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Gaudu wins the top ten
By Felix Schönbach
The relief after the penultimate stage of the Vuelta can be seen in Primoz Roglic. | Photo: Cor Vos
07.11.2020 | (rsn) – On the last arrival on the mountain of this tour of Spain, Primoz Roglic (Jumbo – Visma) defended himself from the last attack of his opponent Richard Carapaz (Ineos Grenadiers) and saved his overall lead by almost 24 seconds. The 178-kilometer long stage was won by David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ). The French prevailed against fellow refugees Gino Mäder (NTT) and Ion Izagirre (Astana). Felix Großschartner (Bora-Hansgrohe) finished ninth in the overall standings.
For David Gaudu, the last mountain stage of this Vuelta could not have been better. In addition to the victory in the second stage, he also advanced to eighth place overall. “I thought to myself on the bus this morning: if Thibaut Pinot, Tim Wellens and Ben King win two stages, why not me too? I like the temperatures like this when it rains and it is cold at the beginning of the race. With two stages and the top 10 of the general classification, this Vuelta was a success. Now we can go on vacation in peace. ” The Frenchman was part of a large leading group that had departed at the beginning of the stage.
Along with David de la Cruz (UAE-Emirates), who climbed to seventh position in the ranking, Gaudu stood out among the rest of the favorites. He benefited from the hard work of his teammate Bruno Amirail: “Bruno was huge, his work indescribable.” On the final ascent, Gaudu was the strongest climber in the leading group. “In the end I had to give it my all because the drivers in front were still 30 seconds ahead. In a final with a strong climb, I decided to attack because I saw the group break for the first time, ”said Gaudu, describing his race to catch up with Mäder and Izagirre.
Roglic drives calculated for overall victory
There was a final exchange of blows in the group of favorites: when Carapaz was able to get away from Roglic in the last kilometers, the memories of the final of the tour were awakened when Roglic lost the overall lead in the last meters. “It’s always good to have exciting finishes. But I knew that my lead was big enough and that it should be enough if I set my own pace, “said Roglic in an interview, minimizing the danger of Carapaz’s attack. However, his deficit was not a tactical stunt, but a real weakness.
With a calculated performance and a little support from the team, the Slovenian knew how to keep the damage within limits: “I wasn’t always in control in the final, but in the end I did my thing. Of course, every meter that Hofstede traveled helped. It was a great job from the whole team. What can I say, I’m super happy. It’s nice to end the season like this ”. After crossing the finish line, Roglic and Carapaz shook hands in mutual recognition. In addition to the general classification, Roglic also secured the sprint classification. The mountain jersey is for Guillaume Martin (Cofidis), who was also in the leading group. Enric Mas (Movistar) knew how to defend the junior ranking.
This was the race:
A few kilometers after the start, Michael Schwarzmann (Bora-Hansgrohe) was able to drive away together with Sergio Henao (UAE-Emirates) and Stan Dewulf (Lotto Soudal). The group continued to grow throughout the race, so that after 34 kilometers, at the start of the first climb, there were a total of 34 runners. Besides Gaudu, Amirail, Mäder and Izagirre, this included Guillaume Martin, David de la Cruz, Ivo Oliveira and Rui Costa (all UAE), Lennart Hofstede (Jumbo-Visma), Mark Donovan and Jasha Sütterlin (Sunweb) and Imanol. Erviti (Movistar). On the field, Jumbo-Visma took control and gave the outliers a maximum advantage of 3:50 minutes.
As De la Cruz and Gaudu battled for the overall classification, it was their teammates who kept up the pace at the top. The first mountain classification of the day was for Martín, the next two were for Ivo Oliveira. The sprint ranking was won by De la Cruz. The next two climbs happened to Costa from the front. Almost 60 kilometers from the finish, Movistar took over the follow-up work and reduced the distance to the lead to just under a minute. On the penultimate climb, Marc Soler (Movistar) attacked from the field and, with the support of his teammate Erviti, climbed to the shrunken peak.
Mäder attacked on the asphalt road and uphill from Candelario, 18 kilometers from the finish, and took off with Izagirre and Donovan. The trio were able to gain a 45-second lead over Gaudu’s group of pursuers by the time they entered the final climb. At this point the field was back 3:45 minutes, since the Jumbo Visma team had only achieved the deficit after the withdrawal of Movistar. Finally, Großschartner sent his teammate Ide Schelling to the front to defend his position in the general classification.
Enges Rennen am Alto de La Covatilla
In the lower miles of the incline, the leaders still worked well together. At the start of the steep section, Izagirre picked up the pace several times, first leaving Donovan and then Mäder. At the same time, Gaudu blew up the chasing group in one go and closed the hole in the front second by second. He overtook Mäder first and Izagirre also established himself four kilometers from the finish. With a determined start, Gaudu got rid of the Spaniard and headed towards the sure victory of the stage. Izagirre was then overtaken by Mäder.
On the field, it was Aleksandr Vlasov (Astana) who took the initiative first. But it was only when Carthy started, about five kilometers from the finish, that the battle of the favorites began. Dan Martin (Israel Start-Up Nation), Großschartner, Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) and Wout Poels (Bahrain-Mérida) had to break loose at this point, while Roglic lost his last assistant to Sepp Kuss. Carthy and Carapaz carried out more attacks that were shut down by Roglic and Mas.
Carapaz made the decisive start at the end of the steep section, about three kilometers from the finish line.
Roglic did not follow his biggest competitor and had to do the job only with the wind against him, with Carthy and Mas at the rear wheel. Carapaz practically cut Roglic’s lead to 17 seconds. But first Hofstede and then Soler withdrew from the upper group to help their captains. Also, the flatter final section of Roglic Mountain was more accommodating than Carapaz. Carthy was able to escape from Roglic. But he crossed the finish line just 20 seconds behind Carapaz and thus saved the overall victory.
