2017 Vuelta a España Stage 19 Results & Recap
Stage 19 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
De Gendt (Lotto Soudal) wins stage 19
Thomas De Gendt (Lotto Soudal) added to his tally of a stage win at each grand tour with another one here today at the Vuelta a Espana. The Belgian rider, known as an aggressive breakaway specialist crossed the line ahead of Jarlinson Pantano (Col) Trek-Segafredo and Ivan Garcia Cortina (Spa) Bahrain-Merida after 150 km of racing from Caso. Parque Natural de Redes to Gijón.
“I was at the front when we started,” De Gendt said after the stage. “Before the race, we thought that a big group would probably go with the KOM jersey and the Green jersey. Those two guys, (Matteo) Trentin and (Davide) Villella, started attacking. I know I'm not slow in the sprints… so I was in a perfect position. I had to do the sprint of my life, just go full until the finish. I'm really happy that I can finish it off with a finish. I didn't expect it (winning at La Vuelta after victories on the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia) to be this year. I wasn't feeling well in the first week. The second week was okay. I was doing better in the third week but it wasn't really my type of routes… The final climb was too steep for me but we had a good group with Bob Jungels and we pulled very hard to get back. It was perfect for me. I didn't expect it very much but I like surprises.”
The general classification remains about the same, with Chris Froome (Team Sky) holding his lead in the standings. Nibali is second at 1 minute and 37 seconds. Wilco Kelderman (Team Sunweb) remains third at a further 2 minutes and 17 seconds heading into tomorrow’s queen stage that ends on the formidable Angliru climb.
“(Alberto) Contador certainly can't be blamed for the lack of trying. In every stage, he's been attacking and today was exactly the same. For me, it was about trying to save as much energy as possible for tomorrow and get through the day without much issues, so I'm happy to let the day behind us and focus on tomorrow. Angliru is going to be rude, but it's an explosive and short stage, so we can expect fireworks from the start. There's some though climbs before the Angliru. Everybody is tired at this point of the race, but I feel good.”
Play by Play
Almost immediately, a group of 27 riders escaped up the road: Bob Jungels, Matteo Trentin (Quick-Step Floors), Nicolas Roche (BMC), Emanuel Buchmann (Bora-Hansgrohe), Julien Duval (AG2R La Mondiale), Davide Villella (Cannondale-Drapac), Floris De Tier, Juanjo Lobato (LottoNL-Jumbo), Rui Costa, Matej Mohoric (UAE Team Emirates), Laurens De Vreese (Astana), Edward Theuns, Jarlinson Pantano (Trek-Segafredo), Thomas De Gendt (Lotto Soudal), Ivan Garcia (Bahrain-Merida), Dani Navarro, Kenneth Vanbilsen (Cofidis), David Arroyo (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) and Juan Felipe Osorio (Manzana-Postobon).
They were allowed a maximum of almost 18 minutes before the peloton shook itself awake on the final climb when Alberto Contador (Trek – Segafredo) attacked yet again. The attempt was noteworthy, but produced nothing as Sky gradually reeled him back right before the line.
The final climb saw local rider Garcia attack and Bardet bridge across right at the top of the summit. The two worked together, but the descent helped the others catch back on and from there it was a sprint for the win.
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