Stage 9 | Puerto Lumbreras – Alto de Velefique | Vuelta a España 2021

Richard Moore and Lionel Birnie dial up our man in Spain, Daniel Friebe, to discuss stage nine of the Vuelta a España, the final test in the mountains before the first rest day of the race.

A couple of days ago we were hoping to learn more about the likely shape of the battle for the red jersey only for a number of riders to gain time in the break and muddy the picture at the top of the overall standings. Today we did get a sort out and with two weeks still to go the question for Movistar is, how do they crack Primoz Roglic?

We discuss a thrilling stage, won by the Italian Damiano Caruso, whose Bahrain Victorious team was also celebrating the fact their rider Jack Haig moved up to fourth overall today. We hear from Caruso, Haig and their sports director Gorazd Stangelj too.

Ineos Grenadiers, and Adam Yates in particular, tried to unsettle Roglic but succeeded only in putting their own rider Egan Bernal on the back foot. Meanwhile Roglic was left with only one Jumbo-Visma teammate, Sepp Kuss, for company at the crucial moment. We hear from Pavel Sivakov of Ineos and Kuss on the brewing tactical battle between the teams.

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