After two days in the mountains of southern Spain, the Vuelta a Andalucia hit the flatlands for the 165 km stage three from Mancha Real to Herrera.
Colin Joyce: It was the plan to give it a go in the sprint today. The guys helped with some much needed bottles throughout the day and positioning me before important sections of narrow roads and climbs. The last 13 km ended up being pretty sketchy through a town and setting up for the finish. It was hard to stay together as a team, so it was a bit of freelancing near the end fighting to stay up there. The team is progressing more and more each day which is awesome to see. Learning the ropes and fighting to be up there.
Pat McCarty: We went all in for the sprint today. This is the stage race crew, more or less, but it is important they can get this stuff done. The guys were able to get Colin into decent position going into the finale. I am very pleased with a top 10 in a sprint stage in this race. I think we have the potential to do better, for sure, but we have to start chipping away at top 10’s and learning how to be better at the leadouts. I see this as an improvement on this trip so far.
