On Monday, the second day of rest, there was a meeting at the Jumbo Visma hotel in Torrelavega. A head-to-head between the top three finishers of the Vuelta a España to try to clarify the unusual: who should be the final winner in Madrid. Behind closed doors, a message like a mantra: "The strongest will win, but without attacking us." On the road...
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Tour of Spain.
The strange display of the Jumbo in the Angliru: Roglic wins and Kuss saves the lead
- Writing: LUCAS SÁEZ-BRAVO
The strange display of the Jumbo in the Angliru: Roglic wins and Kuss saves the lead
Find out more
Tour of Spain.
Who is the leader of the Jumbo? "The strongest must win"
- Writing: LUCAS SÁEZ-BRAVO
Who is the leader of the Jumbo? "The strongest must win"
Nothing more extreme than the Angliru and the ramps that have made it a colossus of the new era of cycling since Chava Jiménez crowned it for the first time in the Vuelta 24 years ago. No scenario so wild to unravel the struggle denied, in the end, by the three protagonists. "There is very good vibes. It is not a competition between us, "concedes the loser, the gregarious mounted on the beards, the still leader of the race, the favorite of all the fans. The unexpected Sepp Kuss, whose "only chance of my life to win a big one" slips through his fingers, does not stop smiling at the inevitable. He lost 19 seconds more bonus to his two teammates, and Jonas Vingegaard already lurks eight overall. He celebrated his 29th birthday bitterly. Again, as in the Tourmalet last week, the three bees imposing their law.
"Go guys", says the American climber to whom he has rescued so many times while crossing the Cueña les Cabres and its ramps above 23% and the acceleration of Primoz Roglic leaves him behind when only the three were in the lead. "In cycling it's a shame to slow down and that's why I told them on the radio to keep going." The image for the story of the trio crossing the Angliru finish line fades at that moment. Roglic is the winner, his second stage in this Vuelta (the 12th of his career), although of the three he seems today the furthest from the final triumph. Quite the opposite of Vingegaard, who does not even need to attack although the feeling is that he could have done it. Nor did he sprint.
"That Sepp won..."
"It wasn't the tactic. Each one has set its pace. The climb is so hard that you can't do anything else. I've felt it for Kuss. I still believe that we can get the treble on the podium," says who, like director Grischa Niermann, feels he must apologize to the rest for such abusive tyranny. "I would like Sepp to win this Vuelta," Vingegaard also wishes.
The Angliru did not unravel the "strongest" of the Jumbo, but it did make it even clearer that there is no one even close. Very early the national hopes of podium totally shattered. While Roglic and Vingegaard signed the second fastest climb in the history of the Asturian colossus (42:29 minutes by the 41:55 of Roberto Heras in the 2), Enric Mas and Juan Ayuso yielded. They entered at par, 000:1 from the head.
It was not even the day of the daring, because the superiority of the Jumbo blurs everything. The brave Remco Evenepoel, who pursues dreams of greatness now that any option to renew his Vuelta is so impossible. On the way out he tried, but already in the descent of the Cordal he was intuited insecure and lacking in strength. Also with the chest ahead died the Bahrain team, taking responsibility and looking for the partial victory with a Mikel Landa who was the only one able to be close to the Jumbo. He entered alongside Kuss, sulking over the American's final sprint in search of the bonus, and is already fifth overall. "They will know. He has gone to wheel with me and has not given relays playing the Vuelta ...", he pronounced, as surprised as the rest by what happened.
The Spanish round does not stop, although everything seems so predictable. This Thursday the bid rises on the way to the unprecedented port of Cruz de Linares (8.3 kilometers at 8.6%), which is climbed twice in a row; Five ascents in total, almost 180 kilometers. And on Saturday, a tour full of traps through the Sierra Oeste of Madrid. Up to 10 ports of third road of Guadarrama. Two more appointments to resolve a matter never seen before.