Breakaway rider Lennard Kämna (Bora-Hansgrohe) took a well-deserved stage victory on stage 9 of the Vuelta a España, adding to his Giro and Tour stage wins to complete the trilogy of Grand Tour stage wins.
Though the GC picture remains much the same as it looked 24 hours ago, it was a far from simple day out in Murcia. It started with crosswind action which returned mid-stage, then a change was made to the final climb – for those with a GC interest – due to dangerous conditions in the last 2000 metres. Ultimately, the race was pretty much neutralised, with Primož Roglič gaining little more than a psychological poke to the ribs by crossing the GC line a couple of lengths ahead of his key rivals, and his teammate Sepp Kuss maintains the race lead going into the first rest day.
- The first hour of the stage was the fastest first hour of the Vuelta so far, clocking in at a whopping 51.8 km/h compared to stage 4’s 46.5 km/h. This was all down to the crosswind chaos that was predicted due to the forecast stiff tail-cross in the flat opening phases. The peloton was fractured into echelons with an elite 12-man lead group breaking free, including Remco Evenepoel, Aleksandr Vlasov, and six Jumbo-Visma riders including race leader Sepp Kuss; in fact, it’s easier to say who wasn’t there: Robert Gesink and Attila Valter, who actually was in that front group until he suffered a puncture.
- That first flurry of echelon drama ended near the base of the first classified climb of the day, where the day’s breakaway formed and quickly gained a significant gap.
- It was looking more and more like a guaranteed breakaway day until wind swept up again inside 80 km to go, causing another dramatic split and an effort from the favourites that just about halved the gap. This too was closed down though, thanks to Groupama-FDJ’s chase for white jersey Lenny Martinez and something of a laying down of arms in the GC group ahead.
- That last neutralisation essentially handed the day to the break, and the attacks began almost as soon as the final climb began with eight kilometres to go. Chris Hamilton (DSM-Firmenich) was the first to make a firm acceleration, but Kämna was clearly the strongest, and his ‘marked man’ status did not hinder him in his efforts to take a maiden Vuelta stage win. Matteo Sobrero (Jayco-AlUla) was best of the rest.
- The GC group arrived at the climb four minutes after the break, but their finish line had been moved to “50 metres before the 2km to go banner” due to dangerous muddy conditions nearer the summit (this had been amended from the earlier stated 2.6 km to go). Vlasov responded to an attack from João Almeida and the pair gained 14 seconds, while Roglič led the rest of the group through the cones ahead of Enric Mas and Remco Evenepoel, then a bizarre mass sitting-up occurred, the group reverting to café-ride settings for the rest of the climb.
Brief results:
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Brief analysis:
- The hearts of cycling fans everywhere quickened when about an hour before coverage began, we heard that crosswinds were wreaking havoc on the peloton. A similar situation arose between the two climbs of the stage, this time forcing a much bigger wedge of time between the favourites and the rest of the peloton – including the white jersey and his Groupama-FDJ teammates, GC underdog Romain Bardet (DSM-Firmenich) and all of Ineos Grenadiers – but all the windy conditions achieved in the end was to saturate the stage with drama rather than leave it to the end. When the organisers weren’t desperately clearing the summit of mud (see below), they may well have been rubbing their hands together in delight watching what was happening on the dusty Murcian plains, but perhaps the fear struck by the uneven final climb served to tamp down the efforts in the echelons; the crosswinds were only ever going to be spicy mid-stage appetisers.
Quote of the day:
Lennard Kämna was the favourite in the breakaway and, though he was far from certain he and his companions would stay away, the 26-year-old German delivered after a stinging acceleration in the last 5 km.
The climb was very tricky. It was always up and down and that made it difficult to get away. I had a gap and then I went full throttle. I tried to break it by going two minutes over my limit. I skipped the Tour de France because I wanted to win a stage here. We succeeded and that is why I’m very happy.
Kämna said post-stage
Social highlights:
It was a swift start, with the front group – including the red jersey, five of his Jumbo-Visma teammates, and Evenepoel +1 – gaining almost a minute over the Movistar and UAE-led main peloton before being caught near the base of the first major climb.
Conditions remained unpleasant all the way to the finish, where early images warned of a tricky, chaotic, ridiculous final few-hundred metres buried in thick clouds. Meanwhile, the sun shone on stage 1 of the Tour of Britain.
Speaking of the Tour of Britain…
The best summary of the day:
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