2017 Vuelta a España Stage 9 Results & Recap
Stage 9 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
Froome wins at La Cumbre del Sol
Chris Froome finally took an elusive stage win today at La Cumbre del Sol, putting his mark over the race and showing he is a dominant force at the Vuelta a Espana. The Sky rider dropped all of his main competitors in the steep closing meters up the Puig Llorença to take his first road victory of the year.
Esteban Chaves (Orica-Scott) came in second, four seconds behind the red jersey. Michael Woods (Cannondale-Drapac) finished a further one second back, putting in an excellent ride for third place on the day.
Froome’s win extends his lead in the overall general classification to 36 seconds ahead of Chaves, Nicolas Roche remains in third a further minute and five seconds in arrears.
Play by play
In the first 20 kilometres of the race, a group of 10 riders escaped up the road. They were: Ricardo Vilela (Manzana Postobon), Tobias Ludvigsson (FDJ), Marc Soler (Movistar Team), Lluís Mas (Caja Rural - Seguros), Marco Haller (Team Katusha - Alpecin), Bert-jan Lindeman (Team Lotto NL - Jumbo), Anthony Turgis (Cofidis, Solutions Crédits), Markel Irizar (Trek – Segafredo), Diego Rubio (Caja Rural - Seguros) and Conor Dunne (Aqua Blue Sport).
The peloton gave them a relatively short leash with Cannondale Drapac taking the reins from Sky, putting on a show at the front after the news came out they are in desperate need of a 2018 sponsor. The Cannondale Drapac team only let the group of 10 get a maximum of four minutes on the early flat section before the climb. As the gradient went up, the breakaway started the first climb of the with a minute and 30 second advantage over the peloton.
On the final climb to the finish, all but Soler and Ludvigsson had been caught by the looming peloton. Romain Bardet (AG2R Mondiale) had several digs to try and get something going, catching the two leaders, but it was all brought back in the closing final three kilometres.
Froome attacked twice and his accelerations could not be matched by his competitors. Chaves briefly latched on to his wheel but cracked moments afterward.
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