Joxean Matxin open to employ more aggressive tactics with Adam Yates: "If a rider loses a minute and a half, he also gets a bit more freedom of movement"

UAE Team Emirates entered the Vuelta a Espana with a long list of riders who could potentially take on the leader's role. However the first mountain test at Pico Villuercas didn't find Joxean Matxin's team in ideal shape with only Joao Almeida able to somewhat keep up with the best. However the other man of whom we had only the highest expectations on such finish - Adam Yates - fell through and finished 1:29 behind the group of favourites, next to another defeated favourite - Richard Carapaz.

Regardless of what happened on the fourth stage, sports director Matxin is still cofident this was only a momentary weakness from Yates and that he'll crawl his way back in coming stages. "It was also a very special stage. Adam had a hard time in the heat, but he has good legs. I don't doubt that, even though he lost ninety seconds on the climb. I'm an optimist and it can always open the door to a good situation. If a rider loses a minute and a half, he also gets a bit more freedom of movement. We can also look at it in a different, positive way," he tries to see the glass half full at a chat with Cyclingnews.

The only question is whether Yates is still able to put Primoz Roglic under pressure. The Slovenian has made a very strong impression so far and, as a three-time winner, knows better than anyone how to win the Vuelta. "I think Primoz was already the big favorite before the start," says Matxin. "In stage four it became clear how confident he was in his own chances. But. It was only the first mountain stage. This is just the beginning."

For Yates it was a matter of suffering in the first mountain stage to limit losses, but his teammate Almeida was able to catch up to the Slovenian and finish third on the day. The Portuguese follows in the classification just eight seconds behind Roglic and seems the main challenger, but Matxin is cautious. "Let's see how Joao does in Sunday's stage to Sierra Nevada. Then we will re-evaluate, before we go into the mountains in the north. That's where the Vuelta will really be decided."