Australian Jay Vine has solidified his hold at the top of the rankings as he approaches becoming the king of the mountains at the Vuelta a Espana.
The Queenslander, who continues to thrive on his groundbreaking Grand Tour, has more than doubled his lead in the battle to find the best climber of the race in Sunday’s brutal “queen” stage in the Sierra Nevada mountains.
On a day when top contenders again put race leader Remco Evenepoel under pressure while eroding his all-time advantage, thrilling young Dutch team DSM driver Thymen Arensman showed his star quality with an emphatic victory over the 15th step.
But Vine, who has already won two mountain stages, was at the heart of the thrilling action during Martos’ demanding 152.6km race, winning an intermediate sprint to the top of the category 1 climb of the Alto del Purche before to finish fourth in the stage. .
The Townsville man increased his KoM lead from 14 to 29 points over Olympic champion Ineos Grenadiers Richard Carapaz ahead of last week’s action.
Vine also led a concerted three-way chase against the brilliant Arensman, 22, who scored his maiden Grand Tour win, eventually finishing one minute 23 seconds behind Enric Mas, 1:25 ahead of Miguel Angel Lopez. and 1:30 ahead of the Australian.
On a day of fighting for the Australian contingent, Ben O’Connor finished sixth at 1:44, with Giro champion Jai Hindley taking eighth place at 1:55 amid a throng of exhausted runners littered on the foothills of the Sierra Nevada.
O’Connor returned home alongside reigning Jumbo-Visma champion Primoz Roglic, who recovered 15 seconds more on Evenepoel, 10th in Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl, with another burst late in the last two kilometers until upon arrival.
Thus, for the second consecutive day, the Belgian leader loses time at the top of the general classification, and his advantage in the general classification is now reduced to 1:34 still in good health on the triple champion Roglic and 2:01 on the Mas de Movistar .
AG2R Citroën’s O’Connor was ninth overall, 8:57 behind, while BORA-hansgrohe’s Hindley entered the top 10 for the first time at 11:36 am.
“When I was alone… I kept thinking that I had to push and that was enough. It’s unbelievable, ”said Arensman, who tracked down Spaniard Marc Soler and passed him on the final climb.
Evenepoel, who felt he was still feeling stiff after Thursday’s crash, seemed satisfied with his fate, entering Monday’s rest day after limiting Roglic’s possible damage.
“It’s actually the first time I’ve finished this high, so I think I’ve done pretty well,” he said.
“I felt a little stiff from the accident, but day by day it’s getting better. So, I am really happy that tomorrow is a day off and I have actually lost almost nothing.
“A good day for us. With the accident it wasn’t that easy to deal with, but the third week is a different story. The climbs are no longer super difficult ”.
The race will resume on Tuesday with stage 16, a 189km journey from Sanlucar de Barrameda to Tomares.