Vuelta a España stage 17 – Live coverage

By
last updated

All the action from the mountain stage to Lagos de Covadonga

Profile stage 17 of 2021 Vuelta a España

(Image credit: Unipublic)

Vuelta a España race hub

Jump to:
Refresh

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of stage 17 of the Vuelta a España, the summit finish of Lagos de Covadonga.

Today's stage sees the peloton race 185.8km from Unquera to the summit finish.

The riders will race through Cantabria and Asturias in the far north of Spain today. They're currently signing on ahead of the race start in around 20 minutes.

It's the first time the race will visit the Lagos de Covadonga summit finish since 2018, when Thibaut Pinot won the stage.

Here's a look at the map of today's stage – the riders race east before taking in two laps of a circuit around the La Collada Llomena climb and then on to the Lagos de Covadonga.

The big news this morning is that Jumbo-Visma have confirmed the long-rumoured signing of Ineos Grenadiers' time trial specialist Rohan Dennis.

Odd Christian Eiking (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert) starts the day in the red leader's jersey after taking it on stage 10. It could be his last stage in the lead as he lies just 1:36 up on third-placed Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma).

Today's climbs include: the Altu de Hortigueru (5.3km at 4.7 per cent), two ascents of La Collada Llomena (7.6km at 9.3 per cent), and Lagos de Covadonga (12.5km at 6.9 per cent).

The riders have set off to start the neutral zone at the start of the stage.

2.5 kilometres to go until the flag is dropped and racing begins.

Here's a look back at yesterday's stage 16, the sprint stage won by Fabio Jakobsen.

186km to go

Now the attacks start at the front.

Nobody has managed to make it away yet.

178km to go / 8km done

Cesare Benedetti (Bora-Hansgrohe), Pelayo Sanchez (Burgos-BH), Mauri Vansevenant (Deceuninck-QuickStep), Arnaud Démare, Olivier Le Gac (Groupama-FDJ) and Dylan Sunderland (Team Qhubeka NextHash) are out front at the moment. They have around 15 seconds.

Jan Tratnik (Bahrain Victorious) and Robert Stannard (BikeExchange) are on the move now.

165km to go / 13km done

The attackers are brought back.

155km to go / 31km done

Alex Krieger (Alpecin-Fenix), Mark Padun (Bahrain Victorious), Kevin Geniets (Groupama-FDJ), Andreas Kron (Lotto Soudal), Damien Howson (Team BikeExchange), Michael Storer (Team DSM), Bert-Jan Lindemann (Qhubeka NextHash) and Joe Dombrowski (UAE Team Emirates)  have 25 seconds at the front of the race.

EF Education-Nippo chase at the front of the peloton.

The gap to the attacking group is just a few seconds now as Ion Izagirre (Astana-Premier Tech) tries to make a move.

150km to go / 36km done

Still no breakaway as the riders hit the top of the climb.

KOM competitors Damiano Caruso (Bahrain Victorious) and Romain Bardet (Team DSM) fought at the top of the climb for the available points.

A reduced peloton tackles the descent as Kenny Elissonde abandons the race.

140km to go / 46km done

A 49.7kph average speed so far as the peloton closes in on Polanc.

Now on the flat and more riders attack the peloton.

Over 50km of racing done and there's still no breakaway as they race along the flat roads.

The riders are 20km from the base of the next climb now. It's a long ride in the valley. Still no breakaway.

More riders are attempting to break away now, including several from Euskaltel-Euskadi.

115km to go / 71km done

Remco Evenepoel races on at Benelux Tour despite illness

Luis León Sánchez (Astana-Premier Tech) has abandoned.

The riders near the bottom of La Collada Llomena.

A large group is off the front as they head to the start of the climb.

55 seconds between the attack group and the peloton as they tackle the lower slopes of the climb.

Angel Madrazo (Burgos-BH) is at the head of the race at the moment. A larger group follows behind him.

1:40 between Madrazo and the peloton.

Madrazo has been joined by Dylan Van Baarle (Ineos Grenadiers) and Sylvain Moniquet (Lotto Soudal).

Diego Camargo (EF Education-Nippo) is also up there. UAE Team Emirates are leading the chase in the larger break group behind.

Meanwhile, Lotto Soudal's Harm Vanhoucke attacks from the peloton.

102km to go / 84km done

Van Baarle and Camargo are brought back by the chase group three kilometres from the top of the climb.

And back in the peloton Pavel Sivakov takes the front for Ineos Grenadiers with Egan Bernal on his wheel.

1:25 between break and peloton at the moment.

The breakaway: 

Mikel Landa (Bahrain Victorious) attacks from the peloton.

Landa is making his way through theose dropped from the front of the break.

Landa is in the front group now as they reach the top of the climb.

95km to go / 91km done

Storer got 10 points at the top. He moves to 34 points behind KOM leader Romain Bardet's 51.

1:30 between break and peloton as Le Gac goes solo at the front.

Le Gac is around 30 seconds up the road at the moment. Jumbo-Visma control the peloton 1:40 back.

It's raining out on the course now and also at the finish.

The riders are in the valley currently. 13km to go until the riders hit the climb again.

Le Gac now reportedly has a minute on the chasing group.

The break is caught and now only Le Gac remains out front. He leads by 45 seconds.

Jumbo-Visma lead the peloton.

The rain is really coming down now.

68km to go / 118km done

Seems like there's a timing issue, as Le Gac's advantage is now back up to 45 seconds.

53 seconds now. Jumbo-Visma has their full team on the front.

64km to go / 122km done

Ineos Grenadiers are back on the front with Tom Pidcock and Pavel Sivakov ahead of Egan Bernal.

Riders are dropping off the back on these lower slopes.

Le Gac is almost caught.

And now he's caught.

Pidcock's turn is over and now Sivakov works on the front, six kilometres from the top.

Eiking is among those dropped from the front of the race.

25 seconds between the front of the peloton and Eiking now.

61km to go / 125km done

Bernal and Roglič are away at the front of the race! Kuss tries to follow but can't.

The other main GC men are in the chase group. Miguel Angel López (Movistar) is trying to make it across.

30 seconds between the two leaders and the peloton. 1:05 to Eiking.

Guillaume Martin is hanging on in the peloton. He's edging closer to virtual red at the moment. 33 seconds between leaders and peloton. Another 45 back to Eiking.

Bahrain Victorious control the peloton. The likes of Mas, Haig, Kuss, Yates, Großschartner are in there.

2:45 between Roglič and Bernal on the GC going into today's stage.

Roglič is in virtual red by five seconds on Martin at the moment. He's 1:45 up on Eiking on the road.

57km to go / 129km done

López is back in the peloton now as Bahrain continue to work.

Bernal leads over the summit. 42 seconds to the peloton, 1:50 to Eiking.

43 kilometres of descent and flat road to go before the climb to the finish starts.

Egan Bernal continues to lead the way down the wet descent. 50 seconds back to the peloton.

Bernal runs wide on a corner but keeps it upright just fine.

Now a minute between the two leaders. Two minutes back to Eiking.

It looks like Bernal is committed to this. He is gaining time on his other GC rivals after all, even if Roglič is getting a free ride.

Several riders have slid out on the descent, red jersey Eiking among them. He's quickly back up and running but a few others stayed down.

1:20 between the leaders and the peloton. 3:15 back to Eiking.

Bernal and Roglič gained 24 seconds on the descent, while Eiking lost another minute.

Roglič taking turns at the front now. They're gaining time – it's up to 1:30.

40km to go / 146km done

Virtual GC at the moment...

Aleksandr Vlasov (Astana-Premier Tech) was among those riders to crash on the descent. His team reports he's back on the bike but in pain.

Bernal and Roglič are 2:05 up on the chasers now. Eiking 3:50 down.

31km to go / 155km done

The gap to the chasers is still going up. 2:08 now.

Bahrain Victorious continue to work.

Roglič in virtual red by 1:36 now, while Bernal is virtual fourth and a few seconds away from overhauling Eiking for virtual third.

Felix Großschartner crashes and stops to fix his chain but he'll be OK to get going again quickly.

1:50 to the chase now as Bernal takes on drinks from his team car.

15km to go

A look at today's final climb. The two leaders are a kilometre away from the start now.

Bernal and Roglič start the climb 1:30 up on the chasers. Eiking is 5:15 down.

Bahrain Victorious continue to do the work in the chase on the lower slopes. The gap is down to 1:22 now.

Guillaume Martin is struggling in the chase now. His chances of taking red look like they're going out of the window.

10km to go

9km to go

The leading duo are approaching the hardest part of the climb.

8km to go

Roglič is pushing on and Bernal has gone.

Roglič is 1:50 up on the chase group currently. No time check to Bernal yet.

López attacks from the chase group.

6km to go

Kuss and Yates are with López but Bahrain continue to chase for Haig.

48 seconds to Bernal now.

5km to go

Haig, Mas, López, Kuss, Yates, Mäder are in the chase group 1:55 down.

4.5km to go

Now Mas makes a move from the chase.

Bernal at 1:10, Mas at 1:35, the chase at 1:50.

3km to go

Yates, Kuss, López and Mas are back together.

The chasers are 20 seconds down on Bernal now.

Roglič is winning this Vuelta as easily as it looked like he would on day one.

Haig and Mäder are back in the chase group, 10 seconds down on Bernal.

2km to go

Roglič is still pushing on.

Bernal passes the 2km banner and he's almost caught by the chasers.

They make the catch and Kuss pushes on at the front.

500m to go

Roglič wins stage 17.

The chase group enters the final kilometre now.

A minute passes...

López leads the group to the line.

López, Yates and Kuss sprint for second...

And Kuss takes it. He leads the chase group home at 1:35.

The next group comes home at 2:45.

Roglič is back in red by 2:22 from Mas. Martin falls to fifth at 4:16. Bernal is sixth at 4:29.

A shot of Roglič celebrating as he crossed the line.

Sepp Kuss called it an "impressive day from everyone in the race".

Here's what Roglič had to say after the stage...

And here's what Bernal said...

Here's what former red jersey Odd Christian Eiking said about his final day in the lead...

We'll have news from Roglič, Bernal and Movistar coming this evening, as well as a preview of tomorrow's mountain stage.

Eiking’s Vuelta a España’s leadership ends in pain and disappointment

Roglic roars back into red with stunning Vuelta a España stage 17 victory

Latest on Cyclingnews