LA CRUZ DE LINARES, Spain — Belgium’s Remco Evenepoel put on a dominant performance to win the 18th stage of the Spanish Vuelta, with overall leader Sepp Kuss comfortably holding on to the red jersey by crossing the line ahead of his closest rivals and taking a big step toward his first major victory.
Evenepoel blasted out of a breakaway group on the first of two climbs of the Puerto de La Cruz de Linares late in the 179km ride from Pola de Allande and was in a class of his own.
The peloton, featuring the Jumbo-Visma trio of Kuss, Jonas Vingegaard and Primoz Roglic finished nearly 10 minutes back with Kuss emerging still in the maillot rojo after surviving the last big day in the mountains.
American Kuss, who was shepherded through the dramatic Asturian landscape by his illustrious team mates, even extended his lead over Tour de France champion Vingegaard to 17 seconds and is just over one minute ahead of Giro d’Italia champion Roglic.
Kuss is now favourite to retain the red jersey all the way to Madrid.
With the Jumbo-Visma trio well clear of field, the dominant Dutch outfit look certain to become the first team to win all three Grand Tours in the same season.
“I felt I was the strongest on the group, I didn´t have to waste any time and I just had to go. The legs were super good today,” Evenepoel said. “It´s amazing to finish La Vuelta like this. After my off day in Formigal and Tourmalet, I just had to turn the page and go for stages. I won three of the most beautiful stages from this Vuelta and I take the mountain jersey.”
“It has been an amazing Vuelta even though the GC (general classification) plan didn´t work out,” the 23-year-old Evenepoel said.
“I think we can be very proud. To finish with such a good feeling and with such legs shows that I´m still improving and I just had a bit of a bad week in the second week. We should just be happy and proud.”
Three-time Vuelta champion Primoz Roglic, the other rider helping Jumbo-Visma dominate the Grand Tour race in Spain, crossed the line near Kuss and remained third overall, more than a minute back.
The 29-year-old Kuss, who had a stage win at the Tour de France two seasons ago, began as a support rider for Roglic and Vingegaard but took the lead on Stage 8 and has yet to relinquish it. No American has won a Grand Tour event since Chris Horner in the Vuelta in 2013.
Kuss moved closer to becoming the first American to win a Grand Tour race in nearly a decade by staying safely within the peloton throughout the 179-kilometer (111-mile) route that took riders through an unprecedented mountain pass at La Cruz de Linares.
He prevailed in a late sprint at the top to increase his overall lead over Jumbo-Visma teammate Jonas Vingegaard to 17 seconds ahead of the final stages this weekend.
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