Jordi Meeus sprints to strong second place on Vuelta a España's 16th stage
After yesterday's rest day, the Vuelta continued today in northern Spain, where the 170.8km long coastal stage commenced in Laredo. With only a few small hills on the fairly flat course, the sprinters had a last opportunity today to net a stage win. A small breakaway group set off early but was kept on a tight leash by the field and eventually their luck ran out, being caught with 4km remaining. Jordi Meeus, who was involved in a crash earlier in the race, was nevertheless still able to mix things up in the bunch sprint in Santa Cruz de Bezana, ultimately racing to a strong second place, his best result at the Vuelta so far.
Result
01 F. Jakobsen 4:08:57
02 J. Meeus +0:00
03 M. Trentin +0:00
04 M. Matthews +0:00
From the Finish Line
"It was a tricky final today, but the team really did a perfect job. We lost each other a bit over the last kilometre, but I still managed to stay up front. I was in a good position but I have to be honest, Jakobsen was just simply faster today. I think I can really mix things up in the sprints now. But the Vuelta is my first Grand Tour and I'm just lacking a bit of that final speed against riders who have some more experience. But this strong result definitely gives me more confidence for the near future." - Jordi Meeus
"This was a very eventful stage. We wanted to go for the sprint today, of course, but after 6km Jordi was involved in a crash. The right femur was quite injured and so during the stage the team doctor took care of him. He told us that he was fine and that it wasn't that bad, so he was able to follow our initial goal of going after the sprint. Quite a lot then happened during the stage. UAE Emirates was trying to separate the peloton from the sprinters and various attacks also occurred in between. We just aimed to put ourselves into a good position for the last 1000 metres. We knew the course was going to go somewhat left and right, so position was everything. However, the guys did a great job of getting Jordi into the right place. Everyone was in position and ultimately he sprinted out of the last corner into the home straight in first place. After that, however Jakobsen sprinted past him. But we are very satisfied with second place. Not being able to take the win against Jakobsen, one of the best sprinters in the field, can be taken quite sportingly." - Steffen Rachocla, Sports Director