On a hot & humid afternoon in the Basque Country, Team Bahrain Victorious’ in-form Englishman, Fred Wright, stepped onto a Grand Tour podium alone for the first time as leader of the Young Riders’ classification. In addition, he was 3rd on the stage and lies 2nd overall. Never before has the 23-year-old worn a jersey in a World Tour race, but this will surely not be his last.
The day started with a fierce battle for the break, which eventually formed on the approach to the day’s opening climb, the 3rd category Puerto de Gontzagarigana. Wright’s breakaway companions included previous Grand Tour stage winners Marc Soler (UAE), Daryl Impey (IPT), & Nikias Arndt (DSM), as well as veterans Rudy Molard (GFC), Anthony Delaplace (ARK) & Alessandro De Marchi (IPT).
After 140kms along the northern Spanish coast, 17 riders entered a circuit in Bilbao with around 4 minutes advantage over the peloton, and it was clear that the winner would come from this group. With 15km left, Soler attacked and gained what would prove to be a significant gap.
Back home, friends and family were glued to their screens, just as they had been three times on the Tour de France and at the Commonwealth Games road race 2 weeks ago.
“My mum and my girlfriend were watching, and they were more anxious than me. They want me to win just as much as I do,” Wright told us.
With the finish line approaching, Fred was the only rider willing to commit to the chase, and in the end that proved his downfall, as he fell just short of catching the Spaniard.
“I was fully in for the stage, and I really thought we’d get Soler on the descent. I’ll be thinking all evening about what I could have done better, but I’m really happy with my shape and taking the white jersey is a nice consolation for not quite being able to win today.”
Even with the stage out of reach, the red jersey was still a very real possibility for us … but by sticking to Wright’s wheel all the way to the line, Molard ensured a 2” time bonus for finishing 4th. Fred’s 3rd place would have been enough to lead the GC had the Frenchman finished 5th.
Instead, he will be wearing La Vuelta’s white jersey on the start line in Bilbao tomorrow. It will be a fitting celebration of the form our summer star has shown over the last 6 weeks, and bodes very well for the rest of this race.
“I finished the Tour in good shape, the Commonwealth Games proved it, and I’ve come so close a few times now. I have to take confidence from today rather than worry about it too much because there are still plenty more days in this Vuelta and also in the future. I know that if I keep plugging away it’ll come.
We have definitely got a strong enough team to for well in the next stages. It’s all looking good.”
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