Key Takeaways: Vuelta a España Stage 16

Breaking down how one of the most memorable and controversial finishes in recent Vuelta history played out & what it means for the GC picture in the final week

Mads Pedersen proved he is the current king of the reduced sprint by taking his second uphill sprint at this Vuel

ta with absolute authority under the extremely hot Southern Spanish sun in Tomares. The 26-year-old Dane is on such a high level at the moment that even with top-tier sprinters like Pascal Ackermann and Danny van Poppel tucked into his slipstream, once Pedersen got into the final straight and opened up his sprint, the outcome was never in doubt.

However, while the stage saw Pedersen lift himself up a tier in the world of reduced bunch sprinters, the major story of the day was the late-race attack from Primož Roglič, which provided the perfect leadout for Pedersen and caught his GC rivals on the back foot. However, the herculean effort also led Roglič into an extremely hard crash inside the final kilometers after he bumped into Fred Wright as the pair sprinted for the line.

And as if this wasn’t enough excitement for what was supposed to be a boring sprint stage, viewers were also treated to the shocking sight of race leader Remco Evenepoel sitting up with an apparent mechanical issue just as Roglič was surging away from the pack. However, the controversial decision to include the ‘3km rule,’ which allows riders held up due to mechanical issues or crashes in the final 3km of ‘sprint’ stages to be rewarded with the same time as the group they were in when the problem occurred, meant Evenepoel was able to avoid being docked the 3+ minutes it took for him to cross the finish line behind his main GC rivals. This meant that after the dust settled, Roglic was just 8-seconds closer to the race lead (due to his own 3km rule exception giving him the same time as the stage winners) and left looking extremely ragged due to the injuries he sustained from his crash. While it seems unlikely Roglic will be able to recover and continue his challenge for the overall race lead for the upcoming mountain stages, we should know better at this point than to count the extremely tough Slovenian out. After all, we would be wise to remember this is a rider who blew the 2022 Tour de France wide open and cracked the reigning Tour de France Tadej Pogačar while suffering from a broken back.

Stage Top 3:
1) Mads Pedersen +0
2) Pascal Ackermann +0
3) Danny van Poppel +0

GC Top Ten:
1) Remco Evenepoel +0
2) Primož Roglič +1’26
3) Enric Mas +2’01
4) Juan Ayuso +4’49
5) Carlos Rodríguez +5’16
6) Miguel Ángel López +5’24
7) João Almeida +7’00
8) Thymen Arensman +7’05
9) Ben O’Connor +8’57
10) Jai Hindley +11’36

Stage 16 Notebook:

13.7km: The routine sprint stage sees the peloton reel in its non-threatening early breakaway just when the real racing starts. The front of the race is a mix of teams racing for the GC and the stage win (BikeExchange, Trek). Race leader Remco Evenepoel is sitting safely on the wheels of his QS team right at the front of the race.

2.7km: Primoz Roglic unleashes an extremely hard attack from the left side of the field as they hit the bottom of the final climb. He quickly moves through the traffic and is unmarked by any of his GC rivals. Notably, Evenepoel has disappeared from the front a few kms ago and is nowhere to be seen during this critical point.

2.6km: Roglic keeps his initial momentum rolling and gets a fairly clean break from the peloton, with only Ackermann and his UAE teammate even entertaining a response.

2.6km cont: When we see the view of the attack from the front, it is obvious just how much panic there is in the main group behind and how difficult it is for the UAE pair to bridge the gap. Ackermann, putting in an impressive ride, is able to use his quickly-failing teammate as a lifeline for his bridge.

2.2km: While Roglic is putting in one of the more impressive performances of his career, Evenepoel is off the back and appears to be calling for help from his team car. His lack of panic indicates he is confident in qualifying for the ‘3km rule,’ which allows riders held up due to mechanical issues or crashes in the final 3km of stages without ‘uphill finishes’ to get the same time as the group they were in when the problem occurred. It is worth noting that his pedaling indicates his bike is in working order and he does not appear to have crashed.

2.1km: Back up front, Roglic continues to hammer on the front and it is clear from his lack of asking Ackermann to pull through, is incredibly confident in his form and is solely focused on increasing his time gap to the group behind. Behind, a small group led by Pedersen is slowly bridging across.

600m: Over a km later, Roglic is still powering on the front with everyone but Pedersen struggling to even hold his wheel.

200m: As they come into the final straight, Roglic continues his absurd exhibition of strength while Pedersen, who likely can’t believe his luck of having a built-in leadout man, sets up for the sprint behind. At this point, we can’t even see the group behind, which indicates a multi-second time gap.

100m: Coming out of the apex of the corner, Pedersen opens up his sprint and blows by Roglic while Ackermann, Van Poppel, and Wright fight to stay on his wheel. Roglic swings out wide and when he sees Van Poppel come by, attempts to slot back into the slipstream to ensure he doesn’t surrender time.

50m: However, when Roglic swings back in, he is so over-the-limit from his hard effort that he doesn’t seem to notice Wright in last wheel, touches wheels with him, and goes down extremely hard before he, or we, knows what happens.

Finish: Pedersen, riding the form of his life, easily powers away from Ackermann and Van Poppel for the stage win.

Key Takeaways:

1) This is one of the most controversial and memorable stage finishes in recent Vuelta history