Vine expects GC contenders to shine in ninth stage, Pellizzari confident thanks to "very good legs"

Jay Vine is currently one of the stars of the Vuelta a España. The Australian from UAE Team Emirates has already won a mountain stage and also wears the polka dot jersey. The eighth stage allowed Vine to recharge his batteries for Sunday's mountain finish.

“I’d say today was a recovery day physically, not so much mentally,” said Vine in the flash interview. “There was a lot of stress all day with possible crosswinds. In the end, after we turned left, it was clear it was not gonna happen today.”

Vine was thus able to save his legs for the many mountain stages still to come. The climber has already said he is looking forward to the grueling second and third weeks. “The legs got a good recovery session, and are ready for some more!”

On Sunday, the riders will face another uphill finish. With a distance of over thirteen kilometers and an average gradient of 5.2 percent, the final climb is not exactly the most difficult of this Vuelta, which offers opportunities for the attackers.

However, Vine himself has his doubts about this. “Winning with the polka-dot jersey tomorrow would be really incredible, but I have to see what the team says. I think tomorrow, with not much else on offer except for the final climbs, it will be the GC guys that go for it. We haven’t really had a climb that they’ve been able to separate themselves on yet this race so I think it will be won from the peloton but I have to wait and see what the team tells me.”

The wearer of the red jersey also appeared in front of the camera after the stage. As a climber, Torstein Træn doesn't normally care much for sprint stages, but as the leader of the race, he was able to enjoy it more. “To be honest, I usually get pretty bored in these stages, but today I enjoyed it a little more than yesterday. It was less stressful and we weren't so nervous about losing the jersey.”

“That made it easier to enjoy,” Træen continues. On Sunday, the Norwegian faces another important test with the uphill finish. “To be honest, I haven't looked at the course much. We'll see what happens tomorrow,” says Træen, approaching the last stage before the rest day with an open mind.

Finally, the wearer of the white jersey is Pellizzari. The Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe climber has had a good first week so far. Pellizzari is eighth in the general classification, 2.53 minutes behind the red jersey wearer. Like Træen, Pellizzari is not particularly fond of sprinter stages. “Sprint stages are too fast and too dangerous,” he jokes. “Today there was some stress at the start and for the victory, but the final was very fast and everything went well.”

Pellizzari is approaching the difficult ninth stage with considerable confidence. “Tomorrow there's another uphill finish. My legs felt really good today, so I hope tomorrow goes well too.”