Vingegaard takes up 2 “in Almeida, little gap between favorites
Behind, despite a sustained pace from the Puerto de San Lorenzo with a large tempo from the Emirati formation, the favorites waited for the last kilometer to tackle, due to the front wind in the final which prevented any distant offensive. It is Jai Hindley (Red Bull – Bora – Hansgrohe) who set fire to the powder after a big relay of Giulio Pellizzarithe Australian being then countered in the final by JOAO ALMEIDAfollowed like his shadow by Jonas Vingegaard. And this time, the Portuguese had to bow in this final sprint for the bonus, the Danish passing it on the line to scrape 6 “, against 4” to his dolphin. A small victory that allows the red jersey to bring its advance to 48 “before the end of this second week.
Behind this duo, the differences are minimal between the eight best climbers of this Vueltawhich stand in just 14 seconds on the line. Status therefore between Pidcock, Hindley, Gall, Kuss, Pellizzari et RICITURE in the battle for the podium. Reduced by gluteal pain, Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) exploded and finished at more than 21 minutes, just like Egan Bernal (Ineos grenadiers), the two men being now excluded from the top 10 race (respectively 16th and 18th).
The summary of the race
After a great battle to form the breakaway during the first kilometers, there are finally 21 to succeed in escaping. We find at the front a beautiful group, with Bruno Armirail (Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale) as the best placed runner, 12'04 ” Jonas Vingegaard (Visma). The French roller is accompanied by three teammates, Staune-Mittet, Bisiaux et Labrosse. Among the other names to remember, those of Soler, Carpholi, Cepeda, Vermaerke, Bagioli, Pickering, Hirt, Verona, Mountain et Denz notably. The breakaway sees its advance peak at more than six minutes until the first big difficulty of the day: the Puerto de San Lorenzo (10.1 km at 8.5%).
The race physiognomy changes then, because it is the team UAE Team Emirates-XRG of JOAO ALMEIDA Who takes things in hand and dictates a very high tempo for its Portuguese leader. Ivo Oliveira, Domen Novak Then Juan Ayuso follow one another at the head of a peloton and have a hell of a cleaning, since Junior Lecerf (Soudal Quick-Step), Egan Bernal (INEOS Grenadiers) et Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) are notably distant, ie the general's 13th, 12th and 8th. At the top and 30 terminals from the finish, there are about 20 runners in the red jersey group. The gap with the breakaway melted at just over 3 minutes. James Shaw (EF Education – Easypost) crossed the summit in the lead, the Briton having a few seconds ahead of a group of pursuers reduced to 10 runners and led by Armiirailwho works for Léo Bisiaux.
Marc Soler's number, status between favorites
The descent and the valley which leads to the foot of the justice of the peace of the day sees James Shaw be resumed, then Marc Soler Anticipate with an attack 19 km from the goal. Spanish is followed by Amazedbut he exploded the Norwegian with his wheel 3 km further on a big recovery. It is therefore with around thirty seconds ahead of his former companions that he approaches the last ascent, the peloton pointing to him at 3 minutes … with his team UAE Who rolls behind him. Soler strong impression and embarks on a time trial of more than 15 km to try to win a 4th stage victory on The return. A success at La Farrapona would be a great revenge for him, five years after being beaten there by a certain David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ).
And it seems to be off to achieve this, since Catalan continues to crush the pedals and pushes its pursuers more than a minute to 8 km from the summit, while the gap with the peloton remains stable, even if the strongest percentages have not yet been discussed. The red jersey group is now led by Jay Vine To maintain a sustained pace, then relayed by Felix Großschartnerlast floor of the train UAE avant Almeida. You have to wait for the last three kms to see the situation evolve, with the Redbull-Bora who take orders from the favorite group with Giulio Pellizzari in front Jai Hindley. There are only the best climbers left, with behind them Almeida, awesome, kiss, pidcock, riccello et Gall.
While Soler goes to get his 4th success on the Vuelta alone, Hindley launches hostilities just after the red flame. Almeida et Awesome are the only ones to follow, but the rest of the leaders are not far away. All seem to be tested by this hard day and week, and the differences remain minimal. Almeida Wait for the final sprint to place its acceleration, but Awesome Resists well and exceeds it on the line for bonuses. The rest, you already know her …
