The defending champion Remco Evenepoel bounced back from his Vuelta a España meltdown the day before in the Pyrenees to take a superb victory on the mountainous 14th stage to the ski resort of Larra-Belagua on Saturday.
The Belgian rider’s GC hopes may be over after shipping 27 minutes on Friday’s brutal climbs, but he responded in style to hold off France’s Romain Bardet after the two had broken away from an escape group on the Col Hourcère.
Bardet (DSM-Firmenich) stayed on the wheel of Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) for the first half of the 9.5km climb to the finish but had no answer when the Belgian poured on the power with 3.5km remaining, winning by more than a minute.
Evenepoel’s masterclass on the 156.5km route spanning the France-Spain border put him in firm control of the climbing standings as he scooped up stacks of points over the day’s four categorised ascents.
The charismatic 23-year-old was emotional after crossing the line with his arms aloft, fighting back tears as he perhaps reflected on what might have been but for Friday’s collapse. Back in the peloton, the battle for the red jersey – now looking like being between Jumbo-Visma’s powerhouse trio Sepp Kuss, Primoz Roglic and Jonas Vingegaard – was unchanged.
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The American Kuss retained the red jersey and his one minute 37 seconds advantage over three-times Vuelta winner Roglic while Vingegaard is 1:44 adrift. The next best-placed in the standings is Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates) who is 2:37 back on Kuss. Sunday’s stage is a hilly route from Pamplona to Lekunberri.
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