Froome: I Did Not Expect The Red Jersey So Early

21 August 2017 08:23
Chris Froome has said that he did not expect the race leader's jersey so early after a third place on stage three along with taking the day's intermediate sprint put him into the lead of the Vuelta a Espana.

Froome said:  "I didn't expect to get the red jersey so early in La Vuelta. It's a great surprise. I think it's the result of lot of a hard work today from my teammates as well. They did a fantastic job on the final climb, especially a guy like Gianni Moscon. It's his first Grand Tour and he was great today as were the rest of the guys. I've lost La Vuelta before by 13 seconds so I'm going to fight for every second.

"It's been a long time since I had the red jersey (1 day in 2011). It feels amazing to put it back on. To be in this position is something I've thought about for a long time and I worked really hard after the Tour. It's going to be really hard to keep it until the end, especially with the time bonuses out there. It's only two seconds to the next group of riders. It's still really close. I don't expect to keep it til the end but I'm certainly gonna fight for it."

The stage which finished in Andorra was won by Vincenzo Nibali who said: “I didn't expect to win. Some riders went from far out. It was a hot day and only the third day of the race. Sky upped the tempo when I was a bit behind. Luckily I got back on. My only way to win the stage was to launch the sprint. It's hard to say that the favourites for La Vuelta are the nine riders in the front group. Froome is a great rider and always someone who is hard to beat. But I respect all the other GC contenders. We'll have a nice La Vuelta!”

BMC Nicholas Roche who lost his KOM jersey to David Villella said: : “It was pretty tough, exactly like I expected. I know every time the race comes to Andorra there's no easy finish. Today was no different. But the race is usually made with the riders and the climbs could be as hard as they are, it's actually the racing that makes it tough. I think today the tempo in the last 50km was pretty high and there was a lot going on. The team did a very good job from the start. Coming in to the finish, we had a few seconds of delay over Froome at the top. Tejay (Van Garderen) came back to me on the descent and we rode back. I tried to anticipate the sprint but that was going nowhere. After winning the TTT, I was hoping today was a day I could have taken the red jersey. It was normal to dream about it. Yesterday, losing those precious seconds was a big pain if you think about it today.”

STAGE RESULT

1. Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain - Merida), 4h01’22’’

2. David De La Cruz, (Quick-Step Floors) s.t

3. Chris Froome (Team Sky) s.t


Jersey wearers after the stage 3

  • red jersey Chris Froome   
  • green jersey Vincenzo Nibali 
  • polka-dot jersey D. Villella 
  • combined jersey Esteban Chaves 
  • stage winner  Vincenzo Nibali
  • team Orica Scott 
  • combative A. Geniez    


  • Kev Monks for Digital Sports Group

Source: DSG