Vuelta a Espana: Simon Yates wins on Les Praeres

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Simon Yates (Mitchelton Scott) attacked his overall rivals in the final kilometre of the steep climb of Alto Les Praeres, to take the stage victory and the overall lead in the Vuelta a Espana, as the overall contenders finally showed their hand and fought for every second.

Yates took off from a select group which emerged on the steep farm track climb. He timed his attack perfectly, distancing his rivals to gain some precious seconds. Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana) finished two seconds back, with Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) third, also at two seconds. Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) was fourth at five seconds, with Nairo Quintana (Movistar) fifth at seven seconds.

Former race leader Jesus Herrada (Cofidis) was dropped when the peloton split in the last 30km and lost 9:16. Yates took over the race lead ahead of the two Movistar teammates Valverde – now 20 seconds - and Nairo Quintana, who is third at 25 seconds.

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“It was a very difficult stage but I chose my moment really well in the very finale,” Yates explained with satisfaction. “I didn’t look back until it flattened off a little bit. I had a bit of a gap and so I gave it everything I could to the line. I’m very happy.”

Yates appeared the strongest and smartest today, but the overall classification is still wide open before Sunday’s mountain finish atop Lagos de Covadonga, Tuesday’s 32km to Torrelavega and then the final mountain stages in Andorra.

Yates seemed upbeat about his chances on Sunday’s mountain finish.

“I remember it from 2016, that’s the only time I’ve ridden the climb. I just hope to have the same legs as today,” he said.

How it happened

The overall contenders and their teams have been criticised for playing a tactical waiting game that had allowed breakaways to stay away and lesser riders steal the spotlight and the leader’s red jersey. After being embarrassed on Friday, Movistar showed their pride and their strength and made sure they had a shot at the stage victory by working in the chase all stage.

Movistar were obliged to help Cofidis lead the chase when a six-rider break formed early on the difficult 171km mountain stage, unexpectedly featuring Michal Kwiatkowski (Team Sky), a threat to the overall leader.

The stage through the rolling hills and valleys became a pursuit match, with the peloton closing the gap in the valleys and the break pushing it back on the climbs. All the riders perhaps hoped to fight for victory but the peloton was far less generous than on other stages.

The break eventually fell apart as first Cortina dropped back to help Nibali drive the peloton to set up Ion Izagirre for an attack. Then De Gendt dropped his chain with 44km to go and so sat up, happy to have taken a haul of mountain classification points

The hard climbs took their toll and near the end and the Alto de la Falla de Los Lobos, with 26km to go, was the turning point in the stage. Bookwalter cracked and then so did Roche, leaving Kwiatkowski to go solo and power up the climb and dive down the descent to the foot of the final climb.

Herrada was already struggling and Nibali’s long turns at high speed on the climb and valley roads left him out the back at over a minute. The peloton also split under the effort but came back together. It was a sign of what was to come. With only five kilometres to go, the gradient kicked-in on a narrow farm road that would eventually turn into a concrete farm track.

Kwiatkowski was finally roped in by the favourites’ group and as the GC fight exploded, Steven Kruijswijk (LottoNL-Jumbo) was the first to jump, followed by Valverde. The road was steep and so the race was a slow but painful grind to the finish.

A small lead group, which also included Yates and Quintana, came together with just over two kilometres left to climb. Pinot was distanced but crawled his way back up, while others cracked, including Fabio Aru (UAE Team Emirates).

When Valverde closed down Kruijswijk, Quintana and Lopez were the next to go but were unable to open a big gap on the double-digit gradients. They looked the strongest and in control but Yates pulled the others up to them at the one kilometre marker and suddenly the race was wide open again.

Valverde and Pinot seemed dangerous and ready to attack but Yates was waiting for the right moment. He made an explosive kick as the road turned into a concrete track and then pulled away on the fun-filled road. He opened a gap that allowed him to take the win and beat his chest in celebration.

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