"It feels a bit unreal" - After no wins in 2 years, Pavel Bittner celebrates twice in a week at the Vuelta a Burgos

In his two years as a professional cyclist, Pavel Bittner had never been able to bask in the glory of a race win before the 2024 Vuelta a Burgos. Triumphing twice in a week however, the Team DSM-Firmenich PostNL prospect have now fully arrived on the World Tour.

“Today was another good day for the sprint finish. It was a bit harder than stage one, so we wanted to try and do our best and keep it together," reflects Bittner to his team's official website after a thrilling finale to the final stage saw the breakaway caught in the final few hundred metres before Bittner powered to the win.

"The guys did a really good job in the final and we stayed calm. I was suffering a bit because the race opened up on the climb a bit, but Martijn Tusveld stayed with me and that helped me a lot, also mentally. Coming into the final we did a good move and with two kilometres to go we were on the front. Then Martijn did a good job with Max Poole and Chris Hamilton towards the final," Bittner recounts of the finale. "I felt really strong so I waited a bit as I knew as it was a headwind sprint. I just launched when I thought was a good moment and managed to win. It feels a bit unreal to pick up a second win and also take second on GC with Max, so the shape and morale is really good in the team ahead of what’s next.”

With Bittner's two stage wins and the aforementioned Poole finishing just 5 seconds down on race winner Sepp Kuss in the general classification, it was a very successful week for Team DSM-Firmenich PostNL.

“Today we wanted to keep one eye on the GC with Max, in case there was an opportunity to move up onto that top spot. If not, we then wanted to go all-in for Pavel in the sprint," assesses Team dsm-firmenich PostNL coach Callum Ferguson. "The guys did a really nice job, especially in the final few kilometres by closing quite a large gap to the break. They dropped Pavel in the perfect position and he could go on to get his second stage win of the week. We also could secure that second on GC with Max, which puts is in a good place and the confidence amongst the guys is good ahead of the next goals. It was a really nice effort from the whole team and a good reward after a strong week.”