Nicolas Roche has spoken this today about winning yesterday's stage of the Vuelta a Espana.
The Team Sky rider finished ahead of Haimar Zubeldia on Stage 18 in a sprint finish for his second win on the tour since 2013. The stage was Roche's eighth top ten finish of the Vuelta. He know lies 26th overall.
In his race diary for the Irish Independent, Roche wrote about his will to win the sprint finish:
"As the line approached, I wound it up until I was sprinting as fast as I could with 200m to go.
Having been beaten on the line a few years ago in a similar situation, I glanced under my arm, half expecting to see the shadow of Zubeldia's bike coming up my right-hand side and even though it never came, I wasn't making the same mistake again and didn't even put my hands up until after I had crossed the line.
For once I hadn't messed it up. I let out a triumphant roar and a huge smile spread across my face."
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