"Nice confidence boost ahead of what’s to come" - Max Poole closes gap to Sepp Kuss atop Vuelta a Burgos standings to just 5 seconds with one day to go

Racing for the first time in five months following injury, Team DSM-Firmenich PostNL's Max Poole has been incredibly impressive at the 2024 Vuelta a Burgos and with one stage to go, overall victory is well in sight.

After an impressive individual time trial on stage 4, the 21-year-old Brit now sits just 5 seconds behind the overall leader, defending Vuelta a Espana champion and Team Visma | Lease a Bike star Sepp Kuss, on whom Poole gained a total of 22 seconds against the clock on stage 4.

“It was a really hard, all-out time trial and with the recon we knew it was important to get after it down the long stretch in the first half," Poole reflects of his performance in a post-stage interview on the official website of Team DSM-Firmenich. "Maybe the conditions changed slightly throughout the day and I was really having to fight to hang on after that point, but I was motivated and knew it was important to get after it and leave it all out there. I wouldn’t have changed it and from a performance side it’s a nice confidence boost ahead of what’s to come.”

With the fifth and final stage of the 2024 Vuelta a Burgos open to plenty of possibilities, a five second overturn in the general classification is not out of the question. As such, Poole and Kuss are likely to be two riders keenly watching each other tomorrow.