate continues, referencing his past experience of the polka-dots. "It was a goal from the beginning of La Vuelta."
As mentioned, despite being the wrong side of 40, there has been no sign of taking things easy for Mate, who has spent the majority of the last two days in small breakaways, baking in the Portuguese summer sun. "It has cost me a lot, two days of long rides to get it. Now I hope to be able to defend it with all my strength. The mountain points were very far from each other, especially in the first stage. Yesterday I took the first two, and today was key with the 2nd-category pass. I had it marked as an objective, so the first objective was achieved," the experienced Spaniard concludes. "Now it's time to defend it. For me, it's a moral obligation to be in the breakaway as long as I have the strength, so if that's the case, I'll fight for it every day."
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