Vuelta a Espana: Dennis wins stage 16 time trial in Torrelavega

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As widely expected, Rohan Dennis (BMC Racing) dominated the time trial stage at the Vuelta a Espana, as the rolling 32km from Santillana del Mar to Torrelavega shook up the overall classification but left the battle for the maillot rojo finely balanced.

Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) managed to gain seven seconds on Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) to extend his overall lead to 33 seconds, but the ride of the day came from Steven Kruijswijk (LottoNL-Jumbo), who finished third, only 51 seconds slower than Dennis, moving the Dutchman up to third overall at 52 seconds.

Nairo Quintana (Movistar) was slightly off the pace of the GC contenders, losing 1:19 to Kruijswijk and 42 seconds to Yates, and so slipped to fourth overall at 1:15. Enric Mas (Quick-Step Floors) also impressed, finishing sixth on the stage and moving up to fifth overall, now 1:30 down on Yates.

The final week of the Vuelta a Espana now heads east via the Basque Country towards the Pyrenees for the decisive mountain stages around Andorra.

Dennis started his ride early and so spent several hours in the hot seat reserved for the fastest rider after stopping the clock in a time of 37:57.

He watched with a mix of nerves and excitement as his time-trial-specialist rivals tried and failed to come close to his time. They lacked the Australian’s power and poise on the rolling roads and the final loop around the sports track named after three-time world champion and local hero Oscar Freire.

BMC Racing teammate Joey Rosskopf finished 50 seconds slower in second place, as did Spanish national time trial Jonathan Castroviejo (Tram Sky), who was third. Kruijswijk and Michal Kwiatkowski (Team Sky) were the only other riders to finish within a minute of Dennis, both stopping the clock in a time of 38:48.

“I knew I was on a good one, just looking at my power on the Garmin,” Dennis said. “I tried to control it at the start and finish and make my move in the middle section and it worked out perfectly.

“I didn’t know what Kwiatkowski and a couple of the later guys could do. All I knew was what Castroviejo was doing at that time, and he’s a pretty good indicator of if you’re doing good or not. To be honest, the big performance of the day, I’d have to give to Joey Rosskopf. He’s the best teammate, he’s the easiest guy to be in the back of the bus with, and I’m really happy for him.”

It was Dennis’ 25th career victory, his 15th time trial victory of his career and the sixth victory of the 2018 season – all have been in time trials. He also won the opening Vuelta time trial in Malaga. However, the Australian national champion confirmed it would be his last stage of this year’s Vuelta a Espana so he can rest up and prepare for the team time trial and individual time trial at the world championships in Innsbruck.

“Everything is looking good for Worlds. I don’t know if it’s good or bad for the team, but I’m heading home now and specifically preparing for the TT and the TTT. Hopefully I’ll have a couple more boxes ticked by the end of the season,” Dennis said.

The battle for the maillot rojo

With the overall contenders so equally matched in the mountains, the 32km time trial was considered vital in the battle for the race leader’s maillot rojo and final victory in Madrid next Sunday. However, only Kruijswijk and Mas gained any significant chunks of time as Yates, Valverde, Quintana, Lopez and even Pinot finished within a minute of each other. This Vuelta a Espana will be a battle right to the end.

Yates had admitted that an over enthusiastic time trial in the Giro d’Italia sparked his eventual demise in the final mountain stages. He seemed more composed and stronger at the Vuelta, setting a time of 39:25. He was 37 seconds slower than Kruijswijk and lost 25 seconds to Mas but gained time on everyone else.

Yates fought hard to stay in an aerodynamic position during his effort, dipping his head low over his handlebars whenever possible to save a few extra watts and then powering on the pedals out of the saddle on the gradual climbs. He was 20 seconds down on Dennis after 10km, 48 seconds down after 21km and only faded in the final kilometres to finish at 1:28 as he avoided taking any risks in the corners.

Valverde was closest to Yates, losing seven seconds, after seemingly finding a boost of form during the rest day. Quintana dropped 42 seconds, while Pinot lost 43 seconds. All three were happy with their performances, perhaps fearing bigger losses. Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana) perhaps under performed the most, losing 51 seconds to Yates, while Rigoberto Uran (EF Education First-Drapac) lost 48 seconds and slipped to ninth overall at 3:15.

Mas was the GC surprise of the day and could go on to be the revelation of the race.

The 23 year-old Spaniard is riding just his second Grand Tour but has moved up from 11th to eighth and then sixth in the recent mountain stages. He backed up those performances with sixth place in the time trial, finishing 25 seconds faster than Simon Yates. He is now up to fifth overall, 1:30 down on Yates and only 38 seconds from a podium place.

Quintana, Valverde and Kruijswijk will have to watch their backs and the young Quick-Step Floors rider as they also try to topple Yates in the final mountain stages.

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