Giulio Pellizzari (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) won stage 17 of the Vuelta a España on the fire-scorched and wind-exposed slopes of the Alto de El Morredero climb after Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) opted to ride a defensive race and control key rival João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG).
The 21-year-old Pellizzari took his first professional victory and extended his lead in the best young rider's white jersey on the USA's Matthew Riccitello (Israel-Premier Tech).
Vingegaard now leads Almeida by 50 seconds before Thursday's vital 27.2km time trial around Valladolid. Pidcock kept third place and is now 2:28 down on Vingegaard.
"To be honest, the five or six of us were equal today," Vingegaard said, explaining his race tactics and trying to find the positive parts of his day.
"I didn't have the very best day, unfortunately for me. I survived and that's the day you need to survive. When you're not 100 percent, if you get through them without losing time, it's a good day."
Vingegaard lost time to his GC rivals in the Valladolid time trial in 2023 but was hoping for a better performance on Thursday.
"It was an awful TT for me. Hopefully I can make it right this time," he said. "It's a flat TT and we'll see. Hopefully I can do well tomorrow and it's a good day."
How it unfolded
Stage 17 started under a cloud in several ways: Rain was falling in O Barco de Valdeorras, with strong winds at the finish atop Alto de El Morredero threatening the finish.
Before the start the riders also voted to neutralise and so stop the stage if there were disruptive protests. They refused to accept uncertainty about the racing and improvised changes of stage finishes. Some riders compared the atmosphere to when they raced during the COVID-19 pandemic and never knew if the race would continue.
Despite the atmosphere, the stage started as planned, with Pro-Palestine protesters waving flags as the riders stood on the start line. After a steady roll out, the attacks came quickly, showing the riders were keen to race on, if they can race safely.
Brandon Rivera (Ineos Grenadiers), Madis Mikhels (EF Education-EasyPost), Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious), Patrick Gamper (Jayco-AlUla), Timo Roosen (Picnic-PostNL), Harold Tejada (XDS Astana), Luca van Boven (Intermarché-Wanty), Jonas Gregaard (Lotto) got away after a fast 30km.
They were soon joined by Joel Nicolau (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), Léandre Lozouet (Arkéa-B&B Hotels), Sergio Samitier (Cofidis) and Gijs Leemreize (Picnic-PostNL) to make a 12-rider attack. They opened a 2:00 lead but then Visma showed their hand and Dylan van Baarle and Wilco Kelderman began their usual pursuit and control of the breakaway.
The hilly mid-stage section made it hard for the attackers to extend their lead and made it hard for the sprinters as they fought to stay in the peloton. The gap was never bigger than 2:00. The first category Paso de las Traviesas climb hurt everyone, with Mads Pedersen struggling at the back of the pack.
Joel Nicolau (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) was the first to the top of the Paso de las Traviesas, as the break also split and then reformed on the fast descent. The peloton was lined out and so split when the strong wind turned into a cross wind on the fast road south to the foot of the Alto de El Morredero.
Luca Van Boven won the intermediate sprint in Almazcara after 100km but the Van Baarle and Kelderman yellow train was chasing them down to set-up their team leader Jonas Vingegaard.
There were groups of protesters in Ponferrada but also a lot of Spanish police controlling them and keeping them at bay. The race passed through without a problem.
The road began to climb gradually with 20km to go, with some narrow roads through a village adding an extra difficulty.
Red Bull took over from Visma on the front of the peloton, as Vingegaard, Almeida and his UAE team waited on the wheels. There was a clear rise in tension and ambition in the peloton.
Up front Tiberi and Tejada surged away from the break in the hope of trying to win the stage. However, their lead was down to just 1:00. Other riders from the attack were soon swept up, with just Samitier, Leemreize and Gregaard managing to get across to Tiberi and Tejada.
The Alto de El Morredero climb officially began with 8.8km to go but began to hurt before that. The early climbing shook out the peloton and only a dozen riders remained out front.
Visma took back control with Ben Tullett and Matteo Jorgenson riding on the front. All the attackers were caught before the start of the double-digit Alto de El Morredero slopes. Felix Gall (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) was dropped early as everyone fought for the top ten GC placings.
Surprisingly Almeida was alone in the front group after Juan Ayuso and Jay Vine were dropped early and Felix Großschartner was also distanced. The steep roads exposed the real values of the GC contenders.
The Alto de El Morredero was recently hit by fires and the riders climbed into barren landscapes with six kilometres to go. The crowds were sparse on the climb, as the Spanish police controlled access to the road. There were a few Spanish flags and cheering fans but no protests.
Sepp Kuss and Jorgenson upped the pace one last time for Vingegaard and split the front group. Hindley accelerated and Vingegaard, Tulett and Riccitello followed him.
Pidcock also got across but Almeida needed time to use his diesel power to go across the gap. Pellizzari soon joined them. Nobody wanted to hit out too much and too early, with the wind in the final kilometres forcing everyone to race tactically.
There was a race for the race lead between Vingegaard and Almeida, for the third place on the podium between Hindley and Pidcock, and a battle for the best young rider jersey between Pellizzari and Riccitello.
The gradient eased to below double digits in the final three kilometres and Pellizzari used it to launch an attack.
He opened a 25-second gap and so Riccitello launched a counter-attack. Hindley marked him and the others followed, with Almeida again struggling to react.
Pellizzari was clear and so Riccitello was forced to chase but got little help from the others, even if they had a chance to win the stage.
Everyone seemed to be on their limit and so Pellizzari was able to ride to victory, as everyone else fought for the time bonuses and placings.
Thursday's Valladolid time trial will surely create far bigger time gaps.
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