Cycling
Triple perfect: Kämna wins ninth stage of the Vuelta
Lennard Kämna single-handedly won the ninth stage of the Vuelta. photo
© Gian Mattia D’alberto/LaPresse via ZUMA Press/dpa/archive image
It worked on the third attempt: Lennard Kämna wins the ninth stage of the Vuelta. He has now celebrated a day’s victory in all three Grand Tours.
Lennard Kämna threw his arms up and beat his chest after charging up the muddy slope at Collado de la Cruz. The former junior world champion completed his triple in the Grand Tours and won the ninth stage of the 78. Won the Vuelta single-handedly.
After his daily victories in the Tour de France in Villard-de-Lans (2020) and the Giro d’Italia on Mount Etna (2022), he was now able to celebrate in the third of the three major cycling tours. Kämna won the 184.5 kilometers from Cartagena to Collado de la Cruz de Caravaca with a lead of around 30 seconds over the Italian Matteo Sobrero.
So it worked on the third attempt. The 26-year-old already had victory in sight on the third stage before he was caught around 1.5 kilometers from the finish. And on the sixth stage, Kämna also tried in vain to try his luck in a breakaway group.
Kämna attacks with a good five kilometers to go
But this time no one caught up with him. A good five kilometers from the finish, Kämna attacked on the 8.2-kilometer final climb with an average gradient of 5.4 percent from a breakaway group of eight riders and confidently rode alone towards victory. Sobrero, who will be driving with Kämna for the Bora-hansgrohe team next season, was unable to counter the start.
The ninth stage had little influence on the overall ranking. The American Sepp Kuss, who actually started the race as a noble assistant to Tour champion Jonas Vingegaard and Giro winner Primoz Roglic, continues to wear the red jersey. The three superstars Remco Evenepoel, Roglic and Vingegaard crossed the finish line almost at the same time.
After the first day of rest, the individual time trial over 25.8 kilometers awaits on Tuesday. The duel between the Belgian time trial world champion Evenepoel and Vingegaard, who dominated the competition in the fight against the clock during the Tour, promises great excitement.