Vuelta a España: Magnus Cort scores stage 16 victory

Image 1 of 38

Magnus Cort survived the hard climbs, the attacks and a hectic sprint to give EF Pro Cycling a third stage victory at the Vuelta a España in Ciudad Rodrigo. 

Cort has always climbed and sprinted well and the combination proved ideal for the hilly stage. He kicked away after Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) led out the sprint and won with one arm in the air.

Behind him Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) fought for the bonus seconds and finished second, collecting six precious seconds. Crossing the line in third was Rui Costa (UAE Team Emirates), but he was relegated from that position to the back of the group in 32nd for a dangerous move in the sprint, permitting Dion Smith (Mitchelton-Scott) to grab a podium spot. Valverde would then place fourth.

Roglič extended his overall race lead to 45 seconds on Richard Carapaz (Ineos Grenadiers) with only Saturday’s final mountain stage to Alto de la Covatilla left to race before Sunday’s parade stage to central Madrid. Britain’s Hugh Carthy (EF Pro Cycling) is third overall at 53 seconds and cannot be ruled out. 

“I always want to be as complete a rider as possible. I already said from the start of this Vuelta that I would try every day to do my best,” Roglič said of his sprinting for the bonus seconds. 

“There is still a big day coming tomorrow, the decisive one. We just need to maintain focus and do our best and see what it means.”

Cort had overcome COVID-19 just a few weeks before the Vuelta a Espana but was given the green light to race after medical checks. He found his form via the daily racing but admitted he had not expected it to be his day.  

“I was never confident I could win it - starting today I hadn't even dreamed about winning this stage,” he said. “I was sitting, also helping Hugh [Carthy] out, and suddenly I could see my chance to get over that first-category climb with 25 to 30 kilometres to go and when I was in that reduced group. I knew there weren't many guys faster than me.

“I think it has been difficult for everyone this year,” Cort said of the rescheduled season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“It means a lot that I can come back and win. I was coming into good form when we started back up again after the long break but then I caught corona myself and was out. I've only now been training for three weeks before coming to this race, so it's very nice to get a victory here.”

How it unfolded

While Saturday’s final mountain stage is expected to decide the winner of the 2020 Vuelta a España, stage 16 from Salamanca to Ciudad Rodrigo was always going to be a hard day in the saddle, with teams warming up on the rollers before the roll out. 

The biggest concern was the exposed open road and the risk of echelons in the first hour. The 162km stage started fast but when the teams’ reconnaissance staffs checked out the route, they realised the wind was not strong enough to spark echelons and so was not a danger to the overall classification contenders.  

It was instead, perhaps a day for a breakaway, and Angel Madrazo (Burgos-BH) took control of his own destiny by going on the attack almost immediately.

He was soon joined by his teammate Juan Felipe Osorio, Remi Cavagna (Deceuninck-QuickStep), Kobe Goossens (Lotto Soudal), then Robert Stannard (Mitchelton-Scott) and even a third Burgos-BH rider Jesús Ezquerra after a fast opening 30 kilometres. 

Julen Amezqueta (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) and Willie Smit (Burgos-BH) also tried to get in on the action, but failed to get across.

The peloton let the break go clear on the rolling roads, with Bora-Hansgrohe and UAE Team Emirates controlling the break's advantage to 4:30 as they approached the El Portillo climb.

Stannard lead over the climb, as Chris Froome lead the peloton behind, riding to protect Ineos Grenadier team leader Richard Carapaz. 

Froome was leading an Ineos plan and later, on the Puerto El Robledo climb, the team massed on the front and upped the pace even more. It shook out the peloton and made a selection, but Roglič seemed unperturbed. He sat on the wheels, protected yet again by Sepp Kuss and others. It was a battle of nerve and mind games, as Andrey Amador led Carapaz and the rest up the climb and then down the stunning descent. 

Up front the break suffered on the Puerto El Robledo climb and Burgos-BH’s tactical plan fell apart. First Osorio was dropped from the break on the climb, then Ezquerra lost contact, and finally Madrazo cracked too. 

Stannard and Cavagna were soon the only riders left up front but they were convinced they could go all the way. However Ineos’ surge had awoken the peloton and reminded them there was a chance of a stage victory and time bonuses up for grabs. 

The gap fell on the climb to less than 40 seconds and UAE Team Emirates and Movistar moved to the front to lead the chase.

Stannard and Cavagna drove on with determination, but the gap eventually evaporated with 17km to go. 

However Cavagna refused to give up and pushed alone on the descent of the final uncategorised climb. He opened a 30-second gap and began to time trial to the finish, but he was finally caught and brought to heel with two kilometres to go. 

Bruno Amirail (Groupama-FDJ) tried a solo in the final kilometre but only set up the finish, with Cort coming through to produce the winning sprint and give EF Pro Cycling another reason to celebrate.