Primoz Roglic wins 2020 Vuelta a España

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Pascal Ackermann (Bora Hansgrohe) won the final stage of the 2020 Vuelta a España after a photo finish was needed to decide the winner in Madrid. The German narrowly held of a late challenge from Sam Bennett (Deceuninck-QuickStep) with the Irishman finishing second. Max Kanter (Team Sunweb) completed the top-three.

The stage also marked the second Grand Tour win for Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) with the Slovenian defending his 2019 title in style. Roglič began the Vuelta by winning the opening stage and went on to win three more stages along the way, however his defence did not come without drama. He lost the lead twice in the race and Richard Carapaz (Ineos Grenadiers) ran him close and almost turned the race on its head on the final mountain stage on Saturday.

However, Roglič hung on, banishing the memories of his Tour de France collapse, to beat Carapaz to the title by 24 seconds. Hugh Carthy (EF Pro Cycling) rounded out the podium to take the best stage racing result of his career, with the British rider finishing 47 seconds down on Roglič.

Racing into Madrid, Roglič admitted that at times throughout the Vuelta he was below is imperious best but the Jumbo rider still hand the better of the opposition.

“My whole team is special and we’ve done special things all year. This Vuelta they’ve pushed even when we’ve not been in our best moments. We’ve done our best and it’s been amazing. I’m really happy and glad that I’m part of this team,” he said.

“When you win more you learn more about how to enjoy it but it’s always a different story and a different race, so you can’t always compare it [to last year. It’s definitely amazing to be in the place that we’re in.”

For Ackermann, the win closed out a successful Vuelta for the German with two stage wins to his name. He was pushed all the way by Bennett on the road to Madrid with the Irishman coming around the Bora rider’s wheel inside the final 75m but just running out of speed as the line approached. Until that point, Ackermann had enjoyed the best of lead-outs with his team hitting the front only when it mattered and leading the peloton through the vital last corner that offered them pole position.

Bennett had to fight back from that point but made it onto Ackermann’s wheel but the German had just enough speed to take the win.

“I wasn’t sure who won at the finish and I was asking Sam who won. We were both really unsure and we had to wait some minutes until we got the message,” Ackermann said at the finish.

“The team are so happy about the victory and I have to say thank you to my teammates. I think that today was an amazing lead-out. You could see it on the television. I’m really happy to take the victory, and I’m just so happy.”

Ackermann was also humble when asked about whether he was the best sprinter in the race due to the fact that he had won more then Bennett and his other rivals.

“No, I’m only counting one stage because in the other Sam was relegated [after crossing the line first] and so I think we all have one victory and we can all be happy with that."

How it unfolded

The stage headed to Madrid with just under 130km remaining in both this year’s road season race and road season. The speed in the opening few hours was relaxed to say the least as riders and teams celebrated their efforts. Chris Froome was awarded a trophy for the Vuelta he won back in 2011, while the peloton also said goodbye to riders, such as Rory Sutherland, who were taking part in their final races before retirement.

It was only when the race reached the final 5.9km loops around Madrid that the pace picked up dramatically. Jumbo-Visma lead the peloton into the city centre before Tim Wellens (Lotto Soudal) and Willie Smit (Burgos) skipped off the front of the peloton. They were soon joined by Gonzalo Serrano (Caja Rural) and Dmitriy Gruzdev (Astana) but there was some late GC drama too with Alexander Vlasov (Astana) initially interested in claiming the vital few seconds at the intermediate sprint that would have catapulted him ahead of Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) and into the top ten.

The veteran Spaniard was wise to the move and when Vlasov and Astana relented the four-man move were able to push their slim advantage out to 25 seconds.

However, on a flat circuit, and with so much firepower in the chasing peloton the break stood little chance and the were swarmed with just over 5km to go.

QuickStep, UAE Team Emirates, and Bora controlled the peloton in the final kilometers, although there was a brief cameo from Sunweb too, but it was the riders from Bora who had the best lead-out on the day before Ackermann closed out his season with another impressive win.

Roglič had the biggest smile of all as he stepped onto the podium with Carapaz and Carthy at his side, and after a rollercoaster few months the Slovenian and the rest of the cycling world can finally put their feet up.