Debruyne recalls Van Aert's Vuelta breakaway assessment: 'We wouldn't get much of a gap'
The Belgian knew his position on GC could make it difficult for the escape to build enough of an advantage to fight for stage honours.
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Heard a little bird
The breakaway was never given much freedom on stage 6 of the Vuelta a España, with Andreas Kron (Uno-X Mobility) confirming there was a hint that Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) was targeting a hat-trick of stage wins, while Ramses Debruyne's (Alpecin-Premier Tech) 12th place on GC left the peloton wary of letting him gain too much time.
“I think it was because Tadej wanted to win. We had also heard a little bird say so at the start. But you have to try,” Kron told TV2 Sport.
Debruyne was the last man standing from the breakaway and was the first rider to reach the gravel sector on the Puerto El Bartolo.
He admitted that he had been warned by Wout van Aert (Visma | Lease a Bike), who was also in the move, that the breakaway wouldn’t be given much time due to his 12th place position in the GC.
Debruyne's GC position
“Wout van Aert had said we wouldn't get much of a gap because I was so high up in the standings,” Debruyne told Eurosport. “But I didn't think they’d be afraid of Ramses Debruyne.”
Pogačar and Enric Mas (Movistar) eventually caught and passed the Belgian on the climb, but Debruyne stayed in the fight for a strong stage finish.
He hung on with Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) and Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA CGM) over the summit, then beat both in the sprint for third on the stage, and his efforts have seen him rise to eighth in the overall standings.
“I don’t consider myself a GC rider, but I do enjoy days like today,” he said. “I love getting into long breakaways like this and squeezing out the best possible result.
“I thought: I’m going all out for the [stage] podium, the best possible result. Actually pulling it off in the sprint makes me really happy with the outcome. Though I have to admit, right now I have less than one per cent left in the tank.”
Van Aert's green jersey bid
Meanwhile, Van Aert took 20 points at the intermediate sprint in Benicàssim. He remains 33 points behind Pogačar but moved ahead of teammate Brennan into second in the points classification, and will wear green on stage 7.
“I wanted to try and take the points because I felt they weren't giving us much leeway,” Van Aert told Het Laatste Nieuws.
"I’m getting closer to Pogačar in the points classification now, but he’s winning again today, so for the time being, I’m fighting for second place.”
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