Key Takeaways: Vuelta a España Stage 17
Breaking down how an instant-classic, and extremely controversial stage was won and what it means for the future of the GC battle
Primož Roglič exorcized his L'Angliru demons after surging clear of an elite front GC group to win atop one of the hardest climbs in professional cycling deep in the remote mountains of Asturias ahead of his Jumbo-Visma teammates Jonas Vingegaard and Sepp Kuss.
While the result of Jumbo-Visma getting a second podium sweep in a tough Vuelta mountain stage, and the continued distancing of their GC rivals looked undeniably positive on paper, the way the result played out, with Roglič’s attacking and Vingegaard’s bridging causing their race-leading teammate Kuss to be dropped and forced to fight to hold onto his thin GC lead with a rider from a rival team, Mikel Landa, to keep his teammate from overtaking him in the GC produced a dramatic, and somewhat uncomfortable spectacle that has cast a shadow over the Jumbo-Visma’s dream Vuelta. However, even after being dropped and sustaining a 19-second time loss to Vingegaard, Kuss held onto his GC lead by a slim eight-second margin over Vingegaard, setting up a potentially explosive final few stages, particularly tomorrow’s tough summit finish.
Stage Top Ten:
1) Primož Roglič (Jumbo) +0
2) Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo) +0
3) Sepp Kuss (Jumbo) +19
4) Mikel Landa (Bahrain) +19
5) Wout Poels (Bahrain) +44
6) João Almeida (UAE) +58
7) Cian Uijtdebroeks (Bora) +1’20
8) Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain) +1’20
9) Juan Ayuso (UAE) +1’42
10) Enric Mas (Movistar) +1’43
Key Stage GC Time Differences:
Roglič +0
Vingegaard -4
Kuss -25
Landa -29
Uijtdebroeks -1’30
Ayuso -1’52
Mas -1’53
Current GC Top Five:
1) Sepp Kuss (Jumbo) +0
2) Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo) +8
3) Primož Roglič (Jumbo) +1’08
4) Juan Ayuso (UAE) +4’00
5) Mikel Landa (Bahrain) +4’16
Stage 17 Race Notebook:
52.8km: Remco Evenepoel, with the help of his incredibly strong teammate Mattia Cattaneo, explodes the early breakaway in the hopes that he can stay clear for the stage win. With Jumbo-Visma setting a hard pace behind and only a 2’20 gap, it is looking increasingly unlikely. Strangely, UAE’s Marc Soler attacks from the peloton, presumably in order to bridge up to the leaders, but with Jumbo already setting a hard pace and it incredibly unlikely for him to stay away on the final climb, it is difficult to determine the point of this attack. It does however beg the question of why Soler refused to sacrifice his GC position (6th) during yesterday’s debacle on the final climb, when he is ready to blow it up with a move that will never work the following day.
11.8km-10km: With Landa now in perfect position to overtake Soler in the GC if they can catch Soler, his Bahrain team gets to the front to set an incredibly hard pace on the lead-in to the final climb, L'Angliru. Just a few kilometers into the climb, they catch, and dispatch Soler.
5.6km: Bahrain continues its hard pace as the steepness of the ramps continues to increase. As they reel in Evenepoel, Romain Bardet attacks.
4.9km: Wout Poels, appearing back in his peak climbing domestique form, sets such a hard pace that he easily catches, and drops, Bardet, while also thinning down the GC group and dropping podium contenders like Juan Ayuso. With significant climbing left, only three Bahrain riders (Poels, Buitrago, Landa), three Jumbo riders (Kuss, Roglic, Vingegaard), and a soon-to-be dropped Enric Mas.
3.6km: If we compare the pace this front group comes through one of the steep hairpin turns to that of the struggling Ayuso, we can see just how much faster they are going and that none of the dropped GC contenders have a realistic chance of coming back to the front.
2.8km: Roglič, sensing a slowing in Bahrain’s pace, increases the pace to head off in pursuit of the stage win. Landa initially attempts to follow but can’t match the pace. With Landa unable to close the gap, it would make sense for Vingegaard and Kuss to stay with him and allow Roglič to ride in for a solo stage win.
2.1km: However, this simple path begins to unravel when Vingegaard bridges up to Roglič. Kuss, just 29 seconds behind Vingegaard in the GC, has to follow to protect his race lead.
2km: Soon after bridging, Kuss begins to struggle to hold the pace of Roglič (likely due to being on the limit during Vingegaard’s bridge) and is dropped. He says something into his race radio, which I can only assume is to ask them to wait (the team denies they heard it, but Kuss and the fan in the blue jersey know the truth).
1.8km: Instead of sitting up to wait, Kuss’ two teammates continue pushing on without him. If we freeze the race at this surreal moment of two teammates riding clear of their race-leading teammate and examine the facts, it quickly becomes apparent that the only conclusion we can draw is that Vingegaard is attempting to overtake Kuss in the GC (see Takeaway #2 for a breakdown).
1.5km: Soon after being dropped, Kuss is able to recover into a steady pace. The previously dropped Landa joins him, and the two settle in at a high pace.
900m: Up front, Roglič rides clear of Kuss while Vingegaard sits on his wheel and gets closer to overturning his teammates’ overall lead with every pedal stroke. However, Kuss and Landa have done a great job of recovering and are only 16 seconds behind.
Finish: Roglič leads Vingegaard over the finish line on the tricky downhill finish to take the ten bonus seconds (Vingegaard gets 6 for second). His lack of celebration adds a slightly depressing element to an already uncomfortable situation.
Kuss 175m: Knowing the bonus seconds will count, Kuss makes a big and somewhat risky move to come by Landa on the final corner of the descent.
Kuss Finish: In the end, Kuss comes over the line just 19 seconds behind his teammates, and his four-second time bonus for third place means he holds the overall lead by eight seconds.
Key Takeaways
1) The slow-simmering tensions at Jumbo-Visma have spilled over into an all-out war
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