Schlagwort-Archive: Unipublic

LA VUELTA 24: TEAMS SELECTION

Etappenrennen, Vorschau, , ,

The organizers of La Vuelta have chosen the teams that will take part in the 79th edition of the Spanish Grand Tour. La Vuelta 24 will start on Saturday the 17th of August and finish on Sunday the 8th of September.

In accordance with UCI rules, the following 18 UCI WorldTeams are automatically invited to the race:

• ALPECIN – DECEUNINCK (BEL)
• ARKÉA – B&B HOTELS (FRA)
• ASTANA QAZAQSTAN TEAM (KAZ)
• BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS (BRN)
• BORA – HANSGROHE (GER)
• COFIDIS (FRA)
• DECATHLON AG2R LA MONDIALE TEAM (FRA)
• EF EDUCATION – EASYPOST (USA)
• GROUPAMA – FDJ (FRA)
• INEOS GRENADIERS (GBR)
• INTERMARCHÉ – WANTY (BEL)
• LIDL – TREK (USA)
• MOVISTAR TEAM (ESP)
• SOUDAL – QUICK STEP (BEL)
• TEAM DSM-FIRMENICH POSTNL (NED)
• TEAM JAYCO ALULA (AUS)
• TEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE (NED)
• UAE TEAM EMIRATES (UAE)

Furthermore, LOTTO DSTNY (BEL) and ISRAEL PREMIER TECH (ISR), leaders in the 2023 classification of UCI ProTeams will take part by right in La Vuelta 24.

In addition to these 20 teams, the organizers have awarded the following wildcards:
• EQUIPO KERN PHARMA (ESP)
• EUSKALTEL-EUSKADI (ESP)

The route of La Vuelta 24

Etappenrennen, Vorschau, , ,

This Tuesday, the Madrid Marriott Auditorium Hotel hosted the official presentation of the route of La Vuelta 24. The 79th edition of the Spanish tour will take off from Lisbon on the 17th of August and will conclude in Madrid on the 8th of September. Its 21 stages will include 10 unprecedented departures and 6 unprecedented finish-lines, will visit 9 autonomous communities and 2 countries: Portugal and Spain. In sporting terms, the cyclists will face 9 high-altitude arrivals, three of which makes its La Vuelta debut (Yunquera, Cazorla and Puerto de Ancares), 2 individual time trials, 5 mid-mountain stages, 8 mountain stages and 6 flat or undulating stages.

Unipublic presented the route of La Vuelta 24 on Tuesday, the 19th of December. The race will take place between the 17th of August and the 8th of September. It will depart from Portugal, with Lisbon, Oeiras and Cascais hosting the first few stages. It will be the second time in the history of the race that Portugal hosts La Vuelta’s Grand Departure, after the Portuguese capital hosted the race’s first international Grand Departure back in 1997.

La Vuelta 24 will commence with an individual time trial between Lisbon and Oeiras. In Stage 2, the peloton will leave from Cascais and head North, to the city of Ourém. The third stage of La Vuelta 24 through Portuguese territory will take place between the cities of Lousã and Castello Branco.

Following the Grand Departure in Portugal, the peloton will enter Spain through Extremadura. This autonomous community will host a mountain stage in Cáceres, between Plasencia and Villuercas Peak – a finish-line that returns to La Vuelta since making its debut in 2021. The next day, the race will leave from Fuente del Maestre in Badajoz, and head South, with Seville as its first destination.
Following a year’s absence, Andalusia will again be one of La Vuelta’s greatest protagonists with 4 stages held entirely within the autonomous community, crossing 7 of its provinces. Once it arrives in Seville, the race will then continue with a stage between Carrefour Sur in Jerez de la Frontera and Yunquera. Then, there will be another stage with a possible sprint to the finish-line between Archidona and Córdoba. The conclusion of the first week will consist of two stages that could well determine the race’s outcome: first is a mid-mountain stage between Úbeda and Cazorla and, later, a high-mountain stage between Motril and Granada with three Category 1 mountain passes.

Mountains will be the absolute stars of the race’s second week, which will commence in the Province of Pontevedra with a stage between Ponteaereas and Baiona. The Campus Tecnológico Cortizo, in Padrón, will host both the starting line and finish-line for Stage 11 and the Manzaneda Ski Resort, which has already hosted the peloton of the women’s edition, will host Stage 12, after a departure from Ourense. The final leg of the Galician part of the race will conclude with a final mountain stage between Lugo and the Ancares Mountain Pass. Ten years later, this setting, the protagonist of such victories as that of Alberto Contador in 2014 or Purito Rodríguez in 2012, will debut a new slope that has yet to be seen in La Vuelta. Giving the riders no option to recover, the weekend will bring stages held in León, between Villafranca del Bierzo and Villablino, and in Asturias, with a departure from Infiesto and a finish-line in the dreaded Cuitu Negru.
The third week of racing will start in the North, with Asturias and Cantabria as the stars of the show. Following the second rest day, the final week of La Vuelta 24 will depart from Luanco and conclude at Lagos de Covadonga – the most climbed mountain pass in the history of the race. The peloton will continue riding through the Cantabrian Coast with Stage 17 held between Arnuero and Santander.

From then on, the peloton will begin its descent towards Madrid with three stages that will take place between Vitoria-Gasteiz – Maeztu and the Izki Natural Park, Logroño and the Alto de Moncalvillo, and Villarcayo and Picón Blanco. Both the Alto de Moncalvillo and Picón Blanco made their recent La Vuelta debuts with victories by Primoz Roglic (2020) and Rein Taaramäe (2021), respectively.
Yet again, Madrid will host the La Vuelta’s grand finale – this time with a time trial that will start at the Distrito Telefónica and will come to an end at the Gran Vía in Madrid, in front of the Telefónica Building in order to commemorate the company’s 100 years.

MID-MOUNTAIN PROMINENCE
True to its DNA, La Vuelta 24 continues to reflect its innovative character and that toughness that has characterised the race in recent years. Not only will there be 9 high-altitude finales, but also one very demanding mid-mountain stage that will affect the race’s outcome. La Vuelta 24 brings together a combination of mountain passes that are already a part of the race’s history, such as Lagos de Covadonga, that will host a finish-line following a rest day for the very first time, and the recent discoveries of Moncalvillo, Cuitu Negru and the previously unseen slope of the Ancares Mountain Pass.

PORTUGAL, A PIONEER THAT WILL GO DOWN IN HISTORY
On the 6th of September 1997, Portugal and La Vuelta made history when the race began on foreign territory for the very first time. On the 17th of August 2024, 27 years later, history will repeat itself as Lisbon becomes the first non-Spanish city to host La Vuelta’s Grand Departure twice.

LA VUELTA 24, AT HOME WITH ROUVY
As in previous years, the stages of La Vuelta can also be completed virtually through ROUVY. Cycling fans can do so using a smart indoor bike trainer, a screen and the ROUVY app. Likewise, until the 14th of January, all app users will find a ‘Best Of La Vuelta 23’, featuring last edition’s most notable stages. ROUVY, which combines sports and technology, is the number 1 indoor cycling app offering a realistic and immersive video experience, featuring a selection of over 1,300 virtual reality routes all over the world to choose from.

LISBON, OEIRAS AND CASCAIS, VENUES FOR THE OFFICIAL START OF LA VUELTA 24

Etappenrennen, Vorschau, ,

Lisbon, Oeiras and Cascais will host the official start of La Vuelta 24. This was made official this afternoon by Javier Guillén, general director of the race; João Mira-Gomes, Ambassador of Portugal in Spain; María de Lurdes Vale, Representative of Tourism of Portugal in Madrid; Carla Rocha, Councillor for Sports of Oeiras, and Francisco Kreye, Councillor for Sports of Cascais before the stage that brings the current edition to a conclusion.

The 79th edition of La Vuelta will start on 17 August 2024 and will finish, as usual, in Madrid, on September 8.

The opening stage will start in Lisbon, Portugal, the city of seven hills, and finish in Oeiras. On stage 2, the peloton will start from Cascais and head north to the city of Ourém. Stage 3 of La Vuelta 24, still through Portuguese territory, will take place between the towns of Lousã and Castello Branco.

Lisbon already knows what it’s like to host an official start of La Vuelta. In fact, it was the first foreign city to host a start of the race. It happened in the 1997 edition, the year in which the Portuguese capital hosted the first three stages of the event. That historic edition ended in Madrid with the victory of Alex Zulle.
The start from Lisbon, Oeiras and Cascais will be the fifth from a foreign territory in the 89-year history of the race. In addition to Lisbon, the race has started from Assen (2009), Nîmes (2017) and Utrecht (2022).

La Vuelta 23 11. Etappe

Ergebnisse, Etappenrennen, Strassenrennen, , , , , ,

Lerma – La Laguna Negra.Vinuesa – 163 Km

1 HERRADA Jesus ESP COFIDIS 03:29:17
2 GREGOIRE Romain FRA GROUPAMA – FDJ 00:03
3 KRON Andreas Lorentz DEN LOTTO DSTNY 00:08
4 CAICEDO Jonathan ECU EF EDUCATION – EASYPOST 00:12
5 THOMAS Geraint GBR INEOS GRENADIERS 00:19
6 SANCHEZ MAYO Pelayo ESP BURGOS-BH 00:24
7 MOLARD Rudy FRA GROUPAMA – FDJ 00:24
8 PRODHOMME Nicolas FRA AG2R CITROEN TEAM 00:27
9 GODON Dorian FRA AG2R CITROEN TEAM 00:58
10 GANNA Filippo ITA INEOS GRENADIERS 01:16

Gesamt:

1 KUSS Sepp USA JUMBO-VISMA 39:27:45
2 SOLER Marc ESP UAE TEAM EMIRATES 00:26
3 EVENEPOEL Remco BEL SOUDAL QUICK-STEP 01:09
4 ROGLIČ Primož SLO JUMBO-VISMA 01:36
5 MARTINEZ Lenny FRA GROUPAMA – FDJ 02:02
6 GONCALVES ALMEIDA Joao POR UAE TEAM EMIRATES 02:16
7 VINGEGAARD Jonas DEN JUMBO-VISMA 02:22
8 AYUSO Juan ESP UAE TEAM EMIRATES 02:25
9 MAS Enric ESP MOVISTAR TEAM 02:50
10 VLASOV Aleksandr BORA – HANSGROHE 03:14
11 LANDA Mikel ESP BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS 03:21
12 DE LA CRUZ David ESP ASTANA QAZAQSTAN TEAM 04:34
13 CARTHY Hugh John GBR EF EDUCATION – EASYPOST 04:56
14 UIJTDEBROEKS Cian BEL BORA – HANSGROHE 05:16
15 CRAS Steff BEL TOTALENERGIES 06:31
16 BUITRAGO SANCHEZ Santiago COL BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS 06:37
17 RUBIO REYES Einer Augusto COL MOVISTAR TEAM 06:37
18 THOMAS Geraint GBR INEOS GRENADIERS 07:34

The expert Herrada tames the young Grégoire

Jesus Herrada (Cofidis) showed talent, craft and mastery to win stage 11 of La Vuelta 23 on the slopes up La Laguna Negra. The Spanish puncheur made his way into a hard fought breakaway and eventually powered to victory with a perfectly timed acceleration on the most gruelling slopes of the final climb. He takes his third victory in the Spanish Grand Tour, after he won in similar circumstances in Ares del Maestrat (2019) and Cistierna (2022). At 20 years old, Romain Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ) came 2nd and Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) was 5th. Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) accelerated but his rivals matched his pace.

After a key individual time trial in Valladolid, the peloton of La Vuelta 23 face new summits with an uphill finish on the slopes leading to Laguna Negra, overlooking the city of Vinuesa. Dan Martin won there in 2020, ahead of Primoz Roglic and Richard Carapaz. And attackers are inspired to succeed the Irish puncheur.

Ayuso crashes, Thomas attacks
The start is slightly delayed after Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates) crashed on the way to km 0. Once the flag drops, a flurry of attacks ensue, but baroudeurs are caught one after another.
The peloton cover 47.7km in the first hour. Then a group of 26 eventually manage to get away, featuring two previous stage winners in La Vuelta 23 – Andreas Kron (Lotto Dstny) and Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers) – as well as established stars such as Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) or Luis Leon Sanchez (Astana Qazaqstan) and up and coming youngsters like Romain Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ) and Andrea Piccolo (EF Education-EasyPost).

Jumbo-Visma drive the bunch. The gap gets over 5’ as the riders enter the last 50 kilometres. And up to 6 minutes ahead of the final climb.

Herrada’s power

Paul Ourselin (Total Energies) attacks his breakaway rivals with 10 kilometres to go and reaches the bottom of the climb to Laguna Negra (6.5km at 6.8%, with the steepest slopes in the final kilometre) with a lead of 25’’.
Ganna drives the chase and Ourselin is caught with 5km to go. Jonathan Caicedo (EF Education-EasyPost) attacks twice but Geraint Thomas reacts himself. The Ecuadorian is caught inside the last 300 metres. And nobody can react when Jesus Herrada (Cofidis) puts the hammer down.

In the GC group, Cian Uijtdebroeks (Bora-Hansgrohe) accelerates. Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) sprints. And everyone finishes together.

La Vuelta 23 10. Etappe Valladolid – Valladolid – ITT – 25 Km – EZF

Ergebnisse, Etappenrennen, Strassenrennen, , , , , , ,

1 GANNA Filippo ITA INEOS GRENADIERS 00:27:39 55,99
2 EVENEPOEL Remco BEL SOUDAL QUICK-STEP 00:16
3 ROGLIČ Primož SLO JUMBO-VISMA 00:36
4 GONCALVES ALMEIDA Joao POR UAE TEAM EMIRATES 00:50
5 VLASOV Aleksandr BORA – HANSGROHE 00:52
6 CATTANEO Mattia ITA SOUDAL QUICK-STEP 01:09
7 AYUSO Juan ESP UAE TEAM EMIRATES 01:11
8 SOLER Marc ESP UAE TEAM EMIRATES 01:12
9 OLIVEIRA Nelson POR MOVISTAR TEAM 01:12
10 VINGEGAARD Jonas DEN JUMBO-VISMA 01:18
11 BISSEGGER Stefan SUI EF EDUCATION – EASYPOST 01:19
12 CASTROVIEJO Jonathan ESP INEOS GRENADIERS 01:24
13 KUSS Sepp USA JUMBO-VISMA 01:29
14 DENZ Nico GER BORA – HANSGROHE 01:35
15 SOBRERO Matteo ITA TEAM JAYCO ALULA 01:44
16 TIBERI Antonio ITA BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS 01:46
17 MAS Enric ESP MOVISTAR TEAM 01:46
18 FISHER-BLACK Finn NZL UAE TEAM EMIRATES 01:51
19 JOHANSEN Julius DEN INTERMARCHÉ – CIRCUS – WANTY 01:54
20 THOMAS Geraint GBR INEOS GRENADIERS 02:00

Gesamt:

1 KUSS Sepp USA JUMBO-VISMA 35:52:38
2 SOLER Marc ESP UAE TEAM EMIRATES 00:26
3 EVENEPOEL Remco BEL SOUDAL QUICK-STEP 01:09
4 ROGLIČ Primož SLO JUMBO-VISMA 01:36
5 MARTINEZ Lenny FRA GROUPAMA – FDJ 02:02
6 GONCALVES ALMEIDA Joao POR UAE TEAM EMIRATES 02:16
7 VINGEGAARD Jonas DEN JUMBO-VISMA 02:22
8 AYUSO Juan ESP UAE TEAM EMIRATES 02:25
9 MAS Enric ESP MOVISTAR TEAM 02:50
10 VLASOV Aleksandr BORA – HANSGROHE 03:14
11 LANDA Mikel ESP BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS 03:21
12 DE LA CRUZ David ESP ASTANA QAZAQSTAN TEAM 04:20
13 CARTHY Hugh John GBR EF EDUCATION – EASYPOST 04:56
14 UIJTDEBROEKS Cian BEL BORA – HANSGROHE 05:16
15 CRAS Steff BEL TOTALENERGIES 06:31
16 BUITRAGO SANCHEZ Santiago COL BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS 06:37
17 RUBIO REYES Einer Augusto COL MOVISTAR TEAM 06:37
18 RODRIGUEZ MARTIN Cristian ESP TEAM ARKEA – SAMSIC 08:26
19 ROCHAS Remy FRA COFIDIS 09:01
20 VALTER Attila HUN JUMBO-VISMA 11:38
21 THOMAS Geraint GBR INEOS GRENADIERS 13:05

Ganna and Kuss resist Evenepoel

The individual time trial of La Vuelta 23 saw Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers) power to his first ever victory in Spain as he got the best of the world champion Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) in Valladolid. The Italian star covered the 25.8km at an average of 56.0km/h, setting a time of 27’39’’. Evenepoel came 2nd (+16’’) and was the fastest of the GC contenders, 20 seconds ahead of Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma), while Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) lost a minute to the Belgian defending winner of La Vuelta. Riding with La Roja, Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma) set the 13th best time and only lost 17’’ to Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates), his first chaser in the overall standings. Evenepoel moves up to the third position, with a gap of 1’09’’ to the American leader.

After the rest day, La Vuelta 23 returns to action with a key time trial (25.8km) to kick-off the second week of racing in Valladolid, a classic of the Spanish Grand Tour since it hosted the very first stage finish in 1935. Callum Scotson (Jayco AlUla) is the first rider to go, at 14:01, and Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma) will be the last rider off the ramp, at 17:02, with La Roja on his shoulders.

Bissegger can’t resist Ganna
Clément Davy (Groupama-FDJ) sets the first reference of interest, with a time of 30’55’’. But the Frenchman can’t resist the European champion Stefan Bissegger (EF Education-EasyPost), faster at every intermediate point (km 12.5 and 19.5), who eventually clocks a time of 28’58’’. The Swiss rider impressed, but he confesses he “didn’t have the best day”.
Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers) starts his effort 44 minutes after Bissegger. And he quickly shows he’s off to a flying performance. A 2-time ITT World Champion (2020, 21), holder of the hour record and current national ITT champion, the Italian star leads by 33’’ at the first intermediate point, 52’’ at the second, and 1’18’’ on the line. He averaged 56.0km/h over the 25.8km!

Evenepoel accelerates, Kuss holds on

The GC battle gets going with a strong performance from Aleksandr Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe), the first rider to finish less than a minute behind Ganna (+52’’). Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) finishes just ahead of Vlasov (+50’’) but Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) is not as fast. The Danish winner of the Tour de France concedes 1’18’’.
Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) and Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) trade seconds until the Belgian sets the 2nd best time on the line (+16’’), 20 seconds head of his Slovenian rival. Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma) takes the 13th best time and only loses 17’’ to Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates). The American climber still leads the overall standings ahead of another GC battle on Wednesday.

La Vuelta 23 9. Etappe

Ergebnisse, Etappenrennen, Strassenrennen, Teamnews, , , , , ,

Cartagena – Collado de la Cruz de Caravaca – 181 Km


Plomi Foto

1 KAEMNA Lennard GER BORA – HANSGROHE 04:28:59
2 SOBRERO Matteo ITA TEAM JAYCO ALULA 00:13
3 HAMILTON Christopher AUS TEAM DSM-FIRMENICH 01:12
4 GEHBREIGZABHIER Amanuel ERI LIDL-TREK 01:00
5 BARRENETXEA GOLZARRI Jon ESP CAJA RURAL-SEGUROS RGA 01:37
6 FERNANDEZ Ruben ESP COFIDIS 01:37
7 CAICEDO Jonathan ECU EF EDUCATION – EASYPOST 02:11
8 NAVARRO GARCIA Daniel ESP BURGOS-BH 02:41
9 MAS Enric ESP MOVISTAR TEAM 03:18
10 VLASOV Aleksandr BORA – HANSGROHE 03:11
11 RODRIGUEZ MARTIN Cristian ESP TEAM ARKEA – SAMSIC 04:08
12 SOLER Marc ESP UAE TEAM EMIRATES 03:25
13 ROCHAS Remy FRA COFIDIS 04:17
14 MARTINEZ Lenny FRA GROUPAMA – FDJ 03:27
15 KUSS Sepp USA JUMBO-VISMA 03:25
16 ROGLIČ Primož SLO JUMBO-VISMA 03:16
17 DE LA CRUZ David ESP ASTANA QAZAQSTAN TEAM 03:33
18 LANDA Mikel ESP BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS 03:25
19 VINGEGAARD Jonas DEN JUMBO-VISMA 03:38
20 EVENEPOEL Remco BEL SOUDAL QUICK-STEP 03:38

Gesamt:

1 KUSS Sepp USA JUMBO-VISMA 35:23:30
2 SOLER Marc ESP UAE TEAM EMIRATES 00:43
3 MARTINEZ Lenny FRA GROUPAMA – FDJ 01:02
4 EVENEPOEL Remco BEL SOUDAL QUICK-STEP 02:24
5 LANDA Mikel ESP BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS 02:29
6 ROGLIČ Primož SLO JUMBO-VISMA 02:29
7 VINGEGAARD Jonas DEN JUMBO-VISMA 02:35
8 MAS Enric ESP MOVISTAR TEAM 02:35
9 AYUSO Juan ESP UAE TEAM EMIRATES 02:45
10 GONCALVES ALMEIDA Joao POR UAE TEAM EMIRATES 02:55
11 DE LA CRUZ David ESP ASTANA QAZAQSTAN TEAM 03:39
12 VLASOV Aleksandr BORA – HANSGROHE 03:51
13 UIJTDEBROEKS Cian BEL BORA – HANSGROHE 04:10
14 CARTHY Hugh John GBR EF EDUCATION – EASYPOST 04:17
15 CRAS Steff BEL TOTALENERGIES 04:52
16 RUBIO REYES Einer Augusto COL MOVISTAR TEAM 05:08
17 BUITRAGO SANCHEZ Santiago COL BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS 05:40
18 RODRIGUEZ MARTIN Cristian ESP TEAM ARKEA – SAMSIC 07:02
19 ROCHAS Remy FRA COFIDIS 07:13
20 VALTER Attila HUN JUMBO-VISMA 10:33
21 POELS Wout NED BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS 11:59
22 THOMAS Geraint GBR INEOS GRENADIERS 12:34
23 LOPEZ PEREZ Juan Pedro ESP LIDL-TREK 14:40
24 MOLARD Rudy FRA GROUPAMA – FDJ 18:16
25 CEPEDA Jefferson ECU CAJA RURAL-SEGUROS RGA 19:02
26 KAEMNA Lennard GER BORA – HANSGROHE 19:09

Lennard Kämna feiert Solosieg auf der 9. Etappe der Vuelta

Vor dem morgigen Ruhetag stand eine Bergankunft in der Region Murcia auf dem Programm. In der ersten Steigung des Tages gelang Lennard Kämna der Sprung in eine achtköpfige Ausreißergruppe, die während des Tages maximal 8:30 Minuten Vorsprung herausfahren konnte. Im Schlussanstieg zum Alto Caravaca de la Cruz, der Rampen von bis zu 20 Prozent aufwies, hatte die Spitzengruppe eine Lücke von fast 5 Minuten vor der GC-Gruppe. Auf den steilen Rampen konnten sich Kämna, Sobrero und Gehbreigzabhier von ihren Fluchtgefährten absetzen. 5km vor dem Ziel attackierte Kämna. Sobrero war ihm dicht auf den Fersen, doch der deutsche BORA – hansgrohe Fahrer kämpfte bis zum Schluss und erreichte die Ziellinie als Solist. Mit diesem Sieg stehen nun Etappensiege bei allen drei Grand Tours in seinen Palmarès.

Reaktionen im Ziel
„Ich habe in den letzten Monaten sehr hart gearbeitet. Nach dem Giro war es nicht unbedingt einfach, da ich einige Rückschläge hatte. Deshalb bin ich wirklich froh, dass ich diesen Sieg erringen konnte. Das Rennen war wegen der Windkanten ziemlich hektisch. Ich habe versucht, in die vorderen Gruppen zu kommen, ohne zu viel Energie zu verbrauchen. Letztendlich fand ich mich an der Spitze. Es war ein schwieriger Parcours, es ging ununterbrochen auf und ab. Deshalb war es auch schwierig, einen guten Moment zu finden, um die anderen in der Spitzengruppe abzuhängen. Aber als ich bemerkte, dass ich eine kleine Lücke hatte, gab ich einfach nach der Kurve Vollgas. Danach ging es nur noch darum, alleine bis zur Ziellinie zu überleben. Es ist unglaublich, dass ich jetzt bei allen drei Grand Tours einen Etappensieg holen konnte. Ich danke meinen Teamkollegen und dem gesamten Team hier bei der Vuelta für ihre tolle Unterstützung. Das weiß ich wirklich zu schätzen.“ – Lennard Kämna

„Wir wollten Lenni die Möglichkeit geben, heute um den Etappensieg zu fahren, während die anderen Jungs Aleks und Cian im Peloton unterstützen sollten. Und am Ende war es ein unglaublicher Tag. Lenni hat Etappen bei allen Grand Tours gewonnen, was eine große Leistung ist. Und zurück im Peloton hat sich Aleks sehr gut gezeigt, während Cian auch mit dabei war. Die Etappe war extrem schwer und vom Parcours her extrem anspruchsvoll. Wir sind froh, dass wir den Tag so abschließen konnten. Also wir sind sehr zufrieden und hoffen, dass es so hier bei der Vuelta weitergeht.“ – Bernie Eisel, Sportlicher Leiter

Kämna completes his Grand Tour trilogy

Among the fiercest attackers of today’s peloton, Lennard Kämna (Bora-Hansgrohe) surged to victory in a very demanding stage 9 of La Vuelta 23. The German champ was the strongest from the breakaway that emerged after an impressive battle through the wind. He takes his first La Vuelta stage win after previous successes in the Tour de France and the Giro d’Italia. The peloton split on several occasions, with Jumbo-Visma and Soudal Quick-Step showing their determination to turn the race upside down. But the riders lagging behind always got back until Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) and Aleksandr Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe) opened a small gap on the slopes up Collado de la Cruz de Caravaca. Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma) takes La Roja into the rest day.

On the eve of the rest day, the peloton of La Vuelta 23 face an unprecedented summit finish atop Collado de la Cruz de Caravaca. And Jumbo-Visma are determined to bring battle again, with a windy start. Sepp Kuss, Primoz Roglic and Jonas Vingegaard split the bunch from the start!

Echelons from the gun

Wilco Kelderman, Jan Tratnik, Attila Valter and Dylan van Baarle drive the first echelon with their leaders. Only six riders manage to follow their move: Remco Evenepoel, Mattia Cattaneo (Soudal Quick-Step), Matevz Govekar (Bahrain Victorious), Aleksandr Vlasov, Nico Denz and Emanuel Buchmann (Bora-Hansgrohe).

The leaders cover 50.1km in the first hour and build gap of up to 45’’ to the first peloton, driven by Movistar, UAE Team Emirates and Bahrain Victorious. The chasers get back to the attackers on the first ascent of the day, the cat-1 Puerto Casas de la Marina la Perdiz (summit at km 60.1).

More echelons!
As the race eases up a bit, six riders go on the move: Amanuel Gehbreigzabhier (Lidl-Trek), Lennard Kämna (Bora-Hansgrohe), Matteo Sobrero (Jayco AlUla), Ruben Fernandez (Cofidis), Dani Navarro (Burgos-BH) and Jon Barrenetxea (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA). Chris Hamilton (DSM-Firmenich) and then Jonathan Caicedo (EF Education-EasyPost) join them to make it a 8-man breakaway.
The gap increases to 8’35’’ but the peloton hit another wind exposed section as the race enters the last 80 kilometres. Soudal Quick-Step, Bora-Hansgrohe and Jumbo-Visma collaborate to split the bunch. Only 22 riders remain in the first group. Two contenders from the GC top-10 are caught behind: Lenny Martinez (Groupama-FDJ) and Wout Poels (Bahrain Victorious).

The gap between the first two pelotons goes up to 1’05’’. Groupama-FDJ drive the chase and bridge the gap with 55km to go. The eight leaders are 3’35’’ away.

Kämna goes solo
The gap increases towards the final climb (8km at 5.6% with irregular slopes). With a lead of 5 minutes, Gehbreigzabhier, Kämna, Caicedo, Sobrero, Fernandez, Hamilton, Navarro and Barrenetxea are set to battle for the stage win.
Kämna goes solo into the last 5 kilometres. Sobrero tries to resist but the German champ powers to his first La Vuelta stage win with a gap of 30’’.

In the GC battle, the times are taken 2km before the line due to the weather conditions. Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) attacks with 3Km to go and opens a small gap alongside Aleksandr Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe).

La Vuelta 23 8. Etappe

Ergebnisse, Etappenrennen, Strassenrennen, , , , ,

Dénia – Xorret de Catí. Costa Blanca Interior – 165 Km

1 ROGLIČ Primož SLO JUMBO-VISMA 04:13:52
2 EVENEPOEL Remco BEL SOUDAL QUICK-STEP 00:00
3 AYUSO Juan ESP UAE TEAM EMIRATES 00:00
4 MAS Enric ESP MOVISTAR TEAM 00:02
5 VINGEGAARD Jonas DEN JUMBO-VISMA 00:02
6 GONCALVES ALMEIDA Joao POR UAE TEAM EMIRATES 00:02
7 KUSS Sepp USA JUMBO-VISMA 00:02
8 SOLER Marc ESP UAE TEAM EMIRATES 00:02
9 POELS Wout NED BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS 00:34
10 VLASOV Aleksandr BORA – HANSGROHE 00:39
11 LANDA Mikel ESP BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS 00:41
12 CARTHY Hugh John GBR EF EDUCATION – EASYPOST 01:00
13 MARTINEZ Lenny FRA GROUPAMA – FDJ 01:10
14 UIJTDEBROEKS Cian BEL BORA – HANSGROHE 01:10
15 LOPEZ PEREZ Juan Pedro ESP LIDL-TREK 01:16
16 DE LA CRUZ David ESP ASTANA QAZAQSTAN TEAM 01:18
17 BUITRAGO SANCHEZ Santiago COL BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS 01:44
18 STORER Michael AUS GROUPAMA – FDJ 01:44
19 RUBIO REYES Einer Augusto COL MOVISTAR TEAM 01:48
20 CEPEDA Jefferson ECU CAJA RURAL-SEGUROS RGA 01:48

Gesamt:

1 KUSS Sepp USA JUMBO-VISMA 30:51:06
2 SOLER Marc ESP UAE TEAM EMIRATES 00:43
3 MARTINEZ Lenny FRA GROUPAMA – FDJ 01:00
4 POELS Wout NED BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS 02:05
5 LANDA Mikel ESP BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS 02:29
6 EVENEPOEL Remco BEL SOUDAL QUICK-STEP 02:31
7 ROGLIČ Primož SLO JUMBO-VISMA 02:38
8 VINGEGAARD Jonas DEN JUMBO-VISMA 02:42
9 MAS Enric ESP MOVISTAR TEAM 02:42
10 AYUSO Juan ESP UAE TEAM EMIRATES 02:52
11 GONCALVES ALMEIDA Joao POR UAE TEAM EMIRATES 03:09
12 DE LA CRUZ David ESP ASTANA QAZAQSTAN TEAM 03:31
13 CRAS Steff BEL TOTALENERGIES 03:44
14 CARTHY Hugh John GBR EF EDUCATION – EASYPOST 03:53
15 VLASOV Aleksandr BORA – HANSGROHE 04:05
16 UIJTDEBROEKS Cian BEL BORA – HANSGROHE 04:08
17 CEPEDA Jefferson ECU CAJA RURAL-SEGUROS RGA 04:08
18 LOPEZ PEREZ Juan Pedro ESP LIDL-TREK 04:44
19 RUBIO REYES Einer Augusto COL MOVISTAR TEAM 05:00
20 BUITRAGO SANCHEZ Santiago COL BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS 05:32
21 RODRIGUEZ MARTIN Cristian ESP TEAM ARKEA – SAMSIC 06:19
22 ROCHAS Remy FRA COFIDIS 06:21
23 THOMAS Geraint GBR INEOS GRENADIERS 08:43

La Vuelta 23 7. Etappe

Ergebnisse, Etappenrennen, , , , , ,

Utiel – Oliva – 189 Km

1 SOUPE Geoffrey FRA TOTALENERGIES 04:56:29
2 AULAR SANABRIA Orluis Alberto VEN CAJA RURAL-SEGUROS RGA 00:00
3 THEUNS Edward BEL LIDL-TREK 00:00
4 MOLANO Juan Sebastian COL UAE TEAM EMIRATES 00:00
5 GROVES Kaden AUS ALPECIN-DECEUNINCK 00:00
6 VAN DEN BERG Marijn NED EF EDUCATION – EASYPOST 00:00
7 GONZALEZ LOPEZ David ESP CAJA RURAL-SEGUROS RGA 00:00
8 PAGE Hugo FRA INTERMARCHÉ – CIRCUS – WANTY 00:00
9 GANNA Filippo ITA INEOS GRENADIERS 00:00
10 GOVEKAR Matevž SLO BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS 00:00
11 CIMOLAI Davide ITA COFIDIS 00:00
12 SOBRERO Matteo ITA TEAM JAYCO ALULA 00:00
13 VENDRAME Andrea ITA AG2R CITROEN TEAM 00:00
14 GARCIA CORTINA Ivan ESP MOVISTAR TEAM 00:00
15 MENTEN Milan BEL LOTTO DSTNY 00:00

Gesamt:

1 MARTINEZ Lenny FRA GROUPAMA – FDJ 26:37:04
2 KUSS Sepp USA JUMBO-VISMA 00:08
3 SOLER Marc ESP UAE TEAM EMIRATES 00:51
4 POELS Wout NED BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS 01:41
5 CRAS Steff BEL TOTALENERGIES 01:48
6 LANDA Mikel ESP BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS 01:58
7 DE LA CRUZ David ESP ASTANA QAZAQSTAN TEAM 02:23
8 CEPEDA Jefferson ECU CAJA RURAL-SEGUROS RGA 02:30
9 EVENEPOEL Remco BEL SOUDAL QUICK-STEP 02:47
10 VINGEGAARD Jonas DEN JUMBO-VISMA 02:50
11 MAS Enric ESP MOVISTAR TEAM 02:50
12 ROGLIČ Primož SLO JUMBO-VISMA 02:58
13 CARTHY Hugh John GBR EF EDUCATION – EASYPOST 03:03
14 AYUSO Juan ESP UAE TEAM EMIRATES 03:06
15 UIJTDEBROEKS Cian BEL BORA – HANSGROHE 03:08
16 GONCALVES ALMEIDA Joao POR UAE TEAM EMIRATES 03:17
17 RUBIO REYES Einer Augusto COL MOVISTAR TEAM 03:22
18 VLASOV Aleksandr BORA – HANSGROHE 03:36
19 LOPEZ PEREZ Juan Pedro ESP LIDL-TREK 03:38
20 BUITRAGO SANCHEZ Santiago COL BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS 03:58
21 RODRIGUEZ MARTIN Cristian ESP TEAM ARKEA – SAMSIC 04:01
22 ROCHAS Remy FRA COFIDIS 04:39
23 THOMAS Geraint GBR INEOS GRENADIERS 05:21
24 VALTER Attila HUN JUMBO-VISMA 06:24
25 CARUSO Damiano ITA BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS 09:39
26 BUCHMANN Emanuel GER BORA – HANSGROHE 11:36

Soupe brings more French delights

Geoffrey Soupe (Total Energies) couldn’t believe it himself, but the Frenchman was the fastest in Oliva, where he won stage 7 of La Vuelta 23 ahead of Orluis Aular (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) and Edward Theuns (Lidl-Trek). At 35 years od, he takes his fifth professional win, by far the most prestigious! Making history as the youngest rider to ever lead a Grand Tour, Lenny Martinez (Groupama-FDJ) retained La Roja and will defend it on Saturday on the infamous slopes up Xorret de Cati.
As La Vuelta 23 returns to the valley after an exhilarating finish at the Observatorio Astrofisico de Javalambre, two riders rapidly set off to make the break of the day: José Herrada (Cofidis), participating in his ninth and last La Vuelta, and Ander Okamika (Burgos-BH), who already escaped on day 4.

Alpecin-Deceuninck control, Thomas goes down

Their lead is up to 2’35’’ at km 12 but Alpecin-Deceuninck already control the gap as they want to set a third winning sprint for Kaden Groves, already a winner in Tarragona (stage 4) and Burriana (stage 5). The gap stabilises at around 2 minutes.

Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) crashes 60 kilometres into the stage. The Welsh star appears to be in pain but he resumes racing.

Okamika pushes on

Okamika punctures with 110 kilometres to go. His breakaway companion Herrada waits for him and the peloton move closer: 1’35’’ into the last 100 kilometres.
The gap drops down under 20 seconds as they ride through Valencia. Herrada is caught with 67km to go but Okamika keeps on pushing. His lead gets back up to 1’15’’, before he gets caught with 41km to go.

Vingegaard and Soupe sprint
Groves dominates the intermediate sprint (34km to go) to increase his lead in the points standings. Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) seizes the opportunity to take 2 bonus seconds.
It’s a tortuous finale towards Oliva. Geoffrey Soupe (Total Energies) navigates the tricky last kilometre to power to victory ahead of Orluis Aular (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) and Edward Theuns (Lidl-Trek).

La Vuelta 23 6. Etappe Bergankunft

Ergebnisse, Etappenrennen, , , , , ,

La Vall d’Uixó – Observatorio Astrofísico de Javalambre – 181 Km

1 KUSS Sepp USA JUMBO-VISMA 04:27:29
2 MARTINEZ Lenny FRA GROUPAMA – FDJ 00:26
3 BARDET Romain FRA TEAM DSM-FIRMENICH 00:31
4 LANDA Mikel ESP BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS 00:46
5 SOLER Marc ESP UAE TEAM EMIRATES 00:46
6 POELS Wout NED BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS 01:03
7 RUBIO REYES Einer Augusto COL MOVISTAR TEAM 01:05
8 RODRIGUEZ MARTIN Cristian ESP TEAM ARKEA – SAMSIC 01:12
9 CRAS Steff BEL TOTALENERGIES 01:12
10 CEPEDA Jefferson ECU CAJA RURAL-SEGUROS RGA 01:26
11 BUITRAGO SANCHEZ Santiago COL BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS 01:32
12 VAN EETVELT Lennert BEL LOTTO DSTNY 01:32
13 DE LA CRUZ David ESP ASTANA QAZAQSTAN TEAM 01:38
14 CARTHY Hugh John GBR EF EDUCATION – EASYPOST 01:46
15 CASTROVIEJO Jonathan ESP INEOS GRENADIERS 02:15
16 LOPEZ PEREZ Juan Pedro ESP LIDL-TREK 02:28
17 BUCHMANN Emanuel GER BORA – HANSGROHE 02:33
18 ROGLIČ Primož SLO JUMBO-VISMA 02:52
19 VINGEGAARD Jonas DEN JUMBO-VISMA 02:52
20 AYUSO Juan ESP UAE TEAM EMIRATES 02:59
21 GONCALVES ALMEIDA Joao POR UAE TEAM EMIRATES 03:06
22 UIJTDEBROEKS Cian BEL BORA – HANSGROHE 03:06
23 MAS Enric ESP MOVISTAR TEAM 03:16
24 EVENEPOEL Remco BEL SOUDAL QUICK-STEP 03:24
25 VLASOV Aleksandr BORA – HANSGROHE 03:34

Gesamt:

1 MARTINEZ Lenny FRA GROUPAMA – FDJ 21:40:35
2 KUSS Sepp USA JUMBO-VISMA 00:08
3 SOLER Marc ESP UAE TEAM EMIRATES 00:51
4 POELS Wout NED BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS 01:41
5 CRAS Steff BEL TOTALENERGIES 01:48
6 LANDA Mikel ESP BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS 01:58
7 CEPEDA Jefferson ECU CAJA RURAL-SEGUROS RGA 02:06
8 DE LA CRUZ David ESP ASTANA QAZAQSTAN TEAM 02:23
9 EVENEPOEL Remco BEL SOUDAL QUICK-STEP 02:47
10 MAS Enric ESP MOVISTAR TEAM 02:50
11 VINGEGAARD Jonas DEN JUMBO-VISMA 02:52
12 ROGLIČ Primož SLO JUMBO-VISMA 02:58
13 CARTHY Hugh John GBR EF EDUCATION – EASYPOST 03:03
14 AYUSO Juan ESP UAE TEAM EMIRATES 03:06
15 UIJTDEBROEKS Cian BEL BORA – HANSGROHE 03:08
16 GONCALVES ALMEIDA Joao POR UAE TEAM EMIRATES 03:17
17 RUBIO REYES Einer Augusto COL MOVISTAR TEAM 03:22
18 VLASOV Aleksandr BORA – HANSGROHE 03:36
19 LOPEZ PEREZ Juan Pedro ESP LIDL-TREK 03:38
20 BUITRAGO SANCHEZ Santiago COL BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS 03:58
21 RODRIGUEZ MARTIN Cristian ESP TEAM ARKEA – SAMSIC 04:01
22 ROCHAS Remy FRA COFIDIS 04:39
23 THOMAS Geraint GBR INEOS GRENADIERS 04:57
24 ARENSMAN Thymen NED INEOS GRENADIERS 05:10
25 BARDET Romain FRA TEAM DSM-FIRMENICH 06:00
26 VALTER Attila HUN JUMBO-VISMA 06:24
27 CARUSO Damiano ITA BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS 09:39
28 QUINN Sean USA EF EDUCATION – EASYPOST 09:58
29 KAMNA Lennard GER BORA – HANSGROHE 10:22
30 BUCHMANN Emanuel GER BORA – HANSGROHE 11:36

Kuss and Martinez – 2 stars in Javalambre

An outstanding stage 6 of La Vuelta delivered historic results at the Observatorio Astrofisico de Javalambre. The American climber Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma), participating in his third Grand Tour of the year, was the strongest from an impressive breakaway to take victory ahead of Lenny Martinez (Groupama-FDJ). The French wonderkid becomes the overall leader at 20 years old! Primoz Roglic and Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) ganged up against Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) to gain 30 seconds on the Belgian star. La Vuelta 23 started less than a week ago and the GC battle is already in full swing!
After two sprints dominated by Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck), La Vuelta 23 heads back to the mountain with a summit finish at the Observatorio Astrofisico de Javalambre, atop the cat-1 ascent of the Pico del Buitre (10.9km at 8%). With a prestigious stage win to claim, and potentially La Roja on the line, attackers are very much inspired.

An impressive battle towards Javalambre

It takes 70 kilometres of extremely hard battle for a group of 42 attackers to eventually make the break, including 11 riders from the GC top 25: Lenny Martinez (Groupama-FDJ), Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates), Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma), Steff Cras (Total Energies), Wout Poels (Bahrain Victorious), Jefferson Cepeda (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), David De La Cruz (Astana Qazaqstan), Rémy Rochas (Cofidis), Juanpe Lopez (Lidl-Trek), Mikel Landa (Bahrain Victorious), Hugh Carthy (EF Education-EasyPost) and Attila Valter (Jumbo-Visma). Andreas Kron (Lotto Dstny), already a stage winner in Barcelona, is also up there.
Soudal Quick-Step, Ineos Grenadiers and Movistar work together to control the break. The gap goes as high as 7 minutes. It quickly drops down towards the main ascent of the day… But at the bottom of the climb to the Observatorio Astrofisico de Javalambre, an already seriously reduced peloton still trails by 3’50’’.

Kuss, Martinez, Roglic… What a showdown!

Michael Storer (Groupama-FDJ) sets the pace at the front for Martinez. Einer Rubio (Movistar) attacks with 4 kilometres to go. Romain Bardet (DSM-Firmenich) and Lenny Martinez (Groupama-FDJ) are the quickest to react but Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma) gets back to them and goes solo inside the last 3 kilometres. At the summit, he wins 26’’ ahead of Martinez… who takes La Roja 6’’ ahead of the American climber!
In the GC group, Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) attacks with 4km to go as well. Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) can’t react while Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) his Slovenian teammate at the front. The two of them collaborate to gain 7’’ on Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates), 14’’ on Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) and Cian Uijtdebroeks (Bora-Hansgrohe), 24’’ on Enric Mas (Movistar) and 32’’ on Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step).

La Vuelta 23 5. Etappe

Ergebnisse, Etappenrennen, Strassenrennen, , , , ,

Morella – Burriana – 186 Km

1 GROVES Kaden AUS ALPECIN-DECEUNINCK 04:23:43
2 GANNA Filippo ITA INEOS GRENADIERS 00:00
3 VAN GESTEL Dries BEL TOTALENERGIES 00:00
4 DAINESE Alberto ITA TEAM DSM-FIRMENICH 00:00
5 ASKEY Lewis GBR GROUPAMA – FDJ 00:00
6 THEUNS Edward BEL LIDL-TREK 00:00
7 GONZALEZ LOPEZ David ESP CAJA RURAL-SEGUROS RGA 00:00
8 SOUPE Geoffrey FRA TOTALENERGIES 00:00
9 EZQUERRA MUELA Jesus ESP BURGOS-BH 00:00
10 DRIZNERS Jarrad AUS LOTTO DSTNY 00:00
11 MOSCA Jacopo ITA LIDL-TREK 00:00
12 GARCIA CORTINA Ivan ESP MOVISTAR TEAM 00:00
13 PAGE Hugo FRA INTERMARCHÉ – CIRCUS – WANTY 00:00
14 AULAR SANABRIA Orluis Alberto VEN CAJA RURAL-SEGUROS RGA 00:00
15 VAN DEN BERG Marijn NED EF EDUCATION – EASYPOST 00:00
16 CIMOLAI Davide ITA COFIDIS 00:00
17 VENDRAME Andrea ITA AG2R CITROEN TEAM 00:00
18 GOVEKAR Matevž SLO BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS 00:00
19 BARRENETXEA GOLZARRI Jon ESP CAJA RURAL-SEGUROS RGA 00:00
20 BARTHE Cyril FRA BURGOS-BH 00:00

Gesamt:

1 EVENEPOEL Remco BEL SOUDAL QUICK-STEP 17:12:29
2 MAS Enric ESP MOVISTAR TEAM 00:11
3 MARTINEZ Lenny FRA GROUPAMA – FDJ 00:17
4 VINGEGAARD Jonas DEN JUMBO-VISMA 00:37
5 VLASOV Aleksandr BORA – HANSGROHE 00:39
6 UIJTDEBROEKS Cian BEL BORA – HANSGROHE 00:40
7 ROGLIČ Primož SLO JUMBO-VISMA 00:43
8 AYUSO Juan ESP UAE TEAM EMIRATES 00:44
9 SOLER Marc ESP UAE TEAM EMIRATES 00:48
10 GONCALVES ALMEIDA Joao POR UAE TEAM EMIRATES 00:49
11 ARENSMAN Thymen NED INEOS GRENADIERS 00:51
12 KUSS Sepp USA JUMBO-VISMA 00:55
13 VINE Jay AUS UAE TEAM EMIRATES 00:57
14 CRAS Steff BEL TOTALENERGIES 01:13
15 POELS Wout NED BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS 01:15
16 CEPEDA Jefferson ECU CAJA RURAL-SEGUROS RGA 01:17
17 THOMAS Geraint GBR INEOS GRENADIERS 01:17
18 DE LA CRUZ David ESP ASTANA QAZAQSTAN TEAM 01:22
19 ROCHAS Remy FRA COFIDIS 01:30
20 QUINN Sean USA EF EDUCATION – EASYPOST 01:45

Groves also loves Burriana

On the day after he claimed another victory in Catalunya (Tarragona), Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck) sprinted to victory in Burriana (Valencia), where he got the best of Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers) and Dries Van Gestel (Total Energies). This win is the 20th for an Australian rider in La Vuelta, with Groves joining Michael Matthews as the best Aussie scorers in the Spanish Grand Tour (3 victories each). Back to back wins in La Vuelta were only achieved by John Degenkolb (2014) and Sam Bennett (2022) in recent years. Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) chased bonus seconds on the eve of another mountain showdown up the Alto de Javalambre.

It’s a nervous start from Morella, with a peloton wary of crosswinds that could turn the race upside down on the way to a seaside finish in Burriana. Eddie Dunbar (Jayco AlUla) crashes in the neutral start and is forced to abandon. Riders try to get away as soon as the flag drops but the peloton don’t give them any margin.

Fagundez shines for Uruguay

After 16 kilometres of battle, Eric Fagundez (Burgos-BH) sets off and makes the break of the day. At the end of his first season in the WorldTour, the young rider shows his colour at the front as the third Uruguayan to ever participate in La Vuelta.
After 60 kilometres of racing, the gap reaches a maximum of 5’30’’. Alpecin-Deceuninck drive the bunch with Jason Osborne setting the pace on the day after Kaden Groves won in Tarragona.

Sepulveda chases the KOM points
The gap is down to 1’50’’ at the bottom of the cat-2 climb up Collado de Ibola (to be summited with 53.7km to go). Already a history maker as the first Argentinian to ever lead a standing in a Grand Tour, Eduardo Sepulveda (Lotto Dstny) sets off to bridge the gap to Fagundez and score more KOM points ahead of another mountain stage on Thursday.
Sepulveda catches Fagundez with 3km to go to the summit and drops a kilometre further up the road. At the summit, the Argentinian rider takes 5 KOM points. The peloton trail by 1’08’’.

The intermediate sprint for Evenepoel, the bunch sprint for Groves

Fagundez is caught by the bunch with 41km to go. Sepulveda is still 20’’ ahead. He is caught 3 kilometres further, with Alpecin-Deceuninck still driving the bunch.
Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) makes the most of the intermediate sprint to take 6 bonus seconds ahead of Kaden Groves.
The intensity keeps rising until the last kilometre. Alpecin-Deceuninck launch the sprint for Groves, who delivers another victory just ahead of Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers).

La Vuelta 23 3. Etappe

Ergebnisse, Etappenrennen, Strassenrennen, Teamnews, , , , ,

Súria – Arinsal – 158 Km

1 EVENEPOEL Remco BEL SOUDAL QUICK-STEP 04:15:39
2 VINGEGAARD Jonas DEN JUMBO-VISMA 00:01
3 AYUSO Juan ESP UAE TEAM EMIRATES 00:01
4 ROGLIČ Primož SLO JUMBO-VISMA 00:01
5 SOLER Marc ESP UAE TEAM EMIRATES 00:01
6 MAS Enric ESP MOVISTAR TEAM 00:01
7 MARTINEZ Lenny FRA GROUPAMA – FDJ 00:01
8 UIJTDEBROEKS Cian BEL BORA – HANSGROHE 00:01
9 GONCALVES ALMEIDA Joao POR UAE TEAM EMIRATES 00:01
10 VLASOV Aleksandr BORA – HANSGROHE 00:01
11 KELDERMAN Wilco NED JUMBO-VISMA 00:01
12 VINE Jay AUS UAE TEAM EMIRATES 00:10
13 CRAS Steff BEL TOTALENERGIES 00:13
14 KUSS Sepp USA JUMBO-VISMA 00:13
15 ARENSMAN Thymen NED INEOS GRENADIERS 00:21
16 HIRT Jan CZE SOUDAL QUICK-STEP 00:21
17 BUITRAGO SANCHEZ Santiago COL BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS 00:21
18 CEPEDA Jefferson ECU CAJA RURAL-SEGUROS RGA 00:25
19 BARDET Romain FRA TEAM DSM-FIRMENICH 00:31
20 KAMNA Lennard GER BORA – HANSGROHE 00:37

Gesamt:

1 EVENEPOEL Remco BEL SOUDAL QUICK-STEP 08:43:11
2 MAS Enric ESP MOVISTAR TEAM 00:05
3 MARTINEZ Lenny FRA GROUPAMA – FDJ 00:11
4 VINGEGAARD Jonas DEN JUMBO-VISMA 00:31
5 VLASOV Aleksandr BORA – HANSGROHE 00:33
6 UIJTDEBROEKS Cian BEL BORA – HANSGROHE 00:34
7 BARDET Romain FRA TEAM DSM-FIRMENICH 00:35
8 BUITRAGO SANCHEZ Santiago COL BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS 00:36
9 KELDERMAN Wilco NED JUMBO-VISMA 00:37
10 ROGLIČ Primož SLO JUMBO-VISMA 00:38
11 AYUSO Juan ESP UAE TEAM EMIRATES 00:38
12 SOLER Marc ESP UAE TEAM EMIRATES 00:42
13 GONCALVES ALMEIDA Joao POR UAE TEAM EMIRATES 00:43
14 ARENSMAN Thymen NED INEOS GRENADIERS 00:45
15 KUSS Sepp USA JUMBO-VISMA 00:49
16 VINE Jay AUS UAE TEAM EMIRATES 00:51
17 KAMNA Lennard GER BORA – HANSGROHE 01:07
18 CRAS Steff BEL TOTALENERGIES 01:07
19 POELS Wout NED BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS 01:09
20 CEPEDA Jefferson ECU CAJA RURAL-SEGUROS RGA 01:11
21 THOMAS Geraint GBR INEOS GRENADIERS 01:11
22 BERNAL Egan COL INEOS GRENADIERS 01:11

Evenepoel strikes early

Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) came to La Vuelta 23 to defend his overall victory from 2022 and he immediately showed how strong he is this year again. On day 3, the Belgian superstar dominated the first summit finish of the 78th edition of the Spanish Grand Tour, atop the unprecedented ascent of Arinsal in Andorra. Not only did he get the best of Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma), Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates) and Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) on the line, he also took La Roja as the new overall leader of the race. Enric Mas (Movistar) and French wonderkid Lenny Martinez (Groupama-FDJ) are his closest rivals in the general classification.

With a sunny start and high summits looming on the horizon, attackers launch a very hard battle for the break. It takes a flurry of accelerations and more than 35 kilometres for nine riders to escape: Damiano Caruso, Jasha Sütterlin (Bahrain Victorious), Amanuel Gehbreigzabhier (Lidl-Trek), Lennard Kämna (Bora-Hansgrohe), Eduardo Sepulveda (Lotto Dstny), Andrea Vendrame (AG2R Citroën), Rune Herregodts (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty), Pierre Latour (TotalEnergies) and Jon Barrenetxea (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA).

After 60 kilometres of hard racing, Mathis Le Berre (Arkea-Samsic) and Jose Manuel Diaz (Burgos-BH) join the earlier attackers to make it a 11-man breakaway. The gap is at its maximum: 5 minutes. And Damiano Caruso, a podium finisher in the Giro, only trailed by 23’’ in the overall standings ahead of the stage. Jumbo-Visma, Soudal Quick-Step and Ineos Grenadiers react and pull the bunch.

Caruso ups the ante

The race enters Andorra with 51.4km to go and the gap is down to under 3 minutes at the bottom of cat-1 climb to Coll d’Ordino (8.9km at 5.1%, leading to an altitude of 1,980m). Caruso ups the ante at the front. Only Sepulveda and Kämna can keep up while DSM-Firmenich drive the bunch.
Romain Bardet (DSM-Firmenich) sets off in the last 2 kilometres of ascent but Jumbo-Visma, Soudal Quick-Step and UAE Team Emirates control his moves. They trail by 1’05’’ at Coll d’Ordino (21.4km to go).

Evenepoel powers to La Roja
Caruso sets the pace on the downhill and Sepulveda is dropped. At the bottom of the final and unprecedented climb to Arinsal (8.3km at 7.7%), Caruso and Kämna are 1’20’’ away from the GC group. After a series of attacks, the German baroudeur eventually drops the Italian climber with 3km to go. Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates) drives the bunch with a gap of 30’’.

Kämna is caught by nine riders with 2 kilometres to go. Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates) tries to counter-attack. Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma) controls his move… But nobody can match Remco Evenepoel’s acceleration inside the last 200 metres. The Belgian superstar powers to the stage win and claims La Roja.