Coach had to keep Pidcock in check, because there is still a lot to win in this Vuelta: "Only Vingegaard came back"

Pidcock had broken away on the final climb of the day towards Bilbao and even cracked Vingegaard for a moment. The Dane in red came back, but the others (including João Almeida of UAE Emirates-XRG) conceded ten seconds or more. When the finish was moved to three kilometers from the end, it hit Pidcock hard.

“To be honest, it’s hard to put my disappointment into words. I felt like today was my day. I feel like, there should always be a finish line. We're not riding sportive, are we?” he wondered afterwards. Coach Kurt Bogaerts told various media outlets at the bus afterwards that he saw a disappointed leader arrive.

“It was pretty chaotic on the radio, and I'm not 100% sure if Tom understood everything correctly, but he was disappointed,” said the Belgian coach. “He had made this stage his goal and showed on the climbs that he was among the best two. Only Vingegaard came back, which showed his level.”

On day 11, winning may not have been possible, but by gaining time along the way, Pidcock did move up to third place in the Vuelta classification. At 56 seconds behind Vingegaard, there is still a lot possible. “We have to stay calm and look at the bigger picture,” Bogaerts emphasized. There is still a lot to win."

“We're going to think about the next stages, but it's difficult to say what we can do in situations like Wednesday,” he continued. “The organization is doing what it can, and ultimately, the safety of the riders remains the priority. Of course, we want to race every day, and it's frustrating not to see a battle to the finish.”