Quinn Simmons (Trek-Segafredo) slammed his handlebars and vented his frustration after being passed right at the line by Magnus Korto (EF Education Nippon), the winner of stage 19 of the Vuelta a España.

The 20-year-old American rider had attempted to participate in several decisive breakaways over the past three weeks and appeared to be one of the strongest riders in the final group of seven that held off the peloton in Monforte de Lemos.

But Cote's sprinting speed and skill had already been proven, and Simmons had no choice but to accept defeat as he was also passed by Rui Oliveira (UAE Team Emirates).

"I got to the finish, but I was beaten by a stronger rider in the sprint," he said. 'I was pretty flat from the start. 'I was flat from the start all the way and didn't make much time.

Simmons looked to be one of the strongest of the 24 attackers that formed in the early stages. He went on the attack with 30km to go, dropping some of his rivals and increasing his chances of making the stage final.

"There were a couple of guys playing some weird games, so I figured the best thing to do was to get rid of them on the climb," he said. 'Then there was a group of seven of us.'

These seven were able to hold off the chasing peloton, despite only a 30-second lead. Team Bike Exchange and Team DSM were both in deep packs, but exploded as they tried to chase down sprinters Michael Matthews and Alberto Dainese.

Cote's teammate Lawson Craddock played a key role in helping Cote secure a breakaway and finish together to win the sprinting battle. Simmons was aware of Cote's speed and tried to go early and long in the sprint.

"You can't match the speed of the pure sprinters, but if you can take it to a long sprint, you can win.

"I had to take that risk and unfortunately it didn't pay off. Magnus has already proven his speed twice in this race. The fastest rider won today."

Trek-Segafredo was set to go straight into the World Tour in 2020 when Simmons surged up the ranks and won the junior road race world title in Yorkshire in 2019. However, his debut season was controversial, as he was suspended for social media posts deemed "divisive, inflammatory, and harmful" by the team.

Relations appeared to be strained as Simmons missed the 2020 Spring Classic and publicly stated that he did not deserve his suspension. However, in 2021, he was back in full force, winning a stage and overall at the Tour de Wallonie, his first professional victory.

The former junior world champion expects a lot from himself, even though he is only 20 years old. After the stage, he could understand that.

"I'm not disappointed because I was able to do that in my first Grand Tour and in stage 19 at only 20 years old.

Simmons was named to the U.S. team for this year's road race world championships in Flanders, along with Joey Roskopf (Rally Cycling), Craddock and Nielson Powles (EF Education Nippon), Matteo Jorgenson (Movistar) Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates) will race with them. He will also be racing Paris-Roubaix with Trek Segadrade after last year's race was cancelled due to the COVID-19 epidemic.