Vuelta a Espana: Viviani wins stage 10

Elia Viviani (Quick-Step Floors) described it as his ‘most perfect’ lead-out of the season, and it was hard to argue with that assessment after the Italian champion scored an emphatic victory in the bunch sprint on stage 10 of the Vuelta a España in Bermillo de Sayago.

Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) finished safely in the main peloton to retain the red jersey, though the Briton was one of a number of overall contenders to suffer a late scare when there was a spate of punctures in the closing kilometres.

The day belonged to Viviani, however, who was expertly piloted by Michael Mørkøv and Fabio Sabatini in the final kilometre. The Olympic omnium champion then completed their well-coordinated efforts with a smart sprint in the finishing straight to claim the honours ahead of world champion Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe), while Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek-Segafredo) came through for third.

It was Viviani’s second win on this Vuelta and his 17th victory of a sparkling debut season in the colours of Quick-Step Floors. With Julian Alaphilippe winning at the Tour of Britain earlier on Tuesday afternoon, Viviani’s Quick-Step team has now clocked up a remarkable 60 wins this season, and there are still over six weeks of the campaign left to run.

“It was the most perfect lead-out we’ve done this year. The guys did really proper, good job,” Viviani said afterwards.

After winning in Alhaurin de la Torre on stage 3, Vivinai endured disappointment when his lead-out train came undone on a roundabout in the finale at San Javier on stage 6, where he had to settle for third behind Nacer Bouhanni (Cofidis). With bunch sprints at a premium on this Vuelta, he was loath to let another opportunity slip through his fingers.

“Today we were a little bit with more pressure because we want to be the strongest and the fastest. If we are the fastest we don't want to lose the race,” Viviani said. “It's my 17th win this year, and that win is for all these guys doing the lead-out. You saw the lead-out they did for me today. It was amazing.”

A bunch sprint seemed likely from the start of the stage and became a certainty once Quick-Step took command at the head of the peloton on the run-in. Lukas Pöstlberger (Bora-Hansgrohe) made a game attempt to replicate his surprise win on the opening day of the 2017 Giro d’Italia by clipping off the front in the final kilometre, but Mørkøv helped to peg him back and the anticipated mass finish ensued.

Viviani’s victory was never in doubt, while Sagan and Nizzolo were the best of the rest behind him. Nelson Soto (Caja Rural-RGA Seguros) took fourth ahead of Marc Sarreau (Groupama-FDJ) and Danny van Poppel (LottoNL-Jumbo).

How it unfolded

The Vuelta resumed after its first rest day with a 177km leg that brought the race to within touching distance of the Portuguese border, and it was perhaps no surprise to find Minho native Tiago Machado (Katusha-Alpecin) among the riders chasing earlier escapee Jesus Ezquerra (Burgos-BH).

Richie Porte (BMC Racing) briefly joined Machado in his effort before relenting and allowing the Portuguese rider to bridge up alone. Machado and Ezquerra established a maximum lead of four minutes, but the sprinters’ teams – namely Quick-Step, Bora, Trek-Segafredo and Cofidis – combined to keep tabs on their advantage.

The two escapees were swept up by the bunch on the day’s lone category 3 climb, the Alto de Fermoselle, with 30km to go. By that point, the race had already been through the day’s intermediate sprint, where Alejandro Valverde – second overall, just one second behind Simon Yates – opted not to contest the bonus seconds. The race had also lost Simon Petilli (UAE Team Emirates) by that juncture, after the Italian abandoned following a heavy crash.

Diego Rubio (Burgos-BH) briefly drifted off the front of the bunch in the final 20km, but with Bora and Quick-Step to the fore, the Spaniard’s effort was never likely to be an enduring one. Instead, much of the interest in the closing kilometres was centred on the rear of the peloton, as Simon Yates, Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ), Wilco Kelderman (Sunweb) and Nairo Quintana (Movistar) all suffered punctures in quick succession, though all four managed to latch back on without undue difficulty.

Kelderman suffered further mechanical mishap on the run-in and came in 1:10 down, though the time did not count towards the general classification as the incident took place inside the final 3 kilometres. The Dutchman remains 1:50 behind Yates in 14th overall.

At the top of the general classification, Yates keeps his one-second buffer over Valverde, while Quintana lies third at 14 seconds, with Emanuel Buchmann (Bora-Hansgrohe) a further 2 seconds back in fourth.

“It could have been much worse. We were expecting a bit more of a crosswind, but it was more of a headwind so it was OK. I've had some bad experience before having a puncture and waiting and changing for my own bike or changing the wheel. Today we changed for Albasini's bike and it was a little too big. Obviously I had to change again. It was OK though,” Yates said of his late puncture.

That was the lone hiccup in an otherwise serene day for the Briton, who did not seem overly concerned about the prospect of losing his jersey to Valverde at a bonus sprint in the coming days. “It depends on how you look at it,” Yates said. I'm looking at the overall picture, I want the red jersey in Madrid, and maybe now is not a good time to have the jersey.”

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