Madrid (AFP)
Magnus Cort Nielsen claimed a third victory in the Vuelta by winning Friday at Monforte de Lemos, Galicia, in the 19th stage, at the end of which Primoz Roglic retained the red jersey, two days before the arrival.
The 28-year-old Dane settled in a sprint a group of seven breakaways who broke away about twenty kilometers from the finish.
"Incredible," reacted Cort Nielsen, who had already won the 6th and 12th stages and signed his seventh success in a Grand Tour.
There was no major change in the general classification where Roglic remains in a strong position for the final victory with 2 minutes 30 ahead of Spaniard Enric Mas.
The stage was marked by the abandonment of the 10th in the standings, the South African Louis Meintjes, after a fall.
In the last meters, Cort Nielsen, big favorite, assumed his status to raise his arms to the beard of Portuguese Rui Oliveira and young American Quinn Simmons, 20.
"In a sprint like that, there is nothing to do" against him, said the Frenchman Anthony Roux, fifth on the stage.
Cort Nielsen's teammate Lawson Craddock had set the stage for him.
"Fortunately he was with me. He did an incredible job and I couldn't have won without him," said the winner.
"I did not think that this breakaway could survive until the end. We gave everything," reacted Rui Oliveira, very disappointed because he thought that "could be his day".
© 2021 AFP