UAE Team Emirates' Adam Yates rode to victory and a substantial jump up the general classification on stage 9 of the Vuelta a España, after attacking the breakaway almost 60km out from the finish in Granada.
Second place went to Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) after a spirited effort to bridge to the break and take time on GC - enough to move himself into third overall, knocking Enric Mas (Movistar) off the provisional podium.
The GC riders sprinted it out for third place, with red jersey Ben O'Connor (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) winning the kick for the line to hold onto his lead for another day, ahead of Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe).
After losing leader João Almeida to COVID-19 ahead of the stage, a determined UAE Team Emirates placed three riders in the day's 26-man early breakaway, setting up Yates' solo attack on the second of a trio of finishing climbs on a tough stage in southern Spain.
Despite some attempts, namely from Mas, the GC battle never quite materialised behind, as all the favourites regrouped on the flat run-in to the finish and crossed the line on the same time, only ceding time to Yates and Carapaz.
Some riders did lose time on the overall, however, with Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek), Lennert Van Eetvelt (Lotto Dstny) and Cristián Rodríguez (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) all dropping out of the top 10, and white jersey Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious) abandoning the stage after sitting fourth overall.
After some time losses in the first week, Yates has now propelled himself back up to seventh overall, now 5:30 adrift of O'Connor, though he said after the stage that he "doesn't give a shit about GC" and was only going for the stage victory.
“I’ve never suffered like this before,” Yates said. “It’s so hot out there. From the last time I was cramping full, and I didn’t know if I could go. I’ve had a lot of bad luck in Grand Tours over the years, and I really didn’t know if I could make it, but I’m just so happy I could finally win another Grand Tour stage.
“First we did a super good team effort with Marc and Jay in the break. They set me up amazingly, Vine did an amazing job to keep the pace super high and then on the Hazallanas he went super hard until it was just me and Gaudu. Then I saw he was suffering in the heat, I was suffering also but I knew I had to take the moment and from then on I was just suffering, suffering all the way to the finish line.
“Honestly I don’t give a shit about the GC, today was all about the stage. I was going full gas, we really had nothing to lose.”
HOW IT HAPPENED
It was an attacking start to the day on stage 9, with the breakaway attempts starting as soon as the flag dropped, initiated early on by green jersey Wout van Aert. With three category 1 climbs packed into the second half of the stage, it was a tough day and one that could suit a strong break. Within just a few kilometres, Van Aert had dragged a small group clear, and this very quickly swelled in size, with 24 riders up the road after just 10km of racing.
After losing Almeida, UAE Team Emirates were the best-represented team in the front group with Adam Yates, Marc Soler and Jay Vine all there. They were joined by riders from most of the big teams, including Kasper Asgreen (Soudal Quick-Step), David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) and Chris Harper (Jayco AlUla), but notably no rider from race-leading team Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale nor Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe.
Another team that wasn’t represented in the initial move was dsm-firmenich PostNL, but they sent Gijs Leemreize and Max Poole to bridge to the leaders, which they did after 25km as the big lead group built an advantage of over five minutes.
The situation remained stable for most of the first half of the stage, with the leaders working well together and the bunch keeping the gap steady as the trio of finishing climbs approached.
Hitting the first climb, it was predictably UAE Team Emirates who were doing the work in the break, trying to whittle down the group and set something up for Yates, who also had a chance to move up GC again. Knowing this, Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe were the ones working in the peloton, trying to protect Roglič’s position overall.
The pace UAE were setting was relentless, and not even halfway up the climb they’d already reduced the lead group to just nine riders - their three plus Gaudu, Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ), Darren Rafferty (EF Education-EasyPost), Torstein Træen (Bahrain Victorious), Pablo Castrillo (Equipo Kern Pharma) and Harper.
Behind, Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) launched a move from the bunch, joining James Shaw, dropped from the break, and soon Rafferty, who sat up to wait for his teammate. They found themselves mid-way between the leaders and the peloton by the bottom of the descent.
On the second climb - the first of a double ascent of the Alto de Hazallanas - the leading group quickly broke apart even first, with Vine, Yates and Gaudu pushing on on the early slopes. With Carapaz fast approaching, Yates went away alone 4.3km from the summit, and crested the top of the climb 40 seconds clear of his closest chasers and only extending his gap.
By the time he hit the Hazallanas climb for the second time with 30km to go, Yates was 2:48 ahead of a group made up of Gaudu and Carapaz and 6:40 ahead of the heavily reduced peloton of GC riders.
Halfway up the climb, Enric Mas (Movistar) attacked the red jersey group to go clear, leaving behind a small cluster of just seven main GC riders including O’Connor, Roglič and Landa. The Spaniard looked good and went over the top in good position, but a wobble on the descent took the wind out of his move, and on the flat he was caught by the GC group as things regrouped in the battle for third on the stage.
The favourites group sprinted it out for third, with O’Connor just edging out Mikel Landa (Soudal Quick-Step) in a positive sign after his losses on stage 8.
RESULTS
Vuelta a España stage nine: Motril > Granada (178.5km)
1. Adam Yates (GBr) UAE Team Emirates, in 4:42:28
2. Richard Carapaz (Ecu) EF Education-EasyPost, +1:39
3. Ben O'Connor (Aus) Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, +3:45
4. Mikel Landa (Esp) Soudal Quick-Step, s.t.
5. Florian Lipowitz (Ger) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, s.t.
6. Pavel Sivakov (Fra) UAE Team Emirates, s.t.
7. Carlos Rodríguez (Esp) Ineos Grenadiers, s.t.
8. Primož Roglič (Slo) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, s.t.
9. David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ, s.t.
10. Enric Mas (Esp) Movistar, s.t.
GENERAL CLASSIFICATION AFTER STAGE nine
1. Ben O'Connor (Aus) Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, in 36:09:36
2. Primož Roglič (Slo) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, +3:53
3. Richard Carapaz (Ecu) EF Education-EasyPost, +4:32
4. Enric Mas (Esp) Movistar, +4:35
5. Mikel Landa (Esp) Soudal Quick-Step, +5:17
6. Florian Lipowitz (Ger) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, +5:25
7. Adam Yates (GBr) UAE Team Emirates, +5:30
8. Felix Gall (Aut) Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, +5:30
9. Carlos Rodríguez (Esp) Ineos Grenadiers, +6:00
10. David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ, +6:32
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