"We’ll look to more sprint chances next week" - Juan Sebastian Molano not losing hope of taking Vuelta stage win

For the second at the 2023 Vuelta a Espana, Juan Sebastian Molano came close to victory, with a top 5 stage finish on Friday. Despite sprint opportunities few and fare between, Molano isn't giving up hope.

“It was a stressful stage today as well as being long with lots of crashes," the 28-year-old Colombian sprinter recapped to the official website of UAE Team Emirates post-stage after finishing fourth behind surprise winner, TotalEnergies' Geoffrey Soupe.

"The sprint didn’t really go to plan," Molano admits, referencing the pure chaos that seemed to take over in the finale of the stage. "Rui did a good job but in the last corner I was on Groves wheel and lost a lot of speed which meant I had to almost sprint two times to get back up to speed which sapped the legs."

Molano had to wait under the 21st and final stage last year to taste victory. As such, he knows there's no need to panic. Get over the mountains and more opportunities will present themselves. "We’ll look to more sprint chances next week," he concludes.