Ivan Cortina "With Evenepoel at such a high level, little could be done" with Spain's leadership at Vuelta a Espana

Spain headed to Wollongong with a lineup that many considered very underwhelming. With the absence of Alejandro Valverde, Alex Aranburu and Pello Bilbao, Iván García Cortina took up the responsibilities and brought home a decent result.

“I am happy with the result given the circumstances with which we came. We weren't favourites, but we had a good race under control," Cortina said in a post-race interview. "With Evenepoel at such a high level, little could be done, but in the end, in the decisive part, we were fighting for the medals."

Read also

Van der Poel's lawyer confident he "will learn from this experience"

The team saw Marc Soler active in the head of the peloton in the finale, but also made sure they support Cortina's ambitions of heading into a sprint, following the strong fifth place he achieved at the hilly GP de Québec earlier in the month. Cortina had to be active in the climbs for that: "I tried to close the gap that opened Van Aert on the last climb and then I was careful to close the gaps that were opening, since I think it was important to respond after the work that the team had done."

Luckily for him, the peloton brought back everyone but Remco Evenepoel towards the finale of the race. Cortina sprinted to 11th place on the day, securing Spain a position within the top places - albeit just outside the Top10.

Read also

Jakob Fuglsang considering early retirement - "I will consider whether it's worth it"

"I would have liked to be on the podium or in the top 10, but I'm happy," he concluded. Carrying strong form, Cortina is expected to return to Europe to conclude his season, although Movistar have essentially secured their position in the World Tour - with his added 85 points as another important boost.