This Wednesday, September 4th, the seventeenth stage of La Vuelta served as the final opportunity for the sprinters to distinguish themselves before reaching Madrid on Sunday, after a particularly grueling week in the mountains.
Under the pouring rain that gripped Cantabria, the peloton chased down the breakaway riders until the final stretch in the streets of Santander. At the end of the 141 kilometers, Vito Braet secured third place, only behind the green jersey wearer Kaden Groves and Pavel Bittner.
At 23, the Belgian is riding his first Grand Tour at this Vuelta. He thus offers the first podium to the Intermarché-Wanty team in this edition, after the near-misses of Arne Marit (4th, 8th), Lorenzo Rota (7th) and Louis Meintjes (9th) during the first two weeks.
Vito Braet: “I’m not particularly a fan of racing in the rain, but apparently, I perform better when it’s raining. In any case, I prefer these conditions to the heat we experienced in the first week. Arne Marit and I survived the last climb well, but because of the rain, a split in the peloton occurred in the long technical descent. I was in the first group, which was going at a fast pace in pursuit of the breakaway riders. It was impossible for the group with Arne to come back, I had nothing left to do but try my luck. Because of this high pace in the last 40 kilometers, I stayed at the back of the group almost the whole time to avoid wasting energy in the wind. In the final kilometers, I decided to follow the riders with the best lead-out trains, so I was in a good slipstream in the final straight. Third place is the best possible result in this sprint, I think. Getting a podium at the Vuelta is special. I’m very proud of it.”
