Several riders and sports directors spoke with the organizers of the Vuelta a Espana at the start of stage 16. Below you can read what they had to say.

°Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin, whiter jersey holder): “I feel pretty well. I’m still looking good for GC but today is the hardest of the three consecutive mountain stages, especially with the penultimate climb. Is is where they will put up the pace. My goal is to lose as little time as possible. Today is more important than the TT in Burgos. I need to limit the losses. Quintana is looking better and better.”

°Christian Guiberteau (Giant-Alpecin sports director): “Today it’s not about tactics, it’s going to be only physical. The legs will do the talking. Tom still surprises me (in this Vuelta). He’s not stressed out, he’s sticking to the plan, which is to take it day by day. He has not even talked about the time trial yet. It’s a moment of truth and Tom knows he can rely on the support of Lawson Craddock, who is still irregular but is there when needed.

°Jose Azevedo (Katusha): “There is no doubt that the strongest rider of this Vuelta is Tom Dumoulin.  For Aru, Majka, Purito the only thing to do is regain time over him today. We missed the red jersey by one second yesterday but having it at this stage of the race is irrelevant. You must take your responsibilities. The key today will be Movistar, who are not content with their leaders’ eighth and ninth places in the GC.”

°Rory Sutherland (Movistar sports director): “Yesterday we wanted to win the stage and everybody worked for that. From that point of view we were satisfied. Today is the same, we want to win and gain time. Maybe we will also have the opportunity to be in the breakaway, which would change the strategy.”

°Giuseppe Martinelli (Astana, sports director): “There are still a lot of days of racing in this Vuelta. Fabio is in good form. The most dangerous rivals for him for the final victory in Madrid are Purito and Majka.”

°Tristan Hoffman (Tinkoff-Saxo): “I don’t know if Rafal Majka can win the Vuelta because he is 1:24 off the pace but remember that two years ago Joaquim Rodriguez took sixth place on the time trial as he was fighting for the overall victory. Today he is composed he knows he can rely on Poljanski and Jesper Hansen. It’s true that Poljanski was impressive yesterday but we know his qualities, he had already shown what he was capable of in the Giro.”

°Neil Stephens (Orica GreenEDGE sports director): “It’s going to be potentially the hardest stage of the Vuelta. Even harder than the one in Andorra because it comes after two weeks of racing. Esteban (Chaves) is feeling good. Here it’s similar to where he leaves in Colombia. His enjoying his position in the GC. A top 10 (in Madrid) would be fantastic and we’ve already got the added bonus of three stage wins and a few days in the lead.”

°Kenny Elissonde (FDJ): “A final climb like today’s is a boxing fight, you take blows, you’re on the verge of being knocked out for 20 minutes but you hang on and you get back on your feet. That’s what I did yesterday and that’s what I’ll do today.”

°Gianluca Brambilla (Etixx-Quick Step): “The Vuelta is hard. I’m going to fight for a top 10 finish (in Madrid). We will see. It’s tough physically, but it’s also very tough mentally. It’s hard to recover.”

°Dani Navarro (Cofidis): “I’m better, my saddle sore is gone but in a season marred by crashes I’m struggling to find good sensations. Today I know the finale very well and I will try to be in the break to win the stage. It would be a good result because I hope to stay at Cofidis next year."

°Sylvain Chavanel (IAM Cycling): “I’ve been feeling better than on the Tour de France because here I’m not sick. Today is the last opportunity for the climbers. There is more than 5,000 metres of altitude gain, it’s going to be harder than in Andorra. The first 40 kilometres will be very hard, then it should get a bit easier during 100 kilometres. Then in the final part you just hang on for dear life.”

°Bingen Fernandez (Cannondale-Garmin sports director): “We’re depressed because we can’t manage to get in the breaks. Take Moreno Moser, every day he tries and he’s never in the good move. Today the one who should be able to be in the breakaway is Andre Cardoso but I fear that Movistar will work and kill the break. Quintana needs to win a stage. “

Dario Cioni (Team Sky sports director): “Winning the stage will be hard. Mikel Nieve has the legs but he needs to get into the breakaway. But he’s seventh in the overall standings so they won’t let him go and he does not have the legs to beat the best riders. Geraint Thomas is not as brilliant as in the Tour but he will be happy to finish off a big block of work on Sunday ahead of next season. He will end his season in Richmond. Chris Froome will see the doctor today but I think it will be hard to race again this season.”

°Fabrice Jeandesboz (Europcar): “This stage will be hard but I’m happy with my Vuelta. On Sunday I was feeling well but Romain (Sicard) was not and I was wondering whether I had to wait for him. Eventually he limited the damage. Of course we’re wondering what’s going to happen on a stage like today’s but I’m happy with what I’ve been doing here.”