Remco Evenepoel seizes the Vuelta’s red jersey on first summit finish
Australian Jay Vine takes first professional victory
Photo by:
Sirotti
Thursday’s wild, rainy sixth stage of the Vuelta a España saw Belgian dynamo Remco Evenepoel and Enric Mas distinguish themselves as GC favourites and Jay Vine earn his first professional win. Evenepoel took the red jersey from Rudy Molard, becoming the sixth rider to assume the race lead in six stages. Pre-race favourite Richard Carapaz had a bad day. Primož Roglič is +1:01 of Evenepoel.
For those who couldn't see him cross the finish line, @JayVine3 has indeed won a mountain stage at @lavuelta! What a huge ride! #GetWreckedJay
? @eurosport pic.twitter.com/GC9Tpoo5xI
— Alpecin-Deceuninck Cycling Team (@AlpecinDCK) August 25, 2022
You can watch the 77th Vuelta a España at FloBikes.
The Course
The first summit finish of the 2022 Vuelta came at the end of 181.2 km in the Basque Country. A Cat. 2 climb came early in the day. Cat. 1 Collada de Brenes featured bonus seconds at its peak. The finish was set atop Cat. 1 Pico Jano, 12.9 km of 6.9 percent. There was buckets of rain on Thursday.
First summit finish of #LaVuelta22, Ascensión al Pico Jano (12.6km, 6.5%).
The gradients, kicking up to 10%, are expected to widen the gaps between the general classification contenders. pic.twitter.com/xFvodSaECv
— Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team (@qst_alphavinyl) August 25, 2022
After a couple of failed attempts, a breakaway formed, and 10 riders approached Cat. 2 Puerto de Alisas with a 5:00 gap. Rubén Fernández (Spain/Cofidis) scored maximum KOM points at its crest.
A crash split the peloton, which was whipped along by Ineos as Collada de Brenes drew near. Molard was momentarily distanced. The breakaway’s gap was down to 1:45 when the Collada de Brenes began. Fugitive Mark Padun (Ukraine/EF Education-Easypost) went solo on the irregularly-surfaced road. Quick Step-Alpha Vinyl took over the pacemaking in the field.
Padun went over the top with a minute’s lead on the closest chaser and 2:00 over the peloton. Molard lost contact.
The descent of Collada de Brenes was treacherous. Padun had a slight gap over the peloton starting the Pico Jano, a climb new to the Vuelta. Molard made it back once again. Padun had a 55-second lead when the road kicked up and the rain tipped down. A couple of riders popped out from the peloton in an attempt to bridge to Padun. Simon Yates was the first GC favourite to attack, testing his rivals.
Evenepoel made a thrust with 9 km to go. He didn’t get much of a gap as Primož Roglič grabbed his wheel. Carapaz couldn’t hang with the Evenepoel-Roglič group.
Evenepoel and Mas then opened up a gap over Roglič, Pavel Sivakov, Yates and Juan Ayuso.
Vine (Australia/Alpecin-Deceuninck) managed to catch and dispatch Padun. Ayuso climbed away from the others. The Roglič-Sivakov group grew on the flatter part of the Pico Jano.
Vine kept Evenepoel and Mas at arm’s length. Evenepoel and Mas were a minute ahead of the Roglič-Sivakov bunch; they finished 15 seconds and 16 seconds behind Evenepoel respectively.
Mas jumped up to third on GC, with Roglič just behind him.
Friday’s stage has a strange profile, with a long climb in the middle followed by an even longer gradual descent to the finish town of Cistierna.
2022 Vuelta a España Stage 6
1) Jay Vine (Australia/Alpecin-Deceuninck) 4:38:00
2) Remco Evenepoel (Belgium/Quick Step-Alpha Vinyl) +0:15
3) Enric Mas (Spain/Movistar) +0:16
2022 Vuelta a España GC
1) Remco Evenepoel (Belgium/Quick Step-Alpha Vinyl) 20:50:07
2) Rudy Molard (France/Groupama-FDJ) +0:21
3) Enric Mas (Spain/Movistar) +0:28
4) Primož Roglič (Slovenia/Jumbo-Visma) +1:01
