Aussie pro and 2020 Zwift Academy winner Jay Vine picked up his first professional win, none other than Stage 6 of the Vuelta in Spain.
Coming out of the mist on the steep mountain finish, Vine finished 15 seconds ahead of 2nd Remco Evenepoel (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl).
“It’s almost unreal… I missed the break, I had a puncture in the first 5 kilometers,” exclaimed a delighted Vine from the top of the mountain after the finish.
“It’s unreal to be able to do it from the GC group in the last 10 kilometres. I’ve worked so hard this year after coming so close last year,” he continued.
Heavy rain, rough finish
Much of the 180km stage took place in pouring rain and culminated in the brutal summit of Pico Jano, the first summit finish of this year’s race.
Jay Vine said: “I was able to manage my effort and accelerate the climb quite easily. [In the last km]I thought of my wife who has done almost everything for me over the past 3 or 4 years to get me to this point.
Evenepoel stepped into the red jersey and is now leading the race, and said “I’m really happy and proud to be the leader.”
“What I’m showing today is possibly one of the best things I’ve done on the bike,” Evenepoel added… which says a lot about Australian legend Jay Vine.
