For local rider Vine, the stage win in Andorra was extra special: "All I could think about in the last 5 kilometers"

Vine was by no means ambiguous about his plan for the day. “I was definitely here to win the stage,” he explained in the flash interview. But if things had turned out differently, the climber would have been there for his team. “Of course, there was always the option that if the breakaway didn't make it, I would do some work. That was also a card we could play.” In the end, that wasn't necessary: Vine finished more than 4 minutes ahead of the first favorites.

Vine has been living in the microstate for a few years and wanted to shine today. He chose his moment carefully. "I know the roads quite well, I live over the hill here. The Comella (penultimate climb, ed.) is my favorite climb in Andorra. I would have liked to ride it much harder, but with the headwind, it was difficult to get the guys to turn and pick up the pace. I decided to accelerate just below the top. I know the descent very well, and I thought: this is my chance to go, no jokes now. It was man against man."

It was far from certain that the Australian would be at the start of his beloved Vuelta - he had already won two stages in 2022 and won the mountain jersey last year. “I got a call four weeks ago to ride here; it wasn't on my schedule at first. To then win here in Andorra, in front of my son and wife, is incredible. All I could think about in the last 5 kilometers was: this one's for you, Harrison. I tried to get there as quickly as possible.”