Juan Ayuso has claimed his second stage victory in this Vuelta a España. The Spaniard from UAE Emirates XRG broke away together with Javier Romo from a large breakaway group and then proved faster than his compatriot in a two-man sprint. The GC contenders did not attack each other. Jonas Vingegaard remains the leader.
After the Vuelta had no stage winner on Wednesday due to unrest caused by pro-Palestinian protests at the finish line in Bilbao, the race continued on Thursday with a stage from Laredo to Los Corrales de Buelna. The 144-kilometer stage included two categorized climbs. Early in the stage, the riders had to cross the Puerto de Alisas (8.6 km at 5.9%) and in the finale awaited the Collada de Brenes (7 km at 7.9%). From the top of that last climb, there were still just over 23 kilometers to the finish.
Laredo) Los Corrales del Buelna)Massive breakaway
Before the Puerto de Alisas, a breakaway group of eighteen riders formed, including Marc Soler (UAE Emirates-XRG), Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) and—representing the Low Countries—Jasper De Buyst and Alec Segaert (Lotto). But the battle for the early escape was not over yet, as many riders tried to bridge across on the climb. Many succeeded, resulting in almost half the peloton at the front, with as many as 52 riders.
This group now included Juan Ayuso (UAE Emirates-XRG), Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious), Pablo Castrillo (Movistar), Mikel Landa, Mauri Vansevenant, Louis Vervaeke (Soudal Quick-Step), Lorenzo Fortunato (XDS Astana), Victor Campenaerts (Visma | Lease a Bike), Jardi van der Lee (EF Education-EasyPost), Gijs Leemreize (Picnic PostNL), Luca Van Boven (Intermarché-Wanty), Liam Slock and Lars Craps (Lotto), among others. Bruno Armirail was the highest-ranked rider at the front, but he was already eight and a half minutes behind.
photo: Cor Vos
Six riders break away
With just over sixty kilometers to go, Iván García Cortina decided to sneak away on his own. The Spaniard from Movistar was soon reeled back in by Lidl-Trek, who had three riders among the leaders. Søren Kragh Andersen, Julien Bernard, and Pedersen himself kept the group together, allowing the Dane to take full points at the intermediate sprint. He succeeded in doing so. Without slowing down, he then pushed on immediately, which caused some skirmishing.
Six riders then separated: Michel Hessmann (Movistar), Magnus Sheffield (INEOS Grenadiers), James Shaw (EF Education-EasyPost), Finlay Pickering (Bahrain Victorious), Brieux Rolland (Groupama-FDJ), and Victor Guernalec (Arkéa-B&B Hotels). They began the Collada de Brenes with a forty-second lead over the chasers. Among the pursuers, Marc Soler quickly took the front with teammate Juan Ayuso on his wheel. This quickly thinned out the group.
Ayuso versus Romo
Three kilometers from the summit, the UAE Emirates XRG duo surged past the last leaders. Just then, Soler launched an attack and it was up to Ayuso to follow. The Spaniard briefly rode alone at the front but soon saw Javier Romo return. The two crested the climb together. Their lead over first chaser Brieuc was about fifteen seconds. Around 35 seconds behind followed a group including Landa, Beloki, Soler, Castrillo, Pickering, Abel Balderstone, and Eddie Dunbar.
After the descent, riders including Campenaerts and Pedersen would also reconnect with this group, but the gap to Ayuso and Romo was already one minute. Brieuc stayed close initially but was unable to close the gap. Meanwhile, the peloton—where no action came from the favorites—followed more than six minutes behind. In short, the two Spanish leaders were set to contest the victory in Los Corrales de Buelna.
Ayuso’s second stage win
In the sprint, Ayuso proved by far the fastest. He came out of Romo’s slipstream and easily held on to the line. Despite all the controversy surrounding him, Ayuso earned his second stage win in this race. Romo had to settle for second place, while Brieux finished third. Campenaerts claimed fourth with a late attack, just ahead of Pedersen.
photo: Cor Vos
Vuelta a España| Rank | Rider | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 03:16:21 | |
| 2 | " | |
| 3 | + 13 | |
| 4 | + 17 | |
| 5 | " | |
| 6 | " | |
| 7 | + 18 | |
| 8 | " | |
| 9 | " | |
| 10 | " |
