"It was just the perfect finish for me" - Stars align for Great Britain's first Vuelta win of the year as Ben Turner smashes sprinter field

Ben Turner's 'sprinter' project has been giving out crazy results for INEOS Grenadiers and this Tuesday afternoon at the Vuelta a Espana the Briton has achieved the biggest victory of his career. It was only the third victory of the Doncaster native, and it has come after a few incredibly chaotic days.

"I don't know what to say to be honest. It's a crazy week. I wanted to come to the Vuelta and I've had issues with my leg since the Giro. The team really believed in me and I went to Renewi, and they said they needed me," he explained in a post-race interview. His story was quite an interesting one, as he replaced the ill Lucas Hamilton in the Vuelta lineup with only just over 24 hours for the race to begin.

“The last 24 hours were bizarre. I was racing full gas in the Renewi Tour, and then Thursday evening, on the way back to the hotel after stage 2, I got the message that they needed me in the Vuelta," he said at the start of the Vuelta. "It wasn’t a problem for me, so I flew out Friday at 6am., and now I’m here. It’s tough, but this is cycling, the sport where you show up when you’re needed. So you reset your focus and give everything for the new goal".

A blessing in disguise... But not everything went right when the Spanish race kicked off. "I'd do anything to race these races, it's just a crazy feeling. I was devastated on the first sprint when my chain came off and I really believed in myself today, I felt really good all day".

On stage 3 Turner sacrificed his chances to leadout Filippo Ganna into the uphill sprint, but the Italian lacked the legs to perform with the best. Hence into the fourth day of racing, the plan was once again to back Turner's chances in a final sprint.

After winning a stage and finishing second in two others at the recent Tour de Pologne, which featured similar uphill sprints, the INEOS rider was an obvious contender for victory. But with the likes of Mads Pedersen and Jasper Philipsen, even if not in their best form, his chances were not too high.

But an error in Alpecin's leadout opened way for a strong sprint which earned him an emotional win. "I don't know what to say really, just thank you to the boys. I just had the best guys around me and I really trusted what I had to do. It just came perfect, it was just the perfect finish for me."