Jasper Philipsen claimed his second stage win in the Vuelta a España after also taking the opening stage. The Belgian from Alpecin-Deceuninck proved fastest in a bunch sprint in Zaragoza. Torstein Træen remains the race leader.
After two mountain stages, the Vuelta peloton faced a flat stage on Saturday from Monzón Templario to Zaragoza. In the just over 163-kilometer-long stage, the riders did not encounter a single categorized climb. A bunch sprint was all but guaranteed.
Monzón Templario) Zaragoza)As expected, we saw a traditional early breakaway without any dangerous names. Joan Bou (Caja Rural - Seguros RGA), Sergio Samitier (Cofidis), and Jose Luis Faura Asensio (Burgos BH) took off from the start and built up a four-minute advantage. Initially, only Alpecin-Deceuninck controlled the peloton, but later Lidl-Trek also placed a rider up front.
Onwards to Zaragoza
That’s how it went towards the intermediate sprint some 40 kilometers from the finish. Mads Pedersen came through fourth behind the three escapees and extended his lead in the points classification even further. The peloton’s mid-stage acceleration—Pedersen still had to deal with Ethan Vernon—made the breakaway lose even more ground. When they crossed the line for the first time with 23 kilometers to go, the gap was less than half a minute. Asensio, meanwhile, had already been dropped shortly before.
The trio in the breakaway – photo: Cor Vos
Bou and Samitier held on for a bit longer, but with 17 kilometers to go, their effort was over. The peloton began preparing for a bunch sprint. From that peloton, Juan Ayuso dropped off when a small climb appeared with 11 kilometers remaining. The chance of the Spaniard making a comeback in the GC battle was definitively over.
Time to sprint
Up front, the sprinters’ teams took turns in the proverbial washing machine. Teams like Intermarché-Wanty, Picnic PostNL, Lotto, Israel-Premier Tech, and Alpecin-Deceuninck each had their say at the front. Lidl-Trek stayed quiet at first, but Mads Pedersen was well positioned near the front entering the final kilometer. At this point, Lotto took the lead to lead out Elia Viviani. Jasper De Buyst then launched the sprint for his team’s sprinter.
Viviani went long in his sprint but had Philipsen on his wheel. The Belgian tried to pass on the left, but the Italian seemed to close the door. However, Philipsen found a small gap and dove in. He overtook Viviani and crossed the line first. This marks Philipsen’s second stage win in this Vuelta, having also won the opening stage to Novara a week earlier.
After the race, Viviani stated that he had deliberately left the door open for Philipsen. “This is not how I want to win races,” said the Italian from Lotto. The jury decided to relegate Viviani for his sprint. According to them, the experienced rider deviated too much from his line during the sprint. The same sanction applied to Bryan Coquard.
Vuelta a España| Rank | Rider | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 03:43:48 | |
| 2 | " | |
| 3 | " | |
| 4 | " | |
| 5 | " | |
| 6 | " | |
| 7 | " | |
| 8 | " | |
| 9 | " | |
| 10 | " |
