"I'm like a bottle of wine: the older, the better" - Wout Poels thrives with another Grand Tour stage win

Wout Poels is close to turning 36 but he continues to show his best legs. After winning at the Tour de France's mountains, the Bahrain - Victorious rider has now succeeded in the final mountain stage of the Vuelta a Espana.

"I'm like a bottle of wine: the older, the better," Poels said in a post-race interview. "This is amazing. It was a very difficult stage, so it's great to be able to beat guys like Evenepoel after such a stage. I am very happy." After supporting Mikel Landa at the Alto de l'Angliru and Cruz de Linares, Bahrain have changed strategies to instead chase a win with the Dutchman. Poels then moved into the day's breakaway this afternoon.

His prowess in the final week of Grand Tours was already known, and Poels is in terrific form. Hence, he took those climbing legs to attack in the final ascent of the day. It didn't prove to be a winning move as four riders joined him in the final descent. However his chances of winning weren't over. "I knew there was a bend 350 meters from the finish, I wanted to be the first to dive into it," he tells. 

And he did so. Slightly uphill, Poels accelerated very early on, but the early sprint proved the perfect strategy. He got enough space to hold off a surging Remco Evenepoel. "I'm quite fast, I know myself. When we were in the leading group, I saw guys like Marc Soler, Geraint Thomas and Evenepoel around me. So I had to have a plan, and luckily it worked."