Michael Matthews (Team Sunweb): “Crec que tindré dues opcions més en aquesta Volta”

March 26 th 2019 - 19:19 [GMT + 1]

Michael Matthews report stage 2:

«Through the race, there was a lot of stress, because there was a lot of wind and a lot of teams were fighting the whole day, trying to stay out of trouble. It was difficult. We knew it was a good day for me and we could put the team on the front and try to protect me. I knew Valverde was going to be the favourite in the end when we passed there the first time, seeing how steep the climb was. I had a bit target to be around him on the finish. I think he started the sprint quite early, so I could pass him with 150 metres to go. Then, I looked under my arm and saw Valverde struggling a little bit, so it gave me more confidence. It’s such a beautiful victory, the first World Tour race for the team and for me this year, after all the bad luck I had in the past two races.

"I think there might be two more options for me in this Volta, maybe Friday and Sunday, although I know it’s a hard circuit. We will try to work for the GC with Wilco Kelderman and then see what we have left. I crashed in Paris-Nice and had some fractures, so my plans changed, as I had to be going E3 and Gante-Wevelgem this week. Instead, we choose to go here in Catalunya and it turned to be a good decision, I’m super happy. It’s my first time racing in la Volta, but I always saw it on TV: beautiful weather and good racing. I’ve actually never been to this part of Spain, so it’s being nice»

© Namuss films

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