Wout van Aert won stage 13 of the Vuelta a España, which took place this Friday between Almuñécar and Loja, covering 192 kilometers. Enric Mas remains the leader, Harold Tejada moved up one place in the general classification, now ninth, and Santiago Buitrago dominates the mountains.
The day was dangerous, since, although there was no summit finish, during the route the riders faced three climbs, one first category and two second category, the last of them 30 kilometers from the finish.
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Harold Tejada moved up in the general classification of the Vuelta a España
Breakaways occurred, as it was an ideal stage for that. In the first group went Kevin Vermaeke, Matthew Brennan, the great sprinter and winner of three stages, Leo Bisiaux, Clément Berthet, Guillaume Martin, Andreas Kron, Vincenzo Albanese, Cristian Rodríguez and Lars Craps, who took the lead.
There was another floating group, in which Buitrago was, seeking more mountain points or a partial victory. Also riding in that group were Finn Fisher-Black, Wout van Aert, Bruno Armirail, Matthew Riccitello, Eddie Dunbar, Jack Haig, Pello Bilbao, Mattias Skjelmose, Valentin Paret-Peintre, Magnus Cort, Stefan Küng, Jesús Herrada, among others.
The gap between the two groups reached over two minutes, but as the finish approached, it dropped to 34 seconds, with 41 kilometers to go.
The main peloton rode calmly, but with eyes on the two groups ahead. Mas was supported by his teammates, as were Primož Roglič and Felix Gall.
Tejada moved up in the general classification
The abandonment of Gregor Mühlberger due to an accident at the start of the stage gives Tejada the opportunity to move up to ninth place in the general classification.
The big beneficiary of the day was Skjelmose, who was seventh in the general and had the chance to be in the breakaway to try to gain some positions in the overall classification.
Neither of the two groups gave in for the partial victory. Mas’s group and the other leaders were 4 minutes and 45 seconds behind, so it could be said that the winner was in the breakaway with 30 kilometers to go.
Another summit finish
This Saturday will feature another key stage of the second week of the race, between Jaén and Sierra de la Pandera, covering 154 kilometers.
The day looks tough, as the cyclists will have to cross three mountain passes: two second category and another first category, the last one at the finish.
The final climb will be 11 kilometers long, with average gradients of 7.5 percent. The key point of the day is that these three passes will take place in the last 60 kilometers, making the route much tougher.
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