Fred Wright must keep doing what he’s doing and the big win will come soon in La Vuelta

Watching a Fred Wright interview immediately after a race is a joy to behold. Few cycling fans will forget the 23-year-old Londoner’s emotional reaction to Matt Stephens’ kind words after Stage 19 of the Tour de France in July, when Wright came within striking distance of contesting for the win in Cahors after a spirited counter-attack inside the final hour of racing.

After being congratulated by Stephens for his strong form and for being “one of the main protagonists of the race,” Wright, welling up and with a slight wobble in his voice, replied with borderline disbelief: “The fact you can say that is mad, man – yeah, cheers.”

“But you have,” Stephens insisted. “You’ve animated the race – you’ve rode with charisma, verve and panache, and you’ve done you and your team proud. That win isn’t going to be far away.”

“Yeah, I hope so,” Wright laughed. “I hope so.”

That win almost came on Wednesday when the Bahrain Victorious all-rounder found himself part of a strong breakaway that took a whopping 74km to form as the race rampaged along the Atlantic coast past San Sebastian and then headed inland for a succession of climbs ideally suited to Wright’s strengths.

There was just one problem: the presence of Frenchman Rudy Molard who, just four seconds to the better of Wright in the general classification, had his eyes on the red jersey he wore for four days four years ago back in 2018.

Of all the 17 other riders in the break, it was Wright to which Molard stuck to like a fly throughout the breakaway’s time at the front – covering his every move and making sure he never threatened to move ahead and deny him the chance of taking the jersey.

The irony was that Wright didn’t care two hoots about the maillot rojo.

While Molard was going all-in for red, Wright was going into the red for the stage; while Molard was more than happy for his Groupama-FDJ team-mate Jake Stewart to go up the road in pursuit of the spoils, Wright just wanted one thing: that first professional win.

After being denied by Mads Pedersen in Stage 13 of the Tour, and posting two further top 10s in July, Wright came tantalisingly close to tasting success in the world’s biggest bike race. And Wednesday’s fifth stage in the Basque Country could well have been the day Matt Stephens’ oracle came true.

But Wright found himself a marked man. Not simply by Molard, but by the rest of the riders in the break who – quite rightly, given his climbing abilities and fast kick – viewed him as the danger man. Even when Marc Soler was up the road and riding towards glory through the industrial wasteland of Bilbao, Wright seemed to be the man the chasers feared most, the Guggenheim of the group, the man upon whom they leaned in their bid to reel in the plucky Spaniard up the road.

“I was feeling strong but I’m disappointed,” Wright said afterwards in a compelling interview during which you could see the cogs of his brain turning as he looked back and dissected his predicament.

“I was just too marked. I needed good legs but the legs were almost too good. People were just using me. Argh! I’ll look at it again and see what I did wrong, but, yeah, I mean, we just should have caught him – plain and simple – but it just didn’t happen.

“It’s just a shame – coming so close to the win again. But it’s good. Good legs for the rest of the Vuelta, that’s for sure. I’m sure there’ll be better days.”

Molard’s two bonus seconds at the top of the Puerto del Vivero meant Wright needed a six-second swing to take over the red jersey from Primoz Roglic. But for that the Briton needed to win or come second – something that became harder once the chasers allowed fast-finisher Daryl Impey back into the fray.

“I just had to follow Wright,” Molard admitted at the finish after taking red and consigning his rival to white. “I knew he was very fast for the sprint so I had my doubts. So when Impey came back I knew it was better for me.”

Impey duly came second, meaning Wright came up two seconds short when he crossed the line for third place with Molard glued to his wheel. It was an indication of where Wright’s focus lay that, when quizzed about this red jersey dual, he said: “Yeah, I don’t know… Who got that in the end?”

After being told it was the Frenchman, he stuttered: “I didn’t really, yeah… Yeah, because I only got four seconds at the end and I needed to win the stage to get the red, so… Argh, it’s a shame that. But I tried. I tried. I don’t really know what more I could have done. I was working with them. I still had a good sprint at the end considering everyone was just looking at me. What can you do?”

What you can do, Fred, is continue doing what you’re doing. Keep riding with the aforementioned charisma, verve and panache, and that elusive stage win will come sooner rather than later. Given the form you’re in and the opportunities you keep carving out for yourself, plus the good humour and upbeat mentality you retain in the face of such disappointment, it would be almost inconceivable for you to leave this Vuelta empty handed.

So, go again. Keep turning the pedals and pushing on. And given your position just two seconds off the race summit, you may well even find yourself swapping the white jersey for that red jersey later this week, too.

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