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Remco Evenepoel’s Vuelta a España has been a mixed bag but the Belgian is heading toward Madrid on a positive note as he rode to his third victory on stage 18.
Evenepoel also put himself beyond reach in the mountains classification, picking up the maximum number of points available on the day with 38.
The intrigue and drama of the internal GC battle at Jumbo-Visma seemed to have calmed as Primož Roglič and Jonas Vingegaard helped to pace Sepp Kuss to the line. The American still holds onto his red jersey by the slimmest of margins over his teammate Vingegaard.
Evenepoel was one of 14 riders that got away in the day’s break, escpaping on the penultimate climb of the day after countering an earlier move by Andreas Kron (Lotto Dstny). Once Evenepoel had a gap, he proved impossible to catch and second-place finisher Damiano Caruso (Bahrain-Victorious) described trying to keep up with him like “following a scooter.”
“I felt I was the strongest of the group, and I didn’t have to waste time and go for it. I felt like the legs were super good today, like stage 14. It was an amazing stage to win, and it was a good chance to take points for my climber’s jersey,” Evenepoel said.
“It’s a nice way to end this Vuelta with a third stage win. After my off-day in Tourmalet, I had to turn the page and win stages. It has been an amazing Vuelta even though the GC plan didn’t work out. It’s good to finish with such a good feeling, and that I keep improving. I just had a bad day in the second week.”
There was a lot of speculation as to how the internal battle at Jumbo-Visma would play out after Roglič and Vingegaard dropped Kuss on the Angliru. There were no such issues on stage 18 and the pair rallied around the American in the final kilometers, even as others attacked.
Kuss then looked the strongest in the final rush for the line, distancing both his teammates as he launched his sprint for the line. Roglič was able to bring him back but Vingegaard lost nine seconds to Kuss, making the gap between first and second now 17 seconds with just one hilly stage remaining.
How it happened
While there was no iconic climb like the Angliru, stage 18 of the Vuelta a España still posed some serious dangers for the GC men and opportunities for anyone willing to take a chance. The terrain made it likely for a breakaway to succeed and the fight to get in the day’s attack showed that the peloton thought so.
In the end, a strong group of 14 riders got up the road, including mountains classification leader Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step). The Belgian had been enjoying something of a revival of fortunes after his dramatic crash out of the GC in the second week and he had a chance to put the polka-dot jersey out of the reach of everyone else if he mopped up enough points before the end of the day.
Among those with Evenepoel on the attack were Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers), Andreas Kron (Lotto Dstny), Damiano Caruso (Bahrain Victorious), and Nico Denz (Bora-Hansgrohe). Behind, Jumbo-Visma seemed content to let the group go up the road and the void between the escapees and peloton grew very quickly.
After 50km raced, the gap was over eight minutes and it still had further to expand. None of Evenepoel’s main threats for the mountains classification had made it into the break and the Belgian was given the freedom by his companions to pick them up.
The tricky terrain thinned out the leading group and just four remained at the front of the race as the riders hit the bottom of the Puerto de La Cruz de Linares for the first time. Kron decided to try and get the jump on his companions and attacked on the climb with over 30km to go until the finish, but he didn’t have the power to drop his rivals.
Evenepoel countered the Dane’s attack and reeled him in with Caruso and Max Poole (Team DSM), before eventually dropping them as well and going solo. As he crested the Cruz de Linares, he already had well over a minute on Poole, his nearest competitor.
Back in the peloton, the pace was fairly relaxed compared to what was going on up front with Jumbo-Visma and Bahrain-Victorious sharing most of the pace-setting. However, it was still enough to burn off anyone but the top few climbers in the pack.
As the race approached the final 20 kilometers, the gap between Evenepoel and the red jersey of Kuss was almost 11:30. It was already certain that the breakaway would win the day but it seemed increasingly likely that the Belgian was on his way to adding another stage victory to scorecard at this year’s Vuelta.
As the team did Wednesday, Wout Poels (Bahrain-Victorious) put in a mighty turn on the front as the remnants of the peloton pushed on up the lower slopes of the final climb. On his wheel was Mikel Landa with the Jumbo-Visma trio of Kuss, Jonas Vingegaard, and Primož Roglič, in that order, right behind the Spaniard.
Poels briefly dropped off with about 5km to go, leaving Landa on the front alone. The Dutchman managed to claw his way back up for a short moment before dropping off once gain.
Bahrain-Victorious coming off the front forced Jumbo-Visma and its trio of leaders to take control. For the first time during this Vuelta, Vingegaard moved in front of Kuss to pace the American and Roglič soon followed suit.
Even as Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates) and Landa attacked, Roglič and Vingegaard stayed with the red jersey of Kuss.
While all of this was going on, Evenepoel kept plugging away up front. He tapped his head as he crossed the line to take his third stage win of the Vuelta and put himself into an unassailable lead in the mountains competition.
As the GC riders headed into the finish, Kuss followed another from Ayuso and Enric Mas (Movistar). This time he distanced his teammates and put time into Vingegaard, who seemed unable to respond to the acceleration, leaving him with a 17-second lead.
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September 14, 2023 at 10:56PM
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Vuelta a España stage 18: Remco Evenepoel wins again, Kuss extends his lead in red - Outside Magazine
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