2023-08-31 22:24:00
Martinez, who started the 6th stage in third place overall, reached the finish at the Pico del Buitre, 26 seconds behind the day’s winner, Kuss. That was enough to take the red jersey eight seconds ahead of Kiss. “It was an incredibly tough stage,” said the day’s winner followingwards, “winning a stage is incredible. I’ll enjoy it.”
Romain Bardet was third in the stage (+0:31). Emanuel Buchmann (Bora-hansgrohe) and his teammate Lennard Kämna belonged to a very large leading group for a long time, but on the final climb he was no longer able to keep up with the other climbers. Buchmann finished 17th as the best German, 2:33 minutes behind. Kämna had to give up earlier and finished the stage as 33rd (+7:11).
Behind the leading group, a hot battle for seconds also broke out in the group of classification drivers. With four kilometers to go, Primoz Roglic attacked and immediately pulled away from the rest. Remco Evenepoel might not follow. A little later Jonas Vingegaard also left the Belgian behind.
Vingegaard then caught up with Roglic and the two, together with teammate Attila Valter, gained a few more seconds on the man in the red jersey. At the finish they were 32 seconds ahead of Evenepoel.
Kissing Masterclass in Javalambre – Evenepoel loses red
Evenepoel: “I didn’t exhaust myself completely”
The Belgian champion conceded 3:24 minutes to the day’s winner Kuss. The American made up another ten seconds thanks to the bonus seconds. Evenepoel is now only ninth in the overall standings. His gap to the new leader Martinez is 2:47 minutes.
“I felt okay. I just mightn’t accelerate any more when the others attacked. I just went at my own pace,” said Evenepoel in an interview following the stage. He commented relatively calmly on the loss of time to the jumbo duo: “In the end it was now 30 seconds to the fastest guys. I didn’t exhaust myself completely, it was more of a controlled ride. But I just mightn’t go beyond the limit. Sometimes it has you days like that.”
Evenepoel following losing time: “Couldn’t go over the limit”
Vingegaard reduced his gap to Evenepoel to just five seconds, Roglic is eleven seconds behind the world time trial champion from Glasgow.
Both were satisfied when they reached the finish line. “It was really really good. Today I had a bit better legs. Of course there’s still a long way to go. But a good day, we’ll enjoy it,” said Roglic. Before the stage, Vingegaard had already explained that the team had a plan. When asked regarding this, the Slovenian said with a smile: “We can’t complain. It went well. We won the stage and made up time. You mightn’t ask for more. “
Vuelta 2023: Martinez is the youngest Grand Tour leader since 1904
Vingegaard also smiled at the finish. “It was a good stage. We did very well today. The guys were fantastic at the start. We put pressure on Soudal Quick-Step and it went very well for us,” said the Tour winner from Denmark. Even if he obviously didn’t have an easy start in the second mountain stage: “My legs were okay and at least better than in the past few days. I suffered a bit at the beginning, but luckily I found my strength in my legs once more.”
Roglic and Vingegaard: “You mightn’t ask for more”
Martinez also achieved a historic coup by taking over the red jersey: The 20-year-old Frenchman is now the youngest overall leader in a Grand Tour since 1904. Behind the second kiss is the Spaniard Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates/+0:51 ) and the Dutchman Wout Poels (Bahrain Victorious/+1:41). Soler in particular, who is known as a strong climber, put himself in a good starting position in the overall ranking.
Kämna (+10:22) and Buchmann (+11:36) are ranked 29th and 30th in the overall standings. The best Bora rider is Belgian Cian Uijtdebroeks in 15th (+3:08). Bora captain Aleksandr Vlasov is 18th overall. (+3:36).
On Friday (from 2:30 p.m. live on TV on Eurosport 1 and on discovery+) the Tour of Spain continues with a 200.8 km stage from Utiel to Oliva. Since there will not be a single mountain classification and the last 80 kilometers or so will be completely flat in the direction of Olivia, there should be a sprint finish on the seventh section.
Vuelta Circuit, Stage 6: Battle for Red at Pico del Buitre
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