Urko Berrade, after Kern Pharma's third victory in the Vuelta a Espana: "It's incredible, this is no coincidence"

Urko Berrade gave Kern Pharma the third victory of the Vuelta a España 2024. The rider from Navarra, very close to home, was the strongest of a breakaway of 42 riders in which the ProTeam showed once again that this Spanish race is showing an extraordinary level.

Berrade was strong on the day's climbs, including the Puerto Herrera in which the breakaway fractured completely. In the cut of 12 riders that race for the victory Kern put three men: the 2-times stage winner Pablo Castrillo, the fast man Pau Miquel and a Berrade who went to the good attack in the final hilltop, on his way to a breakthrough solo victory in Maetzu.

"This is incredible, we can't believe it, it's unbelievable, I tried to anticipate, we had superiority, I thought they were going to catch me, but this time it happened," he said in a post-race interview. "It is an accumulation of sensations and the result of all the work we have done, it is not by chance. Three stages, it was something unthinkable before we started, we have come up and we fought from one to one. We're going to enjoy it all the way to Madrid".

Pablo Castrillo, stage winner on two occasions, was also very satisfied at the finish line after an incredible collective work: "I think this is even better, this is great that a guy like Urko wins. We were a team with more assets, we had to play it, I had to start or Urko, Urko started and I stopped. We have a great team".

Thus, Urko Berrade ended up winning and Pau Miquel came in third on the day. Both have very good legs and there are two mountain stages left in which they will surely try to win again. Will they get the fourth?