Tuesday, September 2nd, 10th stage: Parque de la Naturaleza Sendaviva > El Ferial Larra Belagu
The best climbers of La Vuelta 25 started the second week in exhilarating fashion, waging a brutal showdown until Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Jonas Vingegaard (Visma–Lease a Bike) rose to power at Larra Belagua. The Australian climber proved the strongest attacker on the final ascent, after more than 100 kilometres of battling to make the breakaway. He claims his second stage victory of this edition, following his triumph in Pal (stage 6). Already a double stage winner back in 2022, he becomes the second Australian to claim multiple wins in multiple editions of La Vuelta, after Kaden Groves achieved the same feat last year. In the GC group, Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) was the most aggressive, with the support of Juan Ayuso. Yet their rivals resisted, and Jonas Vingegaard (Visma–Lease a Bike) capitalised to seize La Roja from Torstein Træen (Bahrain Victorious), who conceded just over a minute on the day.
After a first rest day in Pamplona, La Vuelta explores the roads of Navarra with a 175.3-km stage from the Sendaviva natural park to a summit finish at El Ferial Larra Belagua. The are has historically played an essential part in La Vuelta and Spanish cycling in general. It sure inspires the attackers of La Vuelta 25.
More than 100 km to establish the break
Attacks fly from the start, but breakaway candidats struggle to find an opening. Almost 100 kilometres are covered in the first 2 hours (49.5 km/h on average), and a group finally emerge after 102 km of battle. Very active since the start, Jay Vine is up there with his UAE Team Emirates-XRG teammate Mikkel Bjerg, as well as Soudal Quick-Step’s Junior Lecerf (the main GC threat, with a gap of 4’21’’), and also Michal Kwiatkowski (Ineos Grenadiers), Kevin Vermaerke (Picnic PostNL), Harold Tejada (XDS Astana), Julien Bernard (Lidl-Trek)…
Orluis Aular, Pablo Castrillo, Javier Romo (Movistar), and Abel Balderstone, Joel Nicolau, Jakub Otruba (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) are also there to represent the two teams based in Navarre and riding this 12th stage of La Vuelta 25 on their home roads.
Segaert anticipates
The breakaway already explodes on the first ascent of the day, the cat.-3 climb of Alto de las Coronas (summit at km 127.7), into the last 50 kilometres of the stage. Javier Romo goes first at the summit. He is joined by Jay Vine with 43 km to go. Pablo Castrillo, Abel Balderstone, Julien Bernard (Lidl-Trek), Archie Ryan (EF Education-EasyPost), Xabier Mikel Azparren (Q36.5), Nicola Conci (XDS Astana) join them 5 kilometres further. Then Alec Segaert (Lotto) and eventually Kevin Vermaerke (Picnic PostNL) make it a 10-man lead group.
Segaert attacks into the last 20 kilometres to get a head start for the final climb up Larra Belagua (9.4km at 6.3%). At the bottom of the ascent, he is 40’’ ahead of his first chasers, a minute and half away from the rest of the breakaway riders, and the peloton led by Bahrain Victorious trail by more than 3 minutes.
Vine crowned, Træen dropped
Castrillo is the first to chase down Segaert and pass him 7 km away from the summit. But the Spanish climber can’t resist Vine, who gets back and goes solo in the last 5 kilometres. He never looks behind and surges to his second stage win in La Vuelta 25, after two previous victories in 2022.
Behind them, Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) sets a brutal pace for Joao Almeida, who accelerates on a couple of occasions. Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) is the quickest to react, with Tom Pidcock (Q36.5) on his wheel. All GC contenders eventually get back together, except for Træen, who loses La Roja to Vingegaard after four days in the lead.
Stage 10
- Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates XRG) 3h56’24”
- Pablo Castrillo Zapater (Movistar Team) +0’35”
- Javier Romo (Movistar Team) +1’04”
GC
- Jonas Vingegaard (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) 37h33’52”
- Torstein Træen (Bahrain Victorious) +0’26”
- Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates XRG) +0’38”
