Karel Vacek comes within touching distance of career affirming Giro d'Italia stage win: "Last year I wanted to quit, but after all these sacrifices I believed"

On a relatively quiet day in terms of the general classification battle, Karel Vacek of Team Corratec - Selle Italia came within touching distance of a first career victory on stage 7 of the Giro d'Italia.

"It had been 4 years since I had fought for victory as I did in junior against Remco," the 22-year-old Czech rider revealed in a post-stage interview taken immediately following the conclusion of the day's racing. "After all this difficult period, although I have not won, I have given everything I had, we have done more than 200 kilometres in the break. I don't know what else to say, I don't understand what happened."

Stuck on the front of the leading trio, Vacek was put in a difficult position in the finale. Despite trying his best to lead from the front he eventually had to settle for a second-placed finish behind the eventual stage winner, Davide Bais.

"Last year I wanted to quit, but after all these sacrifices I believed," continues Vacek. "They finally called me up for the Giro, this is something very important for me."