Storer gets another win on an action-packed Vuelta stage 10
Storer gets another win on an action-packed Vuelta stage 10
Michael Storer (Team DSM) took his second Vuelta a España stage victory of 2021 after soloing clear of the larger breakaway group on an absolutely bonkers day of racing. Mauri Vansevenant (Deceuninck-Quick Step) and Clément Champoussin (AG2R Citroën) finished second and third on stage 10 from a chasing group of four. In their group was also Odd Christian Eiking (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux), who found himself in the red jersey at the end of the day.
Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma), who started the day in red, crashed on a sandy descent and ultimately lost the lead due to the massive time gap to the breakaway out front – but he also made big GC gains on some key rivals.
The rest day on Monday was apparently nice and relaxing for a large portion of the peloton. The fight to get into the days breakaway lasted the first 80 km of the stage, with a massive group separating themselves with about 100 km to go.
Attacks from the breakaway of some 29 riders flew on the only significant climb of the day with Rui Costa (UAE Team Emirates) spending a good chunk of time at the front of the race. Eventually, Storer found himself solo with the remnants of his break mates left behind. The Australian held his lead on the chasing break to win his second stage of the race.
On the climb but over ten minutes behind the break, the general classification battle was on with Eiking threatening the red jersey of Roglič. Roglič attacked the remaining peloton on the climb to Puerto de Almáchar and the attack by Roglič left Adam Yates and Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) caught out and losing ground on the general classification.
While descending, Roglič fell victim to a patch of sand and hit the ground allowing Enric Mas and Miguel Ángel López of Movistar and Jack Haig of Bahrain-Victorious to catch him. With a few kilometers to go, Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma), Felix Großschartner (Bora-Hansgrohe), and Aleksandr Vlasov (Astana-Premier Tech) joined the Roglič group. They finished 37 seconds ahead of the group containing Yates and Bernal.
La Vuelta ciclista a España (2.UWT) Roquetas de Mar → Rincón de la Victoria
EIKING Odd Christian
JAKOBSEN Fabio
CARUSO Damiano
BERNAL Egan
INEOS Grenadiers