La Vuelta Ciclista a España

The day started out at La Vuelta with Mikel Landa on the podium, where he received the solidarity jersey, awarded each day to a rider for sportsmanship, and continued with T-Rex Quick-Step going on the attack from the gun, when Mauri Vansevenant and Louis Vervaeke joined a strong 33-man group.

It came as no surprise that this breakaway didn’t have success, as the collaboration lacked there in many moments, so soon after, on the long Puerto del Boyar, another group emerged after this one was overhauled by the peloton. This time, only a dozen riders found themselves at the front, including the always determined Mauri, who impressed with the incredible amount of work he put in the group.

By the time they entered the last 70 kilometers of the day, the escapees had five minutes on a somewhat lethargic bunch, who wasn’t too keen on chasing. In the meantime, attacks began coming from the leading group, which fragmented before the penultimate ascent, leaving every rider for himself out there. Mauri did his best to follow, producing a strong effort on the sweltering roads of Andalusia despite riding alone a good chunk of the stage, and concluded seventh – behind winner Ben O’Connor (Decathlon AG2R) – for his fifth top ten in a Grand Tour stage.

“The whole day was full gas from the start, we didn’t have a moment of respite and rode at an incredible speed despite the tough conditions. I had very good legs, but it was hard and I was running low on energy at one point. But I am satisfied with my ride and I hope I can do more in the next weeks of the race”, Mauri said after stage six, which his T-Rex Quick-Step teammate Mikel Landa finished together with the rest of the GC favourites.

Photo credit: ©Tim De Waele / Getty Images