Vuelta a España: Michael Storer wins stage 10 as Primoz Roglic crashes on final descent

Image 1 of 38

Michael Storer (Team DSM) proved the strongest man from the break of the day on stage 10 of the Vuelta a España, adding his second stage win of the race in Rincón de la Victoria after a solo attack on the final climb of the Puerto de Almáchar.

The Australian jumped away from the massive 31-man break on the only climb of the day, pushing on over the top alone and holding his gap to the chase from that point onwards.

The 24-year-old dealt with the descent, staying upright on the closing 17 kilometres of the day to seal the win 22 seconds ahead of Mauri Vansevenant (Deceuninck-QuickStep) and Clément Champoussin (AG2R Citroën), while further back the GC battle exploded once more as Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) launched a surprise attack.

"Even more unbelievable than the last time," Storer said after the stage. "There was a massive fight for the breakaway. It was one of those epic days where it took more than 80 kilometres before it went. I was happy to get in there and then I was feeling good on the last climb, and I knew exactly what I needed to do on the last climb – I needed to attack.

"I didn't have exact time gaps, but I knew it was tight. I knew I had to go fast down the descent even though it had the dry and slippery road of this region. I was happy with my descent. It was just enough to hold on.

"I dreamt of one stage at this Vuelta and now I have two after 10 days. It's truly unbelievable."

As Storer descended to victory, the red jersey battle erupted once more on the climb at 12 minutes down. Roglič flew away from his rivals on the way up, keen to put even more time between him and his GC rivals.

Nobody was able to follow him on the uphill and he looked likely to make more time on the downhill run to the finish before misjudging a corner and sliding out across the road. He got back up within seconds, but his advantage was gone as the podium-contending chase group of Movistar's Enric Mas and Miguel Angel López and Jack Haig (Bahrain Victorious) joined him, with the quartet rolling home 11:49 behind Storer.

Despite his attacking display, the Slovenian handed over his red jersey after the stage to Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux's Odd Christian Eiking, who lay 9:10 down at the start of the day and became the second rider on his team to take the lead of this year's Vuelta.

Eiking now leads the race by 58 seconds from fellow breakaway rider Guillaume Martin (Cofidis). The Norwegian came home fifth on the day, part of the chase group. Roglič, meanwhile, lies in third place 2:17 down.

The rest day provided some respite for Ineos Grenadiers, but the team picked up where they left off on stage 9's summit finish of the Alto de Velefique as both Egan Bernal and Adam Yates lost time once again.

The duo were part of the next group to finish after Roglič's group, shedding 37 seconds to the Slovenian, Mas, López, Kuss and Haig, as well as Felix Großschartner (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Aleksandr Vlasov (Astana-Premier Tech), who made it across on the descent.

Roglič in third place still holds the same advantage to Mas, López and Haig in fourth, fifth and sixth place, with the trio at 28 seconds, 1:21 and 1:42 respectively. Bernal's time loss sees him slip from 1:57 down to 2:29 down, while Yates loses a spot to Kuss and now lies 2:44 down.

"Without the crash it would be even better, no? It's not too bad. It was some action huh?" Roglič commented after the stage. "No risk, no glory. It was good. It was a slide so it should be fine."

How it unfolded

Stage 10 of the Vuelta a España saw the riders tackle a 189-kilometre course across the southern coast of Spain from Roquetas de Mar to Rincón de la Victoria, near Malaga. The day would take in largely flat and rolling roads with no classified climbs in the first 160 kilometres, though there would be a sting in the tail at the last.

The top of the second-category Puerto de Almáchar (10.9km at 4.9 per cent) came just 15 kilometres from the finish line, with the course thereafter largely a downhill run. With sprinters not likely to feature at the finish, the day would be one for the break, with a slim chance of a GC skirmish on the late climb.

The start of the stage was a rapid one, with attacks flying from the front of the peloton as riders attempted to make it into the break of the day and likely contest a stage win five hours later.

A move wouldn't stay away until the 70-kilometre mark of the stage, though, with a huge battle to get away marking the first third of the day. It took the peloton splitting and then the lead half splitting to establish the stage's defining move.

31 riders got out front, including notable names such as Geoffrey Bouchard (AG2R Citroën), Alex Aranburu, Luis León Sánchez (Astana-Premier Tech), Max Schachmann (Bora-Hansgrohe), Guillaume Martin, Jesús Herrada (Cofidis), Andrea Bagioli, Mauri Vansevenant (Deceuninck-QuickStep), Magnus Cort (EF Education-Nippo), Dylan Van Baarle, Jhonatan Narváez (Ineos Grenadiers), Michael Storer (Team DSM), and Matteo Trentin (UAE Team Emirates).

The remainder of the breakaway consisted of Lilan Calmejane, Clément Champoussin (AG2R Citroën), Floris de Tier (Alpecin-Fenix), Cesare Benedetti (Bora-Hansgrohe), Jonathan Lastra, Jon Amezqueta (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), Xabier Azparren (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Lawson Craddock, Jens Keukeleire (EF Education-Nippo), Oliver Le Gac (Groupama-FDJ), Odd Christian Eiking (Intermarché-Wanty Gobert Matériaux), Gianni Vermeersch (Lotto Soudal), Damian Howson, Nick Schultz (Team BikeExchange), Thyman Arensman, Martijn Tusveld (Team DSM), and Rui Oliveira (UAE Team Emirates).

Back in the peloton, Jumbo-Visma took to the front to do the work, lying five minutes down on the big breakaway group at the halfway mark of the stage. With most teams represented out front, there was little incentive to push the pace in the peloton, and the break's advantage only grew at the kilometres ticked by.

As the riders hit the final 50 kilometres of the stage, the breakaway's lead was up over 10 minutes, meaning that Eiking and Martin were the virtual top two on the general classification, with the pair having lay 9:10 and 9:39 down on race leader Roglič at the start of the stage.

10 kilometres later, and 15 from the start of the climb, the gap had gone up to a massive 12 minutes, and up front the attacks had already started. Trentin and Aranburu jumped away at the front of the race shortly after the day's intermediate sprint, the pair drawing out De Tier and Herrada to push on as a quartet.

The group didn't stay away, though, being brought back at the base of the Puerto de Almáchar at 25 kilometres to go. Trentin's teammate Oliveira countered soon after, going solo as a splintering chase group followed at 15 seconds, while the peloton lay over 13 minutes down.

Elissonde countered and dropped Oliveira inside the final five kilometres of the climb, though the Frenchman was caught 3.5 kilometres from the top. Storer was next to push on as Champoussin and Vansevenant followed in the heavy crosswinds near the top.

Storer was still alone over the summit with Champoussin chasing at 20 sceonds and Eiking and Martin fighting over the red jersey in a group along with Vansevenant, Bouchard, Van Baarle, and Elissonde at 35 seconds. 12:30 down the climb, Roglič put in a huge attack, flying away from the peloton to go solo. The peloton blew up behind the race leader with nobody able to go with him as Mas, López, Haig and Roglič's teammate Sepp Kuss led the chase.

Ineos Grenadiers, however, were nowhere to be seen, with Egan Bernal and Adam Yates fading back into the larger peloton behind which lay 30 seconds behind Roglič at the start of the descent.

Up front, Eiking, Bouchard, Van Baarle and Vansevenant had clipped off the front of the chase group, with the Norwegian keen to ensure he beat Martin to the red jersey at the finish. He would succeed there, but the quartet weren't able to bring back Storer, who was able to savour his second win of the race.

A heart-in-mouth moment on the descent saw Roglič lose control on a dusty corner, sliding out while pushing on for more seconds on his rivals. He recovered quickly but was joined by Mas, López and Haig, and later his teammate Kuss and Großschartner and Vlasov. The group still held their advantage over the chase group led by Bernal and Yates, though, crossing the finish line with a 37-second time gain in hand.