A few days removed from his victory atop the Pico Jano, Vine conquered Collau Fancuaya with a day-long break that helped him build a 24-point lead on closest KOM challenger Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates).
The Alpecin-Deceuninck rider targeted the final climb to make his move on the 10-man breakaway, having earlier marked Alexey Lutsenko (Astana Qazaqstan) before embarking on a 25-minute solo surge six kilometres from the summit.
“Lutsenko made a starting move, and I followed him, but after he pulled off, there was no indication he was going to be doing a second attack,” Vine said after the stage.
“Then, after 90 seconds of going for it myself, I looked down and saw there was no wheel behind me.
“So I forced myself to get to the next hairpin, looked back and there was still nobody there. So I kept going.”
Buoyed by his success on Stage 6, the Australian looked an assured rider on the 153-kilometre course and credited his team for believing in him and prioritising the mountains jersey.
“The mountains jersey is an objective, although at the moment, I’m not thinking about Madrid, I’m thinking about Stage 9 and playing it by ear,” Vine explained.
“Certainly, I don’t think getting in another breakaway without losing more time is an option.
“Today I was trying to balance getting points in the KOM competition with keeping enough strength for the stage.”
“The team fully backed me before this, even at my attitude camp, they had said they had complete faith in me,” he added.
“To have a guy like Tim Merlier there in the team meeting at the Vuelta when it’s centred on getting you in a breakaway most effectively gives a really big boost to your confidence.
“I’m just happy to be able to deliver.”
The Vuelta a Espana continues tonight with Stage 9 LIVE via SBS On Demand from 8:30pm (AEST), with coverage on SBS commencing at 11pm (AEST).
