On an especially flat day at the Vuelta a España, Pavel Bittner (DSM Firmenich-PostNL) stunned Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) to take his first career Grand Tour stage win in a sprint finish in Seville.
Alpecin-Deceuninck seemed to be in complete control for Kaden Groves in the last several hundred meters, but Van Aert jumped before Groves and Bittner followed the Belgian, leaving Groves on the back foot. Van Aert led for a few moments but Bittner pulled even with only a handful of meters to go, and Van Aert appeared to make two attempts at a bike throw as he seemed to mistake which white line in the road was the real finish.
In the end, Bitter took a narrow victory over Van Aert, with Groves in third. Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) finished safely in the bunch to retain his overall lead.
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How it happened
- The lone stage at the 2024 Vuelta a España classified as “flat” by organizers was an opportunity for the peloton to recover after Tuesday’s brutal finishing climb, and an opportunity for viewers to enjoy the sights in Seville and its environs. As for the racing itself, there was hardly much suspense on the day as the two-rider breakaway that formed was clearly doomed to be caught.
- The catch was made with a little over 30 km to go, and then the sprinters battled for intermediate points, with Groves besting Van Aert. From there, several teams massed at the front to drive the tempo into the finale. The pace was high as a nerve-y peloton came into the last 10 km, and the run-in to the finish was not without incident, as a small crash saw Rui Costa and Owain Doull of EF Education-EasyPost hit the deck.
- Alpecin-Deceuninck took charge in the bunch inside the last 2 km to go, and with several riders in the train they were able to stay in a strong position all the way into the last 300 meters, where it all went wrong as Van Aert surged on the left side of Groves.
- Bittner moved onto Van Aert’s wheel for a moment and then jumped. The pair came into the last few meters neck-and-neck, and Van Aert seemed to throw his bike too early as they passed over a white line that was not the finish. Bittner’s bike throw at the actual line sealed the deal.
It’s unbelievable. Only a few weeks ago, a few days ago, I got my first pro win, so to get the win in my first Vuelta, I still don’t believe it.
—Pavel Bittner after his win.
Brief analysis
- Alpecin-Deceuninck did a fine job until the last few hundred meters, where they perhaps left too much room for Van Aert to come past and did not react quickly enough to the surge, forcing Groves to weave through some traffic. In any case, Groves did not seem to have the speed to claw back into contention, finishing a relatively distant third compared to the two riders who contested the win.
- We will never know whether Van Aert would have won had he thrown his bike correctly, but it was close enough that Van Aert himself will sure wonder. At the very least, he did open up a bit of daylight to Groves in the points classification. Those two riders should battle for green at the intermediates and the sprint finishes all the way to Madrid.
- In his post-race interview, Bittner was particularly proud to have beaten Van Aert in a long sprint, where Van Aert tends to thrive. Bittner may not be a household name, but at just 21 years old and having won two stages at the Vuelta a Burgos earlier this month and now a Grand Tour stage, he is clearly already a rider to watch with the potential to develop into a big name for the sprints and the Classics too.
Up next
Stage 6 tackles some ascents, including one that concludes the stage, although the Alto de las Abejas (literally, the “hill of the bees,” so maybe riders should watch out for those) is on the easier end of the spectrum of Vuelta finishing climbs. This could be a breakaway day or it could go to someone in the GC group.
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