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The double ascent of the Puerto de la Cruz de Linares (8.3km at 8.6%) loomed large at the end of Stage 18 of La Vuelta 2023, but the difficulty of the climb played into the hands of Remco Evenepoel, who took his third win of the race. He was part of early breakaway and jumped away with 29 kilometres remaining, showing that he was by far the strongest as he finished 4’44 ahead of second-placed Damiano Caruso (Bahrain-Victorious).
“I felt that I was the strongest of the group and that I didn’t want to waste any time, that I had to go for it. I felt that the legs were super good today and I had a better day like I had in stage 14,” said Evenepoel.
With the result and points claimed out on the route, Evenepoel is now guaranteed the climber’s polka dot jersey in Madrid, providing he finishes, and is still an outside chance at the green points jersey, though the remaining stages favour incumbent holder, Australian Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck).
“It’s an amazing stage to win,” said Evenepoel. “It was a super good opportunity to take the points for my jersey – I took all the points – and my third stage win is amazing to end the Vuelta with.”
Evenepoel has bounced back dramatically from stage 13, a day that saw him slip from being one of the favourites for the overall win down to 19th as he lost 27 minutes on the day. He bounced back immediately with a stage win the following day, and then has been nearly ever-present in breakaways since.
“I think after my off day in Formigal and Tourmalet I had to turn the page and go for stages. I think I won three of the most beautiful stages of the Vuelta and I took the mountain jersey so it has been an amazing Vuelta even if the GC plan didn’t work out.
“It’s amazing to finish the stage with such a good feeling and to have such good legs at the end of the Vuelta. It means that I keep improving and that I just had a bad week in the second week, so I think we should just be happy and proud.”
There was less action than in recent days in the general classification battle, with Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma) slightly strengthening his position over teammate Jonas Vingegaard at the top of the standings. Bahrain Victorious made the pace to promote the chances of Mikel Landa, but when Vingegaard and Roglič took over, the final kilometres of the climb were a relatively straightforward ride to the finish.
A pair of Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates) attacks saw Kuss have to respond, but he covered the moves and in the end Vingegaard lost nine seconds on the line after being distanced in the final surge.
La Vuelta continues with Stage 19, a 177-kilometre course from La Bañeza to Íscar that should suit the remaining sprinters. Watch from 10.55 AEST on SBS VICELAND and SBS On Demand.
