Rigoberto Uran wins from breakaway as Remco Evenepoel swats away Enric Mas attacks on Stage 17 at La Vuelta
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Updated 07/09/2022 at 16:19 GMT
It was a day for the breakaway as Rigoberto Uran won Stage 17 at La Vuelta while Remco Evenepoel rolled across the line with chief rival Enric Mas to preserve his lead in the general classification. Just four days stand between Evenepoel and a maiden Grand Tour title – a challenge that became significantly easier with news of Primoz Roglic’s withdrawal ahead of Wednesday’s stage.
Stage 17 highlights: Uran outlasts breakaway rivals as Evenepoel stays in red
Colombia’s Rigoberto Uran (EF Education-EasyPost) completed his Grand Tour stage grand slam with a brilliant victory at the Monasterio de Tenudio in Stage 17 of La Vuelta. The 35-year-old was part of a strong 13-man breakaway that went the distance, Uran capping off his brilliant day by rising to ninth place in the general classification.
A pulsating finale on the second-category climb saw Uran and a group of chasers reel in the American lone leader Lawson Craddock (BikeExchange-Jayco) with just one kilometre remaining of the lumpy 162.3km ride from Aracena, before duking it out for the spoils in compelling fashion.
Jesus Herrada (Cofidis) rode clear in pursuit of his second win of the race, but Uran dug deep to pass the Spaniard inside the final hundred metres before holding off a late surge from the yo-yoing Frenchman Quentin Pacher (Groupama-FDJ) to take his first win of the season. Spain’s Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates) took fourth place behind compatriot Herrada, with Frenchman Kenny Elissonde (Trek-Segafredo) completing the top five.
Elevated to second place in the standings following the shock withdrawal of defending champion Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) ahead of the stage, Enric Mas (Movistar) did his best to shake off race leader Remco Evenepoel (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) on the final climb.
But the Belgian expertly managed to close down all of the Spaniard’s attacks and the duo crossed the line together around five minutes after Uran, conceding nine seconds to Portugal’s Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) who rode clear near the finish to consolidate his sixth place in the standings.
Evenepoel leads Mas by 2’01” going into Thursday’s Stage 18, the first of three mountain stages that will decide the outcome of the 77th edition of the Vuelta. Spanish tyro Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates) conceded two seconds but retained his third place in the standings, 5’51” down on Evenepoel.
The new-look top five is completed by Spain’s Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos Grenadiers) and Colombia’s Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana-Qazaqstan), who trail the summit by 5’20” and 5’33” respectively.
A long downhill section at the start of Wednesday’s stage meant the opening hour was raced at breakneck speed with an average pace of over 50kmph before the day’s breakaway finally formed with around 120km remaining.
Initially, a group of 10 went clear, featuring Clement Champoussin and Bob Jungels (Ag2R-Citroen), Gino Mader (Bahrain Victorious) and Simon Gugliemi (Arkea-Samsic), as well as Herrada, Pacher, Craddock, Elissonde and Soler. The break soon swelled to a baker’s dozen after Fred Wright (Bahrain Victorious) bridged over with Elie Gesbert (Arkea-Samsic) and Alessandro De Marchi (Israel-Premier Tech).
In the flurry that followed the establishment of the road hierarchy, Spain’s Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates) crashed and was forced to battle back into contention – the 19-year-old Spaniard having risen to third place entering the stage after Slovenia’s Roglic was forced out by the injuries he sustained in the crash that marred the finale to Tuesday’s Stage 16.
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Spaniards Jesus Herrada (Cofidis) and Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates) drive the pace in the breakaway during Stage 17 of La Vuelta 2022
Image credit: Getty Images
Over rolling roads as the race left Andalusia and entered the parched Extremadura region in south-west Spain, the breakaway’s advantage grew to a maximum of seven and a half minutes – propelling Colombian veteran Uran, the best-placed rider in the move, into the top 10 in the virtual standings.
Britain’s Wright won the intermediate sprint with 30km to go to consolidate his second place in the green jersey points classification, albeit a whopping 200 points behind the double stage winner Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo). This was followed by an early attack from the American Craddock, who edged clear of the break but soon dropped back after no one opted to join him out ahead.
Craddock tried his luck again with 20km remaining – and again moments later once he had been pegged back by Pacher and Jungels. With the chasers tearing strips off each other behind but unable to form a cohesive unit, Craddock managed to carve out a lead of 25 seconds as he reached the halfway point of the final climb.
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Rigoberto Uran (EF Education-EasyPost) and Lawson Craddock (BikeExchange-Jayco) in the breakaway during Stage 17 of La Vuelta 2022
Image credit: Getty Images
Frenchmen Champoussin, Gesbert and Elissonde were all heavily involved in the pursuit of Craddock, with Uran using all his experience to follow the moves while Spaniards Soler and Herrada – both stage winners from this Vuelta – riding back into contention.
But Craddock held his nerve on the front – maintaining a 10-second lead until the elastic finally snapped with the flamme rouge approaching. The final kilometre was a true slugfest as the strongest riders from the breakaway traded blows and the pendulum swung thrillingly from one to another, before finally settling on the steady shoulders of old hand Uran. Talk about picking the right occasion to record his first win of the season.
Behind, Mas showed his intent on taking the red jersey fight to Evenepoel even in the absence of the three-time winner Roglic. It will be fascinating to see how much Mas – twice a runner-up in the Vuelta – is prepared to lose in his bid to finally go one step higher on the final podium.
The race continues on Thursday with the last proper summit finish, the 191.7km Stage 18 from Trujillo, which concludes with a dual ascent of the Cat.1 Alto de Piornal.
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