Eddie Dunbar (Jayco-AlUla) took his first ever Grand Tour stage win as Vuelta a España leader Ben O’Connor (Decathlon-AG2R) shipped a bit of time to his rivals in the frantic finale of Wednesday’s stage 11.
Dunbar bided his time amid a flurry of late attacks out of the day’s break until making his own bid for glory in the last kilometer of the lumpy stage in Galicia. The move paid off for the 27-year-old Irishman, who soloed to the win ahead of Quinten Hermans (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Max Poole (DSM-Firmenich).
Back in the GC group, Primož Roglič and Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe worked hard on the final climb to distance O’Connor and they did just that. The Australian ultimately arrived more than half a minute behind Roglič and a few other red jersey hopefuls, and although he remains atop the GC standings, he now has less time to play with as higher mountains loom.
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How it happened
- The breakaway-friendly trek on hilly Galician terrain inspired a lively battle to get clear of the bunch from the very start of the day. Eventually a group of nearly 40 riders would form the main breakaway with some 100 km to go, with Dunbar there along with notables Jhonatan Narváez (Ineos Grenadiers) and Daniel Martínez (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe). Even as the break seemed to settle into rhythm, however, Xandro Meurisse (Alpecin-Deceuninck) promptly took off on his own ahead of the group.
- Meurisse spent more than an hour alone out front without too great of a gap back to the other escapees before he was caught with a little over 30 km to go. From there, attention turned to the Puerto Cruxeiras climb, the final ascent of the day, but Victor Campenaerts (Lotto-Dstny) tried to catch the other escapees sleeping with an attack before the road tilted upward. A first attempt came up short but Campenaerts tried again and this time forced a split.
- Carlos Verona (Lidl-Trek) put the hammer down in the lead group halfway up the climb, drawing Filippo Zana (Jayco-AlUla) and Urko Berrade (Kern-Pharma) with him. Dunbar put himself into the chasing group behind the three leaders, who worked well together up and over the summit.
- Meanwhile, further down the climb, Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe set a torrid pace that lined out the GC group. Even before Roglič went, O’Connor was gapped, and then Roglič made a surge that only Enric Mas (Movistar) could follow at first. As the other GC hopefuls worked to pursue the three-time Vuelta winner and three-time Vuelta runner-up, O’Connor lost touch even with that chasing group. Mikel Landa (Soudal-QuickStep) and a few others caught up to Roglič and Mas before the finish, but O’Connor did not.
- Out front, the pursuing breakaway riders gradually clawed back up to the three leaders until finally catching them inside the last kilometer, and Dunbar attacked almost immediately with about 600 meters to go. A moment’s hesitation among the rest of the group was all the Irishman needed, and he finished with enough of a gap to soak it all in, two seconds ahead of runner-up Hermans and third-placed Poole.
It’s weird how it goes sometimes. I had a really bad start to the race and I lost a lot of time. I came here to race GC and I learned pretty quickly that I didn’t have the legs to do it. My preparation was really good here so then it was kind of reassess and go for a stage.
—Eddie Dunbar after his stage 11 win
Brief analysis
- For the second straight day, the peloton seemed content to let the breakaway battle for stage honors, and the escape artists were happy to oblige. The stage 11 break was a particularly large one with several big names, but at the same time, there was no obvious favorite for the finale the way that there was on the previous day thanks to the presence of Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) in that move.
- The state of affairs at the front of the race was constantly changing, but throughout that time, Dunbar kept his head down. Jayco ultimately played things to perfection, putting Zana into what looked like it might be the winning move on the final climb, and then playing the Dunbar card at just the right moment. His move, over half a kilometer from the line, was a gamble – but it worked when the other riders in the group did not react quickly enough.
- In the grand scheme of things, O’Connor’s time loss on the day probably won’t be the difference between overall victory and defeat, but it was not a good sign for the Australian with harder days ahead. The Puerto Cruxeiras climb is quite steep at 9 percent, but it’s not especially long, and O’Connor will have to bounce back quickly if he is to stick with Roglič and Co. on climbs with similar gradients over much longer distances.
- Mas, meanwhile, was very strong on the day, and it’s not the first time that he has looked like the biggest challenger to Roglič on the steep stuff. The question is whether he can actually drop the Slovenian and put real time into him. That question should be answered soon enough.
Up next
Stage 12 from Ourense Termal to Estación de Montaña de Manzaneda is very short at 137.4 km, and it will probably be raced very fast. The stage win will all come down to that Cat. 1 finishing climb, which is a stairstep affair with a tough stretch near the top before things ease off again. A certain three-time Vuelta GC winner should like his chances to either drop his rivals or best them in a sprint to the line as he has done so many times in his career.
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