Most elite cyclists would remember their first Grand Tour but Kiwi cyclist Finn Fisher-Black made sure he won’t be the only one to remember his ride at this year’s La Vuelta.
The 21-year-old Kiwi finished second in Stage 16, joining less than a handful of Kiwi cyclists to podium in a stage of a Grand Tour.
“It's the best thing I've ever done,” Fisher-Black told 1News, just days after the Tour finished.
“The level of the competitors there, these guys had just come from the Tour de France.”
Fisher-Black in fact finished second to the current Tour Champion Jonas Vinegegaard, forced to chase the Dane up the mountainous end to the stage.
“It's almost more mental at that point," he said.
"You know it's going to hurt and the legs are screaming in pain but you have to keep going deep each day and somehow the legs felt good.”
The UAE Team Emirates rider joined a select New Zealand club - excluding time trials, only three other Kiwis have finished on the podium in a Grand Tour stage.
Paul Jesson won stage 10 of La Vuelta in 1980, Hayden Roulston finished 3rd on stage 14 of the Tour de France and Greg Henderson in 2009 won stage 3 of La Vuelta. Fisher-Black is the youngest.
The result comes 16 months after a major cycling accident where he broke his femur while competing in France. Fisher-Black had to learn to walk before he could even get on a bike again.
“It was really back to square one in terms of confidence and strength. I would get back on the bike and be scared to go around corners."
That’s all behind him now with Fisher-Black finishing 40th overall in La Vuelta but it’s the podium in Stage 16 that has really given him confidence and wanting more.
“To win a stage would be nice … I think maybe I go to a Grand Tour that Jonas [Vinegegaard] isn't at and I can try and win a stage.. that would be a big goal”.
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