Vuelta a España: Evenepoel increases his advantage

Remco Evenepoel concluded safely in the bunch the 186.2km stage five from Morella to Burriana, after a day that featured one classified climb, 2300 vertical meters, and countless roundabouts, eight of which came in the last five kilometers.
But before leaving the fast men center stage, the red jersey had other plans, and with the help of Casper Pedersen – who provided a perfect lead-out – he won the intermediate sprint in Nules, racking up six bonus seconds which helped him extend his buffer in the general classification to eleven seconds. It was a move that caught off-guard the opponents of the 23-year-old, who at the end of the stage won by Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck) took his 19th La Vuelta leader’s jersey.
“I know that these seconds won’t probably make any difference at the end of the race, but as the speed went up, I said to myself I should just go for the bonifications, especially as it didn’t cost me any energy. So far, the race was perfect for us and we hope it will continue like this”, said only the third Belgian to amass 19 leader’s jerseys at the Spanish Grand Tour.
Thursday brings the race’s second summit finish, in Aragon. Pico del Buitre, a climb taking the riders to almost 2000 meters above sea level, is 10.9 kilometers in length and averages 8%, but has some gruelling 15% slopes, some of which coming inside the final kilometer, where it is very likely to see some gaps opening between the general classification contenders.
Photo credit: ©Tim De Waele / Getty Images
Race details
1 |
Kaden Groves Alpecin-Deceuninck |
4:23:43 |
2 |
Filippo Ganna INEOS Grenadiers |
0:00 |
3 |
Dries Van Gestel TotalEnergies |
0:00 |
4 |
Alberto Dainese Team dsm - firmenich |
0:00 |
5 |
Lewis Askey Groupama - FDJ |
0:00 |
6 |
Edward Theuns Lidl - Trek |
0:00 |
7 |
David González López Caja Rural - Seguros RGA |
0:00 |
8 |
Geoffrey Soupe TotalEnergies |
0:00 |
9 |
Jesús Ezquerra Muela Burgos-BH |
0:00 |
10 |
Jarrad Drizners Lotto Dstny |
0:00 |
26 |
Remco Evenepoel
Soudal - Quick Step |
0:00 |
136 |
Mattia Cattaneo
Soudal - Quick Step |
2:06 |
150 |
Casper Pedersen
Soudal - Quick Step |
2:47 |
152 |
Pieter Serry
Soudal - Quick Step |
2:47 |
153 |
Jan Hirt
Soudal - Quick Step |
2:47 |
156 |
James Knox
Soudal - Quick Step |
2:47 |
168 |
Louis Vervaeke
Soudal - Quick Step |
15:30 |
169 |
Andrea Bagioli
Soudal - Quick Step |
15:30 |
1 |
Remco Evenepoel
Soudal - Quick Step |
17:12:29 |
2 |
Enric Mas Nicolau Movistar Team |
0:11 |
3 |
Lenny Martinez Groupama - FDJ |
0:17 |
4 |
Jonas Vingegaard Rasmussen Jumbo-Visma |
0:37 |
5 |
Aleksandr Vlasov BORA - hansgrohe |
0:39 |
6 |
Cian Uijtdebroeks BORA - hansgrohe |
0:39 |
7 |
Primož Roglič Jumbo-Visma |
0:43 |
8 |
Juan Ayuso Pesquera UAE Team Emirates |
0:44 |
9 |
Marc Soler Giménez UAE Team Emirates |
0:48 |
10 |
João Almeida UAE Team Emirates |
0:48 |
39 |
Jan Hirt
Soudal - Quick Step |
5:40 |
47 |
Mattia Cattaneo
Soudal - Quick Step |
7:49 |
62 |
James Knox
Soudal - Quick Step |
13:53 |
95 |
Louis Vervaeke
Soudal - Quick Step |
21:33 |
138 |
Andrea Bagioli
Soudal - Quick Step |
26:42 |
140 |
Casper Pedersen
Soudal - Quick Step |
27:26 |
151 |
Pieter Serry
Soudal - Quick Step |
28:53 |
1 |
Kaden Groves Alpecin-Deceuninck |
122 pt |
2 |
Andrea Vendrame AG2R Citroën Team |
62 pt |
3 |
Remco Evenepoel
Soudal - Quick Step |
45 pt |
4 |
Dries Van Gestel TotalEnergies |
38 pt |
5 |
Edward Theuns Lidl - Trek |
35 pt |
6 |
Andreas Kron Lotto Dstny |
30 pt |
7 |
Juan Sebastián Molano Benavides UAE Team Emirates |
30 pt |
8 |
David González López Caja Rural - Seguros RGA |
30 pt |
9 |
Lewis Askey Groupama - FDJ |
27 pt |
10 |
Marijn van den Berg EF Education-EasyPost |
26 pt |
17 |
Andrea Bagioli
Soudal - Quick Step |
19 pt |
28 |
Casper Pedersen
Soudal - Quick Step |
15 pt |
1 |
Eduardo Sepúlveda Lotto Dstny |
21 pt |
2 |
Remco Evenepoel
Soudal - Quick Step |
10 pt |
3 |
Matteo Sobrero Team Jayco AlUla |
6 pt |
4 |
Javier Romo Astana Qazaqstan Team |
6 pt |
5 |
Jonas Vingegaard Rasmussen Jumbo-Visma |
6 pt |
6 |
Damiano Caruso Bahrain - Victorious |
6 pt |
7 |
Juan Ayuso Pesquera UAE Team Emirates |
4 pt |
8 |
Lennard Kämna BORA - hansgrohe |
4 pt |
9 |
Andreas Kron Lotto Dstny |
3 pt |
10 |
Ander Okamika Burgos-BH |
3 pt |
19 |
Mattia Cattaneo
Soudal - Quick Step |
1 pt |
1 |
Remco Evenepoel
Soudal - Quick Step |
17:12:29 |
2 |
Lenny Martinez Groupama - FDJ |
0:17 |
3 |
Cian Uijtdebroeks BORA - hansgrohe |
0:39 |
4 |
Juan Ayuso Pesquera UAE Team Emirates |
0:44 |
5 |
João Almeida UAE Team Emirates |
0:48 |
6 |
Thymen Arensman INEOS Grenadiers |
0:51 |
7 |
Sean Quinn EF Education-EasyPost |
1:45 |
8 |
Attila Valter Jumbo-Visma |
2:23 |
9 |
Abel Balderstone Roumens Caja Rural - Seguros RGA |
2:42 |
10 |
Javier Romo Astana Qazaqstan Team |
2:45 |
44 |
Andrea Bagioli
Soudal - Quick Step |
26:42 |
1 | Jumbo-Visma | 51:03:32 |
2 | UAE Team Emirates | 0:05 |
3 | BORA - hansgrohe | 0:32 |
4 | Bahrain - Victorious | 2:20 |
5 | INEOS Grenadiers | 3:06 |
6 | EF Education-EasyPost | 3:30 |
7 | Movistar Team | 4:03 |
8 | Soudal - Quick Step | 7:34 |
9 | Team Arkéa Samsic | 8:31 |
10 | Caja Rural - Seguros RGA | 12:12 |