2015 Vuelta a España Stage 18 Results & Recap
Stage 18 of the 2015 Vuelta a España is in the books. The final results and standings are below, followed by our recap of how the race unfolded.
Race Recap
Roche wins stage 18 in Riaza
Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Aplecin) survived an onslaught of attacks from his main rival Fabio Aru (Astana) to keep his slender three second lead over the Italian at the end of stage 18 of the Vuelta a Espana.
Aru attacked Dumoulin no fewer that six times on the final climb of the Puerto de la Quesera, but the Giant-Alpecin rider was a match on each occasion and even repaid the Italian with a few accelerations of his own on the descent before the finishline.
Meanwhile, Nicolas Roche (Sky) came away with the stage win, outsprinting breakaway companion Haimar Zubeldia (Trek Factory Racing) on the line in Riaza.
For Dumoulin though, he moves a step closer to the overall victory in this year’s race. He has three more days to get through with Aru still just three seconds down. However, today’s medium mountain stage possibly offered the Italian his best chance of distancing the current race leader.
Aru had his team set a relentless pace on the foothills before the final ascent but despite attacking early and consistently throughout the Puerto de la Quesera, he found Dumoulin to be match of him each time. The shallow incline certainly favoured Dumoulin, but he was first onto the Italian’s wheel with each attack, with the pair even managing to forge clear of their other rivals, albeit briefly, before a general regrouping before the summit.
The descent proved to be another battleground with a series of accelerations from Dumoulin and the Movistar pairing of Nairo Quintana and Alejandro Valverde. On this occasion it was Aru’s turn to go on the defensive, but just like Dumoulin he held firm with no significant changes to the overall.
Previous race leader Joaquim Rodriguez remains in third at 1:15, while José Gonçalves (Caja Rural-Seguros), who was also in the early break, hung on for third on the stage. Alejandro Valverde lead the GC favourites home, 38 seconds after Roche beat Zubeldia to the line.
The win marked Roche’s first individual success since moving to Team Sky last winter and his second ever Vuelta a Espana stage win.
For Aru, he has two more potential stages to drop Dumoulin before the final flat stage in Madrid. The race is excellently poised between two very different yet evenly matched riders.
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