"I had to win here" - Stefan Kung finally gets himself a Grand Tour stage win in 2024 Vuelta a Espana finale

Cycling
Sunday, 08 September 2024 at 19:57
stefankung

After years of close calls and near misses, Stefan Kung has finally secured himself a Grand Tour stage win, ending the 2024 Vuelta a Espana in perfect fashion with a dominant performance against the clock on stage 21 in Madrid.

"I had to win here," admitted the former European time trial champion in his post-stage interview having survived the threat of overall winner Primoz Roglic in the final stage time trial. "I knew I had to be fast and that I had to ride under 27 minutes."

To make this victory even sweeter for the Swiss time trial specialist, Kung has suffered a somewhat disappointing campaign so far in 2024. "I was bungling all summer. Before the Tour de Suisse I got sick during my altitude training. Then I had to give up the Tour due to illness and I was also sick during the Olympic Games," he admits. "I wanted to feel good again during a race and I managed that in the Vuelta. I knew I had to watch my weight after the Tour, because it was a Vuelta with a lot of mountains. Fortunately, that worked out, so I felt good."

Results | Stage 21 of the 2024 Vuelta a Espana:

1Küng StefanGroupama-FDJ18000:26:28
2Roglic PrimozRed Bull-BORA-hansgrohe130+ 31
3Cattaneo MattiaSoudal Quick-Step95+ 42
4Baroncini FilippoUAE Team Emirates80+ 43
5Schmid MauroTeam Jayco-AlUla60+ 46
6Vacek MathiasLidl-Trek45+ 52
7Campenaerts VictorLotto Dstny40+ 54
8Skjelmose MattiasLidl-Trek35+ 01:02
9Sweeny HarryEF Education-EasyPost30+ 01:03
10Armirail BrunoDecathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team25+ 01:03
11O'Connor BenDecathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team20+ 01:05
12Affini EdoardoTeam Visma | Lease a Bike15+ 01:06
13Frigo MarcoIsrael-Premier Tech10+ 01:07
14Lipowitz FlorianRed Bull-BORA-hansgrohe5+ 01:10
15del Toro IsaacUAE Team Emirates2+ 01:12
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