Vuelta a España S10: Van Aert wins 3rd, O'Connor maintains overall lead
After encountering difficulties in the early stages, Belgian Van Aert attacked on the last climb and eventually won the race.
Belgian rider Wout Van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) won the race again in the 10th stage of the Vuelta a España. Van Aert attacked on the last level of the Alto de Mougás, leaving his companion Quentin Pash (Groupama-FDJ) behind, and maintained his advantage on the downhill section, eventually winning the championship at the technical finish.
This victory allowed him to retain the green jersey and tie with Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates) for first place in the mountain standings. This is another proof of Van Aert's all-round strength. Previously, he won the sprint group in the third stage and again in the Cordoba sprint in the seventh stage.
Overall leader Ben O'Connor (Decathlon-AG2R) retained the red jersey and had a comfortable lead of more than three minutes over second-placed Roglič. After the race, Van Aert said the win was "extra special" because his family was there.
Stage results
Vuelta Stage 11: Eddie Dunbar wins first Grand Tour, Roglič closes gap on O'Connor
Eddie Dunbar won his first Grand Tour stage with a stunning breakaway on stage 11.
Team Jayco AlUla's Dunbar attacked in the final kilometers, pulling away from his pursuers and eventually winning by a narrow margin over the rest of the breakaway. Quinten Hermans (Opelin) and Max Poole (dsm-firmenich PostNL) finished second and third respectively.
The breakaway had a decisive influence on the race's outcome, as Dunbar managed to emerge from the breakaway despite 39 riders taking part. There were also changes in the overall standings, with Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) closing the gap on Ben O'Connor (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) in the red jersey.
In the final sprint, Dunbar launched an attack 600 meters from the finish and successfully left the other pursuers behind to take the victory. Meanwhile, Roglič managed to overtake O'Connor on the final climb to close the gap in the overall standings.
Overall results
Vuelta S12: Spanish rider Castrillo wins stage solo
Spanish rider Pablo Castrillo won stage 12 with a solo breakaway, while Ben O'Connor maintained his overall lead.
Castrillo, from Spanish wildcard team Equipo Kern Pharma, won stage 12 of the Vuelta a España with a daring solo attack on the final climb, Cerro Manzaneda.
He was nearly caught up by British rider Poole (DSM) in the final 200 meters, but the 23-year-old Spaniard held on to win by eight seconds at the end of the 138km stage. Castrillo's victory was full of emotion, as earlier today, Equipo Kern Pharma's former team president Manolo Azcona passed away due to illness. For Poole, it was another frustrating loss after finishing third yesterday.
Race leader Ben O'Connor (Decathlon-AG2R) was undeterred by his fellow GC rivals on the final climb to take a 3m 16s lead over Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe).
"It's incredible, it's for the team and the staff," Castrillo said of his win. "I was very nervous at the end but I decided to attack on the flat and win," he added. He had originally planned to attack closer to the finish but said that in the end, the best moment came 10km from the finish.
Overall results
Vuelta Stage 13: Michael Woods wins the stage, and Roglič closes the gap to the red jersey
Israel–Premier Tech finally got his grand tour win, with Van Aert leading both the sprint and climb titles, an unusual double jersey combination.
Previous Vuelta favorite Primož Roglič closed the gap to leader Ben O'Connor by nearly two minutes in the sprint to the finish on the Col de Ancares. The Slovenian attacked almost immediately on the double-digit grade of the final Category 1 climb, quickly pulling away from O'Connor (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale), who started the day 3.16s ahead. With the GC contenders scattered across the hill, the Australian struggled to hold on to his red jersey, ultimately losing nearly two minutes, reducing his lead over the Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe rider to 1m 21s.
Overall results
Vuelta Stage 14: Kaden Groves beats Van Aert in double sprint
Visma–Lease a Bike controlled the pace all day in Van Aert’s service, but the Belgian could not fend off Groves’ attack.
Alpecin–Deceuninck’s Kaden Groves beat Van Aert in the green jersey in a double sprint on stage 14 of the Vuelta a España.
Van Aert’s team controlled the pace all day and recovered the day’s breakaway in an attempt to give the Belgian a fourth-stage win, but Groves was stronger and won by a wheel as the two crossed the line.
Van Aert exhausted all of his teammates on the final Category 1 climb, but the strong Australian held him off to take his second win of the year’s race. On a day of extremely light GC action, the biggest drama came when second-placed Primož Roglič suffered an untimely mechanical failure in the final 15km. He was forced to swap bikes with teammate Daniel Martínez and chase back on the final descent, but he rejoined the peloton without too much trouble. O'Connor (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) retained the red jersey on a relatively easy day for the GC contenders. The top ten all finished in the peloton and are already looking ahead to the brutal mountain challenge of stage 15.
Overall results
Vuelta S15: Castrillo wins stage over Vlasov, O'Connor loses 40 seconds to keep the red jersey, Roglič is penalized 20 seconds
Roglič is penalized 20 seconds but still closes the gap to the red jersey and enters the final battle.
Pablo Castrillo (Equipo Kern Pharma) staged a thrilling victory on stage 15 of the Vuelta a España, beating Aleksandr Vlasov (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) on the brutal Cuitu Negru climb to win his second stage.
The young Spaniard attacked his rivals Vlasov and Pavel Sivakov (UAE Team Emirates) in the last 3 km. Although the Russian caught him on his toughest climb, he continued to push and eventually took the victory.
O'Connor finished ten places behind and the Australian kept his red jersey despite Roglič's efforts. There was even drama after the race, as O'Connor's lead was extended from 43 seconds to 1:03 due to the referee's decision. Roglič changed his bike before the last climb and was penalized 20 seconds for hiding behind the team car when chasing back to the peloton, which allowed him to close the gap to the red jersey by only 19 seconds.
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