Mixed feelings for Max Poole after strong day in Vuelta a España breakaway

After a day spent in a strong breakaway and being the last rider to stay with stage winner Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step), dsm-firmenich’s Max Poole had mixed feelings at the finish of stage 18 of the Vuelta a España.

Staying with Evenepoel for the longest was a clear show of strength from the 20-year-old who has been tipped for greatness, but there was a clear disappointment about the fact that he couldn’t hold onto second, eventually finishing fourth on the Cruz de Linares.

Read more: Remco Evenepoel wins stage 18 solo as Jumbo-Visma ride for Sepp Kuss

“I gave it everything at the end,” he explained to GCN at the finish. “I just had nothing in the last kilometres - I tried to push as much as I could but I just had nothing. Obviously, it was disappointing to get rolled but I gave it everything, so can’t be too disappointed.”

Poole was one of the lesser-known riders among the day’s break that included Evenepoel, former Tour de France winner Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) and Damiano Caruso (Bahrain Victorious), but as the Belgian ramped things up on the first ascent of the final climb, Poole stayed with him the longest.

“I tried to go with him, that’s a positive but I think I just killed myself off a bit. Like I say, I was just empty in the end. It was nice to try and hang with him for a bit, but he just went super fast. I think the best rider won today.”

The added effort to follow Evenepoel may have ultimately been what contributed to Poole being overtaken by Caruso and Andreas Kron (Lotto Dstny) in the final, but the Brit had no regrets about his decision to dig in.

“Maybe in hindsight, but in the moment I felt okay up the first time, and I don’t see why I should have held back,” he said. “It was the toughest part of the climb and then it got a bit easier, so I just tried to get over that bit. In the end, I couldn’t stick with him and maybe it bit me in the bum a bit at the end, but I just tried to go with him.”

Having picked up top-five GC finishes in the Tour de Romandie and the Tour de Hongrie, plus the best young rider’s jersey at the Tour of the Alps so far this year, Poole has been tipped for success, and his first Grand Tour was to be a big test.

However, after winning the opening team time trial with dsm-firmenich, he admitted he hadn’t had the best of starts, but had been in the breakaway on stage 16 and stage 18.

“I had a tricky first couple of weeks to be honest, but I’ve felt good this week so far.  So it’s a positive, and I think we also kind of expected it coming in. Normally I get better as the race goes on. It’s nice to be able to race a bit, especially in the final week after the first two weeks.”

Coming good in the third week is no mean feat for a rider in their debut Grand Tour, in the period where fatigue usually hits bodies not used to racing for that long, and Poole can take heed from not just being a passenger in his first attempt at three-week racing.

“I felt a bit like [I was just getting through the race] already, so it’s nice to be able to race a bit now, and I can’t be too disappointed.”

The initial disappointment just moments after the finish was clear, but the level-headed 20-year-old was able to take some good from what, from the outside, was a mightily strong day out in Spain.

“When it settles a bit, I’ll look at the positives. It’s also good to take lessons away and put them into Grand Tours in the future.”

Keep up to date with all of the latest racing news from the Vuelta a España on our dedicated race page, linked here.