165 km on the menu today, and wildcard rider Yates will be looking to make it two out of two! The stage is a bit harder than yesterday’s, so this time Harrison should really lose the red jersey. Are Lecuisinier and Gesink capable of taking bonus seconds again, or will Skujins time his sprint better today? Let’s find out!
The first attack seems to be the right one! Meiler attacks, the first reaction comes from Munoz, who then gets followed by four more riders: Gaudu, Russo, Bouchard and Daniel. Good news for KoM-leader Toupalik, as he could only be losing his jersey if Daniel wins every KoM today, including the one at the finish.
107 km to the finish line as Russo easily wins the first intermediate sprint ahead of Gaudu and Meiler. The peloton now 3’30” behind, the maximum gap was 4’30”. Evonik, Volvo and Duolingo doing most of the work there.
Bouchard is the strongest on the Alto de Veredon (4th cat.). The other KoM-points go to Russo and Meiler. In the peloton, Gazelle is now upping the pace, bringing the gap under two minutes with still 85 km to go. Some riders have been dropped there, but no big names.
42 km to go as Russo wins the second and last intermediate sprint as well. This time Meiler is second ahead of Gaudu. The peloton still at more or less two minutes.
Still the same teams chasing in the peloton, with Gazelle being very present. Red jersey Harrison is also still positioned around 10th-15th.
32 km to go and several things happening up front! First of all, the gap is almost less than a minute. Then, Munoz gets dropped, and moments later Bouchard attacks! He will start the penultimate climb of the day in a couple of km, which is not steep but quite long for a hilly stage, before heading on to the final climb of the day, which is short but steep.
The four behind him work together and catch him right before they start the penultimate climb of the day, with 25 km to go. Isostar now trying to use the advantage of having two riders up front, as Daniel attacks! Gaudu the only one to react so far, as they know start their 10 km ascent at an average of 3%. The peloton at 1’.
Meiler knows Bouchard is too tired after his attack and Russo won’t bring back his teammate. He takes matters in his own hands and brings the two back. Russo then drops out of the leading group and gets swallowed by the peloton with 5 km to the top of the Alto de Carratraca (3rd cat.)On the picture we see the teams of the 3 GC favourites now sending a men to the head of the peloton: Festina, Desigual and Tinkoff. They’re 45” behind the four leaders with a bit more than 20 km to go.
Super domestique Tratnik rips the peloton apart and reels in the four leaders with 2.5 km to the top of the penultimate climb and 17.5 km to the finish line! Gaudu and Bouchard were the longest to survive. The best puncheurs and GC riders to be dropped so far are Errazkin, Sosnitskiy, Elissonde, Müller, Budyak, Sepulveda, Campero, as well as some of the same riders who lost time yesterday, even though they shouldn’t looking at their capacities.
Tratnik gets rewarded 6 KoM-points for his good work, as the peloton now only consists of 54 riders! Anacona also dropped, which makes this a stage to quickly forget for ISA – Hexacta, as red jersey Harrison is their only rider left in the first group! Bongiorno and Spanopoulos take the other KoM-points as the riders enter the last 15 km.
7.5 km to the finish line as Grieg – Maersk now leads the way. They shouldn’t be contending for the win though, so they decide not to do crazy stuff, which slows down the peloton a bit. Anacona and fourteen other riders come back as we are nearing the final hill of the stage.
Well, well, well! Red jersey Harrison is moving up some places as Becis is the first rider to enter the last five km. The same riders who did well yesterday are already within the first positions as well now, green jersey Grosu also still in the peloton, but probably not the stage winner after a 4 km ascent that still needs to be done.
Last 4 km, as the riders start their final ascent of the day! The average gradient of el Caminito del Rey is 6.5%, and everybody should know by now to not go into the last km together with yesterday’s winner Yates! Harrison quickly losing places now, it’s looking like these will be his last moments in the red jersey!
Skujins takes the lead with 3 km to go, but 500 metres later he still hasn’t got a gap over anyone! Yates and Jensen the first on his wheel, but the likes of Formolo, Teuns, Bellis, Tenorio, Gesink and Lecuisinier also in a good position with 2.5 km to go. 15 riders dropped already, but red jersey Harrison still holding on, what an absolute warrior!
Only 2 km left as some very small gaps have now been formed! The top-3 still consists out of Skujins, Yates and Jensen. Then, there is a gap over the rest of the riders, where the first riders behind them are now Formolo, Bellis, Spanopoulos, Teuns, Bongiorno, Lecuisinier and Smit! Grosu around fifteenth position, while Harrison is still the last rider in the 55-headed peloton!
1.5 km to the finish line is the point where red jersey officially cracks! He has some very surprising riders dropping out next to him though: stage favourite Reichenbach and GC rider Velits!
At the same time, Formolo takes the lead up front! The top-5 now has a small gap over the others, where the three GC favourites ( Lecuisinier, Tenorio and Kritskiy are all inside the top-10, as well as Gesink! Fourth and fifth place at the moment for Bellis and Jensen.
Have a look at that! Harrison refuses to break and is still in the peloton according to the jury, can he hold this up for a bit more than a km?!
Formolo still in the lead under the flamme rouge, but so far so good for Yates, in second position! The GC riders have closed the gap though, and are now also fully back in contention for the stage win! Who will be the first to launch his sprint?!
Okay, now it’s really game over for red jersey Harrison, but green jersey and second in the GC Grosu is still part of the peloton of 36 riders!
Nobody wants to go too early, so it’s still Formolo in the lead with 800 metres to go! The three GC favourites and Gesink have moved up some places!
500 metres to go as Formolo is smart enough to take the inside of the curve! A GC rider could well be wearing the red jersey after this stage, as the four of them are next to the Italian and Grosu has been dropped as well now! There’s a small gap over Yates in sixth position, but if he starts sprinting like only he can, this gap should mean nothing! The other puncheurs now losing ground, as Haig moves into 7th!
His domestique Bongiorno is getting dropped, but Festina leader Lecuisinier is now the first rider in the race with 300 metres to go! Yates is losing ground, so the only riders who should be left in contention for the win are Gesink, Tenorio and Kritskiy!
200 metres to the finish line as the Frenchman is still one bike ahead of the others! Formolo not losing speed drastically, so a top-5 could still be doable!
Tenorio now picking up the pace and trying to win it with 100 metres left!
Gesink also doing well again and into third, which gives us 2 PCT riders in the top-3 for two days in a row probably! 50 metres left for Lecuisinier, can he hold on?!
Yes! After a second place yesterday, Festina’s Frenchie wins today! He takes the red jersey as well, will he be able to keep it until the end of this Vuelta?! Tenorio and Gesink complete the podium ahead of Kritskiy and Formolo!
The other top-10 places then go to Hirt, Arndt, Haig, Reis and Yates. In the end, 28 riders finish in the same time. Godoy loses 40 seconds, with van der Poel being the only U25 rider to hold on to the first group.
