2024 Vuelta a España Stage 18 Results & Recap
Stage 18 of the 2024 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
Berrade Wins Solo on Stage 18
Steven Kruijswijk attacked from the breakaway on last climb of the 18th stage of La Vuelta. He was countered by Urko Berrade, who then soloed to victory. With the exception of Mikel Landa, the GC contenders crossed the line together. Ben O’Connor retains the red jersey.
“Without a doubt, it’s a dream,” Berrade said. “The stage is closer to home, with all my family watching me and friends. In the last stages of La Vuelta, when so few opportunities are left, it seemed complicated to get a stage. I’ve been close to others, but it’s incredible. As we had strength in numbers after the hardest climb of the day, I’ve been controlling the group so that Pau [Miquel] could have his chance as our fast man. But at the end, that last climb, with everyone pretty cooked, they told me: ‘You all have a chance, try it.’ I tried from there almost without looking back. I tried not to look back. They told me: ‘To the finish line, to the finish line!’ I didn’t see myself as the winner until I crossed the finish line. No doubt it comes from our great previous work. Since the beginning of the season, we had La Vuelta in mind. We have made an impressive preparation, and this is not the result of chance. At the beginning of La Vuelta, Juanjo [Oroz], the team manager, told me: ‘You have to become famous’. And it’s difficult for me because I’m not a big media guy, but I think, with this victory, maybe I have a chance.”
Attacks came thick and fast in the first hour, but none were successful. Then, a huge group set off. On board were Kaden Groves, Mathias Vacek, Oier Lazkano, Harold Tejada, Steven Kruijswijk, Atilla Valter, Brandon McNulty, Marc Soler, Jhonathan Narváez, Mauri Vansevenant, Aleksandr Vlasov, Thomas de Gendt, Stefan Küng, Mauro Schmid, Max Poole, Ion Izagirre, Jesús Herrada, Pavel Bittner, Pablo Castrillo, Riley Sheehan, Chris Hamilton, Tim Naberman, Gianmarco Garofoli, Nicolas Vinokurov, Urko Berrade, Unai Iribar, Pau Miquel, Filippo Baroncini, Kim Heiduk, Mattia Cattaneo, Casper Pedersen, Roger Adrià, Nico Denz, Nadav Raisberg, Arjen Livyns, Jonas Gregaard, Owain Doull, James Shaw, Jorge Arcas, Simon Gugliemi, Jasha Sütterlin, and Mathis Le Berre.
They put the peloton over three minutes behind, but then Euskaltel-Euskadi started the chase. On the first climb, Mikel Bizkarra and Gotzon Martín attacked from the peloton. Quentin Pacher, Carlos Canal, Victor Lafay, Giovanni Aleotti, George Bennett, and Eduardo Sepúlveda went with them.
At the summit, Soler took the most KOM points before Vacek, Küng and Schmid attacked in the descent. The trio put over one minute into the other breakaway riders.
The Euskaltel-Euskadi chase group didn't succeed in making it across, while the three leaders tackled the Puerto Herrera 10 minutes ahead of the peloton.
Cattaneo and Vlasov were the first riders to bridge across on the climb. Kruijswijk, Soler, Lazkano, Poole, Izagirre, Berrade, Castrillo, and Miquel also made the junction. Soler was the first rider at the summit, and he moved into the KOM lead.
Richard Carapaz took the reins in the GC group on the lower slopes, which forced Mikel Landa to chase. The other GC riders followed the former Olympic champion.
On the final climb, Kruijswijk launched an attack. He was briefly joined by Berrade, but the Spaniard soon rode away from him.
Berrade soloed to victory, while the GC contenders finished six minutes and 40 seconds later. Landa lots over three minutes and dropped to tenth place in the GC.
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