Stage 16 of Vuelta 2020 was 162km to get finished before the big final mountain stage tomorrow, that wasn’t supposed to have any surprises so the breakaway thought they had a real chance. They almost did, until Ineos decided to shred the peloton, in an effort to drop Primoz Roglic and get some precious time for Richard Carapaz. Remy Cavagna (Quickstep) fought valiantly to stay out front but he was caught with a heartbreaking two kilometres to go. Then, it was a knockdown drag-out fight of a sprint between UAE’s Rui Costa and Movistar’s Alejandro Valverde … that almost produced a winner, but Magnus Cort decided to rain on their parade, taking EF’s third Vuelta stage. So Valverde and Costa were second and third. Nope, a surprise second went to a stealth Roglic and third went to Mitchelton-Scott’s Dion Smith.
How the sprint was won
Fast and furious and full of surprises.
It was a popular win today – with both fans and riders alike.
But what happened to Costa and Valverde?
It was a stealth move by Roglic to take second, gaining another 6sec on Carapaz. And he has a sense of humour as well. What more could we want?
Ineos tactics
Ineos wanted to make a statement and wanted to break Roglic.
The statement became a question and Roglic didn’t break.
Chris Froome did a lot of work on the front of the peloton
These were Froome’s thoughts on Roglic the other day. Today makes me think Roglic didn’t get the memo.
The pox is out of reach now
As long as Guillaume Martin rides across the finish line in Madrid on Sunday, the pox is his to keep. In seemingly every break, his name is well and truly known now.
Final thoughts
Stage 16 Results
1 Magnus Cort (EF Pro Cycling) +4:04:35
2 Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) same time
3 Dion Smith (Mitchelton-Scott) s/t
4 Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) s/t
5 Richard Carapaz (Ineos Grenadiers) s/t
GC Top Ten
1 Primoz Roglic (Jumbo Visma) 64:20:31
2 Richard Carapaz (Ineos Grenadiers) +0:45
3 Hugh Carthy (EF Pro Cycling) +0:53
4 Dan Martin (Israel Start Up) +1:48
5 Enric Mas (Movistar) + 3:29
6 Wout Poels (Bahrain McLaren) +6:21
7 Felix Grossschartner (BORA-hansgrohe) +7:20
8 Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) +8:45
9 Alexandr Vlasov (Astana) +8:54
10 David de la Cruz (UAE-Team Emirates) +9:29
All the jerseys
Leader’s jersey Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma)
Points jersey Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma)
King of the Mountains Guillaume Martin (Cofidis)
Best Young Rider Enric Mas (Movistar)
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Official race website: Vuelta a Espana
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