"The DS told me to push" - Finn Fisher-Black explains UAE tactic blunder at Bejes

UAE Team Emirates looked collectively strong at the 16th stage of the Vuelta a Espana but their tactics were quite questionable, both from within the cycling community but also from riders, as Juan Ayuso himself did not understand what happened in the final ascent to Bejes.

There, Jonas Vingegaard attacked early in the climb and immediately got a gap on the GC group. Either without firepower or will to chase, it was only UAE who could do the chasing. Finn Fisher-Black headed to the front of the group, but at some point a gap opened behind him. The Kiwi kept going by team orders. "When Jonas attacked my idea was to go to the front and push the group on. When I looked back the group wasn’t there so the DS told me to push and and try and catch," he explained in a post-race interview.

As Vingegaard's gap grew the GC group headed into a stalemate, and teammate Juan Ayuso lost substantial time to the rider who he was closest to in the fight for the podium. Fisher-Black rode a tremendous final ascent but was unable to match the Dane and rode across the finish line in second place. "It’s a nice personal result for me but the main goal over the next days is to help the guys for the GC.”

Ayuso however now finds himself an exact minute away from the podium, now closed off by Primoz Roglic and not Vingegaard. The Spaniard said himself after the stage that "I have to discuss with the team because I don’t really know what went on with the tactics but I don’t want to say much."