2019 Vuelta a España Stage 13 Results & Recap
Stage 13 of the 2019 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
Pogacar wins stage 13
Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) sealed his second victory at the Vuelta a Espana today after attacking the formidably steep Alto de Los Machucos. Pogacar’s Slovenian compatriot and red jersey leader Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) was the only GC contender strong enough t follow him across the line, and in doing so, stamped his authority on the overall lead.
“I can’t believe it’s my second stage win in my first Grand Tour,” Pogacar said after the stage. “I’m extremely happy, so happy I can’t even describe it. At the start, I didn’t know I would feel so good in the last climb. I just wanted to survive that day. I just wanted not to lose too much time and in the end, it was a great day for me. When I heard on the radio nobody was following me and Roglic, I realised it was a good opportunity. It’s difficult to go against Roglic, he’s really strong.
“I’m very happy with what I’ve done today. I don’t think I can win La Vuelta, Primoz is really holding on to La Roja. It’s my first Grand Tour, I don’t know how I will react. Those two weeks have been perfect for me. I hope I can continue like this. I want to be there in Madrid next to Primoz, with the white jersey and top 5 or maybe even top 3 on GC. I think it’s possible, I will do my best and hope I don’t have a bad day.”
Pogacar’s performance boosted the 20-year-old into the best young rider jersey, 17 seconds ahead of Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana Pro Team). He also jumped up two places on the overall standings into third place behind Alejandro Valverde, who now sits 2:25 back on Roglic.\n“It was a big fight and it was a nice day for Slovenian cycling,” Roglic said. “I didn’t expect to open such differences. I expected a big fight and it was a hard climb that delivered a good finish for me. I think both the time and the moral advantages are important. But the time is what counts in cycling. It’s nice to open bigger differences. It was a great day for Slovenian cycling to have the two of us (with Tadej Pogacar) at the front. We gave our whole until the finish. Tadej is, of course, a big talent with a big future.”\nIt was another difficult stage from the word, “go,” on day 13 of the Vuelta a Espana. No attack could stick until the Alto de la Escrita, the first of six classified climbs, where 29 riders made the cut.
The gap continued to expand to the peloton, who seemed confident they could reel in the group on the final climb. By the last 50km, the advantage to the leaders was 6:30, and Hector Saez (Euskadi-Murias) attacked. It was a brave attempt, however, Saez was caught on the final climb with 6.5km to go by Bruno Armirail, but it was Pierre Latour who blew by them both in a committed bid for the stage win.
With the reduced peloton down to the main favorites right behind the chase group, Roglic and Pogacar turned up the gas with 4.5km to go and shook off their closest rivals with ease. The duo caught and passed LaTour under the flamme rouge and crossed the finish line together, putting almost 30 seconds into Valverda, Quintana and LaTour.
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