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It was a hovering begin for Jay Vine‘s 2023 season as he powered to the green-and-gold stripes of the Australian nationwide time trial champion’s jersey and backed it up with a maiden WorldTour stage race victory on the Santos Tour Down Underneath.
He was flying. Vine continued on the identical fast-track trajectory that noticed him leap from continental groups in Australia to the Zwift Academy title in 2020, after which to finish new heights in his second season at Alpecin-Fenix with a brace of Grand Tour victories on the 2022 Vuelta a Esapaña.
Regardless of securing an extension to his contract at UAE Team Emirates till 2027, the remainder of the season was removed from plain crusing – “eventful” was how Vine summed it up when speaking to Cyclingnews. A knee harm and Grand Tour crashes took the shine off what was a improbable begin to his time at one of many sport’s largest groups.
The latecomer to the skilled ranks isn’t dwelling on the previous, now with 2024 firmly on his thoughts as he will get uncommon time away from the stringent WorldTour routine for a vacation within the UK, taking in Stonehenge, Bathtub and the fun of a full English obtain.
“I might sum 2023 up as eventful. Plenty of a number of stops and begins, however hopefully I can have an excellent rhythm for 2024 and if I can hold an excellent January going by the remainder of the yr it’ll be good,” Vine instructed Cyclingnews at Rouleur Dwell.
Vine mentioned the Tour Down Underneath being in January meant “it did not actually really feel like I would completed it this season. Perhaps if it had occurred in June, and even, you realize, Might, it will’ve felt like I’d completed a minimum of half the season, not simply the primary month.
“It exhibits how rapidly one harm can change the yr. However I imply, I am pleased with how the season went,” Vine mentioned. “On the finish of the day, I secured two main objectives of my very own – carrying inexperienced and gold and successful [Tour] Down Underneath, which is unbelievable.”
He’ll be again in Australia in January to defend his title and the ochre jersey, which was the large spotlight of a troublesome yr.
It was the Grand Excursions the place Vine was most dissatisfied, coming into the Giro undercooked off the again of his harm however nonetheless wanting robust within the first week. Nonetheless, a crash on the moist and depressing stage 10 ended his GC problem with the Australian being real looking in his interviews about his lack of need to work his method again into the highest 10 because it wouldn’t transfer the needle for him.
Vine’s humility was comprehensible with the GC state of affairs now pigeonholing right into a domestique function for João Almeida, which he carried out dutifully, however he was after all nonetheless left wanting extra having not been in a position to present his greatest.
“I used to be nonetheless pissed off after the Giro, simply wanting to place an excellent race collectively,” mentioned Vine. “If I am crushed on the day by higher riders, that is great, however I simply need to have the ability to present my greatest efficiency on the day and I simply felt like till stage 7 at [Tour of] Turkey, I wasn’t in a position to really try this.”
Vine bookended his tumultuous season with the win to which he referred in Turkey, alongside the King of the Mountains jersey, however even that victory wasn’t with out incident. He didn’t vindicate his pre-race standing as favorite after falling out of GC on the brutal queen stage as a result of abdomen issues and a sequence of dangerous luck.
“It was good to get the win for the workforce however I used to be at that race absolutely targeted on 2024,” mentioned Vine. “Something that I did on this race was good for the following yr and something that I might take out of it was going to be a constructive.
“I put quite a lot of work in though I did not need to, so to have the ability to get one thing out of it was good.”
Classes for subsequent season
Vine’s switch to UAE Emirates noticed him leap from, on the time, a Professional Staff with only a few climbers to a WorldTour setup stuffed with GC hopefuls, and the information that management alternatives can be far and few between. He now had obtained huge stars Tadej Pogačar, Almeida, Juan Ayuso, Adam Yates, Brandon McNulty and Pavel Sivakov to compete and work with on that entrance.
Amidst the problem that comes with a Giro removed from what he needed and a DNF on the Vuelta a España as a result of one other crash, Vine seemed to the silver linings and classes to take ahead from disappointment, discovering inspiration from his British teammate Adam Yates.
“I’ve a number of learnings about how the workforce rides in Grand Excursions, that is the principle factor. How one can assist a frontrunner, how one can experience for a GC chief – as a result of I’ve by no means completed that earlier than,” he mentioned.
“I’ve ridden for sprinters, however by no means completed it for a GC man, so studying how they function, studying how I can greatest assist them in that function within the Grand Tour after which even be on the stage that I should be that I can even do my very own factor as properly.”
Vine sees Adam Yates’ success on the Tour de France as a stable blueprint to chase, having tried to take action on the Vuelta however clearly not with the ability to take the total probability as a result of his crash.
“Adam Yates proved on the Tour what a extremely good GC rider can do in assist of a frontrunner,” mentioned Vine. “I hoped to attempt to do one thing comparable, possibly to not the identical stage on the Vuelta, however one thing comparable, however that is the aim.”
Vine mentioned the route reveals for the Tour and Giro hadn’t distracted his give attention to vacation whereas he dipped into black pudding and marvelled on the historical past of Stonehenge. His personal GC ambitions are nonetheless very a lot alive, and count on him to be hungry for a cleaner run into the Grand Excursions subsequent yr.
He gained’t be alone in his endeavours, with spouse Bre proper by his aspect ever for the reason that couple made the plunge to chase Vine’s WorldTour dream and transfer to Europe. Vine credited Bre for her unbelievable assist, particularly in his powerful moments after crashing out of the Vuelta on stage 6.
“For starters, she was there on the hospital earlier than I even obtained stitches in my arm…after which they determined that they weren’t going to do stitches and simply staple my arm again collectively,” mentioned Vine.
“Mentally after [crashing], having a supporting associate behind the scenes simply lets me do my very own factor for a few days. After which it is making an attempt to coax me again into the world after that. Like, with any job, you are feeling such as you’re working in your different half and it is a workforce effort too with a typical aim.”
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