Mountain king and super domestique Vine confesses that Almeida wasn't the only one who struggled with sickness at UAE

The climber laid the foundation for his mountain classification victory in the first ten days, during which he won two stages and was often in contention to collect points. In the second week, the focus slowly shifted to helping Almeida, which was definitely the plan on day 20. “The goal was to try to win La Vuelta. Personally, it's really nice, but today I didn't really cared about the points, it was all-in to try and win this race,” said Vine afterward.

That didn't happen, due to a strong Vingegaard and an Almeida who was feeling sick. It wasn't Vine's fault, who led the way up to the steepest sections of the Bola del Mundo. He even managed to drop Almeida for a moment. “Unfortunately, we came up short. Unfortunately, the whole team has been struggling with some sickness for about 10 days now.”

Judging by his legs, Vine had no problems on Saturday. But he emphasized that his teammates were no longer fresh, just when the decision in the Vuelta had to be forced. “We haven't been able to really show what we are capable of, like I think we did earlier in the race.”

“We came out swinging, we put it all on the line and we tried” said Vine, who can console himself with a mountain jersey in Madrid on Sunday. Almeida also finishes second in the GC and UAE wins the team classification. “Winning the polka dot jersey is a bittersweet victory, I guess. The goal was to try to win La Vuelta. Personally, it's really nice.”