"I had studied it on Google Earth" - Research proves vital as Edward Theuns avoids late crashes to finish 3rd on Vuelta stage 4

Edward Theuns was very satisfied with getting into the final sprint of the fourth stage of the Vuelta a España and finishing third behind Kaden Groves and Juan Sebastian Molano.

The Lidl-Trek rider said it had been a long time since he had last tried to get into a mass sprint like the one in Tarragona and commented on why he managed to avoid the crash on the last corner. "I'm happy, it's a result to keep building things up, I was nervous because I hadn't sprinted for big goals in a while, so it's not easy to position myself, plus there was a crash 4K from the finish and another one in the last corner, which I did pretty well because I had studied it on Google Earth and with my GPS."

"I thought they were going to underestimate that corner and I took it on the inside and was able to avoid the crash. I came out of there a couple of meters from Groves which I tried to close but I couldn't, I could only hold my position," Theuns continued.

Finally, he assured that his goal is to continue to improve in the Vuelta and aim for a stage victory and that results like today's make all the hard work worthwhile. "I've put a lot of effort into the preparation, mentally it's hard to make so many sacrifices, I've been home four days in the last two months, so I'm happy for the result but I want more."