‘I don’t know why’ - Magnus Cort questions Vuelta decision after crash disrupts sprint

Magnus Cort had hoped for another shot at victory on stage 16 of the Vuelta a España, but his sprint was compromised long before Matthew Brennan (Visma | Lease a Bike) powered clear in La Rábida.

A crash with around 25 kilometres remaining split the peloton and left Cort caught on the wrong side of the gap. Uno-X Mobility were forced into a long chase, with riders dropping back towards the team cars to help bring their leader back into contention.

What frustrated Cort was that the race convoy was not allowed to move past the chasing group, denying Uno-X the usual benefit of riding through the cars while trying to regain contact.

“It was a shit situation,” Cort told TV 2 Sport after the finish. “Luckily, the guys rode really well. I don’t know why they put us under barrage, but that’s how it is.”

Uno-X eventually made it back, but the chase had taken its toll and Cort entered the final kilometres with a reduced lead out.

“We got back, but then we only had a slightly reduced train left, unfortunately,” he said.

Cort still reached the final kilometre in contention, although the situation became increasingly chaotic. With around 600 metres remaining, the pace briefly stalled and he came forward with speed, prompting him to consider an early attack.

“I was thinking a little about whether I should go for a flyer,” he said. “But I knew they were coming.”

“I suddenly ended up a little too far back, and then I think it slowed down a bit with 600 metres to go. I came through with speed, but it was too far to go from there.”

Cort instead found himself at the front and waited for the main sprint trains to come past, hoping to latch onto Visma | Lease a Bike as Wout van Aert prepared the lead out for Brennan.

“It was difficult to get forward, move across and find the right wheel,” Cort said. “So I just ended up right at the front and had to wait for them to come from behind.

“I didn’t have much more than trying to stay a little in Visma’s draft when they came past.”

Van Aert surged through in the finishing straight and delivered Brennan into a commanding position, with the Briton completing the job to take his fourth victory of his debut Vuelta.

Cort crossed the line fifth and felt he had little reason to be disappointed given the work Uno-X had been forced to do.

“I think I have to be satisfied,” he said. “We do what we can and I think the guys rode really well. It was impressive work from many of them. They spend so long on the front, get five minutes to recover, and then they are straight back out there again.”

It was another near miss for Cort, after finishing second on stage 10 and fourth on stage 11, but much of his frustration centred on how much energy Uno-X had been forced to spend before the sprint even began.