Ben Swift admitted the final climb proved his undoing as he finished 12th place in the men’s World Championship road race in Spain.
The 26-year-old crossed the line seven seconds behind Michal Kwiatkowski of Poland who claimed victory in 6hrs 29mins 07 secs.
The Yorkshireman man had given himself a chance at victory going into the final stages of the race but had nothing left as Kwiatkowski attacked with less than 10km to go.
And after not being able to keep pace with the Pole, Swift conceded that the best man won on the day.
“Kwiatkowski is such a class act, he’s had his team on the front all day and he definitely deserved that win there today,” he said.
“I gave it my best shot but it was just that last steep climb which really really hurt and I got myself into a good position and it was just a hard day.
“It was a bit of a strange race to be honest; I expected it to be a bit more attacking.”
Swift was all alone going into the final lap but benefitted from the efforts of Pete Kennaugh who gave his teammate every chance of success.
“I'm happy with how I rode and to be in the mix as a team we did a really good ride,” said Kennaugh, who himself finished 82nd.
“Twelfth is a good result for Ben. I tried my luck early on which was the gameplan, to follow the bigger nations.
“I gave it my best shot and once I got caught I tried to do the best I could for Swifty."
© Sportsbeat 2014