Already a stage winner in Portugal and in Andalusia, Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease Bike) powered to his third victory in La Vuelta 24 on day 10, with a dominant performance between Ponteareas and Baiona highlighting his varied set of skills.
The Belgian icon had opened his tally in a pure sprint (stage 3), he then dominated a reduced bunch (stage 7) and this time he went on the move over the summits of Galicia to eventually get the better of Quentin Pacher (Groupama-FDJ), his last breakaway companion.
Van Aert is now up to 12 victories in Grand Tours (9 in the Tour, 3 in La Vuelta), thus matching Jasper Philipsen’s tally as the best Belgian scorer in activity. Meanwhile, Ben O’Connor (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) made it through the traps of the day to claim his 5th La Roja, a new record for an Australian rider. Bradley McGee led the race for four days in 2005.
The peloton of La Vuelta 24 tackle the second week with a demanding stage in Galicia: 4 categorised climbs and more than 3,047m of elevation between Ponteareas and Baiona (159,6km). The race faces emblematic roads, where La Vuelta history has been made since 1936 and where champions such as Delio and Emilio Rodriguez built themselves among the greatest icons of the event.
A hard battle led by Soler
Such terrain inspires the attackers. Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates) sets off at kilometre 0 and a furious battle ensues. On the slopes of the cat-2 Alto de Fonfria, Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates) unleashes his raw power. Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) and William Junior Lecerf (T-Rex Quick-Step) follow his move. They lead by 14’’ at the summit (km 27.4).
The gap hardly increases as attacks keep on flying from the peloton. Juri Hollmann (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Quentin Pacher (Groupama-FDJ) join the front group at km 46. And the pace in the bunch only drops after 80 kilometres of hard battle.
Then, the gap increases to 6’15’’ (km 98), en route to a demanding sequence of climbing – Alto de Vilachan, Alto de Mabia and Alto de Mougas – that turned the race upside down on day 20 of La Vuelta 21.
No match for Van Aert
The breakaway riders stick together until Van Aert attacks just before the intermediate sprint in A Barroca (km 128.5). Pacher follows his move. Soler, Lecerf and Hollmann have to chase but the gap gradually increases, first on the way to the last summit (km 139.3), and then on the downhill to the finish.
Pacher attacks inside the last 2 kilometres but Van Aert gives him no margin room. He then powers to his 3rd stage win in La Vuelta 24. Txomin Juaristi (Euskaltel-Euskadi) attacks in the finale and finishes just ahead of the bunch, led by Jhonatan Narvaez (Ineos Grenadiers) with a gap of 5’31’’.
