Team Jumbo-Visma leaves Spain with fourth place and mixed feelings
Mike Teunissen has finished fourth in the traditional bunch sprint in the last stage of the Vuelta a España. It was a worthy end to an eventful Spanish stage race.
Sports director Grischa Niermann looked back on the past weeks with mixed feelings. A crash prevented Primoz Roglic from making it an exciting final week. "The feeling of what it could have been if Primoz hadn't crashed prevails. We came here with one goal: to win the red jersey for the fourth time in a row with Primoz. The last few days have been strange, but the guys have been strong in the face of disappointment. It is important not to forget how we started this Vuelta. We must keep thinking about the team time trial win, Primoz's stage win, and the fact that we could wear the red jersey for four days. Hopefully, we can go home with the feeling that we did have successes despite losing sight of the big goal."
"With fourth place, I just lost on value."
"It's hard to say what Primoz could have done", Niermann continued. "As a team, we showed that we wanted to ride a successful last week. Primoz showed that on the day of the crash and the days before. We still had chances to take the red jersey, but we will never know if it would have worked out. That doesn't take away from Remco Evenepoel's performance. He showed he was very strong, and he definitely deserves our congratulations. Still, I would have liked to see how this team would have handled our plans with a strong Primoz."
The final stage traditionally finished in Madrid. After a two-rider breakaway was reeled in, the stage was decided by a bunch sprint. Teunissen rode well-positioned in Mads Pedersen's wheel, but the 30-year-old Dutchman could not get away and deservedly finished fourth.
"That makes me happy", Teunissen said. "Our plan was to pick Pedersen's wheel, which worked out well. With fourth place, I just lost on value."