"It's nice to be able to beat the Tour winner" - Remco Evenepoel on his tactics to victory in Arinsal

Remco Evenepoel was pleased with yesterday's win at the Vuelta a Espana, even if not so much with the crash he suffered right afterwards. It was according to him however just superficial wounds, and talking to reporters he explained his tactics on the climb to Arinsal.

"We actually preferred that the leading group was not taken back, but because of the strong headwind it was logical that those men would be blown back a bit," Evenepoel told Het Laatste Nieuws. "And if you can win the stage, go for it. It would be very stupid not to do that, even though this was not the plan." UAE began to push the pace seriously up the final ascent, and then both Sepp Kuss and Marc Soler attacked on a few occasions to try and go for the stage win.

"UAE Team Emirates put a lot of pressure on it in the final phase." Eventually a stalemate ensured as both teams cancelled each other, and a small group rode into the finish for a sprint. There Evenepoel, with the finale well studied, launched his acceleration first, but was clearly the rider with the superior legs when it came to the sprint.

"I have been very patient. I knew that if it was going to come back together, I had to start betting on my last 300 meters. In the end I still had a nice sprint in my legs. It's nice to be able to beat the Tour winner," he said, having Jonas Vingegaard in second place - he himself showing good form.

"I myself expected something from Juan Ayuso. And I had my eyes on Jumbo-Visma, because there were three of them. I felt they wanted to go with Kuss first and then try to win with the three of them. It didn't matter who won. I played the race tactically. Defensive racing against strong climbers is quite new to me," he admits, having succeeded however. "I had to be patient and time my last attack well."