Vuelta a España: Florian Sénéchal wins stage 13

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Florian Sénéchal (Deceuninck-QuickStep) came out on top in a chaotic and unpredictable final to win stage 13 of the Vuelta a Espana. The 28-year-old edged out Matteo Trentin (UAE Team Emirates) in the sprint to the line with Alberto Dainese (Team DSM) in third.

It looked as though Deceuninck-QuickStep had set up the bunch sprint perfectly for green jersey leader Fabio Jakobsen but the Dutchman was forced to sit up in the final 2km, leaving his teammates to hold off the remaining sprinters.

It looked as though Trentin would finally get his stage win after so many near misses but Sénéchal turned lead-out man to sprinter and launched his acceleration with less than 120m to go. Trentin almost came alongside Sénéchal with the line in sight but was unable to match the Deceuninck rider’s speed.

“We did a perfect lead-out for Fabio and he said on the radio he had a flat tyre or something and said 'Florian you can sprint'. We waited, Bert Van Lerberghe did a super good job, I stayed calm, and in the last 100 metres I did the maximum. I don't realise for the moment [what this means]. It's crazy,” Sénéchal said at the finish.

“At first I thought [Arnaud] Démare must pass me, or [Michael] Matthews, I don't know, but nobody passed me. I gave my maximum, it's crazy. A lot of thanks for my teammates. I am lucky today and I am very happy for my family, friends and my wife. It's a good present for us."

The race was always destined for a sprint finish, even with a three-man break going clear in the early stages. There were short-lived moments of excitement in the crosswinds but once they were snuffed out the stage boiled down to whether Jakobsen would face any opposition ahead of a possible third stage win in this year's race.

Deceuninck would only hit the front with 4.8km to go but once they massed their line-up on the front they made a decisive play. Not only did they line the peloton out but they effectively dropped most of Jakobsen’s opposition as they exited a corner with 3.3km to go.That acceleration ended the day for Arnaud Démare (Groupama FDJ) and several other sprinters who weren’t able to match the Belgian team’s speed. Egan Bernal and Tom Pidcock latched onto the Deceuninck train and even Jakobsen had to close a gap to his train but with 1.4km to go the Dutchman sat up, seemingly with a puncture or a mechanical.

That left his three lead-out men looking around but with less than a dozen riders still in contention, they keep the pace high. Bert Van Lerberghe was the last rider to peel off but it was Alexander Krieger (Alpecin Fenix) who opened his sprint first. Sénéchal was quickly on his wheel, with Trentin hanging on but when Sénéchal stretched his legs and accelerated only Trentin was still in contention. The Italian tried to come around on Sénéchal’s left but the Frenchman was too fast, too good, and quickly made up for Jakobsen’s mishap.

In the race for the overall Odd Christian Eiking finished safely in the main field to retain is leader’s jersey, while the mini-split saw Bernal gain five seconds on his main rivals.

How it unfolded

There was little fight for the day’s break with Diego Rubio (Burgos-BH), Alvaro Cuadros (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), and Luis Angel Mate (Euskaltel-Euskadi) allowed to go free in the opening kilometres of the 203km stage between Belmez and Villanueva de la Serena. 

The heat, coupled with the brutal pace of racing for the last two weeks has begun to take a toll and there was no resistance with the leading trio allowed to generate two minute gap.

The leaders were never able to stretch that advantage and it looked as though the trio would be reeled in when crosswinds briefly split the peloton with around 60km to go. That action was short-lived with all the GC contenders quick to react before Groupama-FDJ and Deceuninck-QuickStep took control of the bunch.

With 28km to go the break were finally put to the sword and Jakobsen took the intermediate sprint with no competition. It looks as though that was an omen for the finish but when the Dutchman began to struggle inside the final 3km and then eventually sat up with what looked like a flat, Deceuninck had to quickly change tact.

Sénéchal stepped up and delivered to take the biggest win of his career.