Jay Vine rises through the mist to seize maiden win at Vuelta a España

After several near misses, esports world champion Jay Vine has scored his first professional win on the road – and he did it on one of cycling’s biggest stages, the Vuelta a España.

Although he originally hails from North Queensland's sunny climes, the 26-year-old would have been no stranger to the soup-like fog that blanketed last night's stage finish atop Pico Janco – having spent many of his more recent years living in Canberra.

Vine leapt clear of the peloton on Pico Janco's lower slopes, then caught and passed the surviving breakaway riders before reaching the misty mountaintop finish first, and alone.

It was a mixture of joy and disbelief for the rider from Alpecin-Deceuninck, who until now has had to settle for the minor podium places on the road. Since starting his pro career last year, Vine has placed second twice at the Tour of Turkey, second at the Tour of Norway, and third on a stage of the Vuelta last year despite crashing into his own team car.

“It’s almost unreal,” Vine said.

“I missed the break, got a flat tyre in the first 5km, and even though it was the team’s plan for me to go on the final climb, it’s unreal.

“I’ve been working towards this all year, after last year, coming so close. It’s a dream come true.”

Coming from a mountain biking background, Jay Vine rose to prominence in Australia’s road cycling scene when he won the 2019 Tour of the Tropics in the National Road Series (NRS), then racing for Team Nero Bianchi.

He showed his potential in an international peloton when he finished fifth overall at the 2020 Herald Sun Tour, a race won by future Giro d’Italia winner Jai Hindley.

Vine received a professional contract with Alpecin-Fenix when he won the Zwift Academy competition at the end of 2020 – a global talent identification program hosted by the virtual cycling platform, Zwift.

True to his Zwift roots, Vine won the UCI Cycling Esports World Championships for Australia earlier this year.

Vine dedicated his Vuelta stage victory to his wife Bre Vine, who has herself raced in the NRS. The couple uprooted themselves from Canberra to Spain to allow Jay to pursue his cycling career.

“This is for you, my wife, who’s basically done everything for me for the last three or four years to get me to this point,” he said in a post-race interview.

Jay Vine is one of 16 Australians competing in the 2022 Vuelta a España – a record level of participation.

Photos: Luis Angel Gomez / SprintCycling