Barring disaster during the parade that will constitute the 21st and final stage on Sunday, Sepp Kuss will win the 78th edition of the Vuelta. The American from Jumbo-Visma successfully passed the last obstacle placed on the road to Madrid, namely a 20th stage in the form of a roller coaster. Perfectly protected by Jonas Vingegaard and Primoz Roglic in the final, he presented himself at Guadarrama in the red jersey group before letting himself drop slightly in the company of the Dane and the Slovenian to savor his imminent final victory and the Jumbo-Visma hat-trick . The victory of the day, which was decided ten minutes beforehand, was won by Wout Poels (Bahrain-Victorious), to the great dismay of Remco Evenepoel.
Like two days ago during the final summit finish, Vingegaard and Roglic played model teammates and protected Kuss’s interests. The winner of the Tour de France and the winner of the Giro did not have much to do. The other Jumbo-Vismas rode 90% of the day, behind a breakaway of 31 riders who failed in the first of ten climbs, all classified in 3rd category. And the general’s other big names only came into action on the final climb, the Alto San Lorenzo de El Escorial (4.6km at 6.6%), at the summit located 12 km from the finish.
Only one change in the top 10
The cockfight, if it did not take place at Jumbo, did take place among the Spanish. Mikel Landa and Enric Mas coveted 4th place from Juan Ayuso. But the white jersey never gave in to the attempts of his two compatriots, on the last climb then on the descent. The three crossed the finish line together, 10’21” from the win, and this 20th stage will have changed nothing in the top 10, apart from the exchange of 7th and 8th places between the two leaders from Bora -Hansgrohe, Aleksandr Vlasov having passed Cian Uijtdebroeks by 13″.
This stage traced in the Madrid hinterland offered the longest mileage of this Vuelta (208 km) and an altitude difference to make all adventurers-climbers looking for a last getaway salivate (more than 4,000 m). The good shot emerged at the rocker of the first summit, the Collado de Portzago, after a dozen milestones. Evenepoel then already seemed in an ideal position to win his 4th stage victory in the Vuelta. The Belgian could count on the support of three teams, James Knox, Louis Vervaeke, Mattia Cattaneo. No other formation than Soudal Quick-Step was as well represented in this group of 31.
Poels frustrates Evenepoel
The men of Remco rode on a hellish train in the finale. The twenty or so runners still present in the wheel of the “Wolf Pack” were only waiting for one thing, the attack on the polka dot jersey. But it never came. A little tight on the final climb, unable to follow Wout Poels’ first attack, he was only able to come back on the descent. There were five to compete for victory, Sanchez (Burgos-BH), Lennert van Eetvelt (Lotto Dstny), Marc Soler (UAE Emirates) completing the group.
Poels stronger than Evenepoel: relive the finish of the 20th stage
Poels wasn’t just the strongest. He was also the smartest. The Dutchman anticipated the sprint from afar, before a tight turn. Evenepoel reacted quickly, but not enough to be able to catch the Bahrain-Victorious rider: he came back very strong in the last meters but lost narrowly. At 35 years old, and despite an already well-stocked track record, this is only Poels’ first victory in the Vuelta. On the other hand, it is his second success of the year, two months after the 15th stage of the Tour de France. He was then ahead, at the summit of Saint-Gervais-Mont-Blanc, of the other Belgian star of the peloton, Wout Van Aert.