Giulio Pellizzari won the seventeenth stage of the Vuelta a España. Favorites Jonas Vingegaard and Joao Almeida made no moves on the Alto de El Morredero, allowing the Italian to take advantage.
The main question at the start was clear early on: would the riders even reach the finish on the Alto de El Morredero? After protests in recent days and the resulting route shortenings and cancellations, this was very uncertain. After discussions between the riders and the riders’ union CPA, it was decided that the stage would be neutralized if a new dangerous situation occurred. Strong gusts of wind at the finish also made the stage uncertain, but in the end, the stage could be ‘normally’ completed.
The riders were not discouraged by the possible danger. In the early phase, we saw an active Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), who launched the first attack of the day wearing the green jersey. Michal Kwiatkowski also tried several times for INEOS Grenadiers, notably on the roads around Ponferrada where he won the rainbow jersey and the greatest triumph of his career in 2014.
12-rider breakaway
Their attempts failed, but eight others had better luck. Brandon Rivera (INEOS Grenadiers), Madis Mihkels (EF Education-EasyPost), Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain-Victorious), Harold Tejada (XDS Astana), Patrick Gamper (Jayco AlUla), Luca Van Boven (Intermarché-Wanty), Timo Roosen (Picnic PostNL), and Jonas Gregaard (Lotto) went clear after twenty kilometers. Later they were joined by Gijs Leemreize (Picnic PostNL), Joel Nicolau (Caja Rural Seguros RGA), Léandre Lozouet (Arkéa-B&B Hotels), and Sergio Samitier (Cofidis).
Together this made for twelve leaders who set off for a day over relatively easy roads before the final climb loomed. This also made it feasible for Visma | Lease a Bike to control the stage. The yellow team gave the break about two minutes immediately, but then Dylan van Baarle had enough. That was that, and the break never really had a genuine shot at the stage win.
The twelve-man breakaway group - photo: Cor Vos
The stage scenario was set until 23 kilometers from the finish when Tiberi threw a wrench in the works on the first uphill meters. This was necessary because, driven by Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe, the peloton had closed in to less than a minute. Tejada tried to latch on, but the pair’s attempt was short-lived. BORA quickly swallowed all the escapees.
Only Felix Gall (Decathlon AG2R), fifth overall, was left behind by the high pace. However, the BORA riders mainly aimed to thin out their own group rapidly. This gave the signal to Visma | Lease a Bike to take over with four (of the six still racing) riders and reduce the peloton further to ten men. Joao Almeida, the rival to team leader Jonas Vingegaard, was isolated.
Almeida cracks briefly
This was a problem for the Portuguese rider because when Jai Hindley accelerated six kilometers from the finish on the Alto de El Morredero, Almeida had to give up some meters. Vingegaard followed the attacking Australian and later also Matthew Riccitello and Tom Pidcock but did not let himself be provoked. The Dane remained stoic and saw Almeida return. This scenario repeated itself about three times, with Almeida getting into trouble after a tempo surge by Hindley and the others.
Vingegaard, Almeida, Pidcock, Riccitello, Hindley, and Giulio Pellizzari kept each other balanced, sometimes speculating and in a surplace. That was the cue for the young rider classification leader, who now saw his chance. Hindley exemplary dropped back to let his teammate go, and he seemed away. Riccitello appeared to be the only one still willing to chase.
Three times the Israel-Premier Tech American tried to start a pursuit but received no support. In no time, Pellizzari had ridden half a minute clear and smiled at the stage win. Ultimately, Pidcock launched his sprint first at the finish, earning him the closest podium place and a few seconds. And Vingegaard and Almeida? They crossed the line within two seconds of each other, meaning tomorrow’s time trial will have to decide.
Vuelta a España| Rank | Rider | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 03:37:00 | |
| 2 | + 16 | |
| 3 | + 18 | |
| 4 | + 20 | |
| 5 | + 22 | |
| 6 | + 26 | |
| 7 | + 53 | |
| 8 | " | |
| 9 | + 58 | |
| 10 | + 01:44 |
