photo credits @ La Vuelta/Twitter
John Degenkolb claimed the 21st and final stage of the Vuelta a Espana, in a sprint finish ahead of Danny Van Poppel (Trek Factory Racing) and Jempy Drucker (BMC Racing Team) in Madrid today.
Meanwhile, Fabio Aru (Astana) secured the overall title, after finishing safely in the peloton, to triumph over his closest rival, Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha), by 57 seconds.
Race Highlights
Today’s final stage, involved a 98 kilometer route from Alcalá de Henares to Madrid – concluding with 10 laps around a 5.8 kilometer circuit.
The day’s early breakaway group contained Benjamin King (Cannondale-Garmin), Matteo Montaguti (Ag2r La Mondiale), Omar Fraile (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), Laurent Pichon (FDJ), Carlos Verona (Etixx-Quick-Step) and Giovanni Visconti (Movistar).
However, the escapees were eventually reeled in during the final 10 kilometers.
From there, Iljo Keisse (Etixx-Quick-Step) and Alexis Geogeard (AG2R La Mondiale) attempted a subsequent attack of their own, but they were quickly reclaimed by the chase.
Meanwhile,Rafal Majka (Tinkoff-Saxo), who finished safely in the peloton with the rest of the top GC, rounded out the final podium in third place – 1:09 down on Aru.
Stage 21 Results GER 1 DEGENKOLB, John (GIANT – ALPECIN) 2:34:13 NED 2 VAN POPPEL, Danny (TREK FACTORY RACING) LUX 3 DRUCKER, Jean-Pierre (BMC RACING) RSA 4 IMPEY, Daryl (ORICA GreenEDGE) BEL 5 VAN DER SANDE, Tosh (LOTTO SOUDAL) ARG 6 RICHEZE, Maximiliano Ariel (LAMPRE – MERIDA) BEL 7 MAES, Nikolas (ETIXX – QUICK STEP) ITA 8 SBARAGLI, Kristian (MTN – QHUBEKA) FRA 9 REZA, Kévin (FDJ) BEL 10 VAN ASBROECK, Tom (LOTTO NL – JUMBO) COL 11 DUQUE, Leonardo Fabio (COLOMBIA) ESP 12 ROJAS GIL, Jose Joaquin (MOVISTAR) ITA 13 BENNATI, Daniele (TINKOFF – SAXO) FRA 14 SIMON, Julien (COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS) ESP 15 REYNES MIMO, Vicente (IAM CYCLING) LTU 16 BAGDONAS, Gediminas (AG2R LA MONDIALE) ESP 17 VALVERDE BELMONTE, Alejandro (MOVISTAR) FRA 18 DELAGE, Mickael (FDJ) ESP 19 ERVITI OLLO, Imanol (MOVISTAR) FRA 20 JEANDESBOZ, Fabrice (EUROPCAR)
Final General Classification ITA 1 ARU, Fabio (ASTANA) 85:36:13 ESP 2 RODRIGUEZ OLIVER, Joaquim (KATUSHA) + 57 POL 3 MAJKA, Rafal (TINKOFF – SAXO) + 1:09 COL 4 QUINTANA ROJAS, Nairo Alexander (MOVISTAR) + 1:42 COL 5 CHAVES RUBIO, Johan Esteban (ORICA GreenEDGE) + 3:10 NED 6 DUMOULIN, Tom (GIANT – ALPECIN) + 3:46 ESP 7 VALVERDE BELMONTE, Alejandro (MOVISTAR) + 6:47 ESP 8 NIEVE ITURALDE, Mikel (SKY) + 7:06 ESP 9 MORENO FERNANDEZ, Daniel (KATUSHA) + 7:12 RSA 10 MEINTJES, Louis (MTN – QHUBEKA) + 10:26 ITA 11 POZZOVIVO, Domenico (AG2R LA MONDIALE) + 11:10 ESP 12 ARROYO DURAN, David (CAJA RURAL-SEGUROS RGA) + 13:29 ITA 13 BRAMBILLA, Gianluca (ETIXX – QUICK STEP) + 15:26 BEL 14 DE CLERCQ, Bart (LOTTO SOUDAL) + 16:34 FRA 15 SICARD, Romain (EUROPCAR) + 16:46 FRA 16 ELISSONDE, Kenny (FDJ) + 17:07 FRA 17 JEANDESBOZ, Fabrice (EUROPCAR) + 17:10 POR 18 CARDOSO, Andre Fernando S. Martins (CANNONDALE – GARMIN) + 23:31 ITA 19 VISCONTI, Giovanni (MOVISTAR) + 36:19 ITA 20 ROSA, Diego (ASTANA) + 43:27
You must be logged in to post a comment.
