photo credits @ La Vuelta
Today’s stage in Italy provided yet another thrilling finale in Ceres, with David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) overhauling Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) in a sprint finish, earning the French climber his first UCI WorldTour victory since he got the better of Wout van Aert in a similar finale of the Critérium du Dauphiné 2022.
Race Highlights
Amidst a flurry of attacks, Pedersen’s Lidl-Trek team was successful in controlling away breakaway efforts, until Alessandro Verre (Arkéa-B&B Hotels), Sean Quinn (EF Education-EasyPost), Luva Van Boven (Intermarché-Wanty) and Patrick Gamper (Jayco AlUla) finally rode clear.
As the quartet approached the main climb of the day, the Issiglio, the peloton was trailing by 2’25’’.
Chasing the KOM points to regain the lead of the standings, Verre set a strong pace on the climb, eventually dropping Gamper and Van Boven, while Quinn hung on until the summit.
Meanwhile the peloton continued to trail by two minutes.
Some 15 kilometers further into the stage, Quinn took the first intermediate sprint in Cuorgnè, with the American rider later going solo with 39 kilometers to go.
From there, the former US national champion pushed on until he was reined in with 19 km to go.
A packed peloton then flew towards the uphill finale, with Lidl-Trek and Visma-Lease a Bike setting a brutal pace on the ascent.
As the peloton headed towards the finish, Pedersen quickly came to the front with 50 meters to go. But Gaudu surged past him, taking his 3rd Vuelta stage win after previous successes at La Farrapona and La Covatilla in 2020.
In the meantime, Vingegaard completed the podium to retain La Roja, despite Gaudu drawing level with him on time.
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