Of the trio of riders shadowing Chris Froome (Team Sky) on the Vuelta a España's first summit finish, Michael Woods (Cannondale-Drapac) was perhaps the least-known face, but as the Canadian climber said afterwards, he was more than pleased to be in such illustrious company.
Woods is tackling his second Grand Tour this year and it's the second of his career, too, making the Vuelta a España a real voyage in the unknown. And although the GC is not, on paper, an objective for him this year, racing so well both in Andorra on Monday and at Santa Lucia on Wednesday bodes very well for his stage win aspirations on the eight summit finishes still to come in this year's race.
Talking outside the team bus after stage 5, Woods said that finishing on a climb alongside Contador, Froome and Chaves "gave me a huge amount of confidence."
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"Those guys are the best climbers in the world – they're legends – so to be up there was pretty special," Woods said.
"I've had a couple of climbs this season and last season where I've been with those guys or guys like that in the Tour Down Under with Richie [Porte] and Alberto Contador and [Alejandro] Valverde in País Vasco. But to continue being able to climb with those guys on the really steep pitches, it really bolsters the confidence and makes me feel pretty happy."
The climb itself was definitely one for Woods, with some scarily steep ramps of up to 20 per cent.
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