'My legs were almost too good' – Fred Wright gutted after another near-miss at La Vuelta 2022

Fred Wright’s wait for a breakthrough win goes on after another near-miss on Stage 5 at La Vuelta, with the Brit claiming his legs were “almost too good” as he bemoaned his poor luck. Wright (Bahrain Victorious) was part of an 18-strong breakaway on the run from Irun to Bilbao, with the group later joined by Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates) before being slowly whittled down as the stage progressed. Ad With the day certain to go to the break, he later looked best-placed to take a first Grand Tour victory when two chase groups came together and had lone escapee Soler in their sights in the final kilometre.

Vuelta a EspañaWright ‘will obviously be getting more frustrated’ as wait for win continues — LloydAN HOUR AGO But the 23-year-old was hamstrung by botched cooperation among the chasers, with his rivals all too aware of Wright's deadly kick and reluctant to lead him out, as Soler held on to claim a famous victory. Wright finished third behind Daryl Impey (Israel-Premier Tech). To compound Wright's misery, he missed out on the leader’s red jersey as fellow escape act Rudy Molard (Groupama-FDJ) pipped him to the GC lead by two seconds.

“I was feeling strong but I’m disappointed. I was just too marked, I needed good legs but the legs were almost too good," admitted Wright. «Ah! I don’t know, I’ll look at it again and see what I did wrong.

We just should have caught him, plain and simple. But it just didn’t happen.” Asked why the chasers did not cooperate, he continued: “It’s just bike racing. It’s just a shame that I’m just close again – close to that win again.