Minutes after the dust had settled at the finish of stage 8 of the Vuelta a España, veteran Elia Viviani (Lotto) was still hunched over his handlebars, teary and emotional in defeat, having almost rolled back the years in the sprint.
He had suffered great heartbreak as a first Grand Tour stage win in seven years went from staring him in the face to being snatched at the last by one of cycling's top sprinters – Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck).
Viviani rode through the finish as his teammates arrived at the awaiting Lotto soigneurs in Zaragoza, but soon found his way and broke down. No words were said, only pats on the back came and an acknowledgement that there was nothing more they could have done, but that couldn't help Viviani from feeling the defeat to its fullest.
Eventually, the Italian composed himself and graciously fielded questions from the pack of reporters who had watched him cry and experience the emotions of losing, having finally taken on some nutrition and checked the numbers on his bike computer.
What he didn't know yet was that his heartbreaking second would soon become a 105th, with the commissaires relegating him for 'Deviation from chosen line that obstructs or endangers another rider, irregular sprint' after the stage.
Bryan Coquard (Cofidis) was relegated, too, from sixth to 106th. Both riders were also fined 500CHF, lost eight points in the green jersey classification and received a yellow card.
"It's painful, no? You look at the line in front and you feel it's closer, it's closer, but when a guy like Philipsen is around, it's not over until the line," said Viviani.
"It's a big shame to lose, but it's even more painful with the job of the team – it was amazing as you see. They put me in the perfect position, and there was a bit of confusion about where to start – if they open the door on the left or the right.
"I prefer to go on the right, but if you look at a sprint like this afterwards, you can approach it 100 different ways and you'll probably win. But when you are there, this is the feeling."
Viviani's relegation came as a result of his sprinting to the right instead of straight once he opened up with the line in sight, which forced Philipsen to go close to the barrier. However, the Italian stressed his intention was, of course, never to squeeze the Belgian to the point he'd back out – shown best by Philipsen beating him – but still he was deemed to have done enough to earn a relegation when the race jury had a closer look.
"When I go, I just go to the line. I heard Philipsen screaming on the barriers, so I don't have any ideas to close him," said Viviani.
"It's not like this how I win races."
Viviani had the red carpet ride into the finishing straight, with the colourful jerseys of Lotto dominating the front position of the peloton and piloting him right until the last launch for the line. The Italian had no notes for his teammates' performances.
"I couldn't have asked for more from the team. What I've said all my career is I want a strong team, and today was another chance," he said.
"I showed I can be there, I still can't beat Philipsen. But when you go really close to a big goal like this, it means you are a serious athlete at 36, still trying to beat the best sprinter in the world.
"I'm happy to be there for sure, but really sad I didn't finish it off today, but cycling is like this."
Such is the difficulty of this year's Vuelta route, which almost lacks flat finishes altogether, making up only five of the 21 days. Viviani's despair also likely comes from this being one of his final chances to impress.
He's 36 and clearly still in Grand Tour stage-challenging shape, but he lacks a place yet for 2026, and this deal with Lotto only came about in February. It's a result he may have needed to secure his future and prevent retirement from arriving when he doesn't want it to, but he hasn't given up hope.
"Today is a good morale boost for the next weeks, so now I will just focus and wait until the last week for two more chances," said Viviani. "We'll keep fighting on the climbs and we want to play again the same way – maybe next time will be the successful one.
"It was a close call, but hopefully in the last week we can still do some sprints, we just need to be positive and see what the team have done, because I can't ask more."
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