The first summit finish of Vuelta a Espana 2022 and what happens? We don’t see the victory salute of Jay Vine (Alpecin-Deceuninck), who held off a rampant Remco Evenepoel (QuickStep Alpha Vinyl) to take his first Grand Tour victory in Stage 6. Remco’s ride with Movistar’s Enric Mas sucking his wheel the whole way was not in vain … he’s now in red, with his main rival Primoz Roglic 1.01 behind him.
JAY VINE WINS – CONGRATULATIONS @JayVine3 + @AlpecinDCK!!! #LaVuelta22 pic.twitter.com/bK30V2ssnm
— The Movistarlet (@movistarlets) August 25, 2022
Twas the first summit finish of the Vuelta; twas the first time the final climb, Pico Jano, has featured in a Grand Tour; and twas a day with pouring rain, when the weather has been sunny perfection for both the Giro and the Tour. An unpredictable day was on the agenda and it didn’t disappoint.
Pardun moi!
On a miserable day, the action didn’t really get moving until the penultimate climb. EF’s Mark Padun, out of the original 10-man break of the day, was looking good, dropping all the breakers to crest the Collada de Brenes on his own, with just over 2min in hand over the peloton. But a descent in the pouring rain, on narrow roads unevenly patched up here and there, put paid to his advantage and he started the Pico Jano climb with just a minute in hand.
Julian Alaphilippe, who had taken to the front of the peloton halfway up Brenes and turned the screws on everyone in the service of Evenepoel, went flying down the descent as if it was the smoothest of roads on the sunniest of days. It was terrifying to watch, but seeing Alaphilippe back at his panache-tastic best … well, that was quite simply a delight.
Vine climbs to victory
With Padun rocking and rolling up Pico Jano, it was only a matter of time …
With Alaphilippe peeling off the front, having done his job, Simon PHILIP Yates (BikeExchange) made a dig at the 10km mark, which gave Jay Vine an opportunity to get away while the peloton was attacking each other. And Vine rode away into the mist, catching and passing Pardun with 6.5km to go.
Jay Vine trying to see the finish line #LaVuelta22 #couchpeloton pic.twitter.com/yPf0z6Z0mr
— Rachel (@super_ruck) August 25, 2022
Rampant Remco
While Vine was riding his way to victory, Evenepoel made a surge at the front of the peloton, taking Mas, Roglic, and Yates with him, but it wasn’t long before Roglic and Yates fell back, ultimately to lose over a minute on Remco by the finish. With Mas on his wheel, the entire time, Evenepoel got the duo within 18sec of Vine in the final few kilometres of the stage, but Vine was able to hold them off, to take his first road race victory in the mist.
Spanish Press and pundits saying Enric will pay for not helping and should've helped Remco.
Enric Mas when asked why he didn't help, shrugged his shoulders and said " he didn't need too much help, right "
— anenglishmaninspain (@AndyElche) August 25, 2022
So what now?
Can we make a few judgements on the form of the GC riders today? What do you all think? 🤔 #LaVuelta22
Remco, Mas, Ayuso ⏫
Rog, Yates, O'Connor, Almeida, Hindley ↔️
Carapaz, MAL, Higuita ⏬— Katy M (@writebikerepeat) August 25, 2022
— Katy M (@writebikerepeat) August 25, 2022
Remco Evenepoel might not have won the stage, but he took the red off the back of Rudy Molard and put over a minute into his rivals. Roglic didn’t have the legs, but that doesn’t mean that it’ll be a cake walk for the Belgian phenom.
So how do Quickstep defend it. They haven't a team for that 😭
— anenglishmaninspain (@AndyElche) August 25, 2022
While Roglic has many Grand Tours under his belt, Evenepoel has started just one before – the 2021 Giro – which he didn’t finish. While Roglic has an exceptional Grand Tour team behind him, riding in support of a tilt for a Grand Tour podium is not something that QuickStep has experience in. While Evenepoel is a great time trial talent, so is Roglic.
The Belgian media will rightly go mad about Remco’s performance today, but I think we might look back on today as Remco going too hard, too soon.
It’s a three week race…
— Up the Road Cycling (@UTRcycling) August 25, 2022
This isn’t to say Roglic is a shoe-in, either. In fact, with the peloton sensing that he’s not up to his best, it could get frisky. Mix in the fact that teams will see Evenepoel as untested over three weeks, and it could get VERY frisky. Bring it on is all I can say!
The final word
Might never get dry pic.twitter.com/e8wl6f4RFY
— VeloVoices (@VeloVoices) August 25, 2022
Results
Stage 6 results
1 Jay Vine (Alpecin-Deceuninck) 4:38:00
2 Remco Evenepoel (QuickStep Alpha Vinyl) +0:15
3 Enric Mas (Movistar) +0:16
4 Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates) +0:55
5 Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) +1:37
GC Top 10
1 Remco Evenepoel (QuickStep Alpha Vinyl) 20:50:07
2 Rudy Molard (Groupama-FDJ) +0:21
3 Enric Mas (Movistar) +0:28
4 Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) +1:01
5 Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates) +1:12
6 Pavel Sivako (Ineos Grenadiers) +1:27
7 Tao Geoghegan Hart (Ineos Grenadiers) +1:27
8 Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos Grenadiers) +1:34
9 Simon Philip Yates (Team BikeExchange-Jayco) +1:52
10 Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) +1:54
All the Jerseys
Leader’s jersey : Rudy Molard (Groupama-FDJ)
Points jersey : Sam Bennett (Bora-hansgrohe)
King of the Mountains jersey : Victor Langellotti (Burgo-BH))
Young Rider Jersey : Remco Evenepoel (QuickStep Alpha Vinyl)
Team competition : UAE Team Emirates
For the full stage review, go to cyclingnews
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