2018 Vuelta a España Stage 21 Results & Recap
Stage 21 of the 2018 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
Yates wins the Vuelta, Viviani the victor in Madrid
Elia Viviani (Quick-Step Floors) took his third stage win on the final day of racing at the Vuelta a Espana, powering ahead of Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek-Segafredo) by a bike length.
“I lost my train today,” Viviani said. “We’re at the end of the third week of a Grand Tour. That makes a difference. I think I lost my lead out with 2km to go at a roundabout but I remained confident that I’d come from the back. At the last corner, I told my guys that I wasn’t there so they slowed down. Every mistake makes us improve. But the outcome is really good. We can be proud of what the team achieved during La Vuelta. We also sacrificed our lead out train in the mountains to give Enric [Mas] the best help to make the podium overall. As a team, we’ve had a beautiful Vuelta.”
Simon Yates (Mitchelton Scott) won his first grand tour, making it five wins in a row for British riders at the grand tour stage.
“It’s still hard to believe that I’ve won La Vuelta,” Yates said. “I was disappointed to not win the Giro but I’ve made it up. I’m in shock. I got really nervous when I went on stage. My natural habitat is on the bike. I enjoyed the moment. It was a very special one. We’ll see what my future is like. I’ll keep trying very hard to win races like La Vuelta.”
As is tradition, the peloton rode off at a celebratory pace, enjoying the accomplishments of the past three weeks. Igor Anton (Dimension Data) was allowed a lap off the front once they arrived in the city of Madrid as an honor for his final race as a professional.
Once racing started, six riders escaped the bunch: Alessandro De Marchi (BMC Racing Team), Tiago Machado (Katusha Alpecin), Jetse Bol (Burgos-BH), Loïc Chetout, Stéphane Rossetto (Cofidis) and Mikel Iturria (Euskadi-Murias). They were never allowed much of a gap and were brought back with 45 km to go.
The next breakaway contained Diego Rubio (Burgos-BH), Joey Rosskopf (BMC Racing Team), Nikita Stalnov (Astana) and Garikoitz Bravo (Euskadi-Murias). They were also reabsorbed with seven kilometres to go and from there, the race was on for the sprint.
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