Adam Yates secured a sensational stage nine victory in the Vuelta a Espana on Sunday to revive his general classification hopes.
The British UAE Team Emirates rider went solo 58 kilometres from the finish in the Sierra Nevada mountains. He crossed the line one minute 39 seconds ahead of Richard Carapaz, who also put himself back in contention with a superb ride.
“I never suffered like this before, it’s so hot out there,” said Yates.
“From the last climb I was cramping and I didn’t know if I could go.
“I’ve had a lot of bad luck in Grand Tours over the years and I really didn’t know if I could make it, but I’m just so happy I could finally win another Grand Tour stage.”
Australian Ben O’Connor retained the red jersey and increased his lead on second placed Primoz Roglic to three minutes 53 seconds by claiming four bonus seconds as he finished third on the 178.5km run from Motril to Granada.
“I am super happy with how we were as a team, I think we were really composed, we led from the front when we needed to,” said Decathlon–AG2R La Mondiale rider O’Connor, who stromed to the lead winning stage six on a solo rampage in searing heat.
“Every second counts, and I didn’t lose time today — to some guys, yes — but in the end I showed my real capacity and what I can do, so I’m proud.”
Ecuadorian EF Education–EasyPost rider Carapaz moved to third overall, trailing the leader by just over four-and-a-half minutes heading into Monday’s rest day, after making a stunning attack from the peloton to catch the break.
“I think we had to play a card like that from a long way out because we had lost time on the stages that weren’t so suited to me,” said Carapaz.
“I did very well, I am very happy, the team did a good job, to finish it like that is incredible.”
Yates’ victory was some welcome good news for UAE after their rider Joao Almeida abandoned the race in the morning after testing positive for Covid-19.
The Portuguese struggled on Saturday and fell off the pace in the overall standings.
Yates made an early move on the brutally steep Hazallanas climb, escaping from a breakaway group.
The Briton started the day nearly nine-and-a-half minutes down on O’Connor and now trails him by five minutes 30 seconds.
At one point in the virtual standings Yates appeared in the podium places but a strong finish from O’Connor and his group ensured they did not give up too much ground on Yates who started the day over nine minutes off the lead.
Movistar’s Enric Mas was also going strong but had a minor crash which slowed him down and he was swallowed by the chase group, the Spaniard fourth overall.
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