About an hour after arriving in Zaragoza, the jury of the Return reopens the arrival order and removes Viviani and Coquard, dropping them to 105th and 106th positions. Elia had sprinted ahead, eventually taking second place. His move from the center of the road to the left side of the road is noticeable, but it is not a killer maneuver.So much so that when the Veronese rider realized Philipsen was coming up behind him, he straightened up and the Belgian managed to pass. Even in the winner's interviews after the finish, there was no mention of Viviani's deflection.
«We won – says Philipsen – so I can't complainI lost my teammates in the final stages, I tried to call them back but in the last kilometer there was little I could do. So I had to do it myself. I took Bryan Coquard's wheel. My legs felt as hard as concrete., but I still managed to win."
A correct sprinter
In the old cycling system, things would have stopped there, especially since the third-place finisher – Ethan Vernon – had chosen to sprint on the other side of the road. After arriving Viviani's only feeling was great sadness. for the missed opportunity and the great work of the comrades.
“It hurts,” Elia said. “Look at the line ahead. You feel it's getting closer, closer, but when there's a rider like Philipsen around, the race is never over until the line.. With him it is very likely to lose. And it is even more painful with the great work of the team, which you saw. They put me in the perfect position, even if there was a bit of confusion towards the end. I preferred to move to one side, but if you look back at this sprint afterwards, you can approach it a hundred different ways and maybe win. When you're there, you have to choose, and that's what I did. Until I heard Philipsen yelling from the side of the barriers. I didn't want to close him down; that's not how I win races.I came close, so I hope we can do some more sprints in the last week."
The desire to demonstrate
After the debut sprint in Novara, exchanging some messages, Viviani had said that that day there was no chance of beating Philipsen and that a second place would have been a good result. There was and there still is the desire to demonstrate that bringing him to the Vuelta was the right choice.
“We just have to be positive,” he says, “and look at what the team has done, because I can’t ask for more from them. I'm really happy to be here, even if I've struggled a lot in these first few days, there's no point in hiding it, because it's the truth.. But when you get close to such an important goal, it means that you are a serious athlete and at 36 years old you are still trying to beat the best sprinter in the worldI'm definitely happy to be there and I'm sorry I didn't win today, but that's cycling."
In an Instagram post after arriving, Viviani returned to his maneuver in the final. "Did I change my line? Yes. Why? Because like any sprinter, when you're in front you look for one side of the road. Why didn't I choose the left side when I started the sprint? Because I had my teammate De Buyst in front of me, and I know he would have left me room. But I can't predict what the Alpecin leadout will do.. That's why I decided to move towards the center of the street.
«Did I finally let the door open to the left? Yes, when I heard Philipsen scream, I knew I couldn't close this door, so he clearly surpassed me. Did you talk to the jury? Yes, I spoke to the president of the jury. And he showed me on video what I did and explained that I can't change my trajectory, even though I finally gave him space to pass. Are you sorry? Yes, I feel sorry for my team and my teammates because they deserve a better result., they were incredible today! Of course, congratulations to Jasper Philipsen."
Zaragoza was perhaps the last real chance for the sprinters. To see a finish suitable for fast men we will probably have to wait the 19th stage and then that final in Madrid. It was therefore predictable that the escape would not arrive and that there would be high tension at the end. For the next ten stages, the sprinters' battle will be with the maximum timeThe meeting will probably be in Guijuelo.
