photo credits @ La Vuelta
Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) claiming today’s stage 19, earning the Belgian rider his third stage victory in this year’s Vuelta a España.
Philipsen edged out Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), who has all but secured the green jersey with a 100-point margin over Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike), the last rider theoretically still able to challenge him in the points classification.
Still, the Danish leader managed to pick up 4 bonus in the intermediate sprint to extend his GC lead to 44 seconds over Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) ahead of tomorrow’s grueling showdown at Bola del Mundo.
Race Highlights
Jakub Otruba (Caja Rural-Seguros-RGA) set off as soon as the flag dropped, who was quickly joined by Victor Guernalec (Arkéa-B&B Hotels). But, his French companion soon dropped back into the peloton, leaving Otruba alone at the front with 145 kilometers to go.
Meanwhile, Philipsen’s Alpecin-Deceuninck and Elia Viviani’s Lotto were tasked with driving the peloton, as Otruba’s advantage swelled to 4 minutes after 40 kilometers of racing.
Otruba continued out front as he road into Salamanca, but at that point his margin had dwindled to just a minute before being reined in with 52 kilometers to go.
Burgos Burpellet BH’s Mario Aparicio and Sergio Chumil later attacked some 11 kilometers later, but another acceleration by the peloton-led by Alpecin-Deceuninck and Visma-Lease a Bike easily nullified their move with 35 kilometers remaining.
From there, a fast paced peloton stormed into Guijuelo with Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers) driving Ben Turner into the last kilometer.
However, Alpecin-Deceuninck surged past the Grenadiers, with Ed Planckaert delivering Philipsen into perfect position to take his third stage win out of four bunch sprints in this year’s Vuelta.
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