Australian Jay Vine was a man on a mission on stage 20 of the Vuelta a España. His goal was to get any many KOM points as possible to secure the polka-dot jersey before the final climb of the day where GC contenders would be battling on the ascent of Picón Blanco. To do so, the UAE Team Emirates rider made his way into the break of the day early on, where he was soon joined by his teammate Marc Soler who led the mountain classification with a slim 1-point lead on Vine.
While Vine took the points in the first three ascents, Soler went on a solo attack which led to the teammates being tied in the virtual mountain classification with two climbs left to go in the stage. The tactics left many to wonder if the teammates were battling each other for the points, but Vine stated that Soler was simply “a really great teammate.”
