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A two-time stage winner at La Vuelta, Storer got himself in the main breakaway of the day that formed on the Col Hourcere and was in touching distance of the attack by Remco Evenepoel (Soudal QuickStep) and Romain Bardet (Team DSM) that went clear over the summit, but the Australian couldn't hang on to the wheel and found himself forced to chase the duo with the rest of the group.
Storer sat with a chasing group in pursuit of the leaders before deciding to go off on his own up the second climb of the day, the Puerto de Larrau. The 26-year-old was clear in third place over the top of the climb, but by that time Evenepoel and Bardet had a lead of two minutes on him.
Unable to chase them on his own, Storer was joined by Lennert Van Eetvelt (Lotto-DSTNY) and Jonathan Castroviejo (INEOS Grenadiers) and they rode together for the remainder of the stage before he was distanced again up the Larra Belauga to finish fifth on the stage, seven minutes and 24 seconds behind stage winner Evenepoel.
Given the frenetic pace of the fight for the breakaway and the attacking nature of the climbing, it was an impressive result for the Sydney native, being able to go for his own stage aspirations after working for overall hopeful Lenny Martinez earlier in the race, Storer one of the main reasons for Martinez taking a historic red jersey in Stage 6.
He now also sits second in the standings for the mountains jersey after Evenepoel took the lead, 24 points behind the Belgian.
“It was a super hard start," Storer said after the stage.
“I have to thank my teammates for getting me in the front. Without them it would have been difficult.”
Storer said it was a mistake in positioning that saw him unable to latch onto Evenepoel and Bardet over the Col Hourcere, forced to wonder what might have been had he been able to get in the wheels.
“When Evenepoel attacked, I was a little boxed-in and I made a mistake,” he said.
“Maybe if I was in Romain’s wheel, I had a chance of being with them. I was surprised that Remco attacked so early. He still had [teammate Mattia] Cattaneo, so I thought he would wait for him to ride in the valley, but he didn’t."
While things could have gone differently that early in the stage though, Storer was frank in his assessment of how his form would have stacked up to Evenepoel's incredible performance, the Australian in awe of the Belgian's power on the climbs that saw him take a famous victory.
“Even if I had been able to follow them earlier, they would have dropped me on the final climb,” he said.
“I would have only been a passenger in front. I have never seen anyone as strong as Evenepoel. On the flat, he’s really unbelievable, he was with every single attack at the start.
"If someone is capable of doing that, you know it will be difficult later on. I’ve never seen something like that before.”
Team director Benoît Vaugrenard knew Storer left nothing out on the road and that the riders ahead of him were just better on the day.
“Michael gave his all,” Vaugrenard said. “He could have finished third, but that doesn’t change much.”
The Vuelta a Espana continues tonight with the final stage before the second rest day, a hilly 158.5km route that looks perfect for an opportunistic breakaway. Watch the action LIVE from 10:50pm AEST on SBS VICELAND and SBS On Demand.
