Marco Brenner (Tudor Pro Cycling) overcame the stifling head of the Andalucian mountains to win stage 14 of the Vuelta a España on Saturday.
Brenner had been part of a huge, 45-man breakaway group which had escaped early in the day, and which had been allowed to compete for the stage by the peloton on a brutal day. As the group was whittled down on the final climb, a four-man group came together, the eventually German following a move by Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious) in the final kilometre.
Buitrago came home second, consolidating his lead in the mountains classification, while Cristián Rodríguez (XDS Astana) was third.
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In the peloton, the final climb proved decisive, with Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe) gapped in the final two kilometres, losing time to Felix Gall (Decathlon-CMA CGM) and race leader Enric Mas (Movistar).
Mas continues to lead the race overall, 2:06 ahead of Gall, who moved head of Roglič, who lost 15 seconds on the day.
Brenner’s victory was only his second WorldTour win, coming hot on the heels of his GC victory at the Tour de Pologne last month. It was also the first Grand Tour stage win for the Tudor Pro Cycling team.
“I cannot really believe it,” Brenner said. “Until now I was not feeling like myself, and I was struggling with some sickness early in the race and had a crash. But I really wanted to show myself, but also my teammates who have been working really hard for me the whole time that I can be up there.
“Also today I had two guys with me in the breakaway that did a super job. On the final climb I could actually feel that I have the kick, and I felt better and better throughout the day, and in the end I started believing in it.
“I made the move, and Santiago passed me, but I could catch up, and then in the end I could beat him in the sprint.
“There’s not many cyclists who achieve a stage within a Grand Tour, and to add this to my palmarès is really amazing.”
More to come...
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