La Vuelta (st. 19)

Cort (EFN) claims third stage win as elusive break stays away from the main field in exciting finale. Mas, López stay in 2nd, 3rd overall before brutal Mos / Castro de Herville (Saturday), Santiago TT (Sunday) combination.

No less than 35 minutes ahead of the average schedule. It was a crazy day for the 2021 La Vuelta peloton on stage 19 in Galicia, 191km between Tapia and Monforte de Lemos, with the early break staying way from a furious peloton where the sprinters’ teams were never able to bring the leaders back.

Magnus Cort (EFN) claimed the day’s victory ahead of the bunch, where the Movistar Team experienced no setbacks – yet struggled, like the rest, in a day covered at more than 43kph average, despite the three initial categorized climbs. Nelson Oliveira, José Joaquín Rojas and Imanol Erviti covered their leaders efficiently, in what was their penultimate teamwork effort in this race, as Enric Mas and Miguel Ángel López retained their 2nd and 3rd places overall.

The stage is now set for Saturday’s hilly, brutal stage 20 in La Vuelta, one of the hardest in the programme with 202km and barely no flat between Sanxenxo and Mos, covering five rated ascents –plus many others not counting for the KOM standings- and finishing atop the Castro de Herville (Cat-2), with its maximum slopes of 16%.

REACTION / Enric Mas:

“After two really hard stages, I felt quite well – it always hurts in the beginning to get those legs moving, yet we were able to gain some ‘speed’ and I ended up feeling really nice. Even if it might have seemed like an easier day for the GC contenders for those outside the race, it was absolutely not the case. It was brutal – you have seen how early we finished, the speeds in the finale – we spent basically the entire day into a long line, suffering like poor dogs. It was a nice battle in the peloton for the last 190 kilometers (laughs), one which surely the fans enjoyed, with the early breakaway reaching the line. It could have been way more boring for the fans and it ended up being so beautiful. Tomorrow’s stage? To be honest, we haven’t talked about it yet – we go day-by-day, tackling one obstacle at a time. I’m sure there will be riders who want to squeeze their chances and the battle will be fierce. It’s going to be an important day, one we will have to plan well. Now it’s time to rest up well and then think about tomorrow.”

Cover pictire (c): Photo Gomez Sport