Vuelta a Espana: Tom Dumoulin 'a bit worried' about defending lead
Wednesday 9 September 2015 19:47, UK
Tom Dumoulin has admitted he is "a little bit worried" about defending his three-second lead over Fabio Aru in the final four stages of the Vuelta a Espana.
Dumoulin regained the red jersey by winning stage 17's individual time trial on Wednesday but was unable to open up the sizeable advantage on second-placed Aru he had been hoping for.
There are no more summit finishes for Dumoulin to fear, but rolling routes on stages 18 and 19 and then a mountainous 20th stage containing four category-one climbs will give Aru plenty of testing terrain on which to attack.
Dumoulin told Eurosport: "It's only three seconds on Aru, so I'm a little bit worried. I'm just going to celebrate this victory with the team first tonight and then we will look at the other days.
"It's definitely possible [to win overall]. The coming days are very hard, but I think we have a good team and we can control, and we will control.
"It's going to be very stressful, but I guess that's the same for everyone. Aru has the same pressure."
Even if Dumoulin is unable to seal overall victory, the Vuelta will still have been an overwhelming success for the 24-year-old Dutchman.
Prior to the race, he was not regarded as a potential grand tour contender, but some exceptional climbing displays, backed up by a strong time trial, have broadened his horizons.
He added: "Who could have thought I would be in the red jersey in the third week with two stage wins in my pocket?
"It means a lot to me and it means also that my future looks pretty bright. I don't know if I will fight for a GC [general classification] win every year, but this is really nice."
Follow stage 18 of the Vuelta on Thursday with our live blog. Coverage starts after the end of stage five of the Tour of Britain, at about 3.30pm.
