'That's not how I win' - Viviani relegated despite resisting temptation to close door on Philipsen
Elia Viviani came close to winning stage 8 of the Vuelta a España in Zaragoza, but he was ultimately overhauled by Jasper Philipsen. It was a bitter defeat for the Italian, who was later relegated to 105th for his deviation in the sprint.
For a moment, it was yesterday. When Elia Viviani (Lotto) hit the front in the final 100 metres of stage 9 of the Vuelta a España, there was fresh air to his left and his right. A first Grand Tour stage win since the 2019 Tour de France suddenly looked within his grasp.
Then, as Viviani veered gently towards the left-hand barrier, he heard a shout. Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) was still in the hunt. Another rider might have slammed the door shut and waited for the commissaires to make a decision on the manoeuvre. Viviani, however, corrected his line, and Philipsen duly thundered past for the stage win.
Beyond the finish line in Zaragoza, Viviani’s disappointment was palpable. He only found a team for 2025 in February, and La Gazzetta dello Sport recently reported that he has been mulling the idea of retiring at the end of this season. A victory here might have secured a deal for next year or at least provided a fitting sign-off to his road career. Instead, he had to settle for a maddening second place after his Lotto team had been the most cohesive lead-out unit in the finale.
Or at least, that's how it seemed. An hour after the stage, the commissaires ruled that Viviani had deviated from his line in the sprint, and he was relegated from seconds to 105th, while Bryan Coquard (Cofidis) dropped from sixth to 106th for a similar offence.
“It’s painful, no?” Viviani told Eurosport before learning of his relegation. “You look at the line in front and you feel it’s closer and it’s closer, but when a guy like Philipsen is around, it’s never done until the line. It’s a big chance lost. It’s even more painful with the job of the team, they were amazing, as you saw. They put me in a perfect position. There was a bit of confusion about where to start, but I preferred to go on the right. In a sprint like this, afterwards you can approach it in 100 different modes, and probably you win, but when you are there, this is the feeling. When I go, I just go and go to the line.”
The commissaires would ultimately find reason to quibble with Viviani’s line in the sprint, but the Italian visibly resisted the temptation to close off Philipsen’s pathway to victory in the final 100 metres. It was a gesture in keeping with the way he has conducted himself in sprints over the years, though it wasn't enough to prevent him from relegation.
“I heard Philipsen screaming on the barriers, and I didn’t have any idea to close him,” Viviani said. “It’s not like this that I win races. It was a close call, so hopefully, in the last week, we can still do some sprints. I just need to be positive and look at what the team has done. I can’t ask for more.”
As well as glory on the track, including the Omnium title at the Rio 2016 Olympics, Viviani has notched up 90 wins as a professional on the road, including nine at Grand Tours. His most recent victory came at the Tour of Turkey in May, and he wasn’t far off the pace on the opening day of this Vuelta, placing fourth in Novara.
“You see me in the last eight days, really happy to be here but also struggling,” Viviani admitted. “But when you go really close to a big goal like this, it also shows you’re still a serious athlete at 36, trying to beat the best sprinter in the world. I’m happy to be there, but I’m really sad not to finish it off today. But cycling is like this.”
