Vuelta a España: Wout van Aert finally takes a victory on stage 13 as breakaway stays away

On his fourth day in the break at the Vuelta a España, and following three top-five placings on previous stages, Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) finally came up with his stage victory at this year's race.

The Belgian infiltrated a massive 40-man move on the 193km stage from Almuñécar to Loja and eventually raced into the select lead group of nine heading into the decisive final kilometres of the stage.

With 3.6km to go, he launched what turned out to be the winning move off the front, taking Soudal-QuickStep's flyweight climber Valentin Paret-Peintre with him as the pair left the rest of the breakaway survivors behind.

After four-and-a-half hours of racing, it came down to a head-to-head sprint at the finish, with Paret-Peintre launching first from second wheel before the green jersey Van Aert duly dispatched the Frenchman to deliver Visma-Lease a Bike's fourth stage win of the Vuelta.

"The plan was to go in the break. I think it was a very difficult stage to control, and we knew with Matthew, me, Bruno [Armirail], and Christophe [Laporte], we had some guys that are very good in a stage like this," Van Aert said after the stage.

"So, we tried to be up there with a few riders so we could always play it, and that worked out perfectly. Me and Bruno were a long part of the day in the wheels because we had Maddie in the front group. Then we could bridge over on the last climb. With me and Maddie in a group like that we both have a chance, but we were also able to sacrifice it for each other. So we kept on attacking, and the final attack worked.

"I had [the attack] a little bit in my mind, yes. I saw the profile, and I knew there was this last kicker before coming into the village. This distance a lot of the time is the moment when people start to think about the sprint, and if you're able to open up a gap, then they don't want to close it for each other anymore.

"It was close enough to the finish to be worth it, and with Valentin, I had a nice companion. He gave me a few turns, and it was nice to battle to the line together."

Van Aert's teammate, the triple stage winner Matthew Brennan, also in the break of the day, crossed the line 24 seconds later to make it a Visma one-three in Loja. He beat the impressive 20-year-old Jarno Widar (Lotto-Intermarché) to third place as Vincenzo Albanese (EF Education-EasyPost) rounded out the top five.

Red jersey Enric Mas (Movistar) finished safely in the peloton three minutes behind Van Aert to retain his overall race lead. The top eight of the Vuelta GC remain in place following stage 13, with former ninth-place rider Gregor Mühlberger (Decathlon CMA CGM) having crashed out early in the stage in a blow to Felix Gall.

Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) made the break of the day, and at one point was on the virtual podium, but a late charge by Movistar and Netcompany Ineos capped the Dane's time gain at 2:10, meaning he remains in seventh overall, albeit now a reduced 5:32 down on Mas.

More climbing and attacks

Stage 13 of the Vuelta a España took the race away from the high mountains and into the medium mountains as the peloton took on a 193km race from Almuñécar to Loja. Three climbs lay along the way, including the early Venta de la Cebada (14.1km at 5.1%), the mid-stage Alto del Legionario (15.4km at 3.1%), and the Puerto de Granada (7.4km at 5.6%), which lay 37km from the line.

A host of attacks flew from the start, including from Domen Novak (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), Urko Berrade (Kern Pharma), and Lorenzo Fortunato (XDS-Astana) and it took some time for a real breakaway move to get clear.

Some 40 riders were off the front after 30km of racing, with mountain classification leader Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious) in the move with his KOM rival and green jersey holder Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike).

The pair did battle once again over the first climb of the day, with the Belgian coming out on top to take 10 points to Buitrago's six.

A host of other notable names joined them in the break, including Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek), Léo Bisiaux and Matthew Riccitello (Decathlon CMA CGM), Eddie Dunbar (Pinarello-Q36.5), Jan Hirt (NSN), Jack Haig (Netcompany Ineos), Magnus Cort (Uno-X Mobility), Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal-QuickStep), and Jarno Widar (Lotto-Intermarché). Van Aert's teammate, triple stage winner Matthew Brennan, was also up there.

Despite Skjelmose's GC proximity – just 7:42 down on Enric Mas – the move was allowed a four-minute gap, with such a mass of riders simply impossible to control for any one team back in the peloton.

The race was far from settled by that break going clear, however, with attacks continuing to flow off the front even after the move got away.

Back in the peloton, it was Movistar and EF Education-EasyPost who took up the pacemaking, while up front David de la Cruz (Pinarello-Q36.5) crashed out of the break and Axel Laurance (Netcompany Ineos) also fell victim to a spill before carrying on.

On the second climb of the day, the second-category Legionario, it was Vincenzo Albanese (EF Education-EasyPost), who led Guillaume Martin (Groupama-FDJ United) over the summit, with Van Aert and Buitrago not in the mix for once.

By that point, Van Aert and Buitrago were in a second split of the break, with Brennan out front along with Martin, Laurance, Albanese, Uno-X pair Andreas Kron and Andreas Leknessund (Uno-X Mobility), Kevin Vermaerke (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), Cristián Rodríguez (XDS-Astana), and Clement Berthet (Groupama-FDJ United).

That group raced on to a 1:30 lead over the rest of the break, though they wouldn't stay away to the finish. Instead, they fell apart with around 40km to go as the group behind closed in and the race hit the Puerto de Granada.

Behind them, Visma man Bruno Armirail was dragging a chase group across before Van Aert set out on a solo bridging move. Up ahead, Vermaerke and Leknessund attempted to go clear, too, but they were brought back.

Vermaerke led the way over the summit, but the group swelled to around 20 on the descent, and it wasn't long before Van Aert was trying another move, this time off the front of the race entirely.

Despite Armirail being used up in the chase, Visma still had Van Aert and Brennan at the front, the pair launching attacks and counters as they raced into the final 30km of the stage.

At one point, Van Aert led the race as part of a promising trio alongside Vermaerke and Paret-Peintre, but with nobody willing to work with the Belgian, it was soon brought back.

Heading into the final 20km, the trio were joined at the front by a reduced group including Brennan, Bisiaux, Albanese, Widar, Finn Fisher-Black (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), and Simon Dalby (Uno-X Mobility).

Still enjoying a 4:30 lead over the peloton, the breakaway leaders raced into the final 10km with 1:15 over the chasers, a group which still counted Skjelmose among its number as the Dane continued with his provisional leap up the overall standings.

At 7km to go, Vermaerke tried again, but again, his move was unsuccessful. Van Aert, Dalby, and Bisiaux were the next riders to make moves, again without success. Cat-and-mouse games ensued as the riders headed into the final 5km, with the peloton closing to within 3:15 of the lead group.

The attacks and counters continued to flow after a brief respite – Bisiaux, Dalby, and then, with 3.6km to go, Van Aert again. He took Paret-Peintre with him, the pair quickly establishing a small gap at the front.

Soon enough, it became clear that the duo were away to contest the win among themselves. There was nobody from behind who had the strength to come across, and it would come down to a two-man sprint at the line.

In the final metres, there was little doubt as to who would win the sprint, with Van Aert easily coming out on top having led it out from the front. At the finish, he could celebrate victory number 58 of hjs career and his fourth at the Vuelta.

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