Jay Vine hungry for more after Mountain classification victory: "I feel like my season is just starting, so I’m looking forward to the rest of it"

Jay Vine was already on the way to become the King of Mountains at the Vuelta a Espana 2022, however a disaster struck with just three stages to go and Vine was forced to abandon the race after a crash. This year, his performances weren't as spectacular as two years back, yet that makes road that lead to his triumph even more inspiring.

"Two years ago, I was on cloud nine, two stage wins and in the mountain jersey with a comfortable lead, ready to come to Madrid, and then disaster struck on stage 18," Vine recalls at the Vuelta website. "And now to finish that up is fantastic, especially after the year that I had."

Vine hasn't raced in the period between April and August after having a terrifying crash at the Itzulia Basque Country. And so, with a month of racing in the legs, the Australian still feels full of energy. "I feel like my season is just starting, so I’m looking forward to the rest of it."

With everything he'd been through, the polka dot jersey comes only as a bonus for Vine: "It’s pretty incredible [to be here after the crash I had in Itzulia]. The recovery that I’ve had is amazing. At the time, we didn’t really know if I would be able to ride again, let alone compete. So to be able to be here with the jersey, it was like a dream. To actually be able to pull it off is amazing."