After being close to the stage win a couple of times already, John Degenkolb took the victory on the final stage of the Vuelta a España. The Vuelta traditionally ended in the capital city of Spain, and following an easy run of 40km the peloton prepared for 10 circuits of 5.8km.

Six riders formed the day’s break, which escaped on the local laps, with a maximum advantage of only 20”. In the penultimate lap the break was caught back and the bunch prepared the sprint.

After three podium-finishes earlier in the Vuelta, John Degenkolb won the stage from the bunch sprint. Fabio Aru (Astana Pro Team) wins the Vuelta and Tom Dumoulin secured 6th overall.

“Finally! I am super happy to get this victory,” said John Degenkolb. “We have waited 21 stages for this one.

“It’s really nice to pay the team back for all the hard work they’ve done in the sprint stages. Yesterday was a black day us. We were very disappointed, but that’s sport and that’s life; we cannot change it. We are all proud of Tom. The Vuelta was one day too long, but I am confident that he will be back.

“I think this is the most successful Grand Tour for the team so far, and I am very happy and proud of what we all achieved as a team during this Vuelta. This is a very nice way to finish the race, and we really deserved this victory. It gives us much more positive feelings to go home with.

“It really means a lot because I had not won a race in a long time and patience is not my biggest strength. I tried hard and this one is really also for my wife and my son back at home because they supported me during the Tour de France and the whole Vuelta, they gave me motivation every day. We hit the bottom yesterday when we lost the jersey so close to the finish but today the team worked really hard to make a great leadout. It was perfect team work and this victory brought back a positive feeling in the team.

“For me it means a lot, and for the whole team, too. We had a big, big disappointment yesterday.

“The whole world saw we were giving everything to defend that jersey, and in the end we failed. We lost the jersey and the podium too, and that was a huge disappointment for the team. We were all upset after the stage.”

“I had to try very hard to get the guys mentally prepared for a sprint today. I love this parcours and circuit, though, and I had a great leadout. The emotions have gone from zero to 100 today, and now we can go home with positive feelings because this was still an awesome Vuelta, sixth place overall and three stage wins.

“I feel good. Last week I was able to hang on and stay with the climbers for quite a long time, so I’m in good shape and I hope to recover well. I’m looking forward to the world championships. It’s all or nothing for me.”

Coach Christian Guiberteau added: “This was a great way to end this great Vuelta for the team. Everyone was disappointed after yesterday, and we made the shift again this morning and the motivation was really high to go for our final chance with John and redeem ourselves a little bit.

“The guys rode well during the stage, as they stayed together and the lead-out was also great. I am really proud of the whole team, not only the riders but also the staff. It was an intense Vuelta with a lot of exciting moments for all of us, and to perform like this in a Grand Tour is wonderful.”