"They attack every day, always try to be up there... it’s really deserved" - Wout Van Aert praises Kern Pharma on their first Vuelta stage win

Wout Van Aert tried to enter the breakaway on the twelfth stage of Vuelta a Espana, with finish on Manzaneda. However when a group of ten riders rode clear after a hectic start of the stage, the Visma | Lease a Bike rider sat back to save his legs to fight another day.

The victory went to Kern Pharma's leader Pablo Castrillo who caught all the bigger names in the breakaway off guard with an attack at 10k mark. "It’s really nice [that Kern Pharma got the win]." At the Tour de France, we have sometimes seen breakaway-less days with astonishingly low entertainment levels, luckily the Spanish PRT teams are still up for their duty and Van Aert appreciates their efforts: "They attack every day, they always try to be up there in the breakaways and it’s really deserved that they get rewarded with a stage win, especially today."

For the Navarrese team, this triumph had a special meaning, as Van Aert emphasizes: "This morning, I learned that [Manolo Azcona, team's founder] passed away in their team."

The Belgian himself really wanted to be in this breakaway, but you can't always have everything you want, right? Still, he shows class to chapeau in front of the Spaniard: "Congrats. I really tried to be in the breakaway but I missed a bit of punch to actually make it. No regrets. When the guys got up the road I was actually happy to take a bit more easy in the bunch. I tried to save myself a bit and hope for better days in the week-end."