Vuelta (Stage 5), Yvon Ledanois: "The group showed its strength of cohesion"
Anthony Delaplace was propelled by his team-mates to join the day.
“The breakaway came out late, it was very fast at the beginning of the race. I had very good legs, but I tried a lot of times with the guys to go in front. Clément and Thibault launched me in a small steep slope – I thank them for that – and that’s how I was able to bridge up to the group that had started in front with three other riders. I played fine because there were some nice riders with me. Soler and Craddock did a very big tempo on the first climb of the climb. I let go there, unfortunately. No regrets, I got my leg out of the way. That’s the sport.”
“I think that the result of this stage doesn’t reflect the involvement of our riders, they all tried to get into the breakaway in turn. When the move is made, we don’t have anyone in it. So the riders mobilized themselves so that Anthony could go out on the counter-attack and make the connection with the leading riders. I would like to salute this spirit of cohesion from the team. Anthony gave it his all as always. We tried once again on this stage and this dynamic will be there for the whole Vuelta.”