2017 Vuelta a España Stage 11 Results & Recap
Stage 11 of the 2017 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
Lopez wins stage 11
Astana’s Miguel Angel Lopez launched a late attack out of a reduced bunch to take the win at Calar Alto today at the Vuelta a Espana. None of the favorites could stay with the Colombian, who eventually crossed the line 14 seconds ahead of second place finisher, Chris Froome. Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida) shadowed Froome to claim third after 187.5 km of wet racing in the southern portion of Spain.
Froome’s second place gave the Sky rider a time bonus to put him further ahead on GC. Esteban Chaves (Orica-Scott) had a disappointing day in the saddle, losing valuable time on the final climb, which pushed him down to third overall on GC. Nibali popped up into second, a minute and 19 seconds back.
Nicolas Roche, who started the day third on GC, dropped out of the top 10 and now sits 4 minutes and 45 seconds down.
It was a wet and windy day at the Vuelta today. As in previous stages, it took a good 40 kilometres before a breakaway could firmly establish itself. Before that, on the small climb out of the starting town of Lorca, Julian Alaphilippe (Quick-Step Floors) obviously felt good and was the first attacker of the day.
When the break was allowed up the road 14 riders were present, including: Igor Antón (Team Dimension Data), Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale), Sander Armée (Lotto Soudal), Aldemar Reyes (Manzana Postobon), Antwan Tolhoek (Team Lotto NL - Jumbo), Matej Mohoric (UAE Team Emirates), Bob Jungels (Quick-Step Floors), Alessandro De Marchi (BMC Racing Team), Giovanni Visconti (Bahrain - Merida), Antonio Pedrero (Movistar Team), Simon Clarke (Cannondale Drapac), David Arroyo (Caja Rural - Seguros), Lennard Hofstede (Team Sunweb) and Conor Dunne (Aqua Blue Sport).
On the quieter half of the stage, the 14 riders were allowed a five-minute leash at times by Team Sky. That was until Orica-Scott moved to the front at 55 kilometres to go and really started ramping up the pace. The brought the gap down to something Simon Yates could bridge across to, which he did as the climb steepened.
With the rest of the original breakaway dropped, Darwin Atapuma (UAE Team Emirates), Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale) and Simon Yates (Orica - Scott) made up the front of the race. At 13 kilometres to go, Atapuma put in an acceleration that cracked Yates and for a while, Bardet and Atapuma worked together at the front until they were eventually caught by the chase group containing the GC favorites. The Bahrain Merida team was highly aggressive on the last climb, eager to get Nibali, obviously feeling good, up the road.
However it was Lopez who struck out of the remaining riders in the end. No one could catch the 23-year-old Tour de Suisse winner in the closing metres. \n
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