MIKEL NIEVE Michelton-Scott
Stage 11
On the second of three days in the Alps, Mikel Nieve joined a 30-rider breakaway that formed on the first of the day’s four categorised climbs: the hors catégorie Montée de Bisanne. The Spanish climber was at the race as a domestique for Adam Yates, but went in the escape group to give their Mitchelton-Scott team two options for the day: either use Nieve up front or give Yates a team-mate up the road for him to bridge across to. The breakaway began to fall apart as the riders crested the third climb of the day, the Cormet de Roselend, leaving Nieve as one of seven riders still at the head of the race on the final summit to La Rosière. Behind, in the GC group, Yates began struggling and was dropped. With his team-mate losing ground, Nieve was given the go-ahead to chase the stage win. He attacked with 9km to go, just before the steepest section of the 17km climb, and quickly opened a gap of one minute. Yet the GC-led peloton was closing in behind, and Nieve was caught and overtaken by stage winner Geraint Thomas just 300 metres short. “Yeah that day was a hard day for the GC. Also it was important to have a rider in the breakaway maybe for Adam to come over, or to help him. Unfortunately, he didn’t have a good day, that’s it. Finally, I was playing for the win, it’s important also for the team.
“I saw at three kilometres to go on the climb to La Rosière that the GC riders were close to me, I knew that I would have difficulty to go to the finish and I knew that they were coming. I just tried to put all my power into the pedals and keep trying. I didn’t see too much behind me, just kept trying and when Geraint passed me I thought, okay, that’s the win gone.
“It don’t think too much about it since it happened – it is the race. Sometimes it happens - a lot of times it happens that breakaways get caught a few metres from the finish. It’s cycling. I gave all that I had so there’s nothing more I can do.”