The 73rd La Vuelta a Espana is heading toward the close, with five stages remaining and Britain’s Simon Yates in the lead.
Weren’t we at the same place in May?
Yates was riding brilliantly in the Giro d’Italia and was wearing the Maglio Rosa after 18 stages … and then blew up. He finished 79th in Stage 19 and ended up in 21st place overall.
He’s leading now and in good shape, with only Spain’s Alejandro Valverde (-0:33) and Dutch rider Steven Kruiswijk (-0:52) within a minute following Tuesday’s Individual Time Trial. Colombia’s Nairo Quintana (COL) is 1:15 back, then comes Enric Mas (ESP: -1:30) and Miguel Angel Lopez (COL: -1:34) within two minutes.
The remaining stages are not for the feint of heart, however. Wednesday’s stage includes seven sharp climbs with an uphill finish on a final ascent of 318 m over the final 7 km to the Balcon de Bizkala; Stage 19 is fairly flat, but then finishes with a long ascent of more than 1,000 m over the final 17 km and Stage 20 is the meanest of all, with six major climbs and an uphill finish at the Coll de la Gallina. Yates won Stage 14 and Valverde has won two hilly stages, nos. 2 and 8.
If Yates should win, it would be the fifth straight Grand Tour won by a British rider, after Chris Froome won three in a row (Tour de France-La Vuelta-Giro d’Italia) and Geraint Thomas won the 2018 Tour.
NBC has daily coverage of La Vuelta on either NBCSN or the NBC Olympic Channel, usually beginning at 9:30 or 10:00 a.m. Eastern time. Summaries and stage notes:
UCI World Tour/La Vuelta a Espana
Spain ~ 25 August-16 September 2018
(Full results here)
Stage 1 (8.0 km Indiv. Time Trial): 1. Rohan Dennis (AUS), 9:39; 2. Michal Kwiatkowski (POL), 9:45; 3. Victor Campanaerts (BEL), 9:46; 4. Nelson Oliveira (POR), 9:56; 5. Dylan van Baarle (NED), 9:59. Also in the top 50: 15. Brent Bookwalter (USA), 10:02; … 21. Joey Rosskopf (USA), 10:07; … 24. Ben King (USA), 10:08.
Stage 2 (163.5 km): 1. Alejandro Valverde (ESP), 4:13:01; 2. Kwiatkowski (POL), 4:13:01; 2. Laurens de Plus (BEL), 4:13:04; 4. Wilco Kelderman (NED), 4:13:04; 5. George Bennett (NZL), 4:13:04. Also in the top 50: 48. Ian Boswell (USA), 4:14:06.
Stage 3 (178.2 km): 1. Elia Viviani (ITA), 4:48:12; 2. Giacomo Nizzolo (ITA), 4:48:12; 3. Peter Sagan (SVK), 4:48:12; 4. Nacer Bouhanni (FRA), 4:48:12; 5. Simone Consonni (ITA), 4:48:12.
Stage 4 (161.4 km): 1. King (USA), 4:33:12; 2. Nikita Stalnov (KAZ), 4:33:14; 3. Pierre Rolland (FRA), 4:33:25; 4. Luis Angel Mate (ESP), 4:33:20; 5. Ben Gastauer (LUX), 4:34:51. Also in the top 50: 27. Sepp Kuss (USA), 4:37:04.
Stage 5 (188.7 km): 1. Simon Clarke (AUS), 4:36:07; 2. Bauke Mollema (NED), 4:36:07; 3. Alessandro de Marchi (ITA), 4:36:07; 4. Davide Villella (ITA), 4:36:15; 5. Floris de Tier (BEL), 4:36:15. Also in the top 50: 16. Bookwalter (USA), 4:39:59; 17. Kuss (USA), 4:39:49; … 24. King (USA), 4:41:02.
Stage 6 (155.7 km): 1. Nacer Bouhanni (FRA), 3:58:35; 2. Danny van Poppel (NED), 3:58:35; 3. Elia Viviani (ITA), 3:58:35; 4. Consonni (ITA), 3:58:35; 5. Matteo Trentin (ITA), 3:58:35.
Stage 7 (185.7 km): 1. Tony Gallopin (FRA), 4:18:20; 2. Sagan (SVK), 4:18:25; 3. Valverde (ESP), 4:18:25; 4. Eduard Prades (ESP), 4:18:25; 5. Omar Fraile (ESP), 4:18:25. Also in the top 50: 10. Kuss (USA), 4:18:25; … 48. King (USA), 4:20:08.
Stage 8 (195.1 km): 1. Valverde (ESP), 4:35:54; 2. Sagan (SVK), 4:35:54; 3. Van Poppel (NED), 4:35:54; 4. Ion Izagirre (ESP), 4:35:54; 5. Nizzolo (ITA), 4:35:54. Also in the top 50: 47. King (USA), 4:35:54.
Stage 9 (200.8 km): 1. King (USA), 5:30:38; 2. Mollema (NED), 5:31:26; 3.Dylan Teuns (BEL), 5:33:16; 4. Miguel Angel Lopez (COL), 5:33:18; 5. Nairo Quintana (COL), 5:33:18. Also in the top 50: 20. Kuss (USA), 5:34:10.
Stage 10 (177.0 km): 1. Viviani (ITA), 4:08:08; 2. Sagan (SVK), 4:08:08; 3. Nizzolo (ITA), 4:08:08; 4. Nelson Andres Soto (COL), 4:08:08; 5. Marc Sarreau (FRA), 4:08:08. Also in the top 50: 27. Kiel Reiknen (USA), 4:08:08.
Stage 11 (207.8 km): 1. Di Marchi (ITA), 4:52:38; 2. Jhonatan Restrepo (COL), 4:53:06; 3. Franco Pellizotti (ITA), 4:52:37; 4. Nans Peters (FRA), 4:54:02; 5. Teuns (BEL), 4:54:23. Also in the top 50: 34. Kuss (USA), 4:55.21; 35. King (USA), 4:55:21.
Stage 12 (181.1 km): 1. Alexandre Geniez (FRA), 4:22:59; 2. Dylan van Baarle (NED), 4:22:59; 3. Mark Padun (UKR), 4:22:59; 4. Teuns (BEL), 4:22:59; 5. Campanaerts (BEL), 4:23:01. Also in the top 50: 40. Kuss (USA), 4:34:38.
Stage 13 (174.8 km): 1. Oscar Rodriguez (ESP), 4:17:05; 2. Rafal Majka (POL), 4:17:24; 3. Teuns (BEL), 4:17:35; 4. 4. Bjorg Lambrecht (BEL), 4:17:43; 5. Laurens de Plus (BEL), 4:17:48. Also in the top 50: 10. King (USA), 4:18:23; … 13. Rosskopf (USA), 4:18:44.
Stage 14 (171.0 km): 1. Simon Yates (GBR), 4:19:27; 2. Miguel Angel Lopez (COL), 4:19:29; 3. Valverde (ESP), 4:19:29; 4. Thibaut Pinot (FRA), 4:19:32; 5. Nairo Quintana (COL), 4:19:34.
Stage 15 (178.2 km): 1. Pinot (FRA), 5:01:49; 2. M.A. Lopez (COL), 5:01:17; 3. S. Yates (GBR), 5:01:19; 4. Valverde (ESP), 5:01:21; 5. Steven Kruijswijk (NED), 5:01:21.
Stage 16 (Indiv. Time Trial: 32.0 km): 1. Dennis (AUS), 37:57; 2. Rosskopf (USA), 38:47; 3. Jonathan Castroviejo (ESP), 38:47; 4. Steven Kruijswijk (NED), 38:48; 5. Kwiatkowski (POL), 38:48. Also in the top 50: 37. Bookwalter (USA), 40:37.
Stage 17: 12 September Getxo to Balcon de Bizkaia (157.0 km; hilly)
Stage 18: 13 September Ejea de los Caballeros to Lleida (186.1 km; flat)
Stage 19: 14 September Lleida to Andorra. (154.4 km; mountains)
Stage 20: 15 September Escaldes-Engordany to Coll de la Gallina (97.3 km; mountains)
Stage 21: 16 September Alcorcon to Madrid (112.3 km; flat)
