La Vuelta 2022: Mads Pedersen beats Bryan Coquard and Pascal Ackermann in punchy Stage 13 finish
/dnl.eurosport.com/sd/img/placeholder/eurosport_logo_1x1.png){kind=logo}
Updated 02/09/2022 at 16:42 GMT
Denmark’s Mads Pedersen finally got his win in La Vuelta with a well-timed surge on the ramped finale to Stage 13 in Montilla to power past Germany’s Pascal Ackermann and hold Frenchman Bryan Coquard at bay. Pedersen consolidated his huge lead in the green jersey standings on a day of GC stalemate between Remco Evenepoel and his rivals for the red jersey.
Watch Pedersen win first ever La Vuelta stage in style
There’s something about Stage 13 on Fridays in Grand Tours that makes Mads Pedersen click in 2022. Just as he did on the Tour de France earlier this summer, the Dane blasted clear to take a maiden triumph on La Vuelta with a perfect finish to draw a line under his three second places from the opening week of the race.
Very much the favourite for the 168.4km Stage 13, Denmark's Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) kept to the script by launching out of the slipstream of Pascal Ackermann (UAE Team Emirates) after the German launched early on the ramped finish at Montilla.
Pedersen powered past Ackermann and – after a quick look over his shoulder – was able to coast home and celebrate in style as the road flattened out ahead of the line. Frenchman Bryan Coquard (Codifis) took a distant second while Ackermann – banging his handlebars in frustration – had to settle for third place ahead of Britain’s Fred Wright (Bahrain Victorious).
Denmark’s Danny van Poppel (Bora-Hansgrohe) completed the top five while Slovenia’s Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) put in a good showing for ninth.
There was no change in the general classification as Belgium’s Remco Evenepoel (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) finished safely in the pack to retain the red jersey for an eighth day. The 22-year-old now enters a crucial weekend in the mountains with a 2’41” lead over the triple reigning champion Roglic, with Spain’s Enric Mas (Movistar) in third at 3’03”.
Pedersen’s win sees the Danish powerhouse move well ahead of his nearest rivals in the green jersey points classification, the 26-year-old former world champion now on 247 points compared to the 96 points held by both Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates) and Wright.
“We knew that this final was super good so the boys did really good today and everyone was focused the whole day. I’m just happy that I can finally get the win and give the boys something back for all the work they have done. It’s really fun for all of us,” Pedersen said, praising his Trek-Segafredo team-mates.
“Alex [Kirsch] delivered me into the last corner and there was still 800m to go. They set a perfect, good, hard tempo. Pascal jumped early which meant I could jump with him. But it was a long, long sprint. To follow Ackermann is a full sprint, so it was a 330-metre sprint today.
“I came here for a stage win and now we have one, we can fight for another. It’s super nice to have a comfortable lead in the points jersey. It would have been nice to have Sam [Bennett] here for a fight for the green jersey, but we keep fighting for the stages and we see how it goes.”
/origin-imgresizer.eurosport.com/2022/09/02/3444630-70277768-2560-1440.jpg)
‘I’m just happy to give the boys something back’ – Pedersen relieved to win stage
No sooner had the race bid farewell to the start town of Ronda than a breakaway of three rides formed from the gun as Dutchman Julius van den Berg (EF Education-EasyPost) joined forces with Spanish duo Joan Bou (Euskaltel-Euskadi) and Ander Okamika (Burgos-BH).
The trio established a maximum lead of three and a half minutes, with Pedersen’s Trek team combining with the Coquard’s Cofidis and the BikeExchange-Jayco team of Stage 11 winner Kaden Groves to neutralise the threat from the riders ahead.
The gap ebbed and flowed as the race traversed the sun-drenched region responsible for 70 per cent of Spain’s olive oil over a series of rolling roads as the temperature soared to 33 degrees. The escapees held on until the intermediate sprint at Espejo, just 15km from the finish, where Pedersen led the pack over in fourth place moments before Van den Berg called it quits.
/origin-imgresizer.eurosport.com/2022/09/02/3444484-70274848-2560-1440.jpg)
Joan Bou (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Julius van den Berg (EF Education-EasyPost) and Ander Okamika (Burgos-BH) in the breakaway in Stage 13 of La Vuelta
Image credit: Getty Images
Bou and Okamika pressed on for another 5km before succumbing to the inevitable as the jostling for positions began in earnest ahead of a tense finale. With the road rising for 2km into the town of Montilla before flattening out for another 2km ahead of the ramped final rise to the line, the route never looked to be one for the pure sprinters.
Yet Ackermann clearly fancied his chances when he zipped clear with an early attack which forced an instant reply from Pedersen. Once the Dane drew level, there result was never in doubt – as Pedersen capped a fine day from his Trek-Segafredo team to get the win he’s been threatening to take ever since the opening road stage in the Netherlands.
The race continues on Saturday with a summit showdown on the Pandera climb where Spanish veteran Alejandro Valverde took the second of his 12 career Vuelta stage wins 19 years ago. A key weekend in the mountains culminates on Sunday with the highest finish of the race atop the Alto Hoya de la Mora in the Sierra Nevada range, where Colombia’s Miguel Angel Lopez won in 2017.
- - -
Stream La Vuelta live and on-demand on discovery+. You can also watch all the action live on eurosport.co.uk.
Scan me
Related Topics
Share this article
Advertisement
Advertisement